First Team: Vietnam (1)

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• first-team-vietnam

First Team: Vietnam is an early solo game, and one I've had for years but never got around to playing. I have no idea how long it will take me to get through a first play, but I'm considering leaving it up through the remainder of June if that's what it takes. I had BSM Pandora up for about 3 weeks, and got a very nice playthrough for that.

Some notes before getting started:

Unit designations:

• US units are designated by company/battalion/regiment.
• NVA units are designated by company/regiment.

NVA unit placement:

• NVA start in the Unknown Box.
• Identified NVA are in some box in the Zone Display.
• Contacted NVA are on the map. See Section 13.5: Any NVA unit in a Location is a CONTACTED unit.

Note: this game was originally started on June 13, 2020, but it had to spend some time on the shelf due to work overloads.

Turn Sequence

This game has a really involved turn sequence. Normally I write out the turn sequence in advance, then copy it to start the game. In this case, I'm writing it out in Turn 1, and will copy and clean it up after the turn is complete.

Command Phase

US gets 20 points.

Intelligence Phase

Locate LZs

• Spend 6 for LZs: Zone B, D, E, 2 each. Victor and Bravo in E, Queen in D, Zebra in B.

Locate NVA

Spend 3 CP, roll 4, success, roll 6 which puts the NVA 32d regiment in Zone D.

Supply Phase

Spend 3 CP, 8 CP remaining.

First American Assault Phase

First Airstrike Segment

I'm going to B52 Zone D. Probably not a great idea with all companies at full strength, but whatever, lets see how it plays out:

1. roll 2/2, no effect.
2. roll 5/2, roll 7 for R1, 1/32 retreats to Zone A.
3. 4/1, roll 8, 2/32 takes a step loss.
4. 4/4, no effect.
5. 5/2, roll 12 for step losses on 3/32 and 4/32.
6. 3/2, roll 7 for 5/32 retreat Zone A.

First Transport Segment

Air Transport A & B of 1/12 to LZ Queen in Zone D costing 2 CP.

Ground Movement Segment

Not going to do any ground movement this phase.

Support Segment

Passing on this segment as well.

Open Combat Segment

N/A so far.

Final Transport Segment.

Passing until seeing what NVA is doing.

First NVA Assault Phase

First Target Determination Segment

All remaining 32d regiment NVA move to Zone D, ambush roll fails.

Nearest I can figure, the first stack goes on the SF base at D2, the other stack on D5. That's a lot of firepower. Note: these NVA units are not consider "Contacted."

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

No offboard NVA movement this phase.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip because no offboard movement.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

No ground movement this phase.

NVA Open Combat Segment

• Superiority: At Duc Co, the odds are 42:4, which 10 shifts right.

Revisiting after a couple of months, I'm calling this turn over and restarting the game on Turn 2. Here is the situation:

Turn 2

As mentioned above, restarting the game at Turn 2, after an absence of a couple of months. I have very little recollection of how the game proceeds, so starting at a fresh turn makes sense. The play for Turn 2 proceeded on November 9, 2020.

This is rough as I did not get enough of a play in on the first go to recall the rules very well. Having to relearn.

Command Phase

US gets 20 points.

Intelligence Phase

Locate LZs

Locate LZs, spend spend 6 Command Points, flip:

1. Zone C gets LZ Alpha and NO LZ.
2. Zone G gets LZ Mary and LZ Charlie.
3. Zone F gets NO LZ.
4. Zone H gets LZ X-Ray.

14 Command points left.

Locate NVA

Identify: Spend 3 points and roll 6, fail. Try again spending 3 points: roll 2, success, 11/33 goes into Zone 3 of the Zone Display.

CPs: 8.

First American Assault Phase

Supply Phase

Spend 2 CPs to purchase 2 Supply counters for the An Khe box, which now how 5 SPs in it.

CPs: 6.

First Airstrike Segment

No airstrike this phase.

First Transport Segment

Helicopters cost 1 CP to move a unit or a Supply token.

Transporting C, D of the 1/12 to LZ Queen. Helis return to An Khe refit in F mode.

Two Supply tokens moved to LZ Queen.

