SEARCH & DESTROY: NEW SCENARIOS
by
Alan R. Arvold
The following scenarios were originally created by Phil
Kosnett and published in MOVES Magazine Issues #23 and #27.
However in their original form they were rather crude and
sometimes incomplete. I modified them so they are better
organized and fit with the new optional rules listed here on
Grognards.
SCENARIO 1: The Mechanized Sweep
In the later years of the war, heavy mechanized sweeps were made
through lightly held NLF areas in hopes of flushing out troops,
and with lesser emphasis, discovering supplies. These sweeps were
rarely successful as the enemy simply avoided contact. However
sometimes they would set up anti-armor ambushes using recoilless
rifles backed up by three-man RPG-7 teams. These would set up in
the treelines or elephant grass, execute their ambushes, then run
away.
ARVN Player Forces: Four Tanks, Five APC's carrying an ARVN Elite
Platoon.
Deployment: Enter on any edge of the board on Game Turn One. Move
first.
Additional ARVN Firepower: Five Cobra Strikes, 5 Attack Strength
Points each.
NLF Player Forces: Three VC Squads, One NLF Platoon Cadre Squad,
One Sniper, Two Peasants, One Ammo Cache, Four
Mines, Twenty Dummies.
Deployment: VC Squads, NLF Platoon Cadre Squad, and Sniper set up
in Treeline or Broken Hexes. All other units may set
up anywhere on the board. Move second.
Additional NLF Firepower: None.
Special Rules:
1. Cobra Strikes are Airstrikes by Cobra Gunships firing barrages
of rockets. Treat as normal airstrikes but the Attack Strength
is 5 Strength Points per hex in the eight hex pattern. These
airstrikes can not be shot down (they are flying too high).
2. VC Squads represent three-man RPG-7 teams. These are each
armed with a single shot RPG-7 rocket launcher, along with
their regular firearms. These teams are removed after
receiving three casualties, any excess casualties beyond three
are ignored.
3. The NLF Platoon Cadre unit is equipped with a recoilless
rifle.
4. The ARVN infantry units start the game mounted on the APCs.
They may not dismount until an NLF unit has fired or has been
revealed.
Game Length: 15 Game Turns.
Victory Conditions: Standard, with the following additions:
A. Each destroyed or immobilized APC: 20 Victory Points.
B. Each destroyed or immobilized tank: 40 Victory Points.
C. Each revealed NLF unit: 10 Victory Points.
D. The Ammo Cache is worth 40 Victory Points if destroyed.
(Note: The NLF Player may only score points once for a vehicle
even if it suffers both immobilized and destroyed results during
a game.)
SCENARIO 2: Pilot Rescue
Often American pilots would be shot down over enemy held
territory. Rescue helicopters would race NLF troops to reach him,
as other US planes protected the down pilot.
US Player Forces: One Pilot (represented by a platoon leader
counter), Six Dummies (use any green US
counters).
Deployment: May set up inverted in any clear or broken hex on the
board. Move second.
Additional US Firepower: Ten Airstrikes.
NLF Player Forces: VC Company (1 Company Cadre Leader, 3 Platoon
Cadre Leaders, 3 Hard Core Squads, 6 VC
Militia Squads, 3 Snipers). Company Cadre unit
has a Heavy Machine Gun.
Deployment: Four units enter on each side of the board on Game
Turn One. All NLF counters enter face up. Move first.
Additional NLF Firepower: None.
Special Rules:
1. All US units on the map have a Movement Allowance of twelve
Movement Points. They may move anywhere on the board. A Pilot
that is WIA as a result of fire combat may not move but may
still be rescued if in Clear or Broken Terrain hexes. A KIA
Pilot is removed from the board and the NLF automatically
wins.
2. NLF units are not inverted at the end of the turn, they remain
face up the entire game.
3. NLF units must use the Search rules [12.0] when searching
enemy occupied hexes. An NLF unit that searches a hex
containing the US Pilot is considered to have captured him and
may transport him as if he is a casualty.
4. Starting on Game Turn Six, two Hueys (unarmed) and two Cobra
gunships are available to the US Player. These are for Pilot
rescue only. Only one Huey and one Cobra may be used in a Game
Turn. The Huey picks up the Pilot in the same manner as it
would a casualty. If both Hueys are shot down, two more Hueys
(unarmed) and two more Cobra gunships become available on Game
Turn Twelve. A captured pilot may not be rescued.
5. Shot down helicopters do not produce more Pilots (they are
presumed dead). Use of the Helicopter Gunship Support Rules
[26.0] is mandatory.
6. Airstrikes are considered to be unobserved.
Game Length: 20 Game Turns.
Victory Conditions: If the Pilot is rescued by the end of the
game, the US player wins. A Pilot is considered to be rescued if
he is picked up by a Huey and safely exits the board without
being shot down. The NLF Player wins by avoiding the US Player's
Victory Conditions.
SCENARIO THREE: River Patrol Boat Ambush
During the war American patrol boats would patrol the backwater
rivers and stream of South Vietnam. Often NLF units would attempt
to ambush them, in which case the boats would try to escape.
