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Vietnam Wargames, the good, the pretty, the bad and the ugly
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This list is intended to give an hopefully deep discussiona bout the games published on the vietnam war, they plus and minuses and how they represent the realitiy of the war. It's a work in prgoress deisgned to spark further military and strategic discussion. It will cover the three indochinese war (the french war, the american war and the last war between RVN and DRV). Common abbreviations used: RVN: Rebublic of Vietnam DRV: Democratic Republic of Vietnam CEFEO: Corps Expeditionaire Français Extreme Orient (French and colonial forces in south east asia) ARVN: Army of Republic of Vietnam VNMC: Vietnam Marine Corps ROK: Republic of Korea ATF: Australian Task Force NVA: North Vietnam Army VM: Vieth Minh (Military forces opposing the french) VPAF: Vietnam People Air Forces NLF: National liberation front (political aegis covering the so callede Viet Cong) COSVN: NVA military headquarter for operation in the south. Sorry for the long list but having a common list of acronyms will be useful...
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Posted Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:20 pm
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Ok we are starting form the "magnus opus" on the the war. Probably the biggesr vietnam game on my shelves (in terms of map and counters), but despite some discussion an OPERATIONAL treatment of the entire war. This game put you in the shoes of Westmorleand and Abrams and Giap and his planners on the other side. Basci stategy has been decided by your bosses in Washington and Hanoi, you have to implement it. It's eminantly succesfull in this endeavour. Order of battle is battalion sized for the US and ATF, regimental sized for the other allies (mainly ROK and RVN, but there are also the philippine CAGF and the Thai expeditionary force) but allowing for special battalion. Regimental for NVA and battalion sized for NLF (with the ability to form the three regular "VC" divisions. The game is operation driven, with communist ability to start it and have initiative, but allied reaction capabilites very very powerful (allied reserves can pop almost everywhere). Air war is abstracted by the us of air points. RVN politics are included ina simple but effective manner. American units anc deploy in three modes (brigade size maxing firepower, independent battalions for covering large areas and battalions with brigade HQ to maneuver and concentrate. Aertyllery is present both at brigade level (with organic artillery in brigade and independent battalion deployements and attached to HQ in "flexible" deployement) and as independent battalions. Turn are seasonal but broken in successive operations. There is also a mechanism to keep track of population control in the various RVN provinces and you can conduct limited cross border operations.
Plus: best game operational game on the whole war. It's great to show how the various armies operates and to show both strenght and limititations. The replacement points system is great to reproduce attrtinal warfare and limited casualties. The game is the only one to put you in the shoes of the theater commanders and their strategic options.
Minuses: the overall strategy has already been crafted for you. As allied player you have already abandoned Laos and Cambodia and you haven't a direct control on the air war waged on the north; you can only decide how manage the US build-up and how to craft the ARVN. Only offensive moves oyu can launch are limited cross border raid into laos and cambodia, but if you are careful and bpold enough you can try the massive raid to cut the trail planned by Westmorleand and even if you quickly move to off map spaces the war tend to change, more on that later.
As NVA you don't manage the war in laos and cambodia (so you don't have to deal with Pol Pot), but you have more freedom in deciding how and where to attack (usually switching from attritional warfare to general offensive).
comments: Initially I was a bit saddened by the lack of theather wide option, but after having been in the game for years I have managed to understand many things about it. You will never implement OPLAN34CIV (invasion of the north), but if you plan carefully your deployement, you can try to sever the trail with a massive US-Arvn operation. Usually that means the quasi death of the NLF and massive battles in Laos and across the DMZ (the NVA will try to force you to redeploy from laos with every available means, from armored trust across the DMZ to action inside RVN to grab provincial capitals). There are morale (american morale represents home front war weariness) penalities for doing that move (you pay morale points to bring american units, to have them in country and to cross borders), but if you can savage the NVA in the process you take a lot of points in exchange and the reduction of supplies flowing means that you need less resources in pacyfying RVN). I have found that while risky it a better employment of a concentrated american force than a massive build up in the south. Yet you have to be careful in balancing troops for offensive use with garrisons because the opponent will try everything to grab VP and morale points to force you to stop your occupation. And you have to plan the move carefully and execute it at the right time.
