Khe Sanh Role Cards

Khe Sanh: Operation Niagara — Role Kneeboard Cards

Print-and-fly quick-reference, one card per player role in the Campaign Briefing Handbook roster. Period 1968 loadouts and tactics; real Vietnam callsign/role heritage where it fits. Pair with the mission brief.

🟢🟡 History & loadouts. Tactics and ordnance are period-correct for 1968 — dumb iron, napalm, rockets, and guns; no PGMs, no SAMs to dodge, no MANPADS. The campaign does not date-restrict weapons by default (restrict_weapons_by_date off), so the loadout editor may offer later stores — fly the era kit for accuracy. Several airframes are modern DCS stand-ins for the period type (noted on each card).

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FAC(A) — OV-10A Bronco (the keystone — "Covey")

================  FAC(A) · OV-10A BRONCO · "COVEY"  ================
🟡 Stand-in: in Jan '68 the FACs flew O-1/O-2 Bird Dog; the OV-10 arrived ~Jul '68.
JOB: Find the target, mark it, run the CAS stack, keep bombs off the wire.

LOADOUT ('68): LAU Willie Pete (white phosphorus) MARKING rockets ·
               LAU-3 HE rockets · 7.62 guns · (smoke)
GAME PLAN
  • Work low-and-slow over the target area — eyes on the guns, the trenches, the armor.
  • Mark with Willie Pete; talk the attackers' eyes onto it; pass the 9-line.
  • Clear each attacker HOT; near the wire it's DANGER CLOSE — they read back, you clear.
  • You are the difference between iron on a gun pit and iron in the trees.
THREAT
  • You loiter in the gun envelope — stay unpredictable, use terrain, don't orbit a Shilka.
COMMS: own the strike freq; 9-line to attackers; "CLEARED HOT" / "ABORT". TIC discipline.
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Sandy / prop CAS — A-1H Skyraider ("Hobo" / "Spad")

================  CAS · A-1H SKYRAIDER · "SANDY"/"SPAD"  ================
JOB: Loiter, hit hard, stay all day. Perimeter CAS and the RESCAP "Sandy" escort.

LOADOUT ('68): Mk-82 / Mk-82 Snakeye · NAPALM · LAU-3 / Zuni rockets · 4× 20mm
GAME PLAN
  • The loiter king — work under the FAC, low-and-slow accuracy, big ordnance load.
  • Perimeter CAS by day; the natural CSAR "Sandy" (see CSAR card).
  • Napalm + snake on troops in the open / trench lines; guns on the gun pits.
THREAT
  • You're in the small-arms/auto-AAA band by trade — vary the run-in, don't re-attack
    the same heading, keep moving.
COMMS: FAC check-in, "IN"/"OFF", danger-close read-back.
SAR: you are often the rescue escort — see the CSAR card.
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Jet CAS — A-4E Skyhawk & F-100D Super Sabre

==============  JET CAS · A-4E SKYHAWK + F-100D SUPER SABRE  ==============
JOB: Fast CAS under the FAC — perimeter, hills, assembly areas.

A-4E SKYHAWK (carriers + Da Nang) — the Marine/Navy CAS workhorse
  Load: Mk-82/Snakeye · NAPALM · Zuni · Mk-20 ROCKEYE (vs armor/troops) · 2× 20mm
  Plan: dive deliveries from above the gun floor; the Super Gaggle escort for hill resupply.
F-100D SUPER SABRE (Tbilisi) — USAF fast mover
  Load: Mk-82/Snakeye · NAPALM · LAU-3 rockets · 4× 20mm
  Plan: quick CAS passes under the FAC; don't loiter in the flak.
BOTH
  • Roll in from above the 57mm ceiling, deliver, egress jinking. ONE pass when guns hot.
  • Vary IP and axis every pass — the gunners learn you fast.
COMMS: FAC 9-line, danger-close read-back. TANKER: A-4 = probe (carrier/Da Nang legs); F-100 = boom KC-135.
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Anti-armor strike — A-6E Intruder (+ A-4E Rockeye)

================  ANTI-ARMOR / STRIKE · A-6E INTRUDER  ================
🟡 Stand-in for the period A-6A. The all-weather bomber — works the crachin.
JOB: Kill the Lang Vei armor; all-weather strike on the guns and the bridges.

