Week in Mekong Questions

[Ronzy]

Taking a dive into the deep end ...

[I will try to phrase my questions, as they come up over time, so they can be answered with simple "yes/no" as much as possible.]

RE: 1st day A company, 3/60th assignment to secure airfield at Tan Hiep

1. The mission briefing tells you to secure transportation for A company (I am looking to the units of the 2nd Bde Transport Battalion at Dong Tam for this). Do the trucks used to transport A company need to return to Dong Tam before nightfall (versus laagering with A company)?

2. The mission briefing tells you to bring along "some" engineers to clear the road and the airfield (and my internal debate is whether to bring along 1, 2, or 3 platoons of engineers ... your answer to this question will help me make up my mind). Do the engineers and their engineer trucks need to return to Dong Tam before nightfall (versus laagering with A company at the airfield)?

3. If I were to assign any Battalion/Brigade level assets (such as scouts, gun jeeps, .50 cal MGs, et al.) to the A company mission to help them get to and complete their objective (because the airfield in question really is out in Thim Buc Tu ... "injun country"), do those Battalion/Brigade level assets need to return to Dong Tam before nightfall (versus laagering with A company at the airfield)?

[Jason Petho]

Taking a dive into the deep end ...

[I will try to phrase my questions, as they come up over time, so they can be answered with simple "yes/no" as much as possible.]

Positive vibes on a successful campaign!

RE: 1st day A company, 3/60th assignment to secure airfield at Tan Hiep

1. The mission briefing tells you to secure transportation for A company (I am looking to the units of the 2nd Bde Transport Battalion at Dong Tam for this). Do the trucks used to transport A company need to return to Dong Tam before nightfall (versus laagering with A company)?

I think the trucks are OK to stay in the field. I will have to confirm.

2. The mission briefing tells you to bring along "some" engineers to clear the road and the airfield (and my internal debate is whether to bring along 1, 2, or 3 platoons of engineers ... your answer to this question will help me make up my mind). Do the engineers and their engineer trucks need to return to Dong Tam before nightfall (versus laagering with A company at the airfield)?

The Engineers will need to return.

3. If I were to assign any Battalion/Brigade level assets (such as scouts, gun jeeps, .50 cal MGs, et al.) to the A company mission to help them get to and complete their objective (because the airfield in question really is out in Thim Buc Tu ... "injun country"), do those Battalion/Brigade level assets need to return to Dong Tam before nightfall (versus laagering with A company at the airfield)?

Yes, they will also need to return.

I will double check the assets, they might not be as tight as they are with Binh Long, since this is supposed to be a "training" scenario for the A WEEK IN style campaigns.

[Ronzy]

Jason,

Thank you so much for the support you give to us minions out in the nether-reaches enjoying the challenges of this game!

I wish you and yours a Happy New Year!

Ronzy

[Ronzy]

OK, color me stupid.

How the heck do you get a unit loaded onto a riverine transport (all I've been able to do is get the riverine unit to shoot at the boarding unit and cause a friendly fire incident)?

[Ronzy]

OK, I have found that the loading of riverine units in this scenario is completely wonky.

You have to pull individual riverine units (one at a time ... no more than one at a time) to a hex that has no other riverine units in it, and then load an infantry unit into it.

BUT ... it is all unpredictable as to whether the infantry unit will actually load onto the unit or rather try to ferry with the unit ... which means a subsequent MP expenditure to try to load in same hex.

So frustrating ... it took me about two hours (and multiple restarts of the game) just to get two infantry platoons loaded onto the target riverine units (and I am trying to load an entire battalion onto riverine units per scenario instructions ... that is destined to take 12 hours or more just to do that at this rate).

At this rate, the first turn of this scenario will take 6 months or more.

About to give up on this scenario (very dissapointing).

[Ronzy]

OK,

Going back to smaller scenarios.

I had played the smaller riverine scenarios and had no issue (so I thought I was ready for this scenario), but of course in those smaller scenarios the riverines are already loaded and you only have to deal with unloading (with only an occasional reloading).

Perhaps this is an issue where the "Week in "xyz"" scenarios are just TOO large (in terms of maps size and graphics etc., ) for any normal person's computer to handle resource wise (My system meets both the minimum as well as recommended stats for this game).