Ground Movement Segment

Ground Movement (10.1) Infantry units may either move from one location to a connected location, OR a HOLD market may be placed on the unit. Move up to 2 locations along connected major or minor road.

No infantry movement this turn.

Support Segment

From table on page Rule 8 (p. 25), allocate artillery (1-2 CP), tactical air strikes (2 CP), and combat helicopter strikes (1 CP).

No support declared this turn.

Open Combat Segment

Combat (11.0): either open combat, or ambush, only occurs in between American and NVA forces in the same location. American units are never required to attack. NVA must attack if American total combat strength is equal to or less than NVA total combat strength, otherwise cannot attack.

No combat for US this turn.

Final Transport Segment.

Same procedure as first transport segment.

US staying put.

First NVA Assault Phase

First Target Determination Segment

Check for priority targets in Zones occupied by Identified NVA units, then check how many Identified units atack the priority target, then check to see if this is actually an ambush. Note that Identified NVA units in the Zone Display are the subject of this phase.

Identified NVA are in Zones A and C:

• Zone A: Location A1 on Route 19 is a priority target. Roll 2 which is less than Efficiency Rating for either 1/32 or 5/32, move both to A1.
• Zone C: No priority targets.

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

Roll 2d6 and cross-reference NVA Offboard Movement Table.

Roll 8 for no movement.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip if no Offboard Movement OR Turn 15, otherwise repeat First Target Determination Segment.

Skipped.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

Ground movement is conducted by Contacted NVA units, that is, NVA units which are at a Location on the map.

NVA occupy 3 Locations, need to rate:

1. A1, connects to D2 with +5, and CAM1 with +1, and current location with +2, so it either moves to D2 or stays put. Check stacking: D2 is at stacking limit of 6 units.
2. D2: stays put.
3. D5: Connected to D2 with +5 but already at stacking limit, D4 with -1, D6 with +1, and F5 with +2. Current Location is +1.

NVA 9/32 moves to F5.

NVA Ambush Segment

No Ambush criteria exist this phase.

NVA Open Combat Segment

Total combat strengths:

• NVA: 42
• US: 4

Ratio: 11/1.

Combat efficiency:

• NVA: 2
• US: 3

US is considering under HOLD because in SF camp Duc Co. Nets a column shift both ways.

Roll for NVA on Column 10 (11 - 1 HOLD): 5 + 1 = 6 for A which is one unit automatically broken, which in this case means eliminated. NVA hold Duc Co. NVA also regain a step for acquiring the supply.

Roll for US on Column 5 (1 + 1 HOLD + 3 ER): 5 + 6 = 11 for 2 which is NVA step losses.

NVA Evasion Segment

NVA units attempt to evade if they are Broken or outnumbered.

N/A.

American Maintenance Segment

Fatigued helicopters and Fired artillery are flipped to their combat ready side.

This is the end of the first NVA Assault Phase.

2nd American Assault Phase

Supply Segment

American player may purchase supply counters for An Khe.

Airstrike Segment

(7.0) Airstrikes may be against Locations containing (contacted) NVA units, or against a Zone Box on the Zone Display. The only column shift is for combat superiority.

Let's a B52 strike on Duc Co. The combat superiority is against each individual NVA unit.

• 2/32: Column 5, roll 4 for R, retreating from D2 to D1 as A1 is occupied.
• 3/32: Column 5, roll 1 for -- no effect.
• 4/32: Column 5, roll 2 for R, not sure where to retreat to, the rules seem to have a hole in them here. I'm going to play this as all retreats happen to the same Location, in the case that would be D1.
• 6/32: Column 5, roll 5 for 1 which is a step loss.
• 7/32: Column 5, roll 2 for R, move 7/32 to D1.
• 8/32: Column 3, roll 3 for -- no effect.

Not bad.

First Transport Segment

Helicopters cost 1 CP to move a unit or a Supply token.

LZ-Xray is in Location H3, and I think I want to helicopter some troops there. Spend 3 CP to lift A & B of the 2/12 into LZ-Xray.

1 CP remaining.

Ground Movement Segment

Ground Movement (10.1) Infantry units may either move from one location to a connected location, OR a HOLD market may be placed on the unit. Move up to 2 locations along connected major or minor road.

