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 Let's Play Vietnam '65 by Every single soldier/Slitherine Games Qui Nohn AB Briefing room #1, 1500 August 11 1965  At ease, ladies and gentlemen. Good Evening. I am Major General Jaguars! On behalf of the Military Assistance Command, I'd like welcome the advance party of the 1st Cavalry to Vietnam. The air conditioning is wonderful, is it not? Enjoy it, because it'll be a while before you can get it installed out at your new bases. I'll try and keep this briefing as short as possible so that you can enjoy the spread that we've put on at the officer's club afterward, the staff do a wonderful job, considering the conditions. I do believe we've even managed to put by some Veuve Clicquot and White Bourdeaux. Now, it's time for some hard truths that you may not have been aware of back in the states. Until now, we have been losing the war. There hasn't been a stable government here since 1963. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam has lost the countryside to Vietnamese Guerrillas, and now South Vietnam has degenerated into a chaotic patchwork of factions. Thankfully President Johnson and Secretary of Defense MacNamara have decided to change all that by deploying you here. With your units, General Westmoreland hopes to stabilize the dangerous areas of South Vietnam within the year, and bring the North to it's knees by the beginning of '67! Many of you proved your worth in the Korean conflict. Now, Generals, you will have to adjust to this new war where 'the front' is all around you and the enemy can strike from any direction. Your brigades will be deployed to the valleys of the Central Highlands, when you must establish lines of communications with the local populace. You must protect them from the North's campaign of fear and intimidation and destroy those who have taken up arms against us before they convince others to join them. If you win them over, they will reward you with intelligence and our cause will be emboldened by recruits to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Supplies will be tight and careful planning of your operations essential. Use your technology to the utmost and prove the worth of your new 'Air Cavalry' and we shall have the thanks of a grateful nation! Listen carefully to the briefings in the days to come, we shall show you how the things work in Vietnam, but ultimately you must decide what's best for Vietnam and the soldiers that rely on you. Room dismissed, I'll see you at dinner in the O club in 15 minutes. Vietnam '65  Vietnam '65 is a solitaire COIN (Counter-Insurgency) game which definitely leans to the Beer 'n' Pretzels side of the Grognard spectrum. You have 45 turns to pacify a valley by visiting villages, tracking down the Viet Cong supply lines and destroying the communist forces. A typical game takes about an hour. The board is generated when you start the game and always contains villages, jungle, a river, your base, and ten trailheads of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. VC units enter the board from the trailheads and attempt to turn the villagers against you by laying ambushes or minefields, and intimidating villagers. If things get bad enough, North Vietnamese army units will start infiltrating from the West of the map to attack you. You can gain intelligence on these units by sending infantry to visit villages or by sending recon units to the field (Recon by fire also works... in a manner of speaking.) Once you have discovered units, you use a combination of air strikes, artillery, infantry ambushes and heavy weaponry to destroy them. Patrolling villages and destroying units will raise the locals' heart and mind scores, while taking casualties or letting the VC run amok will turn the villagers against you and ramp up the insurgency. Supply is also very important, as most units can only stay in the field for five turns before running out of supplies and dispersing. As well as standard infantry, the game features Green Berets, Hueys and Chinooks, mechanized cavalry, howitzers, firebases, engineers, ARVN (South Vietnamese) infantry, M48 tanks and Cobra gunships, each with their own unique features. How will we play? This will be an SSLP.  Each update will be five turns, enough for a typical patrol. I'm going to play several games at once to showcase how the settings affect the game, each with a goon general in charge. I'd like two new and two experienced players, and the fifth game is open to anyone. Our fearless generals can post orders in any format they like and I will carry them out to the best of my ability. I'll clarify any matters relating to game mechanics, but I'm not responsible for you reading your map upside down (quite the feat on a computer) or the success of your new gambit from Burnside's Moft Excellent Primer on Subtle Tactics. True to the General's word, I have a pre-game course of briefings to help you with the basics of the game.  Generals will need to be able to post nine updates at a roughly once a week. If we have the people, we should have two or three subordinates who can place orders if needed and take over in the case of a long absence. If you don't post for two weeks, I will ask for a new player to take over. Please don't be upset, I just need to keep the game going, if you need to be away for a while, just say so and we can do a temporary replacement. Commanders, please read the following and sign up for an area of operation to match experience and taste: 
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Aug 11, 2016 10:43
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Updates Turn 1 - All Players 1st(Air Assault) Brigade, 1st Cav, General Davin Valkri - Phaic Tan Valley (Operation Ketchum) Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 2nd(Airmobile) Brigade, 1st Cav, General Jaguars - Banh Ki Moon Valley (Operation Zergling) Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Weeks 6-8 3rd(Heavy) Brigade, 1st Cav, General Koolkevz666 - Garden Of Ho Chi Minh (Operation Fortunate Son) Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Jaguars! fucked around with this message at 10:42 on Jan 16, 2017 |
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Aug 11, 2016 10:43
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Hey, Ban Ki Moon is Korean! This looks cool, and I wouldn't mind a guided introduction to Vietnam '65 strategy. I have the game, but I haven't played too much past the tutorial. Also I'm incompetent at command, but you knew that already. What I'm saying is I'd like to sign up for the newbie game, Phaic Tan Valley, if you'll have me.
