Back in Black - Men of Company B AAR

My wife and I were visiting family this past weekend up in New Jersey, which gave me the chance to swing by the SJGA meeting at their new location.

The club was running two games; Konflikt 47 and Men of Company B. Ted and Chip were running the Vietnam game, so I joined that one. 

I have played Men of Company B only once in the far distant past, which I recall enjoying. 

The scenario was a standard search-and-destroy mission by an American platoon, with a number of Viet Cong squads hoping to thwart the American's goals. The American platoon was accompanied by a pair of M48 Patton tanks. 

The Americans came on group together on one side of the table, searching through the villages.

As the VC squads only start with two teams and need to recruit from the local villages, they came on the opposite side of the table from the Americans and began bolstering their strength.

The American players quickly discovered several important supply caches. The VC players (including myself) were worried that the game would be over rather quickly if the Americans kept up their success!

With enough recruited villages, the VC began a tentative advance on one of the outlying American squads. 

They would have to deal with the reinforcing M48s, however, who could easily outrange the VC's close-range anti-tank weapons. 

The M48s advanced, supported by a squad of American infantry. 

The third American platoon also deployed, pinning down one of the VC sqauds. With half of the village squares on the table explored and looted, the VC players needed to keep the Americans out of these squares to have any hope of winning.

Credit goes to Sam for keeping this village out of American hands for the entirety of the game! 

That hope was reduced further when a combination of tank and infantry fire from the Americans ripped into the advancing VC squad. As only the squad leader was left, he quickly disappeared into the terrain to try his luck elsewhere. 

That luck would come in the next turn. Another VC squad that had disappeared early in the game was able to redeploy behind the Americans as the tanks and infantry advanced out of the searched villages. This allowed the VC squad to ambush the American platoon command team, wiping them out and recapturing the highest priority cache in the process. 

Suddenly the American platoon found itself out of command and trapped between two VC squads. 

Realizing that their captured caches were in danger, the advancing Americans were forced to turn around and recapture the villages they had left. 

Deadly American firepower ripped into a number of VC squads that had suddenly appeared in the absence of the American infantry squads. 

The game ended with a decisive assault by Ryan with an American infantry platoon, forcing the VC squad with the high priority cache to abandon it and retreat.

At the end of the game, it turned out that the Americans had won by 17 points, and the high priority cache had scored them 18! Had the VC (i.e., me) not been blinded by the chance to take out another American squad and instead retreated, that may have changed the end result. Instead, it was a Proper Victory for the Americans, with the Viet Cong forced to retreat having lost several squads. 

While the Second World War is generally as far as I'm comfortable playing wargames with, I do enjoy the asymmetrical gameplay of the Men of Company B rules. It's an interesting conundrum for both sides; the Americans need to get in and out quickly, and also try to destroy any VC squads entirely before they can disappear and pop up elsewhere on the table. For the Viet Cong, they have to take the time to recruit and gather their strength, and they're always going to be fighting uphill with raw recruits and less firepower. It's a balancing act between knowing when to risk an opportunity and when to run away and conserve your strength.

As always with Ted and Chip, a great game. And it was nice to see the SJGA thriving in their new location!

Surfing Lessons - Men of Company B AAR

This past weekend I attended the monthly meetup of the South Jersey Confederation of Wargamers. While the weather had turned down attendance, there were enough of us to get in a game of Men of Company B. 

The scenario was a search and destroy mission. The Americans would need to make their way through the table and search the villages for Low, High, and #1 priority targets. Meanwhile, the VC would need to slow the Americans down and cause as many casualties as possible.

The Americans came on with two platoons of infantry and a command element. While the commander tromped through rice paddies, the two platoons searched the villages and then hunkered down.

One group of VC appeared in a village and began recruiting villagers.

As did another group of VC on the opposite side of the table.

The Americans attempted to advance, but a failed attempt to move into a square of bamboo left them exposed.

Another unit of VC appeared at the far side of the table and recruited civilians. Meanwhile, the VC at the upper edge moved into the jungle closest to the American commander and opened fire. One stand fell, but the leader managed to escape injury.

With the game clock quickly winding down, the Americans received reinforcements - a pair of tank units that rolled onto the road. The American infantry shifted position, moving away from the VC in the woods.

A failed activation roll meant that the VC couldn't do much, apart from retreat back into the village.

The Americans advanced on a wide front, with another infantry platoon moving onto the table. An artillery strike from the American commander hammered the two VC units in the north village, killing both leaders and reducing one unit down to two stands.

The VC had another squad appear in the village behind the American's position, which failed to do any damage. The VC unit that had been reduced to two stands dissipated into the jungle.

Pushing forwards, the Americans launched an attack on the south village, managing to reduce the VC unit there by a stand, but taking two casualties in return.

The VC pulled of a daring gamble, with the two stand unit reappearing behind the Americans and launching an assault on the American command unit. The assault failed to cause any casualties, but it did chase the American commander out of cover.

The VC unit in the south village retreated, not liking their odds against the American armor units.

The Americans managed to chase the VC out of the brush with an assault. The VC lost another stand, but managed to hang on. A failed artillery strike left the Americans stranded in the center.

Unfortunately, the VC weren't able to take advantage of the American's stalled efforts. Some small arms fire was exchanged, and the VC unit in the center of the field went down to try and survive the incoming fire. 

Unfortunately, the American tanks turned and opened fire on the VC unit, wiping it out and opening up the center of the table. The American continued searching as quickly as they could, causing civilian casualties in the process with their ruthless interrogations. 

A failed attempt to shoot twice from one of the VC units ended any attempt to counter the Americans' efforts.

With the last turn, the American conducted more searches, turning up the #1 and the last High priority targets.

This was enough to give the Americans a Proper Victory, with the VC retreating in disarray.

This was my first time playing a ruleset from Peter Pig, and I had fun doing so. It definitely makes picking up some of their other games, like Square Bashing or Battles in the Age of War, an easier prospect.