Nam: Reviewed and Spoiled

Next month Battlefront will release the book ‘Nam, which covers the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1972. This book is a significant release for many reasons; it not only covers previous titles that covered the conflict; it also ushers in what will be a standard rules set for all Battlefront games and expands the forces that you can play with. While the Vietnam period may not be your thing (this will change) it shows us the way ahead for future releases and how they will link with one another. This book was released in a partnership with Osprey Press and this collaboration will also be behind the upcoming re-releases of Fate of a Nation and The Great War.

After I received the book I asked the folks at Battlefront a few big questions. The first was about the rules; we heard that Battlefront was looking to standardize the rules to all of their games (Flames, Team Yankee, etc) and was ‘Nam the blueprint?

As it turns out it will be the template for all of their games. I will go into the rules a bit later.

The other question was about the future plan to make ‘Nam compatible to the re-do of Fate of a Nation.  Will I be able to play my Israeli forces against the Viet Cong? The answer was yes, these two conflicts (which take place during the same period) will be compatible with each other.

Rules
The book is much more than a collection of lists and history, it also includes the entire set of rules needed to play the game.

Our NDNG experts did some quick comparisons to both Version 4 and Team Yankee. Aside from some minor rules, ‘Nam is a mirror of Flames of War Version 4, with a few exceptions.

The rules it takes from Team Yankee deal with aircraft (called Strike Aircraft) and how anti-aircraft artillery works. The Danger Close rule is taken from Team Yankee. Also borrowed from Team Yankee is the rule that transports cannot be sent to the rear. These changes make sense because of how differently wars were fought 30 years after WWII.

The Special Rules section of the book really gives you the flavor of the period. Many of these rules are from Team Yankee or Version 4. Some, however, are very cool additions. Rules such as Firebase, NLF Night Attack, Resistance Fighters give “Nam a unique feel.

A few of the previous ‘Nam special rules are gone. I did not see rules such as Beehive nor Flechette Ammo. The new rules as they stand, however, really are streamlined and you won’t notice what is missing from the previous version. Of course, you get a bunch of new rules for the iconic machine of the Vietnam War, the helicopter.

The US Forces in ‘Nam

US Players get a lot to choose from in this book. The US Army is well represented with forces from the 1st Cavalry, 11th Armored Cavalry (Blackhorse) and the 25th Infantry in the game. Each of these gives you at least two formations with the 25th Infantry having four lists you can choose from.

The US Department of Navy is also well represented with US Marines and Riverine forces.

Support options are ample and you can take ARVN and ANZAC troops in support.

 The Hosts; ARVN Forces in ‘Nam

Once again ‘Nam gives you a lot to choose from. The book has formations from ARVN Infantry, Airborne and Armored Cavalry units as well as the South’s version of Riverines. They also get good support options and they can also take support from the US or ANZAC forces.

The ANZAC’s

Many folks do not know that the US and South Vietnam did not fight the war on their own. Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines are just some of the nations to deploy troops to stem the tide of communism.

In ‘Nam you can field either an Australian or a New Zealand infantry force, and an armor and Cavalry unit. The Diggers are different from the Kiwi’s and have better courage ratings and can take a single tank in its HQ element.

The Men from the North, and South

 The other side of the wire features the Peoples Army of Vietnam and Local Forces, the local forces represent the National Liberation Front or Viet Cong who were communists who lived in the south. While the free world lists have a lot of variety which represents how they fought in the actual war, the communist forces have less variety which is also historical.

PAVN forces are either infantry or armor formations and do not contain any of the local force units, however the NLF formation can take some PAVN units to support them.

The support options are also not as varied as the free world forces and they have no air support, once again the book stays true to history.

The Rest
The book has unique missions which really makes it a different game from both Team Yankee and Flames of War. The book also includes a chart where you can record victory points which is something I hope other releases have.

In addition, the familiar detailed painting guides for the forces are included.

Thoughts
I will be honest, I have never really did more than play a demo game of the previous books on Vietnam. It was not that it was a bad game, it just wasn’t my thing and few folks that I knew played from my area the game.

The new “Nam book, however, is making me re-think my previous reluctance and pick up a force to play ‘Nam.

This book is tight. It covers anything you would want to play in a game that re-creates the war in Vietnam. I wish Version 4 for mid-war came out with such a complete book that covers so many nations and did not rely on cards to give you the full experience that many of us desire.

One thing I do wonder is how long it will take me to collect an army; the number of units and weapons cover sixteen pages of different box sets. So, one could hope that they quickly release the dozens of SKUs that serious players would want to collect. History tells us different but ‘Nam is a different type of book that is a step that we in the hobby will enjoy.

I feel this book is a solid hit and shows us that Battlefront is listening to the gamers. I hope to see you at a table to play a game of ‘Nam!