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Aug 11, 2016 16:36
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Never even heard of this before but sounds really cool! Put me in for Oah Gawd Valley.
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Aug 11, 2016 16:48
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A fun game though it does get a bit easy too fast. Looking forward to your lp!
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Aug 11, 2016 17:22
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Davin Valkri posted:Hey, Ban Ki Moon is Korean! General Antares posted:Never even heard of this before but sounds really cool! Put me in for Oah Gawd Valley. Nice to have you aboard! The valley names are not strictly historical  dtkozl posted:A fun game though it does get a bit easy too fast. Looking forward to your lp! Like Strange Adventures In Infinite Space, it's a perfectly tweaked short game, a great one for just starting up in a spare hour and playing through. I must admit that I've never tried the hardest custom settings, so taking on valley number 5 will be interesting.
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Aug 11, 2016 21:08
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Oh,neat. I wasn't planning on LP'ing,just observing,but I do have one question: Is Phaic Tan Valley a reference to this?
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Aug 11, 2016 21:14
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Yep, although I haven't read it, just seen it in the shops. Names were pretty much plucked out of the air, although the oah gawd valley featured in a Vietnam themed game that Grey Hunter played last year.
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Aug 11, 2016 23:12
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Qui Nohn AB Briefing room #1, 0930 August 13, 1965: Vietnam Familiarization Briefing. Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Master Sergeant Jaguars! Today I will give you an overview of the ground, situation and mission of our army in Vietnam. Detailed briefs will follow in the days to come. In the case of fire, use the firefighting equipment located there, there and there. Evacuate in an orderly fashion if the fire is out of control, taking any injured pers with us. Upon receiving North Vietnamese mortar fire, immediately use the door at the back and run to the shelter located 50m to the left. Please hold your questions till the end and I will answer them to the best of our ability, we will take a break at 1000 and reconvene at 1010 for a question session.You start each game in a randomized valley that contains 10 villages, a river, road system and jungle. Your have about a battalion of forces sited at the main base near the eastern edge of the map. They consist of:
Your mission is to win the villagers over to support the South Vietnamese cause. They start out neutral and can be won over by visiting villages and killing North Vietnamese units. To start with, you usually helicopter your troops out to the remoter villages while the enemy is absent. When they reach the villages, they will raise that village's heart and mind (H&M) score one point and sometimes the villagers will reveal an enemy unit. Destroying the VC/NVA units is the only way to get political points, so you need to be effective to sustain your operations. Your troops are eating supplies every turn that they are on the ground, so use your helicopters and APCs to make sure they aren't running out. To find more enemy, you can send your Green Berets out into the field, or you can make them a forward base to train ARVN units, which are more likely to get enemy intelligence when visiting villages. Meanwhile, use your engineers to establish a firebase that will supply troops far from the main base, FOBs that provide security and sight, and establish LZs near remote villages. When your troops take casualties, send out medevac choppers or APCs to evacuate them to the main base for rest and reorg. Where you succeed, the enemy will wither to a token resistance. Where you take casualties or neglect villages, the North Vietnamese will escalate, sending regulars, setting up bases and even sending armored offensives to directly confront you. Will you end in possession of the field? Or will your troops cower in their bases, praying for medevac from a countryside hostile at every turn? Resources  Political Points (PP) Political Points are the currency of the game. They are used to:
If PP goes negative, operations will continue, but reinforcements cannot be bought and units will not be healed. One of our games also has a lose condition relating to negative PP. Hearts & Minds (H & M)  H & M is how you track how the game is going. Each village has a H & M rating that reflects their political sympathies. 100 is staunchly pro-US, 0 is fully communist. Villages start at a neutral 50 points. In addition, the provincial (average) H & M is tracked. To win the game, you must end with a provincial H & M of over 50. H & M rises when you visit villages, clear mines and destroy Communist forces. It sinks when you take casualties or when VC units successfully infiltrate. If the NVA manage to set up a base, then every village on the map will lose a small H & M score. If you destroy the base every village will gain H & M.  Supplies  Supplies determine how long an infantry or engineer unit can remain in the field. A unit uses one supply each turn that ends outside a base. When supplies hit zero, the unit will permanently disperse at the end of the turn. Units at the Main or firebases will be resupplied at the end of the turn, while infantry in forward bases will gain one supply unit per turn. Engineers in forward bases will remain at their current supply level. Fuel  Fuel is like supply but is used in helicopters, mechanized and armoured units. Engineers can use an action to refuel an adjacent unit. Firebases and Main bases refuel any occupying units at the end of turn. Units ending a turn on a FOB stay at the same fuel level. Fuel cannot be airlifted. Artillery ammunition  Artillery units can hold four turns worth of ammo. Any replacement ammo must be transported out from the main base. Actions  All infantry and engineer unit actions end their turn. All other units have two actions per turn plus movement. This is quite permissive, e.g you can march some infantry, pick them up in an APC and drop them off somewhere else, drive the APC away and have the infantry set an ambush or sweep mines. Combat All units have a combat strength rating that determines the odds of success. When the odds display, it will show other factors that modify the odds. Terrain is a big one shown by a mountain symbol, and you get a 5% bonus if the Green Berets are in the area, shown as a pair of binoculars. Combat is initiated by moving onto the same square as the enemy, although there are some exceptions. All US forces have two 'Hitpoints'. They can lose two battles before they are destroyed. When they are at half health they show a little first aid cross and should be evacuated to the main base where they will be healed at the end of the turn if you have 200 Political Points. Half health does not affect the unit's fighting ability. Vietnamese forces only have one hitpoint, so if you are able to defeat them they will be destroyed immediately. If you lose the combat, NVA troops will retreat three or four hexes westward before continuing their mission. VC troops will disperse even if they win, but local villages will lose H&M and you will lose political points. Ambush:  Infantry units lying in ambush will gain 50% extra combat strength and attack the first enemy unit to move adjacent to them. (Normally a unit must move onto the same hex to initiate combat.) Units do not get any bonuses in further combat after the ambush is tripped. VC/NVA units are capable of setting an ambush too! Beware enemy units that only move a short distance. Other Experience: Units gain 1 combat strength for every combat victory. The maximum is +4. Combat Tracking: When an infantry unit defeats the VC/NVA, another enemy unit might be revealed. Village limitations: Units cannot ambush in or adjacent to a village. A unit in a village will not stop a VC unit from infiltrating. Bases must be built three hexes or more from a village. Campfire Intel: After patrolling a village, there is a cooldown period of five turns. The campfire in the village will light up when there is the possibility of intel. Weather:  Rain stops airstrikes and reduces the movement range of units. Overcast weather does not change gameplay, but indicates that a thunderstorm is on the way. You can see the next three turns weather on the map screen. Emergency Supplies:  One unit can have supplies parachuted to them on each fine weather turn. Cost 500 PP. Tomorrow we will go the ground in detail including fortification doctrine. Expect further briefings on the operations of US units incountry, and the lowdown on how the enemy operates. Mail is expected to arrive at 1400 today and expect dinner to be served at 1725. Tonight's film is Lord Jim, featuring Peter O'Toole and James Mason.
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Aug 12, 2016 08:46
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Jaguars! posted:Yep, although I haven't read it, just seen it in the shops. Names were pretty much plucked out of the air, although the oah gawd valley featured in a Vietnam themed game that Grey Hunter played last year. I had a chuckle when I saw that myself. I'm in a weird place with this game,I've played it, but not enough to be considered a vet - I may well fire it up tonight...
