BelloLudi Vietnam! (English Edition)

Welcome to the skirmish game BelloLudi Vietnam! They are so happy that you have taken an interest in wargaming. These rules have been developed especially for people who have no previous experience in wargaming, yet like to play games. BelloLudi have created a ruleset of just fifteen pages, a little more than the game of RISK. From page 21 onwards, we included some, advanced, rules. You will not be needing them at first, but they can imagine that you would like some variations as your experience grows. Start with that page when you have a few battles under your belt.

BelloLudi Vietnam! is designed as a multiplayer game but will work just as fine with only two players or even solo. The same goes for the number of miniatures involved. It is possible to start with around 20 miniatures, but that can easily be expanded. They hope that playing BelloLudi Vietnam! will encourage you to create your own armies. Similarly, the distances are given in inches for use with 28mm scale soldiers. Feel free to adapt to centimetres should you not have the space or when you use a smaller scale of miniatures.

This ruleset simulates battles in the period of 1955 to roughly 1975, the age in which the worlds’ nations fought various conflicts. The most famous being the Vietnam War. The rules will work for skirmishes in this conflict, but also in other conflicts in this period. They cover the Vietnam War, Israeli Arab conflicts and the various wars of decolonisation.

Modern combat uses the tactic of ‘Fire and Manoeuvre’ in which the enemy was pinned in place or disorganised by the concentration of fire from the infantry and artillery. Once this was accomplished, other elements of the unit could deliver the coup de grâce. These tactics meant that command and control (C2) were essential on the battlefield. Every unit would have its own specific task and if they executed their tasks in unison, success was often achieved. The aim in this game, is not to annihilate the enemy’s units to the last man, but to inflict enough damage that morale is reduced and the unit will become shaken or will run away in panic and consequently removed from the tabletop. This can be achieved by a clever combination of movement, shooting and dashing charges. The tactics are based on teamwork within a group, as well as between groups and as such, the whole army.

Your role will be that of a commander of a small group of soldiers. Should any disagreement arise concerning the rules, they suggest you roll a dice. The one who rolls the highest number is right, for now.

So onwards, to glory! and, of course: have fun! Team BelloLudi

This set contains a rulebook and 2 Commander Dice.