Vietnam Solitaire 11
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Vietnam Solitaire is one of my H-index games, and a game which I still haven't really cracked. So, it's worth playing for more than one reason.
Rereading the original rules, I see that I've probably made a mistake in the past by allowing more than one trail counter in an area. This makes the game a lot harder.
The goal for this Game 11 is to play the original rules through perfectly. I'm planning on playing several times this year, and I'll worry about beating the system once I have the rules down.
Turn 1 1963
A. Roll for Trail Counters: 1/1, lucky! There are already Trail counters in Haiphong, so no new Trail counters emplaced.
B. Attack Trail areas: Hanoi miss, Haiphong hit.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: 7 ARVN spread to all provinces, cities and paddies.
D. US/ARVN Combat, pass on this turn, want to get more units on the map.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: VC into Area 6 of Cu Chi. NVA into Area 3-4 of Hue.
F. Insurgency Combat: ARVN and NVA in Area 3-4 in Hue, ARVN prevails.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Mekong, ARVN and VC in Area, ARVN prevails.
H. AirCav Redeployment: No AirCav on the map yet.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: ARVN control of Mekong for -1 PP, no ARVN or US units lost, roll 3 + 1 (PP 10), no B52 or GB for next turn. That's fine, I'll get all the ground units down.
Turn 2 1964
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Place trail into 1 and 4. Bummer, this is three NVA coming on to the map this turn.
B. Attack Trail areas: No B52 or GB this turn.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: Rest of ARVN is on the map, AirCav in Hue and Cu Chi.
D. US/ARVN Combat: Napalm in Highlands. If this succeeds, should get the PP back from having no NVA/VC in region. Success. PP marker on 11.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: VC placed into Hue 3-4, NVA into Hue 1-2 and 3-4, Cu Chi 6.
F. Insurgency Combat: Hue 3-4, ARVN prevails. Cu Chi 6, AirCav prevails.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Region 4 Cu Chi, VC into 3-4, ARVN prevails.
H. AirCav Redeployment: None.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: PP is 8 with 3 regions controlled by FWA, not bad, roll 2 with no DRM, no B52 next turn.
Turn 3 1965
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Roll 5, 2 place new Trail counter in Region 5. There are now 4 Trail counters on the map.
B. Attack Trail areas: 1 GB attack Hanoi Trail, roll 5, fail.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: 3 US into Hue and Cu Chi
D. US/ARVN Combat: No FWA combat this turn.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: VC placement Mekong 3-4. NVA placement Hue 2, 5; Cu Chi 5; Saigon 1.
F. Insurgency Combat: Hue Area 5: NVA 1, US 1, AirCav remaining. Mekong, ARVN prevails.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Roll 5 for Mekong, no offensive.
H. AirCav Redeployment: None.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: +1 for FWA control of Mekong and Highlands. PP at 10, roll 3 + 1 for no B52 or GB attacks on Trail next turn.
Turn 4 1966
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Roll 4, 6 place Trail counter into Mekong, 5 Trail counters now on the map.
B. Attack Trail areas: No GB or B52 this turn.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: Emplace US and AirCav. Moved some ARVN around to hopefully better deal with any upcoming combats.
D. US/ARVN Combat: Throw some napalm into Cu Chi 5, roll 5 for a miss.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: VC roll 6 no placement. NVA Hue 5 and 6, Cu Chi 2, Saigon 3, Mekong 5.
F. Insurgency Combat: Hue, US prevails. Saigon, ARVN prevails.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Mekong, NVA move to Area 6, engage ARVN, ARVN prevails, lucky!
H. AirCav Redeployment: None.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: PP 8 for -2 control on Mekong and Highlands. Roll with no DRM, no B52 next turn.
At this point, I'm pretty sure I can get to 7 turns and avoid the worst defeat.
Turn 5 1967
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Roll 1, 4 no new trail counters placed.
B. Attack Trail areas: GB for Trail 2, roll 3 miss; Trail 5 roll 2 remove a Trail marker, excellent.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: Nothing to raise. Move AC to Cu Chi, will be more NVA coming in here. Move some ARVN around to get some strength concentrated.
D. US/ARVN Combat: Napalm Hue 5 roll 4, remove NVA. Napalm Hue 2, roll 3 remove NVA. This is lucky rolls for FWA.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: VC into Highlands 5. NVA into Hue 1 and 3, Cu Chi 5, Mekong 4.
F. Insurgency Combat: Hue 3-4, lose 1 NVA, 1 ARVN, 2 ARVN remaining. Mekong 3-4 ARVN prevails with no losses.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Roll 5 Mekong, no NVA/VC remaining in Mekong, thus no offensive.
H. AirCav Redeployment: None.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: FWA sole control only in Mekong, -1 on PP for 9. Roll 3 with 0 DRM, no GB attacks next turn.
Turn 6 1968
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Roll 2 and 4, no new Trail counters placed, lucky again!
B. Attack Trail areas: B52 on Hanoi and Haiphong, both succeed.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: Not going to emplace ARVN, almost surely will lose FWA unit this turn. Move AC from Hue 6 to Cu Chi 6.
D. US/ARVN Combat: None, not going to risk anything given upcoming placements.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: VC into Saigon 6. NVA into Cu Chi 2, Mekong 1.
F. Insurgency Combat: None.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Roll 4 for Saigon, advance into Area 3-4, ARVN prevails with 1 loss.
H. AirCav Redeployment: None.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: PP at 11, no FWA control anywhere, roll 5 + 1 and remove 1 US unit from the map, from Hue 6.
I've made it past Heavy Defeat. If I can survive to start Turn 9, I can claim a draw. We'll see how it goes.
Turn 7 1969
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Roll 1 and 4, place new Trail counter in Haiphong.
