Our next game was our first chance to try out the published version of Charlie Don't Surf! The new Vietnam rules by the Too Fat Lardies. We had tried a playtest version of CDS some time ago and it was interesting to see how they had changed.
I took the role of the Free World player whose objective was to clear the area of hostile forces to allow the construction of a new firebase. I was given an infantry company and a mechanised platoon in M113s for the task.
The VC began the game on blinds in the jungle - something which made the APCs rather redundant as the jungle was impassable to vehicles! Despite several attempts I entirely failed to spot the first two blinds and allowed one of them to ambush me, which resulted in one squad being eliminated and a second withdrawing after suffering heavy casualties.
I continued to press forward and managed to engage one of the enemy units in the front and flank but my flank was exposed in a clearing which didn't do much for that squad!
I managed to get some co-ordinated fire in from two platoons plus one squad of the one who got the pasting earlier and it began to take its toll on the VC (not least due to their lack of Big Men). Eventually the VC decided they managed as much of their objective as possible and fell back.
In the end the game was a draw militarily but a political victory for the VC.
Whisperin' Al