LOADOUT ('68): Mk-20 ROCKEYE (armor) · Mk-82/83/84 · Snakeye · NAPALM
GAME PLAN
  • Rockeye the PT-76/T-54 at Lang Vei (Kobuleti) — the signature BAI target.
  • All-weather / radar deliveries when the monsoon closes the target (Skyspot/TPQ).
  • Big bomb load — also the bridge/road interdiction striker.
THREAT
  • Medium-alt deliveries beat the flak; mind the Shilka on the run-in.
COMMS: FAC or radar-bombing control; coordinate the box with Arc Light. TANKER: probe (carrier).
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Arc Light — B-52H Stratofortress

==================  ARC LIGHT · B-52H STRATOFORTRESS  ==================
🟡 Stand-in for the period B-52D "Big Belly". The siege-breaker from altitude.
JOB: Saturate massed NVA — assembly areas, troop concentrations, the divisional rear.

LOADOUT ('68): full conventional bomb load (area saturation)
GAME PLAN
  • Box strikes on massed infantry/artillery — the single heaviest blow available.
  • Historically walked progressively CLOSER to the wire as accuracy proved out —
    but deconflict the box hard; everyone else stays clear of it.
  • High altitude, above the entire gun threat — your risk is the box, not the flak.
COMMS: strict box/time deconfliction with the FAC and all tac air. TANKER: boom KC-135.
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BARCAP — F-8E Crusader ("MiG Master")

==================  BARCAP · F-8E CRUSADER  ==================
JOB: Swat the token MiG-17s. Cheap insurance — air superiority is basically free here.

LOADOUT ('68): AIM-9 Sidewinder ×2-4 · 4× 20mm
GAME PLAN
  • "Last of the gunfighters" vs a guns-only MiG-17 — a fair-and-then-some matchup.
  • Keep energy; don't get slow-and-low in a knife fight. Use the EC-121/E-2 picture.
  • Realistically you'll see little air — be ready to flex to armed recon if it's quiet.
THREAT: the MiG-17F is GUNS ONLY (its missiles are date-gated out). Don't bleed energy.
COMMS: AWACS picture (EC-121/E-2); FOX-2 calls. TANKER: probe (carrier/Da Nang).
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Airlift & lift — C-130J / UH-1H / CH-53E

==============  AIRLIFT / LIFT · C-130 · UH-1 · CH-53  ==============
🟡 Stand-ins: C-130J for the period C-130B/E & C-123; CH-53E for CH-53A/CH-46.
JOB: Keep Khe Sanh alive. No airlift = no garrison.

C-130 — the Khe Sanh airlift (the lifeline)
  • Ammo, rations, water into a fire-swept strip. Historically: LAPES/GPES + parachute drops
    after the strip got too hot to land. Run the approach FAST, minimise time on the ground.
UH-1H "Dustoff" — medevac / resupply   ·   CH-53E — heavy lift
  • Hill-outpost resupply under fire — historically the "SUPER GAGGLE": a pack of A-4s
    escorting and suppressing while the helos run in through the weather.
THREAT: the strip + the hills are the worst gauntlet — never go without CAS/escort on call.
COMMS: Khe Sanh tower / airlift window; CAS on call; deconflict with the strike stack.
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Combat SAR — A-1H "Sandy" + Dustoff (over the hills)

==================  COMBAT SAR · SANDY + DUSTOFF  ==================
🟡 414th feature still in in-game testing. NOTE: invulnerable_player_pilots is ON for
   this campaign (your own pilot won't be killed) — CSAR is mood + AI-aircrew here.
JOB: Recover downed aircrew over the NVA-held hills — the COIN heart of the campaign.

SANDY — A-1H Skyraider (×2): find & protect the survivor, suppress the guns, walk the helo in.
DUSTOFF — UH-1H (pickup) · CH-53E (heavy) · AH-1W gunship for suppression.
THE PLAY
  • Sandy runs the on-scene picture; suppress the AAA around the survivor first.
  • Helo ingress under Sandy cover once the area's quiet; one quick pickup.
DOWNED-AIRMAN CONTRACT: get off the LZ-side slope to cover, guard/SAR freq, authenticate,
  let Sandy run it. (No MANPADS threat to the helos — but the guns are everywhere.)
===================================================================

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Companion docs: Campaign Briefing Handbook · First Three Turns · Intel Assessment (history) · Visual Briefing. Loadouts are recommended period baselines; actual stores depend on the mission's loadout editor and difficulty settings.

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This page is the online copy of docs/campaigns/khe-sanh-role-cards.md in the repo. Edit that file; the wiki is mirrored from docs/wiki/ on merge to main.