Souls to Waste: The Battle of An Bao, May 5, 1968

“I see light at the end of the tunnel.” –National Security Advisor Walt Rostow, December 1967. Souls to Waste portrays the epic fight waged between the 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry Regiment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade and tanks and the 1/69th Tank Battalion against three Battalions of the 22nd Regiment, 3rd PAVN (People’s Army of Vietnam) Infantry Division. The NVA laid a trap in the hills to the west of three firebases maintained by the 173rd Infantry Brigade. The NVA’s 22nd Infantry Regiment was recently deployed to the area and well-armed with the latest Soviet weaponry, especially new Rocket-Propelled Grenades (RPGs) that could easily penetrate the armor of the American’s M-113 Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), as well as mortars and heavy machine guns. The goal was to lure one of the US troop companies into an ambush, and then either inflict more casualties on any relief force that would come to their aid, or fall back and do it again at a time and place of their choosing. Each turn represents 30 minutes of time. An inch on the map corresponds to about 100 yards in actual distance. Infantry type units are platoons, and armored units represent 1 or 2 vehicles. —description from the publisher