Revisiting Vietnam Solitaire (9)
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Note: I figured out why this was too easy: I made a major blunder and reset the Trail between turns. The Trail counters need to stay on the map! I was wondering…
Vietnam Solitaire is on my H-Index list for a couple of reasons. The first is that I haven't figured out a way to reliably beat the game. The second is that I usually manage to play something wrong, for either a win which is too easy (happened once), or too hard resulting in a major beatdown early in the game. This time I intend on going through the turn sequence methodically to ensure I don't miss anything, whether in my favor or not.
Turn Sequence
A. Roll for Trail Counters
Roll 2d6 to place Trail counters in appropriate spaces.
B. Attack Trail Areas
Attack HCM Trail with Green Beret (1PP) or B52 (2 PP).
C. Raise/move US/ARVN Forces
D. US/ARVN Combat
E. Place NVA/VC Units
F. Insurgency Combat
G. NVA/VC Offensive
H. AirCav Redeployment
I. Scoring, Victory Check, Events Roll.
And let's play the game!
Turn 1
Things are relatively quiet, no NVA on the map.
A. Roll for Trail Counters
Roll 2d6 to place Trail counters in appropriate spaces.
Boxcars! Place only one Trail counter in Cambodia.
B. Attack Trail Areas
Attack HCM Trail with Green Beret (1PP) or B52 (2 PP).
- B52 in Hanoi roll 2, success.
- B52 in Haiphong roll 2, success.
- GB x 2 in Cambodia roll 3, 6, failure.
6 PP total.
C. Raise/move US/ARVN Forces
- AirCav and ARVN added in Highlands 1-2, ARVN from 3-4 moved 1-2. 4 PP.
- ARVN in Saigon, 1 PP.
- ARVN in Mekong, 1 PP.
12 PP total. Going further is a bit risky, but might be worth it. Probably the thing to do is one round of napalm if it looks like it would result in another Region control, or would deny NVA/VC region control.
D. US/ARVN Combat
- Napalm in Hue 1-2: roll 6, fail, +1 PP.
- Highlands, 2 ARVN 1 AC against 1 VC, VC eliminated.
E. Place NVA/VC Units
Rolled 6, no VC placement this turn.
NVA placement: area 1-2 Mekong.
F. Insurgency Combat
None this turn.
G. NVA/VC Offensive
Offensive in Region 2 Highlands, but no NVA/VC, got lucky here.
H. AirCav Redeployment
AC to Hue.
I. Scoring, Victory Check, Events Roll.
Final PP is 12, which results in a +2 on the Political Events (PE) table. Roll 5 + 2, remove one US unit, which would have to be the AirCav, which really, really hurts because that costs 3 PP to emplace.
Turn 2
A. Roll for Trail Counters
Roll 2d6 to place Trail counters in appropriate spaces.
Roll 3, 3, 1 Trail counter in Laos 3.
B. Attack Trail Areas
Attack HCM Trail with Green Beret (1PP) or B52 (2 PP).
B52 in Cambodia 5, roll 1 success. 2 PP.
C. Raise/move US/ARVN Forces
ARVN in Hue 3-4 and Saigon 3-4 for 2 PP.
D. US/ARVN Combat
No ARVN/US combat this turn.
E. Place NVA/VC Units
- VC roll 3 for Cu Chi, roll 4 for area 3-4 which is occupied by ARVN.
- NVA into Highlands 3-4.
F. Insurgency Combat
Cu Chi area 3-4, 1 VC rolls 4, ARVN roll 6; VC roll 1, ARVN roll 4, ARVN eliminated. Highlands are VC controlled.
G. NVA/VC Offensive
Offensive in Cu Chi, intelligence breakdown, no FWA units in Cu Chi.
H. AirCav Redeployment
No AC on the map.
I. Scoring, Victory Check, Events Roll.
+2 for NVA/VC control of Cu Chi for 7 PP total resulting in a -1 DRM. For PP, roll 2 -1 for 1, play as normal.
