Grunt (board wargame)

It was the first board wargame to focus on squad level combat, and the second to simulate parts of the Vietnam War, which was still ongoing at the time this game was published.

In March 1971, Issue 26 of SPI's house magazine Strategy & Tactics included a free pull-out game designed by John Young titled Grunt, the then widely used term for an army private.

It was not only SPI's first contemporary game, set in what was at the time the still on-going Vietnam War, but also the first squad-level combat wargame ever published,[3] just the second wargame to focus on the Vietnam War,[3] and also SPI's first magazine-published game that included a sheet of die-cut counters.

He also was not pleased with the lack of clarity in the rulebook, commenting, "the poor construction of the text makes it quite an onerous task to get to grips with the game, and makes the play itself frustrating in constant reference to that section of the rules which you have seen somewhere but just can't find at the moment."

"[2] In Issue 23 of Moves (October–November 1975), Phil Kosnett thought Grunt did not compare favorably to its descendant, Search & Destroy.

"[1] In Issue 18 of Fire & Movement, Rodger B. MacGowan commented that "Grunt does an excellent job of capturing the period 'feel' and flavor of the war in Vietnam in the mid-1960s."

MacGowan noted that "there are rules covering U.S. air strikes, Medevac evacuation by helicopter of U.S. casualties, 'body count' victory points, NLF ambushes and booby traps.

Nick Stasnopolis noted the unique leadership rules for both sides that accurately reflected reality.

For the VC player, he noted that "To use their full capabilities the NLF [National Leadership Front, or Viet Cong] units must be within eight hexes of their cadre.

This reflects their lack of modern communications equipment, which produced a reliance on written messages and sound signals, thus limiting operational radius."