In conclusion and excellent game that explores the actual conduct of the war and the possibilities of slight variations.
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Victory in Vietnam is at the other end of the spectrum. Really small compared to Vietnam, but exploring the alnternative paths available to every player. Here you are Jhonson\Nixon on the allied side and Ho Chi Minh\the central committee on the other. You can expand the war to include thailand, you can invade Laos and Cambodia conventionally, you can go north and try to end the war in the american way. Everything is included in game, politica, land operations, guerrilla and airpower. Even chinese and russian intervention are possible. You can even use nukes. The game is well designed and the various politica options are handled using cards (isn't a CDG,but a card enhanched game, you use cards to handle politica and grand strategy options). I like that game really, really much. I think that is the best (and only) treatment of the war at this level. Rules are logicasl and not complex, but includes everything you expect from vietnam, from gurilla to firebases to air mobility.
Here everything is under your control there aren't obscure policiymakers at home taking decisions for you; you can even bring a massive armored force in the region and you can shape your policy back at home. And the designer has been able to keep everything under control, your feeling is to direct strategy and not micromanage tactics (even if MacNamara was dictating ingress and egress routes, attack levels and the like in the real thing).
Plus: you can refight both 2nd and 3rd indochina in reaosnable time, you can follow historical decisions or shape the war as you want. Ther baiscs of interaction between air and ground forces are there and there is a sufficent chrome to recreate the nam atmosphere without overwhelming the players.
Minuses: The game is small, sometime I feel the game will need a bigger map and maybe brigade units (at least as break down as in Winged Horse).
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This John Prados, Jim Dunigan, Redmond Simonsen did a good job of covering the conflict for its day.
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Despite the garish look, it's a fabulous game.
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Great strategic level game dealing with the end of the war. Every game seems to come down to the last turn....and in my opinion, that makes for a tense, well balanced game.
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A squad-level tactical treatment of the war in Vietnam with scenarios based on actual small unit actions. This game features forces from the ARVN, NVA, VC, US Marines and US Army, with one scenario even including a few counters representing the LRRP (Long Range Recon Patrol, or 'Lurps'). The combat system is not too detailed with an emphasis on playability and fun, with lots of nifty 'chrome' like individual heavy weapons and helicopter counters, as well as skill cards that bestow special characteristics to leaders and heroes. The expansion, Anzac Attack, adds the men and weapons of the Australia/New Zealand Army Corps plus additional scenarios.
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Solo grand strategic approach to Vietnam. Solitaire player acts out the US/ARVN roles against an NVA/VC (Viet Cong - another acronym for the list) enemy. Game takes the philosophy that the war cannot be won by the US/ARVN and, with time, the player's options are increasingly limited. The simulated enemy chips away, with the Ho-Chi-Minh trail playing a key role - launching the occasional grand offensive (a la Tet or Easter Tide).
Pros: Plays fast, covers bulk of post-French war, based on designers own trip to Vietnam (that's me, by the way)
Cons: Simplistic, Counter art dodgy (although alternates available on BGG game page).
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There's also this one by Avalon Hill.
According to it's only review (by ADM Mako):
"Platoon is a simplistic wargame of the single soldier per counter type. It uses upgright counters for the units, and is based on a hidden movement system so that opponents have to actively probe to find out where the real enemy units are located.
The rules are a very simple affair... a mere two pages. This makes the game extremely easy to learn and play. The scenarios are all based on the movie from which the game is derived from, so if you've seen the movie you'll recognize the scenario basis. The counters are nice, and the map is a standard board / wargame map depicting jungle, clear grass, trails, and streams.
Each player sets up his units facing him so the other player can only see the back of the units. Each player is alotted a certain amount of "fake" counters for use in deceiving the opponent, as well as the ability to "group" units into a single counter as well. At that point the game starts. One player draws a "chit" from a cup... the cup contains a specified number of Vietcong and American "chits". Whatever side's chit is drawn gets to move or fire one unit / group / fake.
This makes for a chaotic beginning tactical game that is a lot of fun for beginning wargamers. For those people just beginning to get into the wargaming scene, I recommend this game."
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Posted Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:20 pm