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Aug 12, 2016 09:52
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Qui Nhon AB Briefing Room #1, 1815 14AUG65: Vietnam Familiarization Briefing #2.Good evening Gents. This time we are going to look at the ground in detail. Precautions are the same as yesterday. Should you feel sleepy, you may stand up. Questions at the end, if you please. Terrain  Jungle Jungle Impedes movement heavily. Although troops cannot be landed, helicopters are able to drop supplies from above. Engineers can clear jungle at a political point cost. Rivers Rivers penalise movement. They can be bridged by roads. Rice Paddies Rice Paddies are similar to grasslands, but cannot be used as Helicopter LZs. Rocks Rocky Terrain is similar to Jungle, but cannot be removed. It is usually only found in small patches. Bases Bases are static and provide visibility to the hexes around them. They can be hit twice before destruction and can be repaired by engineers. Bases cannot be built less than two hexes from a village. Artillery can only be deployed on bases. USA Main base (HQ)  This is where your units start and where reinforcements arrive. It is also your source of supplies; Units ending on the base will be resupplied, and transports can pick up supplies here. It is also the only source of artillery ammunition. At the end of turn, any damaged units will be repaired at a cost of 200 PP/unit if there are enough PP. Firebase  Built by your engineers at no cost, only one of these can be built on the map. Firebases replenish supplies and fuel, and transports can pick up supplies. Firebases have no repair/hospital facilities. Usually you want to build your firebase a long way from your main to shorten supply lines to the west side of the map. Forward Operating Base (FOB)  Any amount of FOBs can be built with your engineers at a cost of 1000 PP per base. FOBs will improve infantry supplies by 1 level every turn. Vehicles that end on a FOB will remain at the same fuel level, so a vehicle running low on supplies can move between nearby bases without being lost. ARVN units are trained by deploying a Green Beret company to an FOB. NVA Bases  The NVA will send an infantry unit to set up a base if you allow a village to drop below 40 H&M. The base will mortar any unit that moves within three squares of it and is very tough to get rid of. Even airstrikes sometimes fail to demolish them. Villages  Civilian Villages are the main targets of the VC. Combat near them will sway the inhabitants 1 point toward the victor. VC that successfully reach the village to spread dissent will drop the local H&M by 5 points. When you visit a village with a campfire burning, there is a chance that the inhabitants will reveal an enemy unit. The campfires will relight after five unoccupied turns. The VC can even infiltrate villages with units occupying them! The best way to intercept VC raiders is to move 2 hexes away in the direction that you think they'll come from and set up an ambush. Every visit also updates the flag flying according to where the villages sympathies lie. Helicopters can't unload directly on a village, but APCs can put the infantry on a village from the hex next door. When planning your base locations, remember the limitations. The Vietnamese are very touchy about bases too near to villages, the last thing anyone wants is civilians getting caught in the crossfire. Tonight's film is a double feature of Love has many faces, starring Lana Turner, and Beach Blanket Bingo, with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funnicello. THe O Club will be open until 2230. Jaguars! fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Sep 12, 2016 |
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Aug 12, 2016 23:57
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Firebase position is what separates the men from the boys in this game.
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Aug 13, 2016 02:52
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That's very true. As the source of supply, it makes operations in the area around it much, much more effective. I tried a different style of game last night, putting FOBs every few hexes along the roads. Although by the end of the game I had control of a corridor leading right to the west side of the map, I lost pretty handily because maintaining peace along the corridor took all the effort.
