air combat
wargames air combat
wargames
Downtown is a board game of air warfare
over Hanoi. During the Rolling Thunder (1965-68) and Linebacker
(1972) campaigns, Hanoi and the Red River Valley was the focus of
American air operations targeting North Vietnam's military,
economy and Communist leadership. Against large ‘packages' of US
attack and support aircraft, the Vietnamese deployed a formidable
array of anti-aircraft artillery (AAA), Surface to Air Missiles
(SAMs) and MiG fighter jets.
Covering air operations from 1965 to 1972, Downtown recreates the clashes between American air power and the North Vietnamese air defence system. The United States player controls Air Force and Navy strikes into Route Packs 5 and 6 – the heart of the Vietnamese defences.
Packages include forces of bombers, fighters, recon planes, jamming aircraft and ‘Iron Hand' aircraft for suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD). The US player's objective is to destroy ground targets.
The North Vietnamese player controls concentrations of AAA, Fire Can radar-directed artillery and SAM. They can launch MiG fighters to intercept the bomber streams aimed at 'Downtown' Hanoi. The Vietnamese player must disrupt enemy attacks.
The scale is 2.5 nautical miles per hex and 1 minute per game turn. Individual units are flight-sized air units (1-4 aircraft), battalion-sized SAMs (six SA-2 launchers), or multi-battery concentrations of AAA. Scenarios cover historical strike raids from the Rolling Thunder and Linebacker operations. Campaigns recreate actions taking place over the course of several days.
A second Downtown
module has been published in C3i Magazine Nr.18.
This comprises an extension to the game map covering Route Package
4 and the Thanh Hoa bridge. In addition to this, errata counters
for the game have been included, as well as new counters for the
scenarios included with the module.
The Thanh Hoa map extension
C3i Magazine can be ordered from Amazon.com.
Due to a production error with C3i Magazine issue Nr.17, the Aircraft Data Card (ADC) insert was not included. Players may download a printable .pdf version of the insert HERE (152 Kb). The printed ADC has also been included in C3i Magazine issue Nr.18
An alternate history module
describing what might have happened if the US sent air power to
defend South Vietnam in 1975 appears in C3i Magazine issue
Nr.17. This includes errata counters for the F-111, new
counters and ADCs for the F-14 Tomcat and details of the USS
Enterprise's 1975 war cruise.
C3i Magazine can be ordered from Amazon.com.
Downtown has won two 2004 Charles S. Roberts awards in the categories Best Modern Era Wargame and Best Graphics. The awards were announced at the World Boardgame Championships in August 2005. In addition the designer Lee Brimmicombe-Wood picked up a James F. Dunnigan Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Because of a production error, the Blue/Green player aid card (the one containing the Raid Sequence of Play) was printed without changes that were made during the final playtest. GMT Games has reprinted this player aid card with the correct information. Check your copy has the updated 'Version 2.0' card. (You can tell the difference as the new card has 'v2.0' printed on the blue side.)
Illustration: The new card should have this 'v2.0' notation
A number of these cards are being passed to the distributors, so folks who bought their copy through a retailer can ask them to get copies from their distributor. If that doesn't work, contact GMT Games direct and ask them if they can mail a copy.
Players without the updated card can download and print out .pdf files of the version 2.0 player aid card with the corrected tables. These can be found on the Downloads page.
We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused customers.
All questions and enquiries should be directed to the designer Lee Brimmicombe-Wood at: leebwood at googlemail dot com (Note that this address has been modified to protect against web spiders and other malware.)
Downtown copyright Lee Brimmicombe-Wood, 2001-2016. All rights reserved.