Bad Moon Rising

Up until March 26^th, 1970, the 1^st Air Cavalry Division’s “in country” reputation was a relatively fortunate one. It had not suffered particularly horrendous losses since its battles in the Ia Drang valley years before, and those who received orders from the Replacement Depot to report to the 1^st Air Cav’s units considered themselves rather fortunate to be sent to a “lucky outfit”. That luck ran out on that day in March when Charlie Company was caught in a large scale ambush set up by the NVA’s 9^th Division’s 272^nd Infantry Regiment. Alpha Troop of the 11^th Armored Cavalry, attached to the 1^st Air Cavalry Division, that was a little more than 4 kilometers away, immediately “saddled up” and “busted humps” through the jungle in an epic trek through the jungle that savaged men and machine alike. After driving off the NVA and rescuing Charlie Company, the combined US force made it back to Fire Base Illingworth, named for one of the heroes of an earlier battle fought by the 1^st Air Cavalry.

The survivors of Alpha Troop and Charlie Companies thought they had reached a place of refuge where they could rest, recuperate, and train their newly arrived replacements (FNGs as they were derisively termed by the veterans). However, the NVA saw their opportunity to exact revenge upon the Americans grow with each passing day Fire Base Illingworth remained in place. Little did they know, that those who fought on March 26^th had leapt from the frying pan directly into the fire that exploded all around them at 0214 on April Fool’s Day, 1970.

One, 11" x 17" map | 110 die cut, double sided unit counters and markers | One, 8 page rules book