In the 44-year long history of the Cold War, few conflicts symbolize it as fully as those in Vietnam. To contemporary observers, it was a war between the two ideological blocs of Communism and the West. From the forces of the Viet Cong and NVA and the American, South Vietnamese, Australian and other Free World forces, the wars that ravaged Indochina throughout the second half of the 20th century can be recreated with Vietnam, the latest companion volume for Force on Force. Orders of battle, scenarios and special theatre-specific rules give players an immersive experience of gaming in in the jungles, fields and towns of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
"My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.†? – Ronald Reagan, 1984. With these words, spoken as a sound check to a radio broadcast, President Reagan came dangerously close to igniting the long-simmering Cold War. Although Soviet forces were placed on alert following reports of this comment, the full-scale conflict between the West and the Soviet Bloc did not break out. Cold War Gone Hot, the latest companion volume for Force on Force, looks at the 44-year history of the Cold War and asks: "what if?†? With the orders of battle, vehicle stats and missions included in this volume, Force on Force players can simulate the advance of Soviet tanks across Western Europe, a thrust into Alaska, or any number of other plausible scenarios where history took a slightly different path.
Set at an experimental community on Mars in the year 2039-2040, Robot Wars features 14-year-old virtual reality specialist Tyce Sanders. Life on the Red Planet is not always easy, but it is definitely exciting. As Tyce explores his strange surroundings, he finds that the mysteries of the planet point to his greatest discovery—a new relationship with God. He talks about his growing faith and curiosity in a manner that kids can relate to as they are probably wondering some of the same things. In book three, Ambush, Tyce has to rescue his friend Director Rawlings and three other scientists who are trapped in a cave-in on Mars. He also has to uncover a devious plot that threatens to overtake the spaceship—just as they are nearing the end of their six-month journey from Mars to Earth.
The fierce close combat in the remote areas of South Vietnam's northern provinces in 1967-68--the battles of Hiep Duc, March 11, Nhi Ha, and Hill 406--has been a strangely underreported slice of the Vietnam War. Through the Valley brings those battles into sharp focus, chronicling the efforts of the proud units of the Americal Division and the 196th Light Infantry Brigade against a stubborn enemy in long-forgotten villages and on torturous hills. Colonel Humphries draws on both his own combat experience and the eyewitness reports of fifty former veterans to reconstruct what it was like to fight in Vietnam.
The walks, rambles, strolls, and hikes in this book are designed for people who delight in exploring unique or little-known places. The trails lead through forests, fields, marshes, hills, and arboretums where you can enjoy the natural world. This book will help you learn more about local history, get much-needed exercise, introduce children to the joys of nature, or find new places to walk your dog. Don't stash it away in winter either. Many of the trails are good for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.With this guide, you'll be able to explore the Rochester area with ease and confidence. Each of the 60 walks is rated for difficulty, type of terrain, and described by length and estimated time required. In addition, you'll know how to easily find the trails and parking. Whether young or young at heart, you can enjoy the adventures this guide brings to life.
Con Thien is a memoir/history of a much-beleaguered Marine outpost of the DMZ Throughout much of 1967, a remote United States Marine firebase only two miles from the demilitarized zone (DMZ) captured the attention of the world’s media. That artillery-scarred outpost was the linchpin of the so-called McNamara Line intended to deter incursions into South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army. As such, the fighting along this territory was particularly intense and bloody, and the body count rose daily. Con Thien combines James P. Coan’s personal experiences with information taken from archives, interviews with battle participants, and official documents to construct a powerful story of the daily life and combat on the red clay bulls-eye known as "The Hill of Angels." As a tank platoon leader in Alpha Company, 3d Tank Battalion, 3d Marine Division, Coan was stationed at Con Thien for eight months during his 1967-68 service in Vietnam and witnessed much of the carnage. Con Thien was heavily bombarded by enemy artillery with impunity because it was located in politically sensitive territory and the U.S. government would not permit direct armed response from Marine tanks. Coan, like many other soldiers, began to feel as though the government was as much the enemy as the NVA, yet he continued to fight for his country with all that he had. In his riveting memoir, Coan depicts the hardships of life in the DMZ and the ineffectiveness of much of the U.S. military effort in Vietnam.