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Aug 14, 2016 00:06
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Qui Nhon AB Briefing Room #1, 1815 September 4, 1965: US forces In-country doctrine briefing.Good evening Gents. This time we are going to look at the friendly forces. Precautions are the same as yesterday. Right. I will not bore you with TO&E data that doubtless you knew prior to arriving here, but rather we'll look at company level tactics as applied here. Units US units are deployed at the main base and cost political points (Except ARVN Infantry). The price for a type of unit goes up each time you requisition one, so combined arms are more cost efficient. Allied units can take two hits before they are destroyed, so medevacing damaged combat units is a good idea. All units use either supplies or fuel which limits the time they can spend in the field. It also costs a political point for every hex that a unit moves. Infantry Infantry Units are you bread and butter. Without them you will not be able to detect the enemy or fight. All infantry have a few things in common:
Combat infantry are able to set ambushes that increase strength by 50% when an enemy unit moves into their zone of control. This only works for the first combat of the turn. US Infantry  US Infantry have a combat strength of 15. They can march two hexes a turn (More on roads) and can see units in neighboring hexes. If they have movement points left, they can set an ambush or sweep for mines. If they move into a village with a lit campfire, they have a chance of revealing an enemy unit. They will also raise a flag to report on the village's political leaning. Infantry units carry 5 turns worth of supplies (plus they can play the sixth turn before they run out of supply and disperse) Army of the Republic Of Vietnam (ARVN)  ARVN have a combat strength of 10. They function in the same way as US troops. Apart from the combat strength, the differences are a better chance to gain intelligence by visiting a village, and the way they are obtained. ARVN units do not cost any political points. Instead, they are recruited by Green Beret companies at a forward base (The firebase does NOT count). The Green Beret unit must spend 3 turns recruiting in a FOB; multiple Green Beret companies may be used to speed up the process. Green Berets  Green Berets have a combat strength of 5. They are recon infantry that cannot be seen by the enemy in most circumstances and that use their sight radius of three hexes to spot enemy units. They walk an extra hex per turn over normal infantry and can carry 8 turns of supplies. If deployed to an FOB, they can train ARVN units. If an enemy is spotted by Green Berets when attacked by another unit, we get a 5% combat bonus. Helicopters Helicopters are used for transport, supply and combat. They cannot see outside their own hex and have several turns worth of fuel before they must return to base. Helicopters are vulnerable to RPG ambushes and will always take damage from them. Huey  A Huey squadron can carry a company of soldiers. They can be picked up or dropped off at bases, roads or open ground. They can also deliver supplies from the main or firebase to units in any sort of terrain. Artillery shells are delivered in the same way, but can only be picked up from the main base. Hueys can fly 12 hexes/turn in clear weather and 9 hexes/turn in foul. They have enough fuel to fly for 4 turns. Chinook  The Chinook is functionally identical to the Huey, but has a longer range and endurance. Range is 16 hexes fair /12 hexes foul. They have enough fuel to fly for 5 turns. Cobra  Cobra gunships are most effective at range but can engage directly. They are deadly in combat but still vulnerable to RPG ambushes from NVA or VC ambushes. Combat strength 25, range 2. They have enough fuel to fly for 4 turns. Mechanized Units M113 APC  Armoured cav units can move fast over open ground or roads. They can also move through the forest at very slow speed. They can pick up units at bases or by moving next to them. Supplies are handled in the same manner. Note that you cannot drop infantry directly on a village. Empty APCs have a combat strength of 20 and can only see the hex that they occupy. M113 Engineer   Engineer APCs can perform a variety of tasks. They can establish bases and roads, and clear jungle. They automatically detect adjacent mines and will clear them if ordered into the hex. They also can be used to repair or refuel units for political points. Engineers use supplies, not fuel, so they can be resupplied by helicopter. They carry enough supplies for 8 turns. M48 Tank  The most powerful combat unit with a strength of 30. They have a three hex ranged attack useful for destroying NVA armour or bases. Like all vehicles, they have no sight range and are vulnerable to ambushes, although they sometimes escape unscathed. Mechanized ground units can be repaired/refueled in the field by engineer units. Engineers must be in a base to repair themselves. Artillery M105 Howitzer  Howitzers can only deploy at bases. To move them, you need a APC or Helicopter squadron. They have a combat strength of 25 and a range of 8. They can carry up to 4 turns worth of shells but need ammo delivered to them if away from the main base. F-4 Phantom  Air strikes can be called in on any visible enemy once in a turn. They have a high chance of destroying any unit. They can be called in on any non raining turn and because you are playing under the auspices of a decorated veteran such as myself, an airstrike is available every turn. Infantry, Green Berets, Engineers, Hueys, and Chinooks inflate 250 PP per unit bought. Howitzers, APCs and M48s inflate 500 PP per unit bought. Cobras inflate 1000 PP per unit bought. Tonight's film is The Manchurian Candidate, Frank Sinatra & Laurence Harvey. The CO has informed me that an advance planning group will be underway 0900 tomorrow. That's all I have for now. Jaguars! fucked around with this message at 11:23 on Mar 31, 2017 |
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Aug 14, 2016 07:12
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How much gas do the helicopters carry? It seems important to know the limits of the "air" component of "air cavalry".
