Ghosts of the Jungle 2.0 Upgrade

[Whiterook]

I came across an intriguing solitaire book-based wargame by Mike Lambo, called “Ghosts of the Jungle”. See this thread for more information on the game.



The book serves as the rules book, the AI system (charts and strategy) to play against, and 12 cool missions that are Mission-oriented; meet the objectives of the mission to win the game; but if you loose one of your four Australian Special Air Force Service Regimant (SAS) troopers you fail the mission! Your four SAS troopers are:

• Sergeant ‘Al’ Allen, the leader. From Sydney, New South Wales, he’s been in the SAS for 7 years. He’s battlefield wise and bad assed. He knows how to get the job done and he leaves no man behind.
• Trooper ‘Buns’ Baker. From Brisbane, Queensland, he’s been in the SAS for 2 years and is a Veteran of the Bush. He can be depended on by all.
• Trooper ‘Clarkey’ Clarke. From Darwin, Northern Territory, he’s kept being a trooper in the family, following in his dad’s footsteps. He’s been in the SAS a few years and is ready for any fight.

• Trooper ‘Dicko’ Dixon. From Perth, Western Australia, he dreamt of seeing the world as an elite military man, but the youngest and newest member of the team, he’s scared shitless but ready to pay his debts signed up for.

This is a Vietnam era game set in 1966, so you are up against the Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC), slogging your way silently through thick jungle and bushland. Fire a weapon, toss a grenade, or even just get caught out in the open and the NVA or VC pop up randomly on the battlefield as reinforcements! The game is primarily Infantry-based, though there is mention of a truck that can spray bullets at you.

So, at the ground level, that’s a highlight of the game. It’s meant to be played with the provided maps, where you can annotate with a pencil directly on them, or photocopies; use some sort of acetate with erasable dry-wipe markers; use tokens, chips, miniatures, etc., in any way you want.

…it’s this last part above, which is governing this project of how I want to try playing the game. I have ideas! …and I’m not afraid to try them!!! The components may change around as I develop along with play strategy.

And even the way I play this game may evolve out of Vietnam and into say, the more modern Middle East.

We’ll see where it goes!

[Whiterook]

Scenario Maps

First up, the scenario maps and what I want to use.

As you can see from the following, Scenario & Charts page printed to the left of every specific scenario- specific mission map is nicely detailed. The designer made the right call in my humble opinion, in having this opposite the mission map each, as you can lay the book down and play right in the book. Very nice in efficiency and effectiveness. It also saves you time in nit having to page pack in the rules for help.

The maps are very rudimentary, but effective! Not a lot of fluff here, but it gives you what you need… a major concept is being Hidden from the enemy, and to show that, the annotation (or miniature, etc.) is placed within the Building or jungle symbol on the map. If you’re wondering, being hidden means there’s less chance of being shot at (unless you’re hunted down).



The central tactic of the game is for you, as the Australian SAS team, to maintain cover and stealth as you work to reach your objectives and achieve your mission. The way you move through the battlefield is dependent on the terrain:

• The Jungle tile looks a little like a cloud symbol, which blocks Line of Sight (LOS) and you can hide in. The idea is, when you’re not in that symbol, you are Unhidden, and when in it you’re hidden, so placement of your mark or miniature is crucial. Interestingly, you and you’re adversary can always see out of the tile they’re in, and can always see into the first tile that contains blocking terrain. It appears the whole tile blocks LOS, not just the silhouette object.
• A Building tile image is represented by a cube, and blocks LOS; but the SAS can Hide in them.
• A Rocks tile image looks like a dark hill, and blocks LOS; no one can enter them, which I find strange.
• A Clear tile has no image in it and does not block LOS. It does however trigger a VC/NVA reinforcement anytime an SAS trooper ends its turn on a clear tile.
• A Swamp tile image looks like an little oasis pool… that ain’t no oasis! It doesn’t block LOS and no one can enter it, which I also find strange.
• A Track tile image looks like a dirt road going from one side to another of the tile. It’s only relevant for a “Viet Cong Truck” event, but otherwise retains the characteristic of the other terrain on the tile.

