I’m asking because some 20 friends and I are getting together in a few weeks and having airsoft/paintball war and we want to make it as close to a vietnam simulation as possible.
We will be in a huge vacant clearing behind our friend’s house, about 4-5 acres of land. We plan on having two teams: VC and Americans. We’ll have ambush groups (Alpha tango) on each side, a fire support base/control center, and portable encampments. Both sides will be in battle rig (BDU’s and black "pj’s"), with helmets and equipment (including airsoft M16′s and AK-47′s).
If anyone can describe or give a briefing on what night patrol was like for the grunts over in the Nam, that would be great. Also, please please please include any ideas for the night or extra equipment or tactics that could be of use. Thank you so much!!!
Just in case anyone is wondering why we’re doing this: we’re all JROTC buffs and are really into Vietnam in particular. We’re between the ages of 17 and 19, so don’t worry!
Thanks again :}
Please, nothing like "you won’t be able to pull it off" or "you wouldn’t understand". We’re doing it regardless, and your help is appreciated.
ALSO.. I forgot to mention. any good ideas for booby traps would be totally great. Just make sure they dont really injure a person too much, just distracts them or creates an obstacle.
A big factor in how realistic you can make it is your location.
One of the things that made a really big impression on me was how dark it was at night in Vietnam.
They did not have cities every few miles with street lights and all the other electric light sources that we have here.
I grew up in a suburban area where the city lights reflecting off of clouds at night ensured that it was never really dark at night. We thought it was, but when I got to Vietnam, I realized that what I was used to at night here did not compare.
I guess that the best you will be able to do in that regard is if you stage your activities when there is little moon light if you are anywhere near a city.
Read up on Puff the magic dragon and spooky.
You might want to figure out a way to occasionally make Puff available to your "Americans" without your "VC" being aware of it ahead of time.
It sure did have a way of ruining Charlie’s night.
You might want to get some of the cheapest two way radios that you can find and modify them so that the communications with your fire base is unpredictable.
If nothing else, provide the guys with half dead batteries. Also, have them carry batteries with weights in the package to simulate carrying those large heavy batteries that were in use in Vietnam.
Also, attach your cheap radios to some weighted boards to achieve the size and weight of a PRC-25.
Also, make sure that some of their "new" batteries are dead when issued.
If you are going to simulate the early years, have someone create maps on their computer for the Americans complete with glaring errors and of course, with all the landmarks labeled in a language that none of your Americans speak. Make up a language if needed. And, to simulate the VC being in home territory, give them accurate maps.
Oh yeah, don’t forget to create a line down the edge of your battle area. Then make certain that the "Americans" are not allowed to follow the "VC" across that line. In fact, don’t even allow them to shoot across it. Of coarse, your "VC" will be allowed to fire across the line.
And, just for fun, occasionally declare a cease fire where only the "Americans" have to stop shooting or patrolling. During the cease fire, supply the "VC" with all the ammo and supplies that they can carry. This doesn’t really fit in with night patrols but you can’t simulate everything in a small area. You can bunch all your Americans up as nice targets in your fire support base though during the cease fire.
You need to figure out a way to simulate Charlie popping up out of a hole in the ground even if you don’t have the ability to create tunnels.
Oh, and if you have enough trees in your battle area, label some of them as rubber trees and don’t allow your "Americans" to risk shooting any of them even when your "VC" are hiding behind them.
If you can beg, borrow, or otherwise acquire some good sprinklers and hoses and booster pumps so that you can simulate a monsoon rain storm hitting at the most inopportune time, do it. You can sprinkle ahead of time to make every thing muddy but don’t leave the sprinklers on. Just turn them on for effect. But, of course, do not tell your troops when or if it is going to happen.
The monsoon season was a bit different depending on where you were and of course whether it was monsoon season at all.
Where I was, the monsoon rains were different than what I was used to in the Pacific Northwest when I was growing up.
During the monsoon season, the ground never really dried out but it did not rain constantly. You might go all day with no rain and then all of a sudden when you least expected it, it was as though you had just walked under a waterfall. I exaggerate slightly but I think you get the idea.
The point being that the rain tended to be on fully or off with little in between. By the time you could do anything about it, you were drenched.
Unfortunately, I don’t think there is any way for you to simulate the leaches that made the grunts so happy.
You might also have someone with a laser pointer that can occasionally shine it on one of your "Americans" to let him know that he was just bitten by one of the lovely poisonous snakes and he must fall down "dead" before taking three more steps.
Also, do not let your "Americans" wear any jackets that have liners in them.
Contrary to what you may believe, it got awfully cold at night sometimes depending on where you were. I don’t honestly know what the temperature dropped to at night but the effect was to have you shivering violently from being cold.
Most of us had our normal Army clothing issue replaced with jungle fatigues and no field jacket while in-country. That billowing, over sized shirt of one layer of cloth did not do much to keep you warm.
To simulate the mosquitoes, you could rub a little poison ivy on any exposed skin.
I wrote more but there seems to be a size limit.
the point man only lasted about 15 minutes on patrol duty ~day or night
References :
http://www.lulu.com/content/335755
Well, you had to keep really quiet, and watch all angles, because Vietnam was a jungle, and it was extremely easy to sneak up on someone if you are wearing camouflage.
Also, The Vietnamese liked to use guerrilla tactics, such as waiting patiently in trees waiting for Americans to cross their paths and they would drop down or sneak up on them and slit their throats. I doubt that part will be in your simulation.
Also, if you have floodlights, use them. Any kind of bright lights would be perfect for the Vietnamese people if they ambush, because that will not only stun the enemy, it gives your guys a good target.
But if you are American, don’t stay in the open, move slowly, and don’t make a peep, because you will be "dead" otherwise.