And that ends Turn 2. I think I've made a blunder by not getting as many US units on the map as fast as possible, because those units get harder and harder to employ as the game proceeds. As long as they're fighting with ARVN support, they have a reduced risk of being eliminated.
Turn 3
Goal for this turn is get some US on the ground, and not worry about NVA or VC for this turn.
A. Roll for Trail Counters
Roll 2d6 to place Trail counters in appropriate spaces.
Roll 4 and 2, Trail counters in Hanoi and Laos 4.
B. Attack Trail Areas
Attack HCM Trail with Green Beret (1PP) or B52 (2 PP).
No Trail attacks this turn.
C. Raise/move US/ARVN Forces
- AC in Highlands 3-4, move ARVN from 6. 3 PP
- US in Saigon 1-2 for 2. ARVN moves there as well. 2 PP.
- US and ARVN in Hue 3-4. 2 PP.
- US in Mekong 3-4. 2 PP.
9 PP for 11 total. Really pushing it here, as Cu Chi is VC controlled and will get a +2 PP scoring. Let's put an ARVN in area 6 in Cu Chi just in case. That could be a game breaker if the offensive occurs there, we'll see what happens.
D. US/ARVN Combat
Combat in Highlands 3-4, all 5s and 6s, reroll NVA eliminated. FWA control highlands.
Combat in Saigon, VC and ARVN eliminated. PP +1.
E. Place NVA/VC Units
-
VC roll 2 for Highlands and 4 for area, will be insurgency there.
-
NVA enter Cu Chi in area 4, Hue in area 3.
F. Insurgency Combat
-
VC in the Highlands, eliminated.
-
NVA in Hue, 1 ARVN and NVA eliminated. PP +1.
G. NVA/VC Offensive
Roll 4, Saigon, no offensive. Lucky for FWA, losing another unit would have been bad, really bad.
H. AirCav Redeployment
AirCav redeploy to Cu Chi 6.
I. Scoring, Victory Check, Events Roll.
PP is 14, reduce by 2 to 12 for Saigon and Highlands control. Placing the ARVN in Cu Chi was smart, this would have been game over if NVA/VC controlled Cu Chi for +2 PP.
Political roll 6, remove US from Hue.
Turn 4
A. Roll for Trail Counters
Roll 2d6 to place Trail counters in appropriate spaces.
Another double roll, 5, 5. This is super lucky for FWA.
B. Attack Trail Areas
Attack HCM Trail with Green Beret (1PP) or B52 (2 PP).
Not going to attack Trail this turn, will beef up US instead and try to beat the NVA back as they enter SVN.
C. Raise/move US/ARVN Forces
- 2 ARVN Saigon for 2 PP
- 1 ARVN Hue 1 PP
- 1 ARVN Mekong for 1 PP
- AC in Mekong for 3 PP.
D. US/ARVN Combat
No combat this turn.
E. Place NVA/VC Units
- NVA roll 6, no placement.
- NVA enter Saigon area 2.
F. Insurgency Combat
No insurgency combat this turn.
G. NVA/VC Offensive
Roll 2 Highlands, ARVN controlled, no offensive.
H. AirCav Redeployment
None.
I. Scoring, Victory Check, Events Roll.
PP is 10 - 1 for Highlands control is 9, no DRM.
PP roll 5, place no US/Allied ground units this turn. Fine. Will use napalm, B52 and GB if necessary.
Turn 5
A. Roll for Trail Counters
Roll 2d6 to place Trail counters in appropriate spaces.
Roll 6 Cambodia and 2 Hanoi.
B. Attack Trail Areas
Attack HCM Trail with Green Beret (1PP) or B52 (2 PP).
B52 in each area:
- Roll 2 for Hanoi, NVA elimnated.
- Roll 1 for Cambodia, NVA eliminated.
That was 4 PP well spent.