• C&D 1/12 with Supply to I3 on Route 19.
• A&B 1/5 with Supply to J1 on Route 14.

Support Segment

From table on page Rule 8 (p. 25), allocate artillery (1-2 CP), tactical air strikes (2 CP), and combat helicopter strikes (1 CP).

No support allocation this phase.

Open Combat Segment

Combat (11.0): either open combat, or ambush, only occurs in between American and NVA forces in the same location. American units are never required to attack. NVA must attack if American total combat strength is equal to or less than NVA total combat strength, otherwise cannot attack.

No US combat this phase.

Final Transport Segment.

Same procedure as first transport segment.

Holding tight for now.

End of 2nd American Assault Phase

2nd NVA Assault Phase

First Target Determination Segment

Check for priority targets in Zones occupied by Identified NVA units, then check how many Identified units atack the priority target, then check to see if this is actually an ambush. Note that Identified NVA units in the Zone Display are the subject of this phase.

The NVA unit 11/33 is Identified in Zone C, but there are no Priority Targets in Zone C at this time.

No other NVA units are Identified at this time.

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

Roll 2d6 and cross-reference NVA Offboard Movement Table.

Roll 8 for no movement.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip if no Offboard Movement OR Turn 15, otherwise repeat First Target Determination Segment.

Skipped as there was no movement during Offboard Movement Segment.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

Ground movement is conducted by Contacted NVA units, that is, NVA units which are at a Location on the map.

NVA occupy 4 locations:

1. D1: 2/32, 4/32 move to D2.
2. A1: 1/32 & 5/32 move to D2.
3. D2: Tied for moving to D5, 3,6,7,8/32 move to D5 towards Pleiku as tiebreaker.
4. F5: connects to F6 which will be the highest value due to road connection and higher number value.

NVA Ambush Segment

Ambush (13.6) may occur if US ground forces first enter an NVA-occupied location, or NVA forces first enter a US-occupied, non-SF camp location. See Section 11.32 for Ambush results resolution.

N/A.

NVA Open Combat Segment

Start at Column 1 on CRT: 1. Determine Combat superiority 2. Determine Combat efficiency 3. Ambush? 4. Supporting locations? 5. HOLD marker 6. Artillery 7. NVA night attack 8. Out of supply 9. Observation helicopters

N/A.

NVA Evasion Segment

NVA units attempt to evade if they are Broken or outnumbered.

N/A.

American Maintenance Segment

Fatigued helicopters and Fired artillery are flipped to their combat ready side.

Helicopter flipped.

This is the end of the 2nd NVA Assault Phase.

Here's the current state:

Supply Phase

(4.5) All American supplied units on the map expend 1 step of supply. (6.3) Supply Consumption: For each supplied stack during this phase, reduce accompanying supply by one step.

Done.

Fatigue Phase

N/A

End of Turn 2

Turn 3

One complete actual turn finished. Let's try another turn.

Command Phase

US gets 20 points.

Intelligence Phase

Passing this phase.

1st American Assault Phase

Supply Segment

Purchase 6 Supply Counters.

CP is 14 now.

First Airstrike Segment

Pass.

First Transport Segment

Helicopters cost 1 CP to move a unit or a Supply token.

Transport the 2/8 with a supply counter and the Pathfinder to Location F6.

Command Points remaining: 8.

Ground Movement Segment

Ground Movement (10.1) Infantry units may either move from one location to a connected location, OR a HOLD market may be placed on the unit. Move up to 2 locations along connected major or minor road.

Move the 1/7 to G5, carry 2 supply counters.

Move the 2/8 to Location F5, where the NVA 9/32 is lurking. Check for Ambush, NVA with Efficiency 3 rolls 3, which means ambush is successful. Let's do the odds:

NVA:

1. 2 shifts for Ambushing.
2. 3 shifts for ER.
3. 1 shift for Supporting Location D5.

6 shifts total for NVA, roll 1, firing on 4 US units results in 5, which is 2. So, 2 casualty points and 2 Fatigue markers. Put 1F under A and D companies. US consumes 1 step of supplies.

