Platoon bases

James McDounough's book 'Platoon Leader'is set in a 173rd fortified base beside a village. The base is home to a single platoon and I'm struggling A) to get my head round that as a concept - surely it would be incredibly vulnerable to being overrun a sudden attack and I'm also struggling B) to find any other references to camps/bases of that nature. Such a camp has the makings of being an excellent vehicle for what we call a 'narrative' game in our house ...not really quite a campaign .....does anyone have any material about platoon size 'forts' - for want of a better term?

OK...just discovered it's the same thing as the Strategic Hamlets programme.

Ya, form what I understood it was similar to the USMC CAPs/CAC program. Been a long while since I read the book, might have to go back to it and Once A Warrior King.

also try ' the Village ' a book recount about a Marine CAP situated in a village to assist local Popular Force defenders . It does get overrun .
An excellent insight into the 'hearts and minds' dimension and would have plenty of material for a campaign game . I can find the author if you can't find it easily .

jimmi

Just remembered that a couple of battalions of the 9thID used platoon bases quite extensively down in IV corps before Charlie Beckwith gained a command and changed the whole setup with the use of Eagle Flights and checkerboarding. Casualties went down but quite a bit, especially from boobytraps.

Any idea where I'd get info about sizes and layouts?

I can't recall anything other than anecdotal, no maps or hard layouts. My guess is probably triangular shaped (MGs at the points) if not round, there might be a mortar pit in or near the middle. Usually a platoon base was temporary, 1 squad guarded while the other 2 did cloverleafs during the day, 2 squads defend at night while one does point ambush. They were not supposed to be permanent defense points, but apparently the 9th ID got a little lax and used them a lot because it was easier to keep an eye on the locals, be seen (flag flying), and to keep a wider area covered. Also allowed the troops to be watched and more easily ambushed, especially when being relieved.

I pulled out my copy of the book, Platoon Leader, which, unfortunately, is a paperback.

I am showing a photo I took of the diagram of McDonough's platoon base. Being a paperback, I could not really get it on the copier right, so I took a photo as best I could.
Tom

Yup;that's the one that got me thinking about a narrative game also it's so small we could do it as what we call 'true scale' - one inch on the table equals two yards in real life....admittedly that's 1/72 rather than 1/56, but it's not that much of a compromise.

Is the book worth reading? thinking about getting it for my kindle

Yes; definitely.

I have reread it several times. It is a good book for wargamers as it is truly low level. I mean that in a good way. You get the tactical details. It is not “this company went here and that company went there “ type of thing.

The movie was pretty good too. Not on the level of Hamburger Hill, but well worth repeated watching. It may still be available on DVD.

Tom

I did n't even know there was a movie....what's the title?

uglyfatbloke wrote:I did n't even know there was a movie....what's the title?

platoon leader ! in the movie Michael Dudikoff stars .. good film

I haven’t watched it for a year or so, but I think the platoon base in the movie is pretty close to the drawing from the book.

Tom

thanks, will get it

Garryowen wrote:I haven’t watched it for a year or so, but I think the platoon base in the movie is pretty close to the drawing from the book.

Tom

wasnt the author a advisor in the film ?

Yippee...it's on Youtube.

If you'd like some very small unit scale action ideas, there is a series of novels about a USMC CAP called "Night Fighters" by David Sherman (an alias, he was a good friend of my dads, and despite this series being about USMC he was in the Army in Vietnam. He also wrote westerns under other names). I believe the first book is called Knives In The Night. THey are available on kindle. A little repetition and of course some mellow-drama as it is fiction, but also some really good scenarios as well as some insight into the CAP program.

Cheers Darby. Mostly our games are based on company in attack/platoon-ish in defence or company/company encounters, but it's nice to ring the changes.

Thanks Darby, I am always on the lookout for books for my kindle