The little Trooper Track you see on the bottom of the map shown above, is to keep an accounting of the troopers’ Condition (their physical and mental, as well as morale)..the lower, the worse shape they are in. If it ever dips below 1 for any of the intrepid Aussies, they’re KIA and the game is over!

…that track also determines how many dice each trooper has available to roll on the SAS Actions tracker, in order to select an Action (i.e., Move, Hide, Fire, Throw Grenade, Tend to wounded, and fight Hand-to-Hand). Possible Actions are determined by 1d6 dice roll against that SAS Actions tracker.

A final note on the map is that LOS and combat is always either up or down vertically, or left or right horizontally… no diagonals! Interesting. Shown in red below…



Plan A: I’m good with maps as is, since this makes for an excellent travel game! But I’d also like to have something a little more artsy-fartsy! At first, I thought about using hexagonal Memoir ‘44 tiles, but they won’t work with this, as no matter which edge used in placement (flat top or point up), it’s going to be problematic with alignment, and also with half hexes… believe me, I tried!

Plan B: Along the same lines of thought with M44 hex tiles, I’m thinking of making my own thick square tiles. Maybe placed them in a picture frame to hold them in place? …or thin square tiles held down with plexi. Need to give this some thought.

[Whiterook]

Of note, along the use of the maps within the rulebook, I decided to get the book spiral bound (see here for details). I actually did this with all three books I bought …




The rulebooks now lie flat…



This is especially optimal for use in travel! Also, I did find some tokens in my spares stash that work perfectly with these maps, which I personally prefer; personally, I don’t want to mark up the books with pencil, as they will indent that surface with repeated annotations, not to mention degrade the paper with repeated erasing of pencil marks.

[Whiterook]

Playing Pieces

So yes, I do like the idea of annotating the map with acetate and dry erase; but I’m way too OCD to mark up and ultimately damage the maps with continual pencil markings. There is the option of photocopies, but I’m a New Englander and we’ll, that’s just not frugal!

So, I decided to use miniatures or tokens, but the only miniatures I own that are close to Vietnam era are 28mm 1990’s North Koreans and US Marines. Nope. I did find some cool metal miniatures from Old Glory Miniatures that are Viet Cong and Anzac, and I’ll probably pick those up. They’ll need painting, and I can always use the practice and fun!






But for now, I ultimately settled on these to learn the game and see possibilities…



These are spare token playing pieces from a 1970’s Game of RISK (one of my favorite games of all time!)



I am using the black ones tokens for the Viet Cong; and green, red, yellow, and blue for the SAS. The tens tokens are the same as each Trooper and used to track that specific SAS Troopers’ Condition. You can see them in play here.

[Whiterook]

So of note, I’m about 8 turns in on my first game and I noted I was having some issues keeping track of the Viet Cong …mainly because I’d pause between each concluded VC action in order to right up their actions in my AAR in the War Room’s Game Logs subforum board.

So, I decided to use a separate-color RISK tens token, which I place by the VC just activated and actioned. Then it’s just a matter of taking the tens tokens off at the end, before the AAR SITREP picture is taken.

I mention all this because, it’s simple enough to do without it adding undue or annoying labor to the game; and if you need to step away mid turn, you’re covered…so, just a tip 

[mikeh]

Boy you got the VC on the board hunting your team down!

[Whiterook]

Apr 19, 2022 0:55:22 GMT -5 mikeh said:

Boy you got the VC on the board hunting your team down!

Yes I do!

There should actually be two less VC tokens, as I misunderstood the tile art; as in the difference between an Unhidden Trooper in a Jungle hex isn’t in the ”Open” (as in, a Clear Tile), but rather Unhidden in a Jungle Tile. Those two VC I errantly activated were not because my SAS Trooper was in a Clear Tile terrain… they were Unhidden in Jungle. It’s a weird adjustment for me, ‘cause I’m so used to “Cover” mechanics in other games…I need to adjust my thinking, and remember it!

[Whiterook]

“Got a Penny? Gaught a peeeeennny?”