NVA evasion: roll 2 and the 9/32 moves to Box F in the Zone Display.

This is really a brilliant game.

Support Segment

From table on page Rule 8 (p. 25), allocate artillery (1-2 CP), tactical air strikes (2 CP), and combat helicopter strikes (1 CP).

Pass.

Open Combat Segment

Combat (11.0): either open combat, or ambush, only occurs in between American and NVA forces in the same location. American units are never required to attack. NVA must attack if American total combat strength is equal to or less than NVA total combat strength, otherwise cannot attack.

Pass.

Final Transport Segment.

Same procedure as first transport segment.

Pass.

End of 1st American Assault Phase

First NVA Assault Phase

The NVA are feeling a bit boxed in here.

First Target Determination Segment

Check for priority targets in Zones occupied by Identified NVA units, then check how many Identified units attack the priority target, then check to see if this is actually an ambush. Note that Identified NVA units in the Zone Display are the subject of this phase.

• Zone C: no priority targets.
• Zone F: 9/32 has a priority target of F6, roll 2 and 9/32 is again Contacted.

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

Roll 2d6 and cross-reference NVA Offboard Movement Table.

Roll boxcars! for 3G, that is, the remaining units of the 33rd go to Zone Display G.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip if no Offboard Movement OR Turn 15, otherwise repeat First Target Determination Segment.

9/32 moves to H6.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

Ground movement is conducted by Contacted NVA units, that is, NVA units which are at a Location on the map. Break ties by moving towards Pleiku if possible.

• Stack at D5 moves to F5, there will be engagement here.
• Stack at D2 moves to D5 as moving towards Pleiku breaks ties.

NVA Ambush Segment

Ambush (13.6) may occur if US ground forces first enter an NVA-occupied location, or NVA forces first enter a US-occupied, non-SF camp location. See Section 11.32 for Ambush results resolution.

Since the US forces in F5 were not under a HOLD marker, they are not eligible to ambush the NVA which have moved in. NVA are eligible to ambushi, but they need to roll a 1 to be successful. Roll 4, unsuccessful.

NVA Open Combat Segment

Start at Column 1 on CRT: 1. Determine Combat superiority 2. Determine Combat efficiency 3. Ambush? 4. Supporting locations? 5. HOLD marker 6. Artillery 7. NVA night attack 8. Out of supply 9. Observation helicopters

Combat strength:

• NVA: 24
• US: 16

This is a single right shift for NVA.

Lowest ER for NVA is 1, so one more right shift.

NVA +1 for support.

Roll 3 for night attack, +3 shifts.

Total: 6 right shift for NVA.

For US: 4 right for ER. Would have been nice to have some artillery ready for this.

NVA roll 3 + 4 for 2. US rolls 5 + 4 for 1B

Spend 1 step of supply for defense. Fatigue on B and C companies. I need to get some supplies over there.

Break check: 3/32 breaks.

NVA Evasion Segment

NVA units attempt to evade if they are Broken or outnumbered.

3/32 roll 2, evades successfully, in Zone Display F box.

American Maintenance Segment

Fatigued helicopters and Fired artillery are flipped to their combat ready side.

End of 1st NVA Assault Phase.

2nd American Assault Phase

Need to get some supplies to the 2/8 in F5. That's going to require helicoptering in with a pathfinder as it's not on an LZ. Bummer. Or could break contact, move to F6 which the Pathfinder could drop supplies. Going to do that, and leave the rest of everything alone for this turn.

Supply Segment

American player may purchase supply counters for An Khe.

Buy 1 SP, CP now 7.

Airstrike Segment

(7.0) Airstrikes may be against Locations containing (contacted) NVA units, or against a Zone Box on the Zone Display. The only column shift is for combat superiority.

Pass.

First Transport Segment

Helicopters cost 1 CP to move a unit or a Supply token.

Pathfinder and 2 SP to F6, CP now 4.

Ground Movement Segment

Ground Movement (10.1) Infantry units may either move from one location to a connected location, OR a HOLD market may be placed on the unit. Move up to 2 locations along connected major or minor road.

• 2/8 moves to F6.
• 1/5 moves to I4.
• 1/7 moves to Plei Mei.

