Vietnam 1967 Mekong River Wargame

This week on Little Wars TV we travel up Vietnam's Mekong River in September 1967 to refight the Battle of the Rac Ba Rai. Part of Operation Coronado V, this combined-arms attack would forever be known as the Battle of Snoopy's Nose by American troops who likened the sharp bend in the river to the iconic cartoon. Before our wargame, Tom and Tony discuss the development of the Mobile Riverine Force and set the stage for September 1967. Then, five of our players refight this engagement on a stunning custom tabletop with hundreds of 15mm Battlefront figures. Will the Americans clear this sector of suspected VC forces, or can the Vietcong maintain a presence in the province?

A huge THANK YOU to Battlefront for collaborating with us on this spectacular episode. We love gaming 15mm Vietnam in the club and Battlefront makes some of the nicest figures available for the war. This episode has it all--Hueys, riverine monitors, APCs, bunkers, ambushes, and of course, some classic 1960s period music that will immediately transport you into the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta.

To learn more about Team Yankee, Nam, and Battlefront's 15mm range, visit them here:

We also want to thank our amazing Patreon supporters for helping us produce the best historical wargaming content we possibly can! We'll be back in the coming weeks with a Nam rule review and an interview with Dr. John Sherwood, author of "War in the Shallows."

[jacobantis]

I miss the old guys who played historical games at our local game store. They were so much fun and they always had unique models and lively settings.

[gaian]

That scene at 1:00 brought back memories. I was platoon RTO for 3rd platoon, Co E, 4/47th Bn, 2nd Bde, 9th Inf Div from the first week in May, 1968. I was a replacement for casualties from the Tet Offensive. I arrived in the middle of the May Offensive (VC/NVA attacking Saigon and lots of other towns again). May, 1968 had the most casualties of any month of the entire conflict but nobody talks much about that battle. At the end of May I was one of 12 survivors in 3rd platoon and an accepted combat veteran. We got replacements during June and July but were hit hard again in August during the Phase III Offensive. I know you have never heard of that one. I was finally wounded by an RPG-7 on 8/18/1968 in a river ambush, but was patched up in the field and finished the operation. We started out that day with 25 or 26 grunts. After the ambush I was one of the 4 who walked away from the ATC. We were hit regularly again for a while and I somehow survived until my platoon leader returned from the hospital and pulled me out of the field to work with him in S-2 brigade intelligence. I didn't think I would survive combat and just wanted it to be a quick death. Imagine my surprise to return home and start college in fall 1969. I love the models but probably wouldn't enjoy playing this game. I assembled a few of these miniatures and used the ATC number for the Tango I was on in that river ambush. I met the guy who was driving it, the boat captain and a few others who survived at an MRFA reunion in 2013. Thanks for keeping those days alive and remembering that we did our best.

[Jamiethedragon]

The revolutionary tips had me. Not even finished video and enjoying it loads.

[snipeefox]

I play a lot of battletech, but you guys are really convincing me to branch out into historical war gaming. This medevac mechanic is very interesting.
Would like to see more of this, and maybe some ww1 or civil war battles

[corbinnewman]

Always love the costumes and creativity and everything you guys bring to this channel. Would love to see more medieval or WWI aviation stuff!

[olympiangamers]

Even though Greg isn’t in front of the camera, you can see all the effort in the production, editing, and sound. Fantastic work from all involved, high quality videos like this are the best ambassadors for the hobby.

[michaeldecarlo]

Having grown up during the Vietnam War (HS class of 1974 - the last class to actually go down to a draft board and register for a draft card, which I still have) and as a gamer, I have always wanted to game that conflict, but haven’t made the investment. This was a great video that fed my interest and wetted my appetite for Vietnam War gaming. BTW, when I lived in Montgomery AL in 1981-83 I was a CW reenactor. In my ACW unit was a Navy Vietnam Veteran of the Mekong Riverine force stationed on the Cambodian border, protecting a helicopter barge. He told stories of standing watch at night, peering through a night scope and seeing the VC come down to the opposite riverbank to fire RPGs at the barge and parked helicopter. There’s a scenario!

[MiniatureGameMontage]

You guys are incredible! History, comedy, battle play, great music, sound effects and length. The table was stunning. The figures were well painted. Absolutely loved it!

[scottanderson]

This was fan-freaking-tastic! We used to do some Vietnam gaming back in the day, but our table never looked nearly as superb as this does. You can tell the love put into this terrain. Kudos to you guys on another great game and video (and the Revolutionary quotes by Comrade Ed were brilliant!). As for what to do next, would love to see a more in-depth terrain tutorial on this one, especially more on how you made the river; we are planning on doing Aspern-Essling in the future and would love to mimic this for the not-so-blue flooding Danube. Great stuff guys!

[conscript]

Just got to say, I love the detail terrian work and bomb and smoke additions. little things like that bring table top wargaming alive.

[caprikar]

That panning shot at 21:23 with the helicopters landing at White Beach and with Miles out of focus in the background was my favorite moment in a great video. I don't have a particular request for your future efforts. I mean, I wouldn't have picked a Vietnam battle, and here it is on my list of one of the top videos you've done. I trust your club's instincts! :-)

[danaskaggs]

Great game with awesome terrain and setup. The background before the game definitely adds a lot of flavor to the play through. This recipe that you guys use is highly entertaining. It would be interesting to see almost a full unedited version versus an edited version of one of your games. It would be great to see some more episodes that are based on pre gunpowder battles.

[DarkEmpireGames]

Haven't watched your channel in quite some time and was left with a big smile at the end of the video, thanks again for amazing content!

[benjaminloyd]

The sound effects and music accompanyment were great.

I really like battles with twists.

[_oldirtyben]

Unbelievable what a great atmosphere you have conjured up on the table.The whole video was excellently produced and the historical background was presented in a great way.

I really enjoyed it
Thank you all from LWTV for the Entertainment

[davidstanco]

I really liked the video. I thought it would be cool if you did more Vietnam games.

[v.paulbernardinoiii]

I agree with one of the other comments that this is by far you best yet. Though I may be biased. Tom, I hadn't realized when I played on the terrain at Historicon that the terrain could be reconfigured. OUTSTANDING!!!

[byronzeigler]

Thanks for sharing these videos. I have just started war gaming because of y’all. Thanks.

[jasonb]

This is exactly why I love your channel. A great game, great table and a superb well put together video. You all look like you genuinely had a great day. I must admit that I much prefer seeing your club games, and all the banter, than some of the other content (Caesars, other clubs etc though I appreciate that this is for the good of the hobby). I look forward to watching more in-house club games :-)

[caseymilstein-brennan]

Love seeing Veronica in more stuff!

Those ambushes were great.

I'd be happy to see more hidden unit battles and specifically Vietnam era scenarios. Really has a lot of planning for both sides going in which is really fun to watch!