Campaign Series Vietnam - YouTube

**Jason Petho** · 10-09-2023, 10:05 AM,

That was an interesting scenario. I played through Operation Chopper to the end. Alas, I ran into a few situations where I lost significant numbers of helicopters and my Birddog. What does that mean? Well, I lost something fierce because it, even though I was well warned about it. I did find the HQ, but didn't have the forces to take it out. After that we started the Battle of U Minh Forest. An early war scenario where I have command of a handful of ARVN battalions and we are tasked with rooting out the Viet Cong U-Minh Battalion.

**Jason Petho** · 10-16-2023, 09:24 AM,

All my positive vibes in the world don't seem to be helping my ARVN troops as they attempt to push into the U Minh Forest. I have a lot of troops to assist with the assault, but alas, they are struggling to gain some ground. Surprisingly enough, I haven't lost any helicopters. My Hogs are providing some excellent fire support thus far, I just wish I had more of them. It's a slog, but a fun battle nevertheless! There are some valuable tactical lessons to be learned in the swamps.

**Big Ivan** · 10-16-2023, 09:27 AM,

and the Hogs are flying in the wind!! Whip

**Jason Petho** · 10-23-2023, 08:24 AM,

We spent the session playing this to the end. Well. Wow. Just wow. There are some great lessons that were learned in this playthrough. The most important lesson is the quality of Rangers compared to ARVN regulars in this scenario. Knowing what I know now, I would definitely make sure they were the primary battalion into the forest instead of the ARVN regulars that were on the airfield at the start of the scenario. Generally it was a very difficult scenario. Impossible? No, but definitely a challenge and a half. I look forward to trying this one again in the future.

**Jason Petho** · 10-30-2023, 09:42 AM,

A new scenario. The Swarm: The battle of Dong Xoai. This is a small scenario over a wide space. Helicopter management and following instructions are important. The first half of the scenario has gone better than I had hoped, so that's good. Well, it did. I have lost part of the CIDG camp, but the Viet Cong around Dong Xoai have taken a terrible toll. On the other hand, the Viet Cong battalions in the other areas are causing me some terrible grief. Losses are mounting.

**Jason Petho** · 11-06-2023, 11:53 AM,

Assault after assault against the penetration of the Viet Cong in the Dong Xoai CIDG Camp. This really shows how the quality of troops makes all the difference in effective campaigning. On the bright side, things are going much better for the ARVN, especially as we have Rangers on the ground now south of Dong Xoai. They are AWESOME! Well, keeping things in perspective compared to the rest of the troops.

**Jason Petho** · 11-13-2023, 11:11 AM,

We wrapped up the scenario today, it was actually really well. We rocked it! I then started another scenario, a 1964 scenario - Battle of Mo Cay, where I am playing the ARVN against a Viet Cong ambush. In between the two scenarios, we had a chat and I was showing some things that are coming and what I am working on. It's worth a look and you might find it quite interesting. The new battle is, well, a mess, but I'm having fun so far. My reinforcements are now just released - thankfully!

**Jason Petho** · 11-20-2023, 10:11 AM,

Seems like it was a good day to play in the Mekong today. The tide turned in the ARVN favour - for once - and I was successful at holding Mo Cay. Well, realistically, I lost nearly two companies of troops to an ambush, but the news won't mention that part. After we finished that, we went to the Ia Drang and landed at LZ X-RAY as it was a fitting session due to the anniversary of the battle this week. We played through the first half, making essential decisions and finding out if they were all for naught.

**Jason Petho** · 11-27-2023, 08:45 AM,

We completed the first Ia Drang scenario. Alas, I suffered some serious casualties including a few helicopters and a headquarters. That turned the tides for me suffering a defeat. We were successful in defeating the NVA assaults though, I was pleased with how that went. We started up the 2nd Ia Drang scenario, which we are holding our own thus far. We suffered an intense attack and lost a couple of platoons and leader, but the landing zone is holding. I'm forever grateful for the gunships, those are what is keeping me alive.

**Jason Petho** · 12-04-2023, 08:39 AM,

Campaign Series Vietnam: It was an efficient day today! We finished off Broken Arrow, played through the ambush of LZ Albany and then started The Vice. Ia Drang was an intense fight, it is always curious to see how the NVA will attack in LZ Albany, I had some losses, but I held on pretty well. We started The Vice and I have a mixed force of US Marines and South Korean Marines. It looks like it will be a challenging and fun scenario! I'm intrigued how the South Koreans are doing, they are quite fun to play with!