Low Level Hell - Introduction
This web site is based
on a pair of articles produced for the show guide and programmes for Salute
97 and Salute 98, run by the South London Warlords. They were intended
as a companion pieces to the games we ran at those events.
They were originally conceived to give the reader a quick introduction
into the helicopter war in Vietnam. The game is a Party game designed
to give an impression of what it was like to fly a helicopter during combat
in the Vietnam War, there are several different scenarios that reflect
different missions that were carried out by helicopters. It
The game uses a hexed based movement system, the 150mm hexes being drawn
by hand on a baize cloth, and features 1/72 scale plastic kit choppers
and 20mm scale metal miniatures for the VC. Obviously, if these sizes
of vehicles and this much space are not available, the game would translate
into a smaller scale.
The rules we will be using are based on an excellent set of space ship
combat rules called 'Silent Death' that are marketed by I.C.E. we have
added a couple of bits here and taken away a couple of bits there and
we think they now give quite a reasonable feel for helicopter actions.
Most helicopter actions seem to have happened at one of two height bands,
either the helicopter is high enough to avoid ground fire, this was at
about 1500 feet, and was normally used during the journey from their base
to the combat zone, or once it arrived at the combat zone, it dropped
to heights that allowed it to be hit by most weapons, as such the helicopters
on the table are on stands that give a suitable three dimensional impression
but do not represent any specific height.
The models, figures and scenery being used are from various manufacturers
and have been constructed and painted by various members of the Warlords
involved in putting on the game.
There are three other sections in this site - RULES
which features pdf files of the two articles that appeared in the programmes,
in full, plus play sheets, PIX
which is a gallery of pictures of the models, SCENERY
which is based on an article about scratch building hooches - and LINKS
which is self explanatory (one would hope).
Throughout this site, where required, links are indicated in red.
Use these to navigate or, alternatively, use the menu bar on the left.