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Aug 14, 2016 07:36
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Oh wow, that's a bit of an oversight! Hueys and Cobras have 4 turns worth, Chinooks have 5.
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Aug 14, 2016 09:27
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Does a full APC add its combat score to the carried infantry, or is just the infantry/APC if they get into a fight?
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Aug 14, 2016 14:04
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This is such a fun game, shame it was never put out on android as it would be perfect with a touchscreen.
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Aug 14, 2016 18:04
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I've seen this on the app store and I've been very curious about it. I love playing these turn based war-games on my iPad.
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Aug 14, 2016 18:11
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Cathode Raymond posted:I've seen this on the app store and I've been very curious about it. I love playing these turn based war-games on my iPad. It should work well on iPad, I believe it was developed for the platform. Slaan posted:Does a full APC add its combat score to the carried infantry, or is just the infantry/APC if they get into a fight? I had a look at the documentation last night and I couldn't see anything related to the APCs gaining strength, so I think I'm in error there, I'm not sure where I picked that up. I'll test it out by checking the combat odds when I can. An empty APC can only see the hex it occupies (Like in the picture), and one carrying a unit sees the surrounding square. Unfortunately, putting Green Berets into an APC only results in 1 hex LOS, not 3! (I did confirm that part last night)
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Aug 14, 2016 21:59
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One more tutorial tomorrow, on the North Vietnamese forces. In the meantime, I've generated maps for the two valleys taken. No rush to decide, and feel free to ask about anything that comes to mind. 1:  2:  3:   1:  2:  3: 
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Aug 15, 2016 11:06
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Sheesh, if this is "moderate" jungle, I don't want to think about what "extreme" jungle entails. My gut says Map #2, but that might just be because it vaguely looks more tan than green.
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Aug 15, 2016 21:10
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Thoughts: 1. US Base is too far away, good map for creeping artillery forward. 2. So much open space 3. The bottom half of the map will be impossible to hold. 1.  2. This would be a fun map to go mass green berets to train troops with. This map is probably the hardest on the list imo, the ring of jungle villages surrounding the US Base will make it difficult to reliably get resupply choppers through. 3. North should be easy, setup ambushes coming out of the southern jungle to keep the plain clear for choppers.
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Aug 15, 2016 23:49
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Normal 2 is air assault perfection. No roads, but with so much clear space the troops can stay out on ops instead of using half of their supplies on the approach march. Normal 3 might be tough but maybe doable if you bought an engineer specially to create an FOB and LZs in the center of the four southern villages. Normal 1 is a pretty typical map that can be tackled in a number of ways. I'd really like to muck around a bit with veteran 1, try using ground vehicles to keep the road corridors safe and use the savings in helicopter costs to field more infantry for frequent village patrols. Vet 2 could be tackled by going all out to establish a good firebase on the far side early on. I think that I agree, it's slightly harder than vet 3, but both are typical generated maps.
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Aug 16, 2016 00:45
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2 looks really interesting.
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Aug 16, 2016 00:48
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The villages in Veteran 2 are closer together than normal with quite a bit of clear surrounds, which makes things interesting. If no-one else wants to do it, I might try the ultra-hard game myself. I've never tried on those settings it should produce some interesting results!
