"Charlie Don't Surf Reccomendations?" Topic

I see that these rules are currently on sale and I have noticed that they get quite a few reccomendations here. I am thinking about 10mm and wondering if they would work in that scale and also hoping that people could tell me what they like (or dislike) about the rules, and what makes them good for Vietnam.

Thanks

Scale wise entirely up to you – they were written with 15mm in mind but equally you could go smaller with multiple figure bases (track casualties with markers or paper record). I have seen games of their similar I Ain't Been Shot Mum rules played in 6mm and it does look great in the smaller scales.

The victory system works well, with the outcomes determined from a military and political perspective. Uses a blinds system for unspotted moving formations, although any terrain feature could conceal a unit (Bunker!) which is placed on the board when it fires. Tunnels are factored in maybe a little simplistic but it works.

I have played these solo (I always win) but work best with at least 2 players.

It is worthwhile getting the scenario pdf too – all forces and victory conditions are worked out for you and once you have played a few times designing your own is straight forward.

It's hard to pin down exactly what makes them work so well, but the bottom line is that both sides have a good chance of winning, while feeling completely different to play – as a VC player you rapidly learn the importance of applying proper guerilla tactics rather than attempting a stand-up firefight, so the battle becomes an effort to fight on your own terms. The VC usually want to inflict some casualties and get out of dodge, while the US want to pin them in place and apply firepower by the bucketload – generally the winner is whoever succeeds in forcing the opposition to fight their kind of battle…. (That said, the Surf's Up scenario PDF also includes a couple of more stand-up fights, especially NVA regulars against ARVN, for more of a conventional pitched battle.)

As for 10mm, yeah, absolutely – I do 15mm myself, but a good few people do play it in 10mm, and it definitely looks the part – in more vehicle-heavy or riverine games, I'd even say 10mm is better. There's some good 10mm CDS eye candy on Derek Hodge's blog:

dereksweetoys.com/?cat=17

10mm will work just fine. I use 6mm and others use 15mm.

Why they work. The core of the rules is the IABSM system so the basics of combat work out very well. The Fire Table was tweaked to be more deadly (since most troops have full auto weapons now). The helicopter rules are simple and work well. Probably the single best reason CDS works is the dual VC in most scenarios – there is a military victory and a political victory. The US/South need to balance military objectives with keeping losses down, while the Communist side has to try and maximize evemy casualties while keeping from being captured or having their casualties discovered.

They model asymmetrical warfare very well. I think that's why they're such a great set of rules

10mm works fine.

I play them a lot, and feel the greatness is in if you play the PAVN the way they really fought, you can win.If you play them just like any old force, you get spanked.

If you are looking for a generic early modern set, they are probavbly not the right set. if youare looking for something to recreate Vietnam, they are exactly the set.

I do it in both 6mm and 15mm. Both work well. Dont see why 10mm would alos work just fine.

owen