Another good idea is give the Vietnamese a head start, like a couple minutes so they can dig in. After all, it’s there country
Good luck with your idea! It’s sounds like a load of fun!
EDIT: As for booby traps, the only thing I can were designed to kill. But you could always dig a pit,, cover it with leaves, and wait until someone stumbles into it. I would use those on any visible paths, because those paths are used for navigation and where they would start moving to.
As for ambushes also, try setting them up in forked roads. You can booby trap the outside paths, so that forces the enemy into what’s called a "killing zone" where they go exactly into the heart of your defenses
References :
I gobble war history up
i was on the very first one. from Phouc Vinh to puc wah and my squad was point while we were on the road. all day the civilians asked me about it but we knew nothing till dark when we got our ops order. every step i remembered that the village knew we we going out it was worse when we approached an arvin outpost and i hoped someone had told them. usually i shivered from being wet and the sun was down making it cold this night i shivered from freight
References :
RVN 65-66
Sneak into town,party till dawn, next day same, war is hell I tell ya,
References :
A big factor in how realistic you can make it is your location.
One of the things that made a really big impression on me was how dark it was at night in Vietnam.
They did not have cities every few miles with street lights and all the other electric light sources that we have here.
I grew up in a suburban area where the city lights reflecting off of clouds at night ensured that it was never really dark at night. We thought it was, but when I got to Vietnam, I realized that what I was used to at night here did not compare.
I guess that the best you will be able to do in that regard is if you stage your activities when there is little moon light if you are anywhere near a city.
Read up on Puff the magic dragon and spooky.
You might want to figure out a way to occasionally make Puff available to your "Americans" without your "VC" being aware of it ahead of time.
It sure did have a way of ruining Charlie’s night.
You might want to get some of the cheapest two way radios that you can find and modify them so that the communications with your fire base is unpredictable.
If nothing else, provide the guys with half dead batteries. Also, have them carry batteries with weights in the package to simulate carrying those large heavy batteries that were in use in Vietnam.
Also, attach your cheap radios to some weighted boards to achieve the size and weight of a PRC-25.
Also, make sure that some of their "new" batteries are dead when issued.
If you are going to simulate the early years, have someone create maps on their computer for the Americans complete with glaring errors and of course, with all the landmarks labeled in a language that none of your Americans speak. Make up a language if needed. And, to simulate the VC being in home territory, give them accurate maps.
Oh yeah, don’t forget to create a line down the edge of your battle area. Then make certain that the "Americans" are not allowed to follow the "VC" across that line. In fact, don’t even allow them to shoot across it. Of coarse, your "VC" will be allowed to fire across the line.
And, just for fun, occasionally declare a cease fire where only the "Americans" have to stop shooting or patrolling. During the cease fire, supply the "VC" with all the ammo and supplies that they can carry. This doesn’t really fit in with night patrols but you can’t simulate everything in a small area. You can bunch all your Americans up as nice targets in your fire support base though during the cease fire.
You need to figure out a way to simulate Charlie popping up out of a hole in the ground even if you don’t have the ability to create tunnels.
Oh, and if you have enough trees in your battle area, label some of them as rubber trees and don’t allow your "Americans" to risk shooting any of them even when your "VC" are hiding behind them.
If you can beg, borrow, or otherwise acquire some good sprinklers and hoses and booster pumps so that you can simulate a monsoon rain storm hitting at the most inopportune time, do it. You can sprinkle ahead of time to make every thing muddy but don’t leave the sprinklers on. Just turn them on for effect. But, of course, do not tell your troops when or if it is going to happen.
The monsoon season was a bit different depending on where you were and of course whether it was monsoon season at all.
Where I was, the monsoon rains were different than what I was used to in the Pacific Northwest when I was growing up.
During the monsoon season, the ground never really dried out but it did not rain constantly. You might go all day with no rain and then all of a sudden when you least expected it, it was as though you had just walked under a waterfall. I exaggerate slightly but I think you get the idea.
The point being that the rain tended to be on fully or off with little in between. By the time you could do anything about it, you were drenched.
Unfortunately, I don’t think there is any way for you to simulate the leaches that made the grunts so happy.
You might also have someone with a laser pointer that can occasionally shine it on one of your "Americans" to let him know that he was just bitten by one of the lovely poisonous snakes and he must fall down "dead" before taking three more steps.
Also, do not let your "Americans" wear any jackets that have liners in them.
Contrary to what you may believe, it got awfully cold at night sometimes depending on where you were. I don’t honestly know what the temperature dropped to at night but the effect was to have you shivering violently from being cold.
Most of us had our normal Army clothing issue replaced with jungle fatigues and no field jacket while in-country. That billowing, over sized shirt of one layer of cloth did not do much to keep you warm.
To simulate the mosquitoes, you could rub a little poison ivy on any exposed skin.
I wrote more but there seems to be a size limit.
References :
I believe the purpose of paintball is to engage the enemy. In real combat, the idea is to accomplish whatever the objective(s) is/are without getting into a firefight. The VC routinely lost 20 to our one. The firefight occurs when one of the sides (usually the VC) discover that the other side is in the area.
Establish objectives. When an objective is reached the "game’s over." Troops don’t just wander the countryside looking to fight… at least the smart ones don’t.
I’d suggest you "take out" the enemy without paintball… individually and silently.
Patrols? Wait until the pass. If you can take them without alerting the main force, cool. But if there’s any chance of their bringing their buddies in, let ‘em go. Be careful though. People sometimes seem to be able to "feel" the presence of hostile forces… especially those who’ve been in combat.
Listen. If you hear the natural sounds, it’s probably ok. If it gets quiet, it means either the critters are bothered by you… or somebody else. If it’s you, your cover’s blown.
References :