January 11th/January 20th - 2nd Squad Sees Action

I had a new player so we rolled up the 2nd Squad of our Platoon. We ended up with the following Stars:

Sgt. Samson
Rep: 5
Attributes: Unlucky, Marksman

Pvt. Walther
M-79
Rep: 5
Attributes: Quick Reflexes, Born Leader

Rest of squad:
Corporal Benton (Rep 3, Slow)
PFC. Siever on the M60 (Rep 3, Dumbass)
Pvt. Peters M79 (Rep 5, Lucky)
Pvt. Bama (Rep 3, Crack shot)

Yes, only 6 members (we rolled a 1 to see how large our squad was). On top of that we have an M60 with the Dumbass attribute - which means he won't activate roughly half the time when he otherwise would. If it's even possible, it looks like we were setup to have an ever tougher time than 1st Squad's previous mission.

January 11th - Campaign Turn 1
Our first mission was set in the first campaign turn, two days after 1st Squad's horrific outing. We made contact, and were assigned a Recon mission in the Interior. To our surprise the EAL ended up being 1 with a Support Level of 3! We had a free Helicopter mission we could call in and only had a single PEF and PC to deal with.

The PEF was roughly half the table distance away (in a Bamboo thicket) while the PC was at the far end of the table near a cluster of Rice Paddies.

The Rep 1 PEF lurks in the grove

With only 12 turns (plus the possibility of additional turns based on a D6 roll) we had to book it quickly to reveal both targets. Pushing through double canopy with a Slow NCO and a Dumbass M60 made for poor travel. It took us far too long to get into LOS of the PEF and we had no help as it did not move the entire game (due to its Rep/EAL of 1).

When we finally spotted the PEF, it ended up being just noise and no enemy contact.

Meanwhile, the PC did manage to move towards us, crossing the dikes of a Rice Paddy

Moving full speed we made contact with the PC, revealing a hooch in the distance and not an enemy to be found. Alas, there would not be enough time to get out and successfully complete the mission. While it's believed Lt. Steele's demotion was already in motion, this mission certainly did not aid his case as his Platoon continued to struggle to make a positive impact on the war.

January 20th - 2nd Campaign Turn

2nd Squad was given the opportunity to redeem itself after receiving bad intel and chasing shadows through the jungle earlier in the month. The second mission would be a Fight in the Coastal AO. EAL and SL were both 2 on this mission.

The squad emerged onto the battlefield in the middle of a bamboo grove, not far from an isolated group of buildings and Rice Paddies. Civillians were working the fields while the American squad pushed through their bamboo cover.




Due to the low EAL (2), we only had a single PEF on the table which deployed behind one of the hooches overlooking the Rice Paddies.




Moving as quick as possible to conserve time (12 turn limit again), the squad pushed hard towards the isolated remnant of civilization. The lone PEF proved rather active this go around, pushing forward into a Paddy and taking cover against one of the dikes.

When our platoon emerged at the edge of the bamboo forest, the PEF was revealed to be a lone Rep 5 NVA Sniper. He won the In Sight and utilized his trusty SKS as he dropped Savard (a fresh recruit). After a violent exchange of fire, Sgt. Samson pushed to the front and unleashed a wall of 5.56mm rounds cutting the lone NVA gunman down.



We confirmed the kill and then high-tailed it home. All seemed well until Benton tripped a booby trap in the bamboo grove, resulting in a large explosion that also claimed Johnson's life (another FNG replacement).



Rough outing again as we lost 3 men and killed a lone NVA sniper.

Random Thoughts

I'm digging FNG2T. I'm really liking the unpredictability of the enemy and there's a palpable tension on the table when encountering PEFs and rolling up Random Events.

It is worth noting that these two missions made me mildly concerned with the EAL system. By rolling 2D6 and taking the lowest, you will have a 1 or 2 EAL more than 50% of the time. With that low an EAL it seems like it would be impossible to string together successful missions with any regularity. Most missions require you to kill or capture the enemy in order to score VP. You need a minimum of 8 VP to secure a normal victory, otherwise the mission result is bad or horrible.

When the EAL is so low it makes it more likely that the PEF is going to be either nothing or possibly a PC. PC's are more likely than PEF's to have no enemy forces.

Also, lower EAL means less PEFs on the table at start. Which makes it easier to survive but again, harder to score VPs since there are less enemies to kill.

I'm not saying this is a problem, just an observation at this point. We're not gaming 'Nam with the expectation to win the war so no complaints here.