So the Old Glory miniature figures are in… helmeted US Army and Viet Cong! All I can say is, WOW! …they are reeeeeeeeally nice!!!   I’m used to 28mm for figure painting so, 15mm is gonna be a challenge in painting. First thing I noticed is, they definitely need bases. I went to the hardware store and looked at a variety of washers… OK, so I see why y’all use coins! Pennies are much cheaper! Go figure!!!

The Penny might be a tad bigger than I’d prefer but not terribly so? I tried balancing a mini on one and it looked a tad oversized, but that’s because I’m used to the bases Axis & Allies miniatures come on. Hell, I could hack off the A&AM figures off and reuse their bases, but I’d just not be able to justify it, haha.

So new territory. I’m assuming I’d need to sand the surface of application a tad, just to get the shmutz off the coins from years’ of use… but might make binding the base of the mini with CA glue? I really have no idea… haven’t found any reference to it online yet.

….in the meantime, forest steps will be to take the molding flash off, and any seam line that may be on them… didn’t inspect them too closely so, we’ll see. Then a good dishwashing detergent wash with an old toothbrush. I’ll start a superset thread in the Build section for them.

[Whiterook]

So I read up last night, on using coins for miniatures basing… seems you need to use acetone to get the shmutz and oils off, which is fine, and maybe or maybe not need to contend with an uneven surface from the bas relief of the President. The disturbing bit I read is, technically, it’s illegal to use any US coin for such things, as it’s defacing government property and messing with the legal tender on the street! ….ahhhhh, yeah…really!?!

Well, I was all set to go ahead with the penny idea, but I was passing by the local hardware store after picking up an iced coffee and popped in, and back out again with some washers   …I figured, what the heck, let’s try washers and see how that works. Yeah, more expensive than one cent… 25, to be exact, but what’s NOT expensive in ANY hobby today! I’ll probably use hot glue to affix the mini, so that I can back out later if need be — but only needing four US soldiers (impersonating Oz SAS or not), and maybe a dozen or more VC, we’re not talking tons of money to base the all on washers!

Stay tuned!

[Whiterook]

Picked up some LITKO Battle Wound markers for Condition lost tracking. See here for a full description and link to where to buy them



I’m planning to make my own terrain tiles, instead of the book maps, and so I won’t have the Condition Track provided on the book maps. Option 1 is, I’m thinking of either making a separate chart (small) to use off board, and these could be used to track wounded status; or Option 2 would be for the markers to be placed with the SAS or American miniature figures, but that would mean moving the markers with the moving figures… Option 1 is probably the better plan.

[Whiterook]

So the upgrade project is coming along slowly but surely.

The Viet Cong miniatures are started and taking shape. They will be based this weekend with spackle on the Fender washers of the 20 that got figures glued to them yesterday. Followed by priming, and then painting. I am starting with the 20 made, and see how basing goes. I do have a back up plan of round plastic bases in my stash of game building supplies, but I believe the washers will be perfect, as they are smaller.

The US Army squad will be next… they are actually glued up and cleaned up, and ready for basing; I want to play around with the Vietnamese minis first and get practiced in the gig. I stayed with just four of those for now…that’s about all I need for the game in question.

The other item to do is try making the square tiles that will be used to build various mapboards. The idea is to use COPIC markers. I’ve looked at the provided maps in the book and accounted for the variations needed for the missions in the book… there will be enough tiles to recreate the battlefields. Since the tiles will be loose and prone to moving around, I’m planing to try out a piece of foamcore board, with a cutout the size of a full battlefield configuration, and a piece of mat board underneath perhaps… it will serve as a jig in which the tiles will be arranged within, to make the maps a little more stable and held together. If it works, maybe I’ll do a little artwork on the jig to make it a little more pleasing to the eye!

[Whiterook]

Work continued in the project, focused in the miniatures where I started prime and painting basecoats and highlights in September; and finished the weathering with Citadel washes, and a clear matte coat with a new product for me, by Vallejo. See here for the build log; and here for the finished product in the Member’s Gallery.

here’s a couple pics from the gallery area…







I’m really pleased with the results! Working in 15mm was a huge challenge for me, but I feel I can now better work in that scale for figures, in the future, knowing what to expect. I’m good at vehicles and obstacles in that scale, and now I know what to expect on figures, now.