BUT this scenario has turned into a computer nightmare (over two days trying to make it happen, and less than half way through the first turn! ... due to multiple "out of memory" freeze ups and quirky/wonky things that happen when trying to do things in the game).

Curiosity question to Jason - Have you actually tried to play the "Week in Mekong" scenario yet? especially the loading of the battalion into the riverines?

It is beyond me, and I don't have that kind of patience and time.

I am going back to the smaller scenarios that actually work.

Still love the game and what you have done here, but something is just wrong with these "Week in ... " scenarios.


Ronzy

https://youtu.be/2xC2JZ6NLv8?si=WEv5JOPJAOLNaW23

[Jason Petho]

Absolutely I played it, there's a long playlist about it on my YouTube channel. Here is the playlist for you, keep in mind this was before 1.30, so the boats will be much slower in my video compared to how they will move for you: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... CTd91f_Rte

I opened up Mekong again to see how things are loaded.

All I had to do was pick an infantry platoon and then "walk" it into the same hex as a transport and it automatically loaded. It was the same principle as Bootcamp 4 with the Civilian units.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to have enough boats to carry your platoon - so your ATC's usually have 4 SP (3 SP minimum) which is enough to carry a 6 SP platoon.

It will not let you load into 2SP units - and there are lot of supporting riverine craft that are that small, so you have to be careful. I would recommend moving the lower SP units out of the area so there are no issues or accidents.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Ronzy]

Maybe it is just my computer ... but I have no patience for dealing with that now.

Thanks

https://youtu.be/N7qkQewyubs?si=qwBTnozNLzypxE8x

https://youtu.be/H93aF2yaP04?si=5cchNnVu30Ev5ljZ

https://youtu.be/wJVpihgwE18?si=DaaoYiB1wJEIcNu8

[basilstaghare]

Maybe it is just my computer ... but I have no patience for dealing with that now.

Thanks

https://youtu.be/N7qkQewyubs?si=qwBTnozNLzypxE8x

https://youtu.be/H93aF2yaP04?si=5cchNnVu30Ev5ljZ

https://youtu.be/wJVpihgwE18?si=DaaoYiB1wJEIcNu8

I had trouble initially with my "Week in..." play thru with graphics and units moving slowly. I have to make sure the labels are turned off (alt 1) and the movement ranges are turned off (H) otherwise the units will move very slow making the game unplayable...not sure if that helps your situation or not. I cycle back n forth using the Alt 1 & H keys when I need them but turning them off when moving...

[Ronzy]

Maybe it is just my computer ... but I have no patience for dealing with that now.

Thanks

https://youtu.be/N7qkQewyubs?si=qwBTnozNLzypxE8x

https://youtu.be/H93aF2yaP04?si=5cchNnVu30Ev5ljZ

https://youtu.be/wJVpihgwE18?si=DaaoYiB1wJEIcNu8

I had trouble initially with my "Week in..." play thru with graphics and units moving slowly. I have to make sure the labels are turned off (alt 1) and the movement ranges are turned off (H) otherwise the units will move very slow making the game unplayable...not sure if that helps your situation or not. I cycle back n forth using the Alt 1 & H keys when I need them but turning them off when moving...

Thanks for the tips! I knew the movement ranges are an issue (mainly when moving a helicopter over long distance) no matter the size of the scenario. But I had forgotten about turning Map Labels off. I'll have to give that a try.

[Ronzy]

Hi Jason,

By following the advice to not show labels (except when absolutely needed) I have gotten this scenario to work adequately on my computer.

I am now on T7 of the 420T scenario.

I have a couple questions re: Laagering (looking ahead to what needs to be done by T40 +/-)

For the A company mission out to the airfield in Thim Buc Tu, A company is supposed to laager there. You already clarified that any Brigade assets (i.e., scouts and gun jeeps) that I dedicate to the mission, those assets need to laager at Dong Tam by nightfall. However, the mission briefing for A company mission includes "gather transport for A company" (i.e., trucks from the motor pool) and "bring along some Engineers."

My questions here are -

1. Do the trucks used to transport A company to the airfield need to return to Dong Tam for laager? Or are they supposed to laager with A company at the airfield?

2. And, are the "some engineers" supposed to laager with A company at the airfield over night? Or are they supposed to laager back at Dong Tam?

Next question regarding "laagering at Dong Tam in general" -

How close to Dong Tam base is it considered that a unit is laagering there? What range from what hex do they have to be at?

For example, in this photo there are obvious outposts for the US to be garrisoning during the day regarding the western approach VC units could take by day to infiltrate the base. I have sent a .50 cal machinegun unit and a wayward platoon of infantry that I couldn't transport to the island assault to monitor traffic and prevent VC infiltration across the bridge by day. -

Screenshot 2024-02-11 095302.jpg (530.62 KiB) Viewed 825 times

My question is -

3. Are either of the indicated hexes considered "laagered" at Dong Tam when night falls? Or do they need to be closer into the perimeter of the base?

One thing that would really help with these "Week in ... " scenarios is if there was a border or set of highlighted hexes that could be displayed to indicate "laager" hexes.

P.S. I am probably spelling "laager" wrong (vs "lagger") because that is not, in my experience, a recognized military, US Army, terminology (I am a US Army veteran ... Cavalry Scout). And "laager" is probably about beer, rather than military operations But anyhows, just trying to get a grasp on this thing that is not clearly spelled out in the existing rulebook for this game.

P.P.S. - Continued kudos and thumbs up for your game and scenario designs, and especially your attentiveness and eagerness to answer your fan's questions about this game.

[Jason Petho]

Hi Jason,

By following the advice to not show labels (except when absolutely needed) I have gotten this scenario to work adequately on my computer.

I am now on T7 of the 420T scenario.

That's great to hear!

I have a couple questions re: Laagering (looking ahead to what needs to be done by T40 +/-)

For the A company mission out to the airfield in Thim Buc Tu, A company is supposed to laager there. You already clarified that any Brigade assets (i.e., scouts and gun jeeps) that I dedicate to the mission, those assets need to laager at Dong Tam by nightfall. However, the mission briefing for A company mission includes "gather transport for A company" (i.e., trucks from the motor pool) and "bring along some Engineers."

My questions here are -

1. Do the trucks used to transport A company to the airfield need to return to Dong Tam for laager? Or are they supposed to laager with A company at the airfield?

You can leave the trucks there, I believe. You will need them for the return trip.

2. And, are the "some engineers" supposed to laager with A company at the airfield over night? Or are they supposed to laager back at Dong Tam?

The engineer units can also laager with them. You will need them on Day 2.

Next question regarding "laagering at Dong Tam in general" -

How close to Dong Tam base is it considered that a unit is laagering there? What range from what hex do they have to be at?

Dong Tam Base has a berm that surrounds it. Basically, if you're in the berm, you should be OK.

For example, in this photo there are obvious outposts for the US to be garrisoning during the day regarding the western approach VC units could take by day to infiltrate the base. I have sent a .50 cal machinegun unit and a wayward platoon of infantry that I couldn't transport to the island assault to monitor traffic and prevent VC infiltration across the bridge by day. -

My question is -

3. Are either of the indicated hexes considered "laagered" at Dong Tam when night falls? Or do they need to be closer into the perimeter of the base?

No, those are both outside the berm. But, protecting them during the day is a good idea indeed.

One thing that would really help with these "Week in ... " scenarios is if there was a border or set of highlighted hexes that could be displayed to indicate "laager" hexes.

Good idea, not sure how to impliment that, but could even just add them as labels. I assumed the berm was a good identifier.

P.S. I am probably spelling "laager" wrong (vs "lagger") because that is not, in my experience, a recognized military, US Army, terminology (I am a US Army veteran ... Cavalry Scout). And "laager" is probably about beer, rather than military operations But anyhows, just trying to get a grasp on this thing that is not clearly spelled out in the existing rulebook for this game.

*chuckles* Laager is correct. Lager is beer.

P.P.S. - Continued kudos and thumbs up for your game and scenario designs, and especially your attentiveness and eagerness to answer your fan's questions about this game.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that! I hope you're enjoying the scenario so far!

Jason Petho

[Ronzy]

Jason,

Thank you so much for your detailed answers to my questions!

Ronzy

[Jason Petho]

My pleasure! Always happy to help!