Support Segment

From table on page Rule 8 (p. 25), allocate artillery (1-2 CP), tactical air strikes (2 CP), and combat helicopter strikes (1 CP).

[A,B]/2/19 dedicated artillery support for 2/8 at F6.

CP now 2.

Open Combat Segment

Combat (11.0): either open combat, or ambush, only occurs in between American and NVA forces in the same location. American units are never required to attack. NVA must attack if American total combat strength is equal to or less than NVA total combat strength, otherwise cannot attack.

N/A.

Final Transport Segment.

Same procedure as first transport segment.

Pass.

End of 2nd American Assault Phase

2nd NVA Assault Phase

First Target Determination Segment

Check for priority targets in Zones occupied by Identified NVA units, then check how many Identified units atack the priority target, then check to see if this is actually an ambush. Note that Identified NVA units in the Zone Display are the subject of this phase.

• Zone F is 3/32 which is broken.
• Zone G is [12,12]/32, which has Plei Mei as highest priority, roll 5, does not move.

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

Roll 2d6 and cross-reference NVA Offboard Movement Table.

Roll 8 for no movement.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip if no Offboard Movement OR Turn 15, otherwise repeat First Target Determination Segment.

No offboard movement, skip.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

Ground movement is conducted by Contacted NVA units, that is, NVA units which are at a Location on the map. Break ties by moving towards Pleiku if possible.

• [6,7]/32 move from F5 to F6. These are the weaker of the two units, but the smallest two in numbering order. The third unit needs to stay behind to garrison the road. 8/32 gets a HOLD marker.

• 4/32 moves from D5 to F5.

NVA Ambush Segment

Ambush (13.6) may occur if US ground forces first enter an NVA-occupied location, or NVA forces first enter a US-occupied, non-SF camp location. See Section 11.32 for Ambush results resolution.

Roll 4 > 1 lowest ER, no ambush.

NVA Open Combat Segment

Start at Column 1 on CRT: 1. Determine Combat superiority 2. Determine Combat efficiency 3. Ambush? 4. Supporting locations? 5. HOLD marker 6. Artillery 7. NVA night attack 8. Out of supply 9. Observation helicopters

Strength:

• NVA: 10
• US: 16

Night attack.

Both have supporting locations, US 1 location, NVA 2 locations.

NVA: 1 (ER) + 1 (night) + 2 (support) for shift 4, +4 DRM. Roll 5 for 1.

US: 1 (Combat Superiority) + 4 (ER) + 1 (Supporting location) + 2 (artillery) + 2 for 10 shift +2 DRM. Roll 5 for 5. That elimination as there are only 4 steps in that stack.

NVA Evasion Segment

NVA units attempt to evade if they are Broken or outnumbered.

N/A.

American Maintenance Segment

Fatigued helicopters and Fired artillery are flipped to their combat ready side.

All flipped and ready to go.

This is the end of the 2nd NVA Assault Phase.

Supply Phase

(4.5) All American supplied units on the map expend 1 step of supply. (6.3) Supply Consumption: For each supplied stack during this phase, reduce accompanying supply by one step.

All supplied.

Fatigue Phase

(4.4) American ground units in Pleiku, Plei Mei, or Duc Co camps, and the An Khe Box may remove 2 steps of Fatigue. See also Section 12.4.

N/A.

End of Turn 3

I ended with 4 Command Points remaining, which isn't great, I could have spent those on supplies.

Turn 4

Command Phase

(4.11) The American player gets 20 Command Points to manuever, fight and supply his forces.

US gets 20 points.

Intelligence Phase

The American player may expend Command Points to reveal face-down Landing Zone counters, and to attempt to Identify or Contact NVA units. There is no Intelligence Phase on Turn 15.

Pass, I want to spend points on getting supplies into the field.

Locate LZs

(5.0) Spend one command point to flip one LZ marker face up.

N/A.

Locate NVA

(5.1) US may attempt to Identify or Contact NVA units. Either action succeeds on a d6 roll of 1, with DRMs of +1 per Command Point to a maximum of 3. To Identify, the successful roll moves 1 or more NVA units from Unknown Box to an appropriate Zone Display. Contact works in a similar manner.

