NAM Nationalist Forces – Part 1 The PAVN Battalion & Special Rules

by NDNG-Dane and Tom Burgess

Welcome Comrades,

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BRIEFING

The new ‘NAM  book provides a lot of options for the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN). In fact, the North Vietnam Forces could have easily have been divided and printed solely as a Communist Forces in Vietnam book.  The Politburo has directed that we brief you on our glorious and loyal forces battling the Capitalist foes in the South. We will do so in to four separate briefings so that you may better understand each.

‘NAM provides the Nationalist player lists for:

• PAVN Infantry Battalion/Company
• Special Tasks Battalion/ Company
• Local Forces Infantry Battalion/Company
• K-1 (T-35/85) Ironclad Battalions/Company
• K-2 (T-54) Ironclad Battalions/Company
• K-3 (PT-76) Ironclad Battalions/Company
• and a Mechanized Infantry Company (BTR-50)

In this first article of the series, we will look at the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) Infantry Battalion Formation.

This was the original opposing force published in the Wargames Illustrated “Ia Drang” articles and despite the later publication of more force options for Nationalist players, it remains their bread & butter formation and a favorite. The core PAVN Battalion formation essentially has the same composition in ‘NAM as we saw in earlier Vietnam Flames of War publications. What has changed is the relative cost and the unit statistics.

The PAVN (North Vietnamese Regulars) were previously rated as Fearless Trained. Under the new ‘NAM  statistics, they retain a Fearless 3+ rating for Morale, Rally, and Counterattack, so no effective change there. Their Assault is 4+, so they hit in close combat as well as they used to. What has changed is their Skill which is now 5+. This means they PAVN regulars will not execute movement orders or range in artillery/rockets/mortars very well. Given the nature of the terrain on your typical Vietnam battlefield almost always causing a +1 range-in modifier, this may mean that a”6″ will be required to successfully range in. This is probably very realistic given the difficulty PAVN artillery had in bringing fire on anything other than static positions.

Given the above, the PAVN forces must be considered to be a bit less effective overall than they were in Tour of Duty. However, this is compensated for by a reduction in the relative cost. A full PAVN Company in Tour of Duty had 13 AK-47 teams, nine B40 RPG teams, and three LMG teams at a cost of 545 points. This was 36% of a standard 1500 point PAVN force in Tour of Duty. In ‘NAM the same company is 21 points in a standard 100 point PAVN force, so 21% of the total force cost. Basically, the relative cost of a full PAVN Company has dropped by 42% going from Tour of Duty to ‘NAM.  Couple this with the ability to tale multiple formations in ‘NAM and Nationalist Player will be able to field more than one Battalion and thus get more of the key Battalion weapons units like Recoilless Rifles, mortars, HMGs, Bunkers, and Anti-Aircraft assets.

The LMGs in’NAM are now mandatory in the PAVN Company. They also have a 3+ save now. There is an option to upgrade the B40 RPGs to the longer range and more powerful B41 RPGs. This upgrade is the only thing that I have found to be comparatively more expensive ‘NAM than it was in Tour of Duty. In Tour of Duty, it used to cost 60pts to upgrade all RPGs in a full PAVN infantry company (4% of a 1500 points Tour of Duty PAVN force). But under ‘NAM that same upgrade is now one point per team. This means upgrading a full PAVN infantry company will cost a total of 9 points (9% of a 100 point Tour of Duty PAVN force). The comparative price is twice what it used to be. I guess I’ll be sticking with the B40s.

The next unit in the PAVN Battalion formation we will look at is the Machine-Gun Platoon. Previously this was part of the PAVN Battalion HQ, which meant that they could cross-attach to the infantry companies. Under ‘NAM they are a 2 point unit (2% of a 100 point V4 force) for three HMGs where previously they were 75 points for all three HMGs (5% of a 1500 point V3 force). HMGs now have a 3+ save under ‘NAM. Their Assault rating is now a 6+, so they will not hold up will in close combat. So a 60% reduction in relative cost, with a worse save, and a loss of tactical flexibility and close combat effectiveness. In the end, they still do their primary mission at a reduced relative cost.

In Tour of Duty, each of the Battalion HQ HMGs could be swapped out for a Machine-Gun Bunker. In ‘NAM the Nationalist players can also swap an HMG platoon for HMG nests. At just 2 points for three nests (2% of a 100 point V4 force) as compared to the previous 180 points (12% of a 1500 point V3 force).

You must take no less than three Machine Gun Bunkers if you take any in ‘NAM, whereas, in Tour of Duty, you choose to take one, two, or three. So Machine-Gun nests seem a much better value than they were in Tour of Duty but this must be tempered by the realization that in ‘NAM each bunker lost gives up a Political Victory Point. In Tour of Duty, it took three bunkers destroyed to lose a Political Victory Point. So buyer-beware, your bunkers are much cheaper now but will cost three times the Political Victory Points if all three are lost.

The PAVN Battalion in ‘NAM still has a Type 53 82mm Mortar Platoon available at 2 points for three tubes, or 4 points for six tubes. If attacking dug-in Free World Infantry Forces these will be a key asset with their repeat bombardment benefits, though these will be harder to range in now with the 5+ Skill. What’s gone is the Type 53 82mm Mortars that use to be available in the Battalion HQ. In Tour of Duty, a PAVN player could take three there, and then three or six in a separate mortar platoon but ‘NAM only has the separate mortar platoon as an option.

