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Nam 69Simple Rules for Multiple Players

Introduction

These rules are based around company level actions in the Vietnam

conflict and are designed to involve multiple players and achieve a

result in a few hours.

They are deliberately very simple, allowing players to create their own

detail or interpretation as required. The game has been designed for

quick play with the minimum use of tables or requirement for dice

rolling. The emphasis is on speed which in larger games is often more

desirable than complete accuracy.

In the game all players generally play the one side and represent elements of the US forces

deployed in Vietnam. The communist forces are normally played by the referee although if

required they could be allocated to a player if necessary.

During play testing 20mm scale figures and vehicles were used but the rules will easily copewith up-scaling to 25/28mm or downscaling to 15mm.

The US Forces

Each player in the game will normally control a squad or comparable sized unit and exercise

the command responsibility appropriate to their rank. A Company commander will therefore

control players designated as Platoon commanders, while these in turn will control theirallocated Squad leaders.

The Communist Forces

The referee would normally control the communist forces and will determine their actions in

accordance with the pre-determined scenario objective of the Communist side.

Unless allocated to a player the communists should not have Character cards. The referee will

determine the chance of various actions occurring as required. This will include the morale

and the effects of any wounds on the communist forces.

The Referee

The referee is a vital component of the game. As well as controlling the communist forces inthe game they will be responsible for setting up the scenario and giving each of the US

players their briefings and objectives. It is the referee who will ensure that the game flows to

a proper conclusion.

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The Turn Sequence

The game is divided into the following phases:

1. The Communist player draws an Action Card

2. Each Communist group is activated in turn and can perform the following

activities when activated:

Movement

Firing

Events

3.

Each US player draws an Action Card

4. Working UP the command structure (i.e. squads first then any platoon HQs

and finally the Company HQ) each US group is activated and can perform

one or more of the following activities when activated:

Morale

Movement

Firing

Communication

Special Actions

Character Cards

Each US player selects the soldiers in his group from the various Character cards that areavailable.

Each character in the players group has a Character card that gives information on theirabilities. The various Character abilities are as follows:

Wep: Any bonuses or modifiers for using standard weapons such as pistols, rifles

and assault rifles.

Hwep: Any bonuses or modifiers for using LMG's, MMG's, RPG's, M-79s and

Recoilless Rifles.

Wit: A rating out of ten for general intelligence that is used to calculate the chanceof certain Special Actions working. The higher the better

Cool: A rating out of ten used for morale tests. The higher the better

The various Character cards should also have space to record any wounds and equipment

such as weapons, grenades or radios carried by the character.

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Action Cards

Cards are an essential part of the game and they are used to drive special actions or events in

the game by helping to replicate the unpredictable element of warfare. They are also a usefulmechanism for keeping tables and dice rolling to a minimum. There are two types of cards:

Each US player draws one Action Card in the appropriate part of the turn. Action cardscontain various elements that may assist the player in the game, such as air strikes, medical

support etc. Action cards can often be played against the enemy to hinder them.

As part of a specific scenario certain players may be allocated one or more cards before the

game starts to represent a pre-arranged event such as an air strike.

Referees should feel free to add their own cards to the deck to cater for specific situations.

Some Action cards can be used by the Communist forces and often represent events that canoccur to the US forces on patrol such as a mined road or poor radio communication due to

interference.

Each Action card will give details of what it does, which side can use it and when it can be

used. Unless otherwise stated an Action Card can be kept by the player until required and

there is no limit on the number that each player may hold. Once played an Action card is

returned to the bottom of the Action card deck

Wound Cards

A wound card is drawn whenever a character or vehicle takes damage. They provide adescription of the injury or damage inflicted along with its effects in game terms. Injuries can

range from being lightly wounded to being killed or destroyed.

Injuries should be recorded on the appropriate Character card for reference

Special Equipment Cards

Special Equipment cards represent the various vehicles available to the players.

The card contains all of the information that is required to field them, such asWeapon types and damage profiles.

Special Equipment cards canbe assigned to players by the referee for certain scenarios or can berandomly selected for a quick skirmish games.

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Activating a Group

Upon activating each Character in a group can perform oneof the following types of activity:

1.

Move then fire

2.

Fire then move3.

Elect not to move to obtain Over Watchstatus.

4.

Attempt communication with another player.

5. Perform a Special Action

Note that a Character can attempt to Spot twice during their activation regardless of the

chosen activity and the requirement to take a Morale test may also occur at any time during

the Characters activation. Characters from the same group may perform different activities.

Morale

A group or individual character must take a Morale test during the Moral Phase of theiractivation whenever the following situations occur:

A Character must test if fired on by Over Watch Fire and they wish to continue to Moveor Fire.

A Character must test if they wish to perform a Dash move and they where fired at last

turn

When a Group takes 50% casualties all remaining Characters in the group must take a

test.