COLBY AWARD WINNER • “One of the most important books to come out of the Afghanistan war.”—Foreign Policy “A saga of courage and futility, of valor and error and heartbreak.”—Rick Atkinson, author of the Liberation Trilogy and The British Are Coming Of the many battlefields on which U.S. troops and intelligence operatives fought in Afghanistan, one remote corner of the country stands as a microcosm of the American campaign: the Pech and its tributary valleys in Kunar and Nuristan. The area’s rugged, steep terrain and thick forests made it a natural hiding spot for local insurgents and international terrorists alike, and it came to represent both the valor and futility of America’s two-decade-long Afghan war. Drawing on reporting trips, hundreds of interviews, and documentary research, Wesley Morgan reveals the history of the war in this iconic region, captures the culture and reality of the conflict through both American and Afghan eyes, and reports on the snowballing missteps—some kept secret from even the troops fighting there—that doomed the American mission. The Hardest Place is the story of one of the twenty-first century’s most unforgiving battlefields and a portrait of the American military that fought there.
With its many tribal, political, religious, and cultural divisions, Africa has long been a continent at war – both with itself and with others. For much of the 20th century, there has been a near-constant state of military unrest, from Cold War proxy wars with Soviet and Western powers supporting their African allies in live-fire incarnations of this ideological struggle, and revolutions against established regimes, to foreign interventions under the banners of peacekeeping and mercenary operations alike. Bush Wars, the latest Force on Force companion, brings this hotbed of unrest to the wargaming table with scenarios, orders of battle and background information.
"...a deeply researched and comprehensive book, chronicles the battle in great detail, including all American and allied units involved and some of the enemy units of the NVA’s Sao Vong (Yellow Star) Division." — The VVA Veteran Operation Masher/White Wing targeted the regiments of the North Vietnamese Army Sao Vang Division operating in the Bong Son area in northeast Binh Dinh Province in central South Vietnam. The operation started on January 24, 1966, immediately after the Vietnamese New Year (Tet) and ended six weeks later. It was led by newly promoted Colonel Harold G. Moore, who as a lieutenant colonel commanded the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the battle of Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley two months earlier. In 41 days of sustained fighting, the 1st Cav battled each of the three regiments of the Sao Vang Division, resulting in enemy losses of more than 3,000 KIA. This came at the cost of 199 Americans killed on the battlefield and 46 more who died in the crash of a U.S. Air Force C-123 aircraft en route to the battlefield, making it one of the deadliest battles of the entire Vietnam War. Operation Masher/White Wing was a success. The 1st Cav demonstrated that it had the firepower, mobility, and leadership to find the enemy and deliver a severe blow to it in terms of personnel and equipment losses and in forced evacuation from formerly “secure” base areas, seemingly proving the value of the search-and-destroy strategy. However within a few weeks, intelligence reports indicated that North Vietnamese soldiers were returning to the Bong Son area in small groups. By late April, the Sao Vang Division was back in the area in force. Operation Masher/White Wing proved to be the start of a very long and deadly struggle between the 1st Cav and North Vietnamese for control of Binh Dinh Province—multiple search & destroy operations eventually resulted in more than 9,000 enemy KIA and 2,358 enemy detained, with friendly losses of more than 1,200 KIA, 5,775 WIA, and 27 MIA. While Masher/White Wing demonstrated that search & destroy operations were very effective at the tactical level but without a high-level strategy to stop the unabated flow of fresh Communist troops and supplies into South Vietnam, it wasn’t clear just how they contributed to overall victory. At the start of 1968, General Westmoreland ordered the 1st Cav to terminate its operations in the Bong Son area, bringing the battle to a close.
