The Great Rice Hunt for "Charlie Don't Surf!"

 Today I had the pleasure of joining Jim Owczarski and his Panache Wargamers for a game of Charlie Don't Surf using Tabletop Simulator. This was my first time using TTS to play wargames and I can't believe I've been sleeping on this aspect of wargaming for this entire time. It was fun and much easier to learn than I thought it would be. The user interface and controls were simple to grasp, and moving models was faster than it would be in real life. 

The rules for Charlie Don't Surf are also very flavorful and fun. Unfortunately these are company level rules, meaning I can't really play it because I find company level games too large for my 28mm collection. The board would be too cramped and there wouldn't be much room for tactical maneuver. Although I've been thinking I might try to adapt it for 28mm platoon level play where instead of controlling a squad as your smallest element, you're moving 2-3 man buddy teams instead.

The game makes heavy use of blinds. In the scenario we played, all units deployed as blinds with a few dummy blinds added so the opponent wouldn't know if a blind was enemy or nothing. It's a mechanic I like a lot, especially for a Vietnam War setting, where remaining hidden, or actually having to find your enemy played a critical role.

The basic mechanic of the game is the action dice system. Each squad has a set number of action dice depending on how many models are in the squad. You use each dice to perform actions, so for example if your squad has 4 action dice, it can use 2 dice to move, 1 dice to fire, and then the last dice to hunker down. Taking casualties can reduce the number of action dice a squad has.

The game also has rules for ambush fire and shoot and scoot. In ambush fire, if a Communist blind fires, it does not deploy immediately, and instead places a "Fired" marker. The targeted side still has to spot the blind in order to shoot back, although it is easier to spot because the blind has fired. The firing blind does not have to deploy its units unless it fires a second time or is spotted, the firing unit can also choose to move its blind away, moving the blind away removes the "Fired" market and removes the spotting bonus the other side would've gotten, allowing your blinds to shoot and scoot. That is a mechanic that I absolutely love and think is very appropriate for Vietnam.

 

Like all Too Fat Lardies game's here is also a system of rally shock and "Command and Control" which makes the presence of leader units vital. Medics also play a vital role in the game  as they can stabilize a casualty until CASEVAC helicopters arrive. Normally scoring a kill would award the enemy side points, but CASEVAC'ing negates those points, so the mechanic is useful to gameplay along with being flavorful.

There are also rules for civilian interactions, VC tunnels, political victory conditions alongside military victory conditions, Special Forces, riverine warfare, babysitting attached news crews, traps, artillery, air strikes, helicopters/gunships, VC/NVA dragging away their casualties, and more.

I took the US 3rd platoon, alongside Giorgio and Achilles, and opposing us would be the Communist forces controlled by Velkar and OJ.

We only played for about 2 hours, so have not finished the game yet, but it's been a bit of a blood bath so far. 

Achille's forces on the right had one squad take heavy contact and is in danger of breaking. 

On my and Georgio's side of the table, we managed to catch the NVA 2nd platoon out of position and dealt severe casualties to all their squads.

I think that I have my side of the table contained, and my hope is that artillery and air support will help contain Achille's side of the table. He's only taken casualties to one squad as opposed to the NVA players getting an entire platoon mauled so I'm hoping we are at an advantage at the moment, and our fire support will be able to tip things further in our favor.

Unfortunately I won't be able to find out until next Saturday, when Jim plays again. I should be free that day so I can't wait to join.

I also have to get my new 15mm Vietnam collection done because I really enjoyed these rules, these actually might be the best set of Vietnam War games I've ever played. Can't wait to play them at the club and conventions.

If you're interested in watching the entire match, Jim streams his TTS games on his channel and you can find a link to the match below, the video is the first game of CDS we played and it also covers basic introduction to the rules. You'll find many other Charlie Don't Surf videos using TTS on his channel under the "Live" section, along with lots of Napoleonics and WW2 games.