To pass a Morale test a Character must roll greater than or equal to their Cool rating.

Pinned: If a Morale test is failed the Character is pinned and classed as Crawlingfor purposes

of Firing and/or Movement.

A new test is taken each time the Character is activated. If successful the Character is no

longer pinned.

A pinned Character that fails three successive Moral tests will attempt to surrender to the

nearest enemy group.

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Movement

Unit Type Road Off Road Jungle Water

Infantry 8" 6" 3" 2 swim

3" wade

Wheeled Vehicles 18" 10" None None

Tracked Vehicles 14" 14" 6" None unless

Amphibious

Dash: Any Character can elect to Dash to obtain a double move. The Character cannot fire

that turn.

Crawling: Infantry may crawl 3" on a Road or through Off Road terrain and 2 in Jungleterrain. Characters who are crawling benefit from a -1 to be hit by direct fire.

Over Watch: A Character or vehicle that does not move, shoot or communicate in its turn

can go on Over Watchand elect to fire at any valid target that appears in the opponents nextactivation phase as an interrupt.

Firing

Turreted vehicles and bunker slits only have a 90-degree firing arc.

Use the following table to determine the number required to hit a target. Apply the

appropriate firing modifiers to determine the target number and roll the appropriate number of

firing dice

If the die roll is greater than or equal to the target number the target is hit.

If the target is hit they take the specified number of Wound/Damage Cards and apply the

appropriate results to the target Character or vehicle. Note that a vehicle only needs to draw a

wound/Damage card if a Damage card is specifically listed in the Firing table and that the

effects of the wound or damage may vary or have no effect depending on what is written on

the card.

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D10 roll required to Hit

Weapon Short Range

(0-8")

Medium Range

(9-16")

Long Range

(17-32")

Extreme Range

(33-48")

Pistols 6+

1 Wound Card

9+

1 Wound Card

- -

Rifles 5+

1 Wound Card

8+

1 Wound Card

9+

1 Wound Card

-

Assault Rifle

(AK47's, M16's etc)

5+

2 Wound Cards

7+

1 Wound Card

9+

1 Wound Card

-

Shotgun / M79 Flechette

Round

4+

1 Wound Card

8+

1 Wound Card

- -

LMG's

(Roll twice)

5+

2 Wound Cards

7+

1 Wound Card

8+

1 Wound Card

9+

1 Wound Card

MMG's

(Roll three times)

5+

2 Wound Cards

7+

2 Wound Cards

8+

1 Wound Card

9+

1 Wound Card

M79 Grenade Launcher 6+

As per type

7+

As per type

8+

As per type

-

RPG Grenade launcher 6+

As per type

7+

As per type

8+

As per type

-

Grenade Type:

Fragmentation

6+ 2 radius

2 Wound Cards

- - -

Grenade Type:

Phosphorous

6+ 2 radius

3 Wound Cards

- - -

Grenade Type:

High Explosive

6+ 2 radius

1 Wound Card/

2 Damage Cards

- - -

Recoilless Rifle 6+

2 Wound Cards/

2 Damage Cards

7+

2 Wound Cards/

1 Damage Card

8+

2 Wound Cards/

1 Damage Card

9+

2 Wound Cards/

1 Damage Card

Satchel Charge or

Explosives

Within 2" Dead/

Destroyed

Within 2-4"

2 Wound Cards/

2 Damage Cards

- - -

Firing Modifiers:

All of the following modifiers are cumulative. If the target number is greater than 10 roll the

firing dice anyway. If any roll a 10 roll these dice again. A hit will be scored if the seconddice roll is greater than the target number less 10. For example if the target number was 12

the firer would need to roll 10 on the first dice roll and 3 or more on the second.

Target in prepared cover (bunker etc) -3 to dice roll

Target behind hard cover (wall, tree etc) -2 to dice rollTarget behind soft cover (foliage etc) -1 to dice roll

Target has moved more than 3 -1 to dice roll

Target is Crawling -1 to die rollFirer has moved more than 3 -1 to dice roll

Firer engaging to their rear 180 facing -1 to dice roll

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Communication

Any character can make contact with another at any time as long as they are within 12" of

each other for voice communication.

However, should characters be separated by more than 12" they must use radiocommunication if available.

Both the sending and receiving radio operators must make a successful Wit test by rollinggreater than or equal to their Wit ability to establish communications. If successful the

appropriate players are allowed 30 seconds communication time. Note that certain Action

cards may have an affect on this test or even increase communication time.

In larger games it can be fun to have different players on separate gaming tables, and let them

use cheap toy walkie-talkies' to replicate the command network of radios. In this way,

players will need to communicate clearly and accurately if they are to maximise their chances

of survival.