C. Raise/move US/ARVN Forces
No placement due to political roll.
Move Saigon units to attack NVA in 1-2.
Mekong is too dangerous for ARVN to attack into jungle, they only hit on 1 in the jungle.
D. US/ARVN Combat
Saigon, let's see who gets lucky: NVA is eliminated, takes an ARVN with it, PP 9.
E. Place NVA/VC Units
VC into Hue area 5.
F. Insurgency Combat
No insurgency combat this turn.
G. NVA/VC Offensive
NVA roll 3, no NVA units here! Lucky FWA again.
H. AirCav Redeployment
AC stays put for now.
I. Scoring, Victory Check, Events Roll.
PP 9 - 2 for 7, -1 DRM. Kind of mixed thing here. PP roll 2, no B52. Bummer, this is a turn which would be useful to have them.
It's not looking bad for the FWA.
Turn 6
At this point, I'm pretty sure I can get it to a draw without really doing much, just lasting 3 turns.
A. Roll for Trail Counters
Roll 2d6 to place Trail counters in appropriate spaces.
Trail counters on 2 and 4.
B. Attack Trail Areas
Attack HCM Trail with Green Beret (1PP) or B52 (2 PP).
I think I'd rather take my chances. NVA won't be coming into Highlands or Saigon, so there's less chance of losing control in those regions, and for what I would pay for 2 GB, I can get a US unit on the map, which is probably more useful.
C. Raise/move US/ARVN Forces
- US and ARVN to Cu Chi 6. 3 PP
- US to Hue, +2 PP.
5 PP total here, at 10 now.
D. US/ARVN Combat
No combat.
E. Place NVA/VC Units
- VC into Region 3 area 1-2. Getting to be a big buildup in Cu Chi.
- NVA enters Cu Chi area 2. Dang.
- NVA enters Hue area 2.
F. Insurgency Combat
No insurgency combat.
G. NVA/VC Offensive
Roll 6, launch offensives in all regions!
-
Hue: 1 VC 1 NVA vs. 2 ARVN 1 US. 1 ARVN, VC and NVA eliminated, PP total at 11.
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Cu Chi: 1 VC 1 NVA vs. 2 ARVN 1 US 1 AC, results: 1 ARVN, VC, NVA eliminated, PP total 12.
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Mekong: 1 VC 1 NVA vs. 2 ARVN 1 US 1 AC, results, need reroll (!) for 1 ARVN eliminated PP 13, roll again, VC and ARVN eliminated for PP 14, roll to eliminate NVA. Mekong now in FWA control.
H. AirCav Redeployment
None.
I. Scoring, Victory Check, Events Roll.
US gets -3 on PP for control in Highlands, Saigon and Mekong. For PP 11, DRM +1 roll 5 + 1 remove 1 US unit, that's doable. US unit comes out of Saigon.
At this point I need to finish this game as I have to get ready for work tomorrow and I want it off the table, so that's it for the turn-by-turn.
Turn 8
FWA has complete control of SVN. Amazing! PP at 11.
Turn 9
Trail roll 1, 1, another amazing break! General offensive (roll 6), but hardly anything on the map. FWA again control whole map.
Turn 10
GB roll succeeded!
Turn 11
Another double roll for Trail, 2 and 2.
Turn 12
NVA in 2 Trail areas, leave 'em alone for now, deal with them when they get on the map if necessary.
Turn 13
Game ends with PP at 14, with FWA control of Hue, Saigon and Mekong to move it back to 11. I may have missed an ARVN loss in there somewhere, but not more than 1.
AAR
This is the "Rambo" victory condition. In truth, what helped is having 1. a lot of double rolls on Trail, like half the game, and 2. what weren't double roll, B52 or GB managed to take out 1 or both. That really, really made a difference.
Next game I should play the Special Edition Rules.
Blunders
I suspect the main blunder is not getting the US forces on the map as early as possible. What I did instead was B52 strikes, which used up a lot of Political Points.