US Player Forces: Four Patrol Boats
Deployment: Enter on any side of the board, traveling along a
River hexside. Move first.
Additional US Firepower: None.
NLF Player Forces: Two NVA Platoons, One Company Cadre Leader
(equipped with Recoilless Rifle).
Deployment: Set up anywhere on the board. Move second.
Additional NLF Firepower: None.
Special Rule: US Patrol Boats may only exit off of the opposite
edge of the board that they entered on.
Game Length: 10 Game Turns.
Victory Conditions: If all four patrol boats exit off of the
mapboard, with no casualties incurred on any of them, by the end
of the game, it is an Automatic US Victory.
Otherwise, Standard Victory Conditions with the following
addition.
Destroyed or immobilized US Patrol Boat: 30 Victory Points
(Note: The NLF Player may only score points once for a Patrol
Boat even if it is both immobilized and destroyed during a game.)
SCENARIO FOUR: Defense of Phnom-Penh
In 1975 as the government of South Vietnam was falling to the
NLF, the government in neighboring Cambodia was falling to the
Khmer-Rouge. Here the Cambodian government forces attempt to stop
the infiltration of Khmer-Rouge units into the outskirts of
Phnom-Penh.
Government Player Forces: Twelve Infantry Squads (Attack Strength
1), 1 Company Commander, 2 APC's.
Deployment: Sets up first anywhere northwest of the river
starting in hex 3201 and ending in hex 0117. May set
up in improved positions. Sets up first. Move second.
Additional Government Firepower: None.
Khmer-Rouge Player Forces: One Company Cadre unit (with Sappers),
Two Platoon Cadre (each with RPG-7),
Twelve VC Militia Squads, Twelve
Dummies.
Deployment: Sets up second anywhere south and east of the river
starting in hex 3201 and ending in hex 0117. Units
set up inverted. Move first.
Additional Khmer-Rouge Firepower: None.
Special Rules: None.
Game Length: 10 Game Turns.
Victory Conditions: Khmer-Rouge Player decides in writing after
both sides have set up, but before the beginning of the game,
which of the following Victory Conditions he intends to fulfill
by the end of the game.
A. Exit six units (not Dummies) off of the board between hexes
0109 and 2201 (inclusive). Must reveal units when exiting.
B. Inflict 30 casualties on the Government Player Forces without
incurring more than 20 casualties on his own forces.
Choice is revealed at the end of the game. If the Khmer-Rouge
Player fulfills his chosen Victory Condition, he wins. If he
fails, the Government Player wins.
SCENARIO FIVE: Koh Tang
Only days after the Khmer-Rouge officially took power in
Cambodia, the new government's forces kidnapped the 39-man crew
of the S.S. Mayaguez, an American freighter in disputed waters.
US Marines invaded the island of Koh Tang in the belief
(incorrect as it turned out) that the crew was being held there.
The island's defenders fought back viciously as the Marines
attempted to form a perimeter and search for the kidnapped
civilians.
US Player Forces: Two Companies (no ARVN Intelligence Teams),
One Battalion Commander.
Deployment: Helidrops anywhere in the southwest quarter of the
mapboard. Move first.
Additional US Firepower: None.
Khmer-Rouge Player Forces: Two Mixed Companies (Company Cadre
unit has nothing special), Fifteen
Dummies.
Deployment: Sets up inverted in any Forest, Treeline, or Building
hexes. Move second.
Additional Khmer-Rouge Firepower: None.
Special Rule: Ignore the presence of the rivers. Treat all Clear
hexes as Broken Terrain hexes.
Game Length: 15 Game Turns.
Victory Conditions: Standard Victory Conditions.
SCENARIO SIX: Khmer-Rouge versus the RGV.
Not long after the Mayaguez Incident, the islands of the Gulf of
Siam again became a battleground as the Communist revolutionaries
of Vietnam and Cambodia took to fighting among themselves over
possible petroleum deposits in the offshore islands. The
Communist Vietnamese were assisted by former South Vietnamese Air
Force pilots flying US built aircraft.
Vietnamese Player Forces: One NVA Company, One VC Company, One
Forward Observer, (Company Cadre units
each have Sappers).
Deployment: Enter anywhere , face up, along the East edge of the
mapboard. Move first.
Additonal Vietnamese Firepower: Two Airstrikes.
Khmer-Rouge Player Forces: One Mixed Company (Company Cadre unit
has nothing special), Ten Dummies.
Deployment: Set up, inverted, anywhere west of the 3700 hexrow.
Move second.
Additional Khmer-Rouge Firepower: None.
Special Rules:
1. Ignore the presence of River hexsides. Treat all Clear hexes
as Broken terrain hexes.
2. Khmer-Rouge Player may set up ambush markers.
3. Vietnamese units must use Search Rules [12.0].
4. Vietnamese units may not be inverted at the end of the Game
Turn. They remain face up the entire game.
5. Khmer-Rouge Player receives 50 Victory Points for each
Airstike used against his forces.
Game Length: 15 Game Turns.
Victory Conditions: Standard Victory Conditions except that both
sides use the NLF Victory Point values.