Pass.

1st American Assault Phase

Supply Segment

(4.13A) American player may purchase supply counters to place at An Khe, 1 Command Point per supply counter.

Purchase 4 supply.

First Airstrike Segment

Pass.

First Transport Segment

Helicopters cost 1 CP to move a unit or a Supply token. Pathfinder unit accompanying others turns any Location into an LZ.

I need to ensure I get enough supplies on the map to account for only being able to use Pathfinder twice in a turn.

• 2 supply on 1/12 located at LZ Queen.
• 1 supply on [A,B]/2/12 at H2 LZ XRay.
• 1 supply to Plei Mei
• 2 Supply into Pleiku

CP is now 10.

Ground Movement Segment

Ground Movement (10.1) Infantry units may either move from one location to a connected location, OR a HOLD market may be placed on the unit. Move up to 2 locations along connected major or minor road. Check for NVA Ambush condition (13.6).

• [A,B]/1/5 to Pleiku.
• [C,D]/1/5 from An Khe to I3.
• [C,D]/2/12 back to An Khe.

Support Segment

From table on page Rule 8 (p. 25), allocate artillery (1-2 CP), tactical air strikes (2 CP), and combat helicopter strikes (1 CP).

Pass.

Open Combat Segment

Combat (11.0): either open combat, or ambush, only occurs in between American and NVA forces in the same location. American units are never required to attack. NVA must attack if American total combat strength is equal to or less than NVA total combat strength, otherwise cannot attack.

Pass.

Final Transport Segment.

Same procedure as first transport segment.

Pass.

End of 1st American Assault Phase

1st NVA Assault Phase

The NVA aren't really getting a fast start here. They do, however, have a lot of turns left to play, so we'll see how it works out.

First Target Determination Segment

Check for priority targets in Zones occupied by Identified NVA units, then check how many Identified units attack the priority target, then check to see if this is actually an ambush. Note that Identified NVA units in the Zone Display are the subject of this phase.

• Zone C: No priority targets.
• Zone F: NVA unit is broken, moves to Zone D.
• Zone G: Plei Mei SF Camp is priority target, roll 4 with RE 2, NVA stays in Zone Display.

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

Roll 2d6 and cross-reference NVA Offboard Movement Table.

Roll 4, the entire 66th regiment moves to the Cambodia box on the Zone Display.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip if no Offboard Movement OR Turn 15, otherwise repeat First Target Determination Segment.

• [101-106]/66 moves to CAM1, a road location.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

Ground movement is conducted by Contacted NVA units, that is, NVA units which are at a Location on the map. Break ties by moving towards Pleiku if possible.

• CAM1 to A1.
• F5 to F6.

NVA Ambush Segment

Ambush (13.6) may occur if US ground forces first enter an NVA-occupied location, or NVA forces first enter a US-occupied, non-SF camp location. See Section 11.32 for Ambush results resolution.

• Check for ambush on F6…roll 1 is ambush, with night attack and support at ER 3: 3 + 2 + 3 + 1 = 9 shifts right roll 2 + 4 for 2B*. Bummer, that's a bad result for the US.

• A/2/8: roll 5, broken.
• B/2/8 roll 6, broken.

Spend a step of US supply.

I need to put a hold marker on the remaining forces in F6 to prevent further ambushes, and fly A & B back to An Khe.

NVA Open Combat Segment

Start at Column 1 on CRT: 1. Determine Combat superiority 2. Determine Combat efficiency 3. Ambush? 4. Supporting locations? 5. HOLD marker 6. Artillery 7. NVA night attack 8. Out of supply 9. Observation helicopters

Since the US strength is greater than the NVA combat strength, the NVA is prohibited from attacking.

NVA Evasion Segment

(13.7) NVA units attempt to evade if they are Broken or outnumbered. Broken units evade on a roll of 1-5. Subtract 1 for each adjacent location with US forces. (13.73) Successful evasion moves the unit to the Zone Display where it then moves into Cambodia one box per successive phase.

• The 4/32 in F6 rolls 4 - 1 for 3, which is a successful evasion, 4/32 goes to Box F in Zone Display.

