Current build
Five systems, five player effects
Command and squads provide the shared organization layer. US helicopter operations add aerial fire support and supply drops for US Forces. NVA tunnel networks add buildable underground support. Riverine combat adds armed patrol boats and water movement for both sides. Enhanced movement adds swimming, climbing, fast crawling and dragging an injured player. These records are compact because the important distinction is the player effect: each system changes the next decision a squad can make.
Read the list alongside Roles and Battlefields. A helicopter system matters most when a US role can connect it to a request. A tunnel system matters when an NVA squad can connect it to a surface route. Riverine combat matters when the map gives water a tactical position. Movement matters when a player can recover, cross or approach differently. The system is never separate from a place and a purpose.
Name
Field note
Air, earth and water
The design of the launch surface is an air-earth-water triangle. Helicopters move support above the map. Tunnels add depth below it. Boats and swimming make rivers an active route rather than a border. The triangle helps explain why Vietnam feels different from a flat line of cover: the squad must ask whether the next action belongs above, below, across or through the surface it can see.
A good system call names the action and its place. ‘Need supplies at the runway edge’ is more useful than ‘air support’. ‘Tunnel supports the cave fallback’ is more useful than ‘network built’. ‘Boat at the river crossing’ gives Recon and Infantry a shared problem. The structured record provides the vocabulary; communication attaches it to the match.
Field note
Pick a system by the problem
If the problem is coordination, start with Command and squads. If the problem is a US approach or supply line, open Helicopter operations. If the problem is NVA support and hidden movement, open Tunnel networks. If the problem is a crossing or boat lane, open Riverine combat. If the problem is a wounded player, a bank or a difficult boundary, open Enhanced movement in the field kit and movement notes. This routes a player to an action rather than a generic feature list.
The five systems also create cross-role dependencies. Commanders and Squad Leaders set the task. Recon observes the surface. Armour and Infantry create pressure. Mortar Squad supports a location. Engineers and other field roles make the plan usable. A system page is complete when the player can say which role, map surface and next action belong together.
Keep the version boundary beside that choice. These are launch-build system records, not a promise that every later update will preserve the same balance or timing. The useful fact for a new player is the relationship: a named role acts on a named surface, and the squad can report the result. That is enough to practice without turning a concise system record into an invented specification.