To help deal with those pesky Free World helicopters, the PAVN Battalion in ‘NAM  has the 12.7mm Anti-air Platoon with three guns teams at 2 points. This is comparably cheaper than the 65 points of the same platoon under the Tour of Duty. Again with the 3+ save that ‘NAM gives these teams this unit is much more cost-effective. As with Tour of Duty, the PAVN Battalion in ‘NAM can take two of these platoons as formation units.

The Type 52 75mm Recoilless Rifle provides some stand-off Anti-Tank capability for the PAVN battalion. As with the mortars, they come as a unit of three guns at 2 points and now have the much better 3+ save. Also, like the mortars, the recoilless rifles are no longer a Battalion HQ option. Also, ‘NAM  only allows a single separate unit of three guns, whereas Tour of Duty gave three and six gun options.

This may not be as much as issues as ‘NAM  allows multiple formations to be taken and has made the PAVN force comparatively cheaper, so more battalions can mean more battalion weapons platoons such as Machine-Guns platoons, mortars platoons, anti-air platoons, and recoilless rifle platoons. The range of the 75mm recoilless rifle has been reduced from 24″ to 20″ but the guns also now have HEAT which will help them maintain their punch past 16.”

There is one more unit available as a formation unit in the PAVN Infantry Battalion. This is the Special Task Company manned by sappers. In Tour of Duty this was a single weapons company choice. In ‘NAM one Special Task Company can be taken as a formation unit, and a second one can be taken as a support choice. I will describe this unit in an upcoming article when we cover the Special Task Battalion formation.

Finally, the PAVN Battalion HQ can add up to six  Booby Traps at one point each. These work the same way as they did previously.

Nationalist Special Rules

The special rules that the ‘NAM PAVN force has are similar but exactly not the same as they were in Tour of Duty. Some rules have changed and some redundant rules are completely gone now.

Charlie Owns the Night – In Tour of Duty this allowed the Nationalist player to choose to make a Night Attack in any mission that was not a meeting engagement. In ‘NAM  the Nationalist player can only elect to make a night attack in missions where the defender has minefields. As best as I can tell in ‘NAM this applies only to the Blocking Force mission or the Firebase Assault mission if the defenders have completed defenses. I saw no reference to using forces from ‘NAM in standard Team Yankee or Flames of War missions.

Guerrilla Fighters – This rule used to be Guerrilla Deployment but it works the same way.

Guerrilla Reserves – This is no longer an overall special rule, though its effects are still part of the Stand Up Fight, Search and Destroy, Bunker Complex, and Firebase Assault missions.

Born in the North to Die in the South – This rule has changed from its incarnation in Tour of Duty. Previously when a company (unit) with this special rule was destroyed on the table, it automatically went back into reserves for redeployment using Guerrilla Reserves. In ‘NAM the destroyed company (unit) must now pass a morale check to go back in reserves, otherwise, it is permanently destroyed. This rule applies to just the PAVN and Local Force infantry companies and to some extent makes the PAVN and Local Force Battalion less effective. But in both cases, the 3+ unit morale will help make sure this occurs less frequently.

Voluntary Withdraw – This rule lets the Nationalist player pull a PAVN or Local Forces off the board before it is destroyed. When doing this in Tour of Duty, a withdrawn unit was counted as destroyed for company morale checks if it failed a morale check. This really would not make sense in ‘NAM  with the way Formation Good Spirits is determined in the new morale rules, so now the unit is simply destroyed, adding a Battle Point to the Free World players total.

Heart of the Revolution – This rule from Tour of Duty has been dropped in ‘NAM.  It is no longer necessary in ‘NAM, as units in reserves count towards Formation Good Spirits anyway.

Quick Advance – This rule that let Nationalist infantry and gun teams move at the double through Rough Terrain and Night is gone now. This has been replaced by the terrain dash speed in ‘NAM, which for the Nationalist infantry and guns is the same as their tactical speed. This might look like a loss of mobility for these units but with the normal tactical moves being longer for infantry in ‘NAM and the 3+ morale making Follow Me orders more reliable the Nationalist player will not feel any loss here.

Recoilless – There is no change to this rule in ‘NAM.

RPG Salvo – In Tour of Duty this rule let B40 and B41 RPGs that did not move reroll misses. It’s completely gone now which makes the upgrading of B40’s to B41’s even more dubious. This is too bad as it would have been interesting to try to combine RPG Salvo with a Blitz order even though this would only succeed on a 5+.

Vietnamese Bunkers – This rule let HMG Nests in Tour of Duty to be kept in ambush and  deployed from ambush anywhere on the board. This rule clearly did not make sense in missions like Firebase Assault. This made HMG Bunkers in Tour of Duty a very useful choice, but the rule is gone in ‘NAM. Now bunkers deploy as independent teams, but if they go in ambush they will count as one of your allocations for an ambush.

The Imperialist are coming!

 

Conclusions

Overall the ‘NAM  PAVN Battalion formation is a solid choice that still provides the unique and exciting wargaming experiences in Tour of Duty. Though some of its special rules have been cut or have reduced benefits, the lower comparable unit costs, the greater flexibility that formations and forces allow in ‘NAM all combine to make the PAVN Battalion Formation an even stronger force on the table.

Next up…we will look at the Local Forces Battalion and Special Task Battalion formations.

Until next time Comrade!