American Maintenance Segment

Fatigued helicopters and Fired artillery are flipped to their combat ready side.

End of 1st NVA Assault Phase.

2nd American Assault Phase

Supply Segment

American player may purchase supply counters for An Khe.

Purchase 3 supply.

CP now 7.

Airstrike Segment

(7.0) Airstrikes may be against Locations containing (contacted) NVA units, or against a Zone Box on the Zone Display. The only column shift is for combat superiority.

Pass.

First Transport Segment

Helicopters cost 1 CP to move a unit or a Supply token.

• Pick up broken units A,B/2/8 for 2 CP.

CP: 5.

Ground Movement Segment

Ground Movement (10.1) Infantry units may either move from one location to a connected location, OR a HOLD market may be placed on the unit. Move up to 2 locations along connected major or minor road.

• C,D/1/5 to Pleiku.
• 1/12 to E6.
• HOLD on C,D/2/8.

Support Segment

From table on page Rule 8 (p. 25), allocate artillery (1-2 CP), tactical air strikes (2 CP), and combat helicopter strikes (1 CP).

• OBS and Gunship to F6.

Open Combat Segment

Combat (11.0): either open combat, or ambush, only occurs in between American and NVA forces in the same location. American units are never required to attack. NVA must attack if American total combat strength is equal to or less than NVA total combat strength, otherwise cannot attack.

Pass.

Final Transport Segment.

Same procedure as first transport segment.

• Supplies to H3 and F6.

CP: 3.

End of 2nd American Assault Phase

2nd NVA Assault Phase

All the NVA forces have been Identified.

First Target Determination Segment

Check for priority targets in Zones occupied by Identified NVA units, then check how many Identified units atack the priority target, then check to see if this is actually an ambush. Note that Identified NVA units in the Zone Display are the subject of this phase.

Priority targets, in decreasing order: Pleiku, any SF camp, any road location with US ground forces, any empty road location, any non-road location with US ground forces.

• CAM: 107-109/66 to CAM1.
• Zone C: no priority targets.
• Zone F: 4/32 to F6 on roll 2.
• Zone G: roll 1 for move to Plei Mei.

No ambush for either.

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

Roll 2d6 and cross-reference NVA Offboard Movement Table.

Roll 8 for no offboard movement.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip if no Offboard Movement OR Turn 15, otherwise repeat First Target Determination Segment.

Skip.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

Ground movement is conducted by Contacted NVA units, that is, NVA units which are at a Location on the map. Break ties by moving towards Pleiku if possible.

• A1 to D2.
• CAM1 to A1.

NVA Ambush Segment

Ambush (13.6) may occur if US ground forces first enter an NVA-occupied location, or NVA forces first enter a US-occupied, non-SF camp location. See Section 11.32 for Ambush results resolution.

N/A.

NVA Open Combat Segment

Start at Column 1 on CRT: 1. Determine Combat superiority 2. Determine Combat efficiency 3. Ambush? 4. Supporting locations? 5. HOLD marker 6. Artillery 7. NVA night attack 8. Out of supply 9. Observation helicopters

• F6: prohibited. (actually this is a mistake, the combat strengths are equal and the NVA could have attacked here. NBD.)
• Plei Mei: it's on!

The US really wishes it had dedicated some support here.

• NVA: Not a night attack, 1 shift for combat superiority, 2 shifts for ER, 3 shifts total, roll 6 + 4 for 1*. No big deal.

• US: 3 Er shifts +1 for HOLD for 4 shifts total: roll 5 + 2 for R. NVA retreats to B4.

NVA Evasion Segment

NVA units attempt to evade if they are Broken or outnumbered.

4/32 evades to Zone Display F.

American Maintenance Segment

Fatigued helicopters and Fired artillery are flipped to their combat ready side.

Done.

End of 2nd NVA Assault Phase.

3 CPs left over, that's not good. I should have dedicated the support.

Supply Phase

(4.5) All American supplied units on the map expend 1 step of supply. (6.3) Supply Consumption: For each supplied stack during this phase, reduce accompanying supply by one step.

Done.

