Scenario book: Screaming Eagles at Hamburger Hill

Screaming Eagles at Hamburger Hill by Mark Fastoso is a book of scenarios with a portion of the 101st Airborne Division versus the 29th NVA Regiment. There is a two page Introduction and History; three paragraphs on the Why of the battle; something less than a page on Designer’s Notes; several pages on Skirmish Campaigns (the name of the series of scenario books of which this is the only Vietnam one to my knowledge) Format; and finally eight scenarios.

The author’s main source of information was Zaffiri’s book, Hamburger Hill, which I have read four times. He also used the combat after action report of the 3/187th Infantry that he obtained from Carlisle Barracks.

It may seem that eight scenarios on this battle would be pretty much the same thing over and over eight times. However, that is not the case. I have played five of them so far and neither I nor any of the other guys playing them felt they lacked in variety.

Each scenario includes the following: Setting which includes a very brief history, the victory conditions and the game length. Next are the Scenario Rules for this particular scenario; then is a paragraph on the historical aftermath of the scenario; next, in some scenarios, are Scenario Options; and then Scenario Notes. Those take up a page.

The next page is the map with some language from Zaffiri’s book below it.

The third page is a listing of those units comprising the U.S. Forces and Variable Attachments.

The fourth and final page does the same for the NVA.

The scenarios are listed below, followed by the page number in Zaffiri where the description of the scenario begins. The scenarios appear in the scenario book in chronological sequence.

A Walk in the Sun, Zaffiri, page 70
Recon in Force, Zaffiri, page 80
Firebase Airborne Zaffiri, page 107
A Hard Day for Charlie Company Zaffiri, page 145
Stretched Thin Zaffiri, page 173
One More Time, Zaffiri, page 209
Blackjack Zaffiri, page 223
King of the Hill, Zaffiri, page 253

These scenarios are for a skirmish game. There is a page entitled Skirmish Rules Translations where the author has a table listing eleven skirmish rules sets and the Training, Morale and Leadership ratings of the various sets, translated to the ratings as expressed in this book. The rules I use, FNG, are not listed, but it was very simple to do myself what Fastoso did in this table. The rules listed in his table are :TAC-Skirmish: Arc of Fire; BattleFront: WWII (this is the Fire and Fury publication, not Flames of War); Battalions in Crisis; Battleground WWII; Beer and Pretzels Skirmish; Cross of Iron; The Face of Battle; Guts-N-Glory; Panzer Marsch!; Overlord; and Skirmish ’90!.

I don’t know if any of the rules listed use miniatures with multiple figures on a base or not. Other than that potential limitation, I do not see why any set of rules for WWII and later would not work.

My group found the scenarios all to be fun and exciting. They are also easy to set up. Firebase Airborne is the only one with any possible unusual terrain requirements. Hills, vegetation, bunkers and a few trenches are about all you need for the others.

predhead provided the following links for the scenario book:
https://skirmishcampaigns.com/eaglenam/index.htm

http://brigadegames.3dcartstores.com/Skirmish-Campaigns-Elite-Screaming-Eagles-at-Hamburger-Hill_p_2093.html

Tom

That sounds pretty awesome Tom.

Sounds interesting.

Nice review Tom,
I've had my eye on this for a while, I'm definitely going to snap up a copy. By the way, an excellent companion to Zaffiri's book is "The Crouching Beast" by Frank Boccia.

Thanks Tom!

I’m glad you guys have found this of interest.

The. Crouching Beast has been on my Shopping List at Amazon for quite a while. Maybe I should go ahead and spend the money.

Tom

For those who're interested, set out below is a book of scenarios covering the 1967 hill fights at Khe Sanh.  I believe that the scenarios are intended for the "Face of Battle" rules, but the scenarios should work for most rule-sets.  The scenarios basically cover encounters involving multiple squads.

Tim
_____________________

The Hill Battles
Khe Sanh, Vietnam: 1967
Scenario Book For Skirmish Gaming

During April 24 - May 11, 1967, the 3rd Marines battle NVA forces around Khe Sanh! During the spring of 1967, the "First Battle of Khe Sanh" or "The Hill Fights" took place. In extremely bitter fighting with North Vietnamese troops, the 3rd Marines cleared Hills 881S, 881N, and 861 overlooking Khe Sanh Combat Base. This is the first scenario book for The Face of Battle. The 114 page book contains 12 detailed scenarios, maps of Khe Sanh and the surrounding area, timelime, weapon data for numerous Marine and NVA firearms, grenades and ordnance, the M50 Ontos, and more. Many scenarios include optional forces for maximum re-playability.

This book is compatible with numerous skirmish rules including: Face of Modern Battle, Free Fire Zone, Charlie Company, Battleground WW2: Vietnam, Arc of Fire, Crossfire: Vietnam, Bodycount, Fire Team Vietnam, Dogs of War, and more...

The scenarios are ideal for 15mm to 28mm individually-based figures. All maps, weapon data, templates and ordnance data are provided in 3 scale ranges; 15mm, 20mm and 25/28mm.

6 Maps of Khe Sanh and surrounding Area
Khe Sanh Timeline
12 Scenarios
Squad Reference Sheets for each scenario and force
M50 Ontos Vehicle Data Sheet
M40A2 Recoilless Rifle in detail including Beehive rounds
M79 Beehive round
Complete Marine Weapon Data: M16, M14, M79, M60, Shotguns and more
Complete NVA Weapon Data: AK47, SKS, RPD, and more
and more...

https://www.wargamevault.com/product/19918/The-Hill-Battles-Khe-Sanh-1967-Skirmish-Scenario-Book?it=1&filters=0_0_0_0

That looks great General. I am going to get it.

Your post actually deserves a New Topic entry. It would probably be seen by more people. You could just copy and paste it.

Tom

Silly me!! I already have it. Wargame Vault was kind enough to tell me that. This proves only one thing...I have too much stuff!!

Tom

Got hold of the Screaming Eagles scenario book from Caliver books and its pretty good. Better than the film

Spent some time over the weekend making NVA bunkers etc.

Garryowen wrote:Silly me!! I already have it. Wargame Vault was kind enough to tell me that.

Oh! Good to know it's on Wargame Vault. I'll need to swing by there. It's been a while.

[quote="Garryowen"Your post actually deserves a New Topic entry. It would probably be seen by more people. You could just copy and paste it.[/quote]

General Castries, Tim, I agree with Tom.

It would be great to get this into its own thread in the new book review section of the Intel section if you could please?