This is the ninety-third in a series of posts on the Vietnam War. See here for the previous post in the series or go back to the master post.
Now that I play it, I’m pretty sure that the Campaign Series: Vietnam scenario, Stirring the Nest – Battle of Hill 823 is the same battle as what I just played in Squad Battles: Vietnam. The way the two scenarios are dated make it a little ambiguous, but the setup is basically the same.
![](https://ettubluto.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/dakto12.jpg?w=1024)
What this means is that the one advantage I had handed to Squad Battles is no longer. I complimented that earlier scenario’s design which forced me to make the historical assault on Hill 823. Stirring the Nest does the same thing, with the added advantage that the larger scope and duration allows for some grand-tactical deviations from the historical plan.
It was with that extra rope that I chose to hang myself in this one. I mentioned that I won in Squad Battles; having secured and defended Hill 823, my inability to dislodge the enemy from a nearby hilltop did not prevent victory. In this scenario, too, I executed a two-pronged attack. However, I made two errors relative to the historical record and these, likely, cost me the win. First, I spread myself out more, geographically, trying to take more victory locations than the historical ones. Secondly, when the counter-attack at Hill 823 threatened to spin out of control, I brought all available reinforcements to bear. This left my other force (not shown in either screenshots) exposed to enemy counter attack. The success thereof left me with a minor defeat.
![](https://ettubluto.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/daktohotlz.jpg?w=1024)
As in Squad Battles, once things heated up, I suffered for a shortage of air and artillery support. Unlike Squad Battles, though, that shortage does not feel artificially constrained. Furthermore, the time scale of Campaign Series: Vietnam means that the support, when it does arrive, is timely and (mostly) on target. There’s no way that the thrill of targeting individual weapons* can make up for the superior scope and scale of the Campaign Series.
Return to the master post or press forward with another angle on the Battle of Dak To.
*Let me use this to insert my perennial gripe. Once again, the Squad Battles companies were not accompanied by their mortar support. Targeting individual squad assault weapons rarely feels fruitful. Targeting an individual mortar probably would, if Squad Battles were to let me do it.