Special Actions

Any character may undertake a special activity. This could be any action suggested by the

player at the referees discretion. Examples could be:

Searching a hut

Attempting to climb a tree

Trying to change a damaged tyre

Making safe a booby trap

Referees may wish to apply a penalty for harder tasks, or require the player to make

successive rolls each turn for particularly long tasks.

In order to succeed in a Special Action, the player needs to roll greater than their Wit rating.

The Referee should indicate how long the requested action would take in turn times.

Spotting

In order to fire at a target, the character must have successfully passed a Spotting Test. A

character can request a Spotting test at any area to his front 180twice per activation

To successfully spot a target the player must roll a D10 and apply the appropriate spotting

modifiers given below.

A result of Awaremeans that the character knowssomethingis there, but no figures need to

be placed on the board. The Referee(s) will tell the player what he is aware of.

A result of Identifiedallows the player awareness of what is happening. Any enemy figures

(where appropriate) need to be placed on the board by the referee and the Referee should

explain what can be seen and by whom.

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Spotting Table

Conditions Short Range

0-12

Medium Range

13-23

Long Range

24-48

Clear 2+ Aware

3+ Identified

3+ Aware

4+ Identified

5+ Aware

6+ IdentifiedLight Cover 3+ Aware

4+ Identified

6+ Aware

8+ Identified

9+ Aware

Dense Jungle 7+ Aware

9+ Identified

9+ Aware -

Spotting Modifiers

At Night - 3 to dice roll

Target in Hard Cover - 3 to dice roll

Target in ambush position - 1 to dice roll

Target Fired this turn + 3 to dice roll

Target Moved this turn + 3 to dice rollSpotter Stationary this turn + 2 to dice roll

Artillery, Air Support and Vehicles

Normally, Air support would come in the form of Action Cards, which would specify how it

is be resolved.

Likewise, vehicles are specified as special equipment cards and can be allocated to groups as

required by the referee.

Victory Points

Nam 69 works best when US Players (or communist players) are working together to

complete a scenario created and run by a referee.

However, in the spirit of the Bodycount mentality, where by US forces took to judging the

success of their operations by the number of communist dead, players can use a Victory Point

system to assess how successful operations are.

Each communist killed + 1

Each captured communist + 3Capture/destruction of communist heavy weapon + 2

Discovery of communist tunnel, supply area or cache + 2

Each US killed - 5

Each US seriously wounded - 2Each US wounded and evacuated from combat - 1

Each Support Vehicle / Chopper / Plane Lost - 10

At the end of the game determine the totals for each US player. If the sum total for all of the

US players is a positive number the US win. If its a negative number the communists win.

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Playing Campaign Games

Players may like to create a squad and take them through a tour of twelve months,

developing their skills and getting nearer and nearer to going back Stateside.

To begin a campaign, create a squad of 4D3 men, including a Sergeant who represents yourcharacter. This is your first patrolling Squad of men. Name them, and assign them appropriate

weapons and roles within the squad. Try to ensure you have a radio operator and/or a heavy

weapon team if possible.

Next, determine each mans time left in the Nam by rolling a D12. This indicates how long

each person has left in months. The leader represents you, and will always be a rookie with 12

months left.

Life in the Namwas often a boring, mundane slog, humpin the boonies day after day with

no enemy contact. To represent this only D4 missions each month result in any contact, with

the others being undertaken off-game board so to speak.

Therefore a player undertakes D4 missions each month. Thus a full tour of duty contains

12xD4 missions. Each mission will be played as a specific scenario created by the referee.

After a month has elapsed each Characters number of months in country reduces by one and

each Character determines if they have gained any experience as outlined below.

Gaining Experience

After each month the various games will generate Victory Points and squad losses from both

death and severe injury or your Characters may have completed their tour of duty.

Every 10 victory points earned by a group allow a player to upgrade any single ability of anyone Character in the group by one to a maximum value of eight.

Losing Characters

Death, injury and going home will all serve to reduce your squad. After each death or end of

tour result for a Character roll a D6. On a roll of 4+ a new green rookie arrives to make up the

numbers. On the result of a 6, then several new recruits arrive to make the squad back up to

official size of 10 men. This represents theirregular nature of manpower in Vietnam.

Roll a D6 at the end of the game for each Character with a light injury. 1-3 will return the

Character to the squad patched up after D3 missions. A 4-6 will also require the Character to

reduce one of their character abilities by one before returning to the squad

Roll a D6 at the end of the game for each Character with a severe injury. 1-3 indicates that the

wound will return the character stateside. 4-6 will return the Character to the squad patched

up after D6 missions. The injured Character must reduce D3 of their character abilities by one

before returning to the squad.

Losing Your Leader

Loss of you main character is, obviously, to be avoided at all costs. However if it does happen

promote another member of the squad to become the new leader.