Constructing NVA/VC Camouflaged Bunkers

The almost legendary field fortification skills of both the NVA and VC caused allied forces considerable problems throughout the war and many wargames scenarios invariably present these problems on the gaming table.

Unless you are fortunate enough to use terrain tiles that enable you to model the vertical depth of bunkers it will be necessary to represent them on the table with only the 'above ground' structures being visible. In this article I demonstrate how I personally construct bunkers for my 15mm wargames which are intended for use with the Incoming! rules. The method of construction is equally applicable to constructing similar bunkers in any scale, only the dimensions will be different, naturally.

The bunkers that I use do not in any way attempt to faithfully reproduce the actual look or construction methods of the real thing, they are merely designed to represent them, as simply and effectively as possible. In effect, as long as the bunker is easily recognised as such, then that is sufficient for me. I am sure that with a little more ingenuity and skill it is possible to construct a far more elaborate and realistic model.

Materials and Measurements

Surprisingly few components are required to construct the bunker. You will need the following;

• a length of 4mm square cut balsa wood
• picture mounting card
• PVA glue

To make the base and roof of the bunker cut two pieces of picture mounting card with the following dimensions;

• base = 6.5cm x 4cm
• roof = 3.2cm x 5.5cm

To make the wooden bunker sides and roof supports, cut the balsa wood into the following lengths;

• 4 pieces @ 5cm
• 4 pieces @ 2cm
• 4 pieces @ 1cm

These are the basic building components for the bunker. I found it easier to construct several at the same time since they are so easy and straight-forward.

Assembly

To construct the bunker you simply glue the lengths of wood to the base to form a rectangle. Note that the shorter lengths go inside the longer lengths.

When this first layer has been placed, glue and place the second layer directly on top of the first. The roof supports are then glued into place, upright, on the inside of each corner.

Paint the roof of the bunker and the base (on the outside of the bunker) with a coat of lightly watered PVA glue. Dip these surfaces in a sand-box (mine is a mix of coral sand and grit) to produce a textured surface and allow to dry.

Painting and Camouflaging

The model was painted using only the dry-brushing technique and all references to painting refer to this method. This again reduces considerably the amount of time spent getting these models on to the wargames table.

I undercoated the constructed bunker and roof using a black acrylic primer spray.

All woodwork was first painted using Vermin Fur and then highlighted with Snakebite Leather. A final, very lightly applied highlight, using Snakebite leather and Bubonic Brown was then added as a finishing touch.

The textured surfaces of the roof and base were first heavily brushed with Dark Angels Green. I then highlighted this up through Emerald Green, Snot Green and Goblin Green. Final highlights were added with a mix of Goblin Green and Sunburst Yellow.

I used Das Putty to make the foliage bases or 'beds'. The putty was rolled into little 'snakes' and then put in place with the edges smoothed off into the textured surface in order to give it purchase. While the putty was still fresh, I coated it with PVA glue and bedded the foliage into it. Leaves were cut from aquatic plants and the reeds are from the head of a natural fibre brush. Once I had put the foliage in place, in effect just sticking it into the putty, I then recoated around the bases of the foliage with PVA in order to glue everything well in to place. Leave to dry out thoroughly over night. The putty will harden and the PVA will set resulting in well bedded foliage that can take a lot of rough handling.

The Das Putty (which dries almost white) was painted with Dark Angels Green so as to leave no traces of the original white. Leaves were left in their original colours. You will need to trim the reeds down a bit in some cases in order to sit the bunker roof properly in place. The reeds were then painted a base coat of Goblin Green and then highlighted up through Emerald Green, Snot Green and a final highlight of Putrid Green.

There will at this stage be some areas of the putty base which are exposed and which are very smooth in contrast to the surrounding textured surfaces. This area was coated with watered PVA and then immersed in a tub of electrostatic grass. After shaking off the excess, leave to dry thoroughly. The bunker is now finished.

Unlike their US counterparts, who generally made no effort to camouflage their positions, the NVA and VC went to almost extraordinary lengths to blend their positions in with the surrounding terrain and foliage. Spoil from the construction was used along with local vegetation to camouflage the position. In some instances, the vegetation was actually planted both around and actually on the position itself. In those circumstances were the positions were newly constructed, freshly cut foliage was used and this was replaced on an almost daily basis. In this manner the position was not compromised by the appearance of dead and dry foliage amidst the lushness of the surroundings. These considerations, as well as the generally very low silhouette, are what made these positions so hard to spot until almost directly on top of them. In this way, allied forces were already well within the kill zone before they even spotted the bunker and were thus in serious trouble if the position was occupied.

The situation for the hapless allied troops was usually further compounded by several other considerations that had been taken into account by the NVA and VC in construction of the site. Fortified positions were almost always connected by trenchlines and/or tunnels and provided each other with mutually supporting crossfires. The occupants also tended to have cut very low (ankle to knee level) firing lanes in the surrounding vegetation. Unlike the allies, who tended to cut back the vegetation surrounding their positions in order to give themselves very clear zones of fire, the NVA and VC were far more subtle and kept as much of the surrounding foliage in place as was practical, in keeping with their attempts to camouflage the position, whilst retaining well sited lanes of fire.

Using the model with Incoming!

There are a number of limitations on the use of bunkers as detailed in the Incoming! rules (section 4.4.2). In effect, a bunker can be occupied by either a fire team stand or an HMG stand. RPGs, mortars and recoilless rifles may not be fired from within a bunker. Bunkers are attacked by armour using the anti-armour rules and have an armour value of 5.

As noted above, NVA and VC fortifications were extremely well concealed and this is reflected in the Incoming! rules (section 5.3). Allied forces can attempt to spot a bunker or else expose it by using Recon-by-Fire. NVA and VC forces that occupy the position also receive the benefit of undetectable movement when moving around a fortified position. If they have already been detected then such movement is treated as a Retreat Move.

Close combat against an active bunker is not advisable since the occupants receive a +1 modifier. The allied player will probably only close assault when he has either suppressed the occupants (they cannot reactive fire as the assaulting troops move into contact) or else has overwhelming numbers.

Both direct and indirect fire against bunkers is also considerably modified. The attacker receives 1 Fire Dice less than normal (e.g a US Fire Team rolls 2 dice instead of the normal three) as well as suffering a -1 pip penalty on each die rolled. Note that Fixed Wing Fighters armed with bombs ignore the -1 pip modifier when engaging targets in bunkers/trenches due to the penetrative effects of the bombs.

A collection of three bunkers made as a group in an hour.

Probably the greatest danger to bunkers is direct fire from M48 main guns firing 90mm HE. Using direct fire, tanks attack the bunker as if it were an armoured vehicle, using anti-tank fire procedures.

Note that occupants of a bunker can only enter/exit the bunker from the rear facing. However, the bunker may be attacked from any side. Also, the bunker has an arc of fire determined by the owning player prior to the start of the scenario and this cannot be changed in the course of the game. The allied player will therefore either attempt to destroy the bunker by fire or else simply outflank it and then take it by close assault.