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Aug 16, 2016 01:06
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An Khe Mess Tent, 1815 September 12, 1965: North Vietnamese Doctrine Brief.Good Evening Gents. Hope you enjoyed your beans and bacon. The engineer det assures me that the refrigeration gear will arrive in country any day now. Kindly direct your attention to the display board at the front. These are some of the main formations that have been seen in zone II recently. You'll find they have proven a worthy adversary, so listen close, if you please. VC Cadre  Cadres are groups of irregulars that have a combat strength of 6. They enter at secret points scattered through the map (The Ho Chi Minh Trail) and attempt to infiltrate the villages. Successful infiltration can lower villager opinion of you, lay mines or set up an ambush. VC cadres will disperse when their mission is complete or after combat whether they win or lose. Destroying them sways villagers in your favor. You should attempt to track down the points they're coming from and destroy as many as you can. VC Ambushes  The result of a successful infiltration, VC ambushes remain in a hex and use RPGs to attack helicopters and vehicles that pass within 3 hexes. Helicopters will take a hit every time, but some vehicles stand a chance of coming out unscathed. If engaged in infantry combat, they have a combat strength of 6. Mines  Planted by cadres near villages and roads. Infantry ordered to sweep for mines will destroy any mines within two hexes. Engineers will discover any mines that they pass but must move onto a hex to remove mines. Clearing mines improves the nearest village's H & M score. NVA Unlike the VC, the NVA will remain on the map and retreat westward if they win a combat. NVA regulars  If H & M for a village dips below 40, a NVA unit will deploy at the western edge of the map and attempt to set up a base near that village. NVA units have a strength of 12 and can use RPGs on vehicles that approach within 2 hexes. They can choose to set an ambush at the end of a turn, so be wary when approaching them with ground units. They also will attempt to attack your units and installations directly. NVA Bases When the NVA successfully set up a base, it will mortar any ground unit that approaches to within 3 hexes. They also have anti helicopter defenses. They have a combat strength of 15. Destroying them will cause a small H & M rise in every village, and they cost you 250 PP for every base every turn, so bring your full forces on them ASAP. NVA Armour  If the provincial H & M score drops for three turns in a row, the NVA will launch an offensive with these PT-76s, which have a combat strength of 30. They are always accompanied by other NVA units, so watch out! The Ho Chi Minh Trail Now, if you'll direct your attention over here, we have an example of an infiltration operation by VC battalion D332 in Duc Naite Valley last year. After 173rd Airborne patrolled and enforced the peace in the area, a disillusioned guerrilla in the area eventually revealed papers stolen from her CO and passed them to a platoon from the 173rd. They revealed important intelligence about the enemy's modus operandi. While the villages had been searched often enough to prevent guerrillas sheltering in them, The NLF reacted by channeling arms and organizers from the Ho Chi Minh Trail to caches deep in the countryside. Guerrillas traveled unarmed to blend in to the general populace until they arrived at the arms caches marked on the map. After mustering and arming themselves they then headed to the villages to gather support and coerce or intimidate holdouts. Once the 173rd knew this, they were able to destroy the VC groups while clearly demonstrating the malicious intent of the groups.  Figure 1: VC units will appear at Ho Chi Minh Trail-heads like the ones shown here. They are only revealed at the end of the game. The projector arrived today, so there will be a film tonight: The Ipcress File, Michael Caine. Rumor is that tonight's CNN newsreel leads with the Cav's main body arriving in theater yesterday, too.
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Aug 16, 2016 10:16
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This is why I love these LPs. When I read the manual, I somehow got it into my head that VC units SPAWNED on the west side of the map, walked to the closest trailhead to their objectives, and scattered from there. Naturally this meant I was planning lots of detection on the west side...which wouldn't have caught much since it would have been the completely wrong orientation. Also, if you plan to play game type "Garden of Ho Chi Minh", does that mean you slept with Mrs. Westmoreland? Don't get added to the body count!
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Aug 16, 2016 15:30
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And I guess in this universe CNN started broadcasting in 1960 rather than in 1980. 
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Aug 16, 2016 15:38
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Davin Valkri posted:This is why I love these LPs. When I read the manual, I somehow got it into my head that VC units SPAWNED on the west side of the map, walked to the closest trailhead to their objectives, and scattered from there. Naturally this meant I was planning lots of detection on the west side...which wouldn't have caught much since it would have been the completely wrong orientation. You'd catch lots of NVA entering the map if you did it that way. It's important to distinguish between the VC and the NVA as they behave differently. For example the VC cadres head for villages, whereas the NVA troops will walk across the map trying to find your troops. Davin Valkri posted:Also, if you plan to play game type "Garden of Ho Chi Minh", does that mean you slept with Mrs. Westmoreland? Don't get added to the body count! Well someone's going to have to if we want that billet filled  Triple A posted:And I guess in this universe CNN started broadcasting in 1960 rather than in 1980. Dammit, I promise I did research things in the lead up to this LP! The dates are accurate! 