Fatigue Phase

(4.4) American ground units in Pleiku, Plei Mei, or Duc Co camps, and the An Khe Box may remove 2 steps of Fatigue. See also Section 12.4.

N/A.

End of Turn 4

Turn 5

How fast can I get through Turn 5? So far each turn has been taking an afternoon or so to get through. I'd like to target 30 minutes per turn. That puts the whole game in reach for a single day, or two weeks for a play through in evenings after work. It would help if I memorized the rules.

Might be cool to do a runbook.

Command Phase

(4.11) The American player gets 20 Command Points to manuever, fight and supply his forces.

US gets 20 points.

Intelligence Phase

The American player may expend Command Points to reveal face-down Landing Zone counters, and to attempt to Identify or Contact NVA units. There is no Intelligence Phase on Turn 15.

Locate LZs

(5.0) Spend one command point to flip one LZ marker face up.

N/A.

Locate NVA

(5.1) US may attempt to Identify or Contact NVA units. Either action succeeds on a d6 roll of 1, with DRMs of +1 per Command Point to a maximum of 3. To Identify, the successful roll moves 1 or more NVA units from Unknown Box to an appropriate Zone Display. Contact works in a similar manner.

Pass.

1st American Assault Phase

I've learned enough about the game to have to start making real decisions about what to do. Clearly I need to ensure Pleiku has artillery support, which means reserving enough CP for both NVA Assault Phases. I'll need to buy supply as usual.

Supply Segment

(4.13A) American player may purchase supply counters to place at An Khe, 1 Command Point per supply counter.

Purchase 3.

CP: 17.

First Airstrike Segment

(7.0) Airstrikes may be against Locations containing (contacted) NVA units, or against a Zone Box on the Zone Display. The only column shift is for combat superiority. Use the Strike factor for determining combat strength.

Pass. Going to do this next turn though.

First Transport Segment

Helicopters cost 1 CP to move a unit or a Supply token. Pathfinder unit accompanying others turns any Location into an LZ.

Pass, going to save CP for artillery and airstrike.

Ground Movement Segment

Ground Movement (10.1) Infantry units may either move from one location to a connected location, OR a HOLD market may be placed on the unit. Move up to 2 locations along connected major or minor road. Check for NVA Ambush condition (13.6).

• 1/12 moves from E6 to F4. Probably going to pull it from the map next round to get the Fatigue markers removed.

Support Segment

From table on page Rule 8 (p. 25), allocate artillery (1-2 CP), tactical air strikes (2 CP), and combat helicopter strikes (1 CP).

• F6 gets 4 artillery, Gunship, OBS.
• Plei Mei gets 4 artillery, Gunship, OBS.

CP: 5

I'm not going to end up with extra CP at the end of this turn.

Open Combat Segment

Combat (11.0): either open combat, or ambush, only occurs in between American and NVA forces in the same location. American units are never required to attack. NVA must attack if American total combat strength is equal to or less than NVA total combat strength, otherwise cannot attack.

N/A.

Final Transport Segment.

Same procedure as first transport segment.

Pass.

ET: 9:57. Not bad. Still an hour per turn, especially since I like to take breaks between phases.

End of 1st American Assault Phase

1st NVA Assault Phase

First Target Determination Segment

Check for priority targets in Zones occupied by Identified NVA units (NVA units in the Zone Display), then check how many Identified units attack the priority target, then check to see if this is actually an ambush. Note that Identified NVA units in the Zone Display are the subject of this phase.

• 11/32 in Zone C, no priority targets.
• 4/32 in Zone f, priority target is F6.

No ambush, American units are under HOLD marker.

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

Roll 2d6 and cross-reference NVA Offboard Movement Table.

Roll 6 for No Movement.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip if no Offboard Movement OR Turn 15, otherwise repeat First Target Determination Segment.

Skip.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

Ground movement is conducted by Contacted NVA units, that is, NVA units which are at a Location on the map. Break ties by moving towards Pleiku if possible.

• 12,13/33 move from B4 to Plei Mei.
• 101-104/66 D2 to D5.
• 106-108/66 to D2.

NVA Ambush Segment

Ambush (13.6) may occur if US ground forces first enter an NVA-occupied location, