More Vietnam Solitaire (6 & 7)
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A quick game (6th) using Original Rules over the next couple of days. I'm slowly figuring this game out.
- Turn 1: B52 clear both Haiphong and Hanoi. deploy many ARVN, both Air Cav, 14 PP spent. Combat: VC rolls 1 for each, costing 3 pp. US/ARVN control in only 2 regions, game over, lose!
Ok. Well. That was fast.
This was too aggressive, should have put all the arvn down, maybe 1 us but not air cav. The key is to deny vc/nva control early turns, then gain control through the middle turns as all the units can be put on the map, then gradually relinquish control as unuts are attrited and pp decreases.
I was going to run the Easter Offensive rules next, but I might just have to try the Original Rules again.
Take 2
Let's try this again for Game 7.
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Turn 1, 1963: Trail emplaced in L4, C5. B52 Haiphong 1, succeeds, Cambodia 5 succeeds, two Trail removed. Get the ARVN on the map, Air Cav down in Saigon 5, will move it later. This is 12 PP. Infiltration VC Saigon Area 2, no combat. NVA Hue 3 where there are two ARVN, time to fight: goes to ARVN. Offensive in Region 1, VC moves to 3-4, another round with the ARVN, roll goes to ARVN. Move Air Cav to Highlands.
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Turn 2, 1964: Political roll 4 - 1, no GB this turn. Trail to 1 and 4, already on 4, good luck. B52 roll 5, 5, miss everywhere. Movement and combat, US/ARVN has 4 Regions, let's see what infiltration brings. Not good, two ARVN and control. Offensive, decided to move ARVN from city in Hue instead of risking another loss which would PP at 16, so moved them to Hue 5, but the offensive roll is 1, hence, ARVN now fighting anyway at way lower odds. However, they did it, rolling a 1 which was needed against the NVA, where the NVA rolled a 5 and needed a 2. So, no control in Hue, but dodged a virtual bullet there. Control 3, PP at 12, good to go.
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Turn 3, 1965: Political roll 3, no GB. Trail 5 & 6. B52 on 2 & 5, both succeed, three Trail markers on map. Infiltration a disaster for US/ARVN, loss of troops and loss of control. Offensive, 6! This might work, with luck, because it puts NVA/VC into position where they can be fought and eliminated. But nope, first roll NVA takes out Air Cav, Mekong is lost to NVA/VC. So control of 4 regions puts PP at 12, but advancing 2 for VC control on Mekong ends the game right here.
I know for sure my previous big "wins" in this game were a result of small blunders or a rule being overlooked. Playing it very, very close to the rules (as exactly correct as I understand them) is showing that there is still quite a bit of nuance left to discover. For example, moving ARVN into jungle areas to fight along side US. That way they take the first casualties on lucky rolls by the VC. Knowing when and when not to attempt control. Attempting more control leads to more losses, hence losing more political points, and it costs more political points to get the troops on the board to fight in the first place.
Still more to learn!
This is my seventh game of this title, which also hits my h-index goal of 7, so I'm going to put it away for a bit and work on some other