“We’re going to break a lot of bush, we’re going to move fast, and we’re going to hit hard!” –General George Casey, Sr., to Charlie Company in late-March, before they set out to find the NVA.

Background

Fortunate Sons: The Anonymous Battle, March 26, 1970 portrays the epic fight waged between the 11th Armored Cavalry and 1st Air Cavalry against the 9th NVA Infantry Division.

The NVA laid a clever trap for their nemesis, the 1st Air Cavalry Division, in the remote northern region of Tay Ninh Province, not far from the border with Cambodia. Charlie Company of the 8th Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry was dispatched to inspect suspicious activity by the NVA north of Fire Base Illingworth. On March 26^th they were ambushed by the 1^st Battalion of the NVA's 272 Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. Deep in jungle terrain, Charlie Company was cut-off and unable to call in accurate artillery or air support. The jungle canopy made impossible any extraction by helicopter. It looked like the Communists were about to wipe-out and capture over 100 US soldiers.

Four kilometers away was Alpha troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry, along with Alpha Company of the 8th Regiment of the 1st Air Cav. Commander John Poindexter, monitoring the increasingly desperate radio messages from Charlie Company wasted no time in ordering his men to "Saddle Up!" in order to rescue their trapped comrades. Busting through jungle and risking ambush, the rescue and battle fought here in March, 1970 rank among the war's most epic and amazing fights.

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The Game

Each scenario has a number of turns (up to eight each for the Ambush and Battle scenarios, up to sixteen for the Campaign scenario), each with many Rounds. Players reveal top cards from their decks. The side with the highest Card Draw (CD) wins the Round. If the winning player’s CD is odd, that side can do 5 Activations (ACTs) or pass. If the winning CD is even, that side can do up to 4 ACTs or pass. On ties, the side that did not get to perform any ACT(s) in the previous round wins but performs 1 less ACT (3 with even, 4 with odd). The side drawing the first joker gets no ACTs that round, and instead that player rolls a die to determine if a Random Event is in effect (see the Random Effects Chart). When the second joker is drawn, the turn ends immediately (with no ACTs performed). Move the Turn Record marker up 1 Turn. Both players then reshuffle their decks. Map shows the area in which the “anonymous” battle was fought.