The Fender washers worked very well, and are a go-to method for me now. The plastic bases I’d thought about using are a possibility for other projects in the future, and I like the raised features on them, as well as the side walls in the disks, but they are a little tough to find to accommodate 15mm.

The basic texture sculpt is OK, but the base of the figures shows atop some areas, but I’m not gonna nitpick… I can always cover them with grass and/or mud later if it bugs me.  

[Whiterook]

Next up are the terrain tiles! I’m going to try this with two and a quarter inch, looks like about a sixteenth thick, cardstock tiles from Apostrophe Games…



They come in a nice box, with 48 High quality, blank, square chit tiles, rounded at the corners. The are diecut, so one side water falls top to side and is glossy; the other side is more matte finish, but I’ll use the glossy side.

The plan on these tiles is to use of permanent ink art pens to draw the shapes (e.g., palm trees, huts, roads, swamps areas). I prefer nibbled art pens… for this project, I’m using a Platinum Carbon Pen; a cheap priced art pen at just under $8 USD, it’s available at Amazon, and is almost as good as my old, pro art pens that are discontinued! …was was surprised, and extremely happy to see this pen perform brilliantly.



On the subject of my old pens, one of the issues I have with those is, the ink cartridges aren’t made anymore, and other brands don’t fit well in them (by design of the company that made them, of course); but this Platinum Carbon Pen is fully compatible with these ink cartridges, and I’ll be buying a ton of them… at $7.44 for a pack of three, four cartridges per pack, on Amazonlink.




After drawing in the image (e.g., palm tree from top view), I’ll color fill the images and background with COPIC permanent markers, an Artist-grade ink, that behaves more like a watercolor paint. I can then go back in and firm up any penned ink lines and add in fine details. COPIC markers have this odd, but wonderful ability to blend colors applied, and also have a specific clear concoction that can help soften the blends.

[Whiterook]

So I had the plan on how to depict the terrain on the terrain tiles, but I’ve never used COPIC markers before and had only tried a small swatch awhile ago, to see the blending they supposedly do… and yeah, they do blend amazingly! It was time to see it on a larger scope, in this case, of a tile. So I grabbed a pad of thick art paper and drew out three tiles in pencil, using one of the actual blank tiles as a template.

I started with the plan of doing a one tree tile. On the book game map, one of the little grid squares of the map (which is what my tiles will be) has a single balloon-image depicting/suggesting a jungle tree area in that sector; this is highly conceptual, and your minds’ eye needs to interpret it as a patch of jungle, with many palm trees represented by that one tree image. In my design, I’m going to use a cluster of 3-nested palm trees (large, medium, and small palm trees), in overhead views, with frond’s overlapping at the edges of each tree; there would then be some shading in-between and on some tree canopy perimeters. The rest of the tile would be fairly solid, but blending two colors together to lend a textured look… rugged ground.

Using the art pen was surprisingly smooth, and the cluster of trees was outlined. I then selected COPIC markers in my collection to color in the tiles; first, doing little swatch marks at the bottom of the drawn tiles and writing the color next to it… this helped me decide what colors to use for the different parts of the tile. I then went in and started dropping in the color and blending. I tried to get a 2-tone on the frond leaves, to simulate sun and shade areas. The shaded areas between and around the clusters were done with a much darker color. The ground was actually harder, as I used two colors that needed to look random. Finally, I went back in with the art pen and firmed up some lines and added small details (like the frond spines).





For a first attempt with COPICs, I was pretty pleased with the result; I was confident with my drawing skills for the art pen. It’s still somewhat more conceptual, than realistic rendering, which is fine with me. I think it’s a good start!

The next step will be on an actual tile! Along the way of making the tiles, I’ll use the art pad trial templates for huts, roads, and swamps.

[josta59]

Neat! Nice job with the painting. I'll admit, I was kind of hoping to see three-dimensional tiles with table terrain. It would be so cool to have the figures hidden behind trees and buildings that stick up from the surface. But this looks great!