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Aug 16, 2016 21:44
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He obviously meant the COMBATANT news network, not the Cable new network
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Aug 16, 2016 22:51
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Man I was thinking of taking part in this just so people could laugh with/at me as I fail in hilarious fashion but all the newbie player maps are taken. If no veterans come along can I grab Banh Ki Moon Valley and provide what will likely be the "how not to fight" example to the rest of the US military?
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Aug 17, 2016 00:24
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Yeah sure, I was hoping that a quick post to the grognard games thread would get a few game owners playing, but since they haven't come out to play you're welcome to take it. If you really want to go all out, you could take on the Ho Chi Minh valley and I could do Banh Ki!
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Aug 17, 2016 00:54
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koolkevz666 posted:...and provide what will likely be the "how not to fight" example to the rest of the US military? I thought that was what I was doing?
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Aug 17, 2016 01:02
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Relax, you'll do fine This is an unfamiliar game, so I'll do my best to make sure that no-one is stymied by ignorance of the rules (Bone headed stubbornness is just fine though:) ) Also, some errata and advice of my own:
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Aug 17, 2016 02:10
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Jaguars! posted:Yeah sure, I was hoping that a quick post to the grognard games thread would get a few game owners playing, but since they haven't come out to play you're welcome to take it. Sure give me Ho Chi Minh and watch the protests erupt back in the home states haha. Also thank you for the tips they should help.
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Aug 17, 2016 02:16
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Jaguars! posted:Yeah sure, I was hoping that a quick post to the grognard games thread would get a few game owners playing, but since they haven't come out to play you're welcome to take it. We're here we just want to watch you get overrun.
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Aug 17, 2016 02:19
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koolkevz666 posted:Sure give me Ho Chi Minh and watch the protests erupt back in the home states haha. Also thank you for the tips they should help. Excellent! I'll generate some maps when I get home tonight. What's your poison, Extreme Jungle or Torrential rain?
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Aug 17, 2016 02:32
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Jaguars! posted:Excellent! I'll generate some maps when I get home tonight. What's your poison, Extreme Jungle or Torrential rain? Lets go with Extreme Jungle.
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Aug 17, 2016 05:33
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 Choose a map for me, I don't mind if it's a hard one or if you want to see a particular play style: 1:  2:  3:   I feel sorry for you already, koolkevz... Turns out random starting forces chooses some at random and then refunds the rest to you as PP, so the forces available are another factor in choosing a map. Don't forget that with Political victory on you need to keep a good reserve of PP because going negative for three turns will end the game. 1:  1st & 2nd Squadrons (Huey) 1st Mechanized (APC) Alpha & Bravo Company (Infantry) Charlie Company (Green Beret) 1st Armor (M48 Patton) Alpha Battery (Howitzer) 15,000 PP. 2:  1st Squadron (Huey) 1st Engineers 1st Armor (M48) Alpha Coy (GB) Bravo Coy (Inf) 19,500PP 3:  1 & 2 Squadrons (Huey) 3 Squadron (Chinook) Alpha & Charlie Coy (Inf) Bravo Coy (GB) 1st Engineers Alpha Battery (Howitzer) 9,500PP To have a chance of surviving, I'd suggest playing as conservative as possible, avoiding low odds battles and long patrols into the middle of nowhere, concentrate on getting the near part of the map well under control quickly to build your forces. Use lots of airstrikes and artillery to minimize risk to your troops. You do have 60 turns instead of 45, and american strength will give you an advantage toward the end. The NVA building bases to drain your PP funds are going to be the biggest threat, I'd say. Davin and Gen. Antares, could I get you to confirm your choice of map now that you've had all the briefings and things? You guys (and me) have generic starting forces: 1,2,3 Squadrons (Huey) 1st Engineers Alpha Coy (GB) Bravo, Charlie, Delta Coy (Infantry) Alpha Battery (Howitzer) (Davin has 12500PP to spend, Antares 10,000PP) By the way, you can rename your units, villages and FOBs/Firebases with names up to 30 characters long. Jaguars! fucked around with this message at 07:42 on Aug 17, 2016 |
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Aug 17, 2016 07:37
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