B. Attack Trail areas: I have B52 and GB… but PP starts at 7, so little room for error here. I think I'll leave the Trail alone this turn and spend to emplace ARVN next turn.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: Spend 2 PP to put more ARVN in Hue.
D. US/ARVN Combat: 1 napalm Area 1 cu Chi, success and remove 1 NVA.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: Roll 6, no VC emplaced. NVA into Hue 6, Cu Chi 5, Mekong 6.
F. Insurgency Combat: Hue 6, FWA prevail.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Roll 2 for Highlands, advance VC into Area 6, VC prevail over ARVN for VC control.
H. AirCav Redeployment: FLy into Highlands 3-4 to deny VC control. Now I know what this phase is for!
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: PP 11, roll 3 + 1 no B52 or GB attacks on Trail next turn.
Turn 8 1970
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Roll 6 and 2, Trail marker back into Hanoi. There's going to be a big, big battle in Hue at some point.
B. Attack Trail areas: None.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: ARVN into Highlands 6. Move AC into Highlands 6.
D. US/ARVN Combat: Let's fight VC in the Highlands, live dangerously, FWA prevails, hopefully will retain control of Highlands on placement.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: VC placed into 1-2 in Highlands, bummer for FWA. Maybe there will be an offensive here. NVA into Hue 2 and 5, Cu Chi 6, Mekong 2.
F. Insurgency Combat: Cu Chi 6, FWA prevails.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Cu Chi, this is going to be big, Area 3-4 first, FWA prevails. Area 6 all units eliminated! But that leaves Cu Chi in FWA control, which is good.
H. AirCav Redeployment: None.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: PP at 12 - 1 for FWA control of Cu Chi, roll 5 + 1 remove 1 US unit, take from Cu Chi 3-4. Roll 1 + 1, no B52 attacks next turn.
Turn 9 1971
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Roll 4 and 5 place one more Trail counter.
B. Attack Trail areas: None this turn.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: Place 1 ARVN in Cu Chi 3-4 to "protect" the existing US unit there.
D. US/ARVN Combat: None, let's see what the communists do.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: VC roll 6, bummer for them, lucky for FWA, that's the third time this game the VC have rolled 6 to emplace. NVA into Hue 2 and 6, Cu Chi 5, Saigon 6, Mekong 2. Lot of NVA on the map now.
F. Insurgency Combat: Hue 6 FWA prevails.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Mekong 3-4 at even odds, NVA prevail!
H. AirCav Redeployment: Redeploy to Mekong 6, deny NVA control to Mekong.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: PP is 12, 0 DRM, roll 4 + 2, remove 1 US unit, will be the 3-3-3 in Hue 6, leaving the AC on the board for now.
Depending on what happens on the NVA Offensive phase, I may be able to squeak out a victory. If I roll a 6, there is almost no way I'll get through Turn 10 without exceeding 14 PP.
Turn 10 1972
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Roll 1 and 2, no new Trail counters placed.
B. Attack Trail areas: No Trail attacks this turn. I do have B52, but with 2 PP to deploy, I don't think I can do enough damage to matter.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: 1 ARVN into Mekong 6.
D. US/ARVN Combat: None.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: Place VC into Highlands 3-4. NVA x 2 into Area 5, Cu Chi 3-4, Saigon 2, Mekong 1-2.
F. Insurgency Combat: Cu Chi 3-4, NVA prevail, PP at 12, uh oh.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Mekong 6, FWA prevail with one ARVN loss.
H. AirCav Redeployment: Redeploy to Cu Chi 6 from Highlands 6 to deny NVA control of Cu Chi.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: PP 13, that's a Victory for the FWA, narrow, but clean and exactly on the rules as best as I can determine. PP roll 6 + 2 remove 23 ID from Hue 6. That's pretty much the game unless the NVA roll super bad.
Turn 11 1973
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Roll 4 and 6, no new Trail counters.
B. Attack Trail areas: None.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: 1 ARVN back into Cu Chi 6.
D. US/ARVN Combat: None.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: VC into Mekong 3-4, NVA into Hue 1-2 and 3-4, and that's it for NVA, no more units to place in this game, all 15 are on the board.
F. Insurgency Combat: Hue 3-4 ARVN prevails.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Highlands 6, ARVN prevails.
H. AirCav Redeployment: None.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: PP 12 roll 5 + 2 take an AC off the board from Cu Chi 6. Bummer.
Amazing I got through this turn with as little damage as I did. If I get through the next turn as lucky, it will be a major victory.
Turn 12 1974
A. Roll for Trail Counters: Rol 2 and 3, last Trail counter goes on the map!
B. Attack Trail areas: Nope.
C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces: None. I'm at 12 PP.
D. US/ARVN Combat: None.
E. Place NVA/VC Units: VC into Highlands 1-2. NVA into Cu Chi 3-4. There is only 1 NVA available, so I rolled to determine which Trail region to bring it in on.
F. Insurgency Combat: None.
G. NVA/VC Offensive: Cu Chi 6, NVA prevails and that's the game as NVA has control of CU Chi.
H. AirCav Redeployment: Only one AC on the map, in Mekong 6. Moving this to Cu Chi doesn't solve anything.
I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll: With NVA in control of Cu Chi, PP are at 15, so it's game over here.
AAR
It's an FWA win, "Good Morning Vietnam."
Played this one very, very conservatively, with very little offensive action by the FWA.
I was very careful going through the rules on each turn as well. Game play went pretty slow as I read and reread every rules section on almost every turn.
Definitely learned about AirCav redeployment, never used that correctly in the past.
The game would have ended much earlier had the NVA rolled for a general offensive, so this was very lucky for FWA.
As it turns out, had I placed just one ARVN in Mekong, I would have been able to move AirCav into Cu Chi and get "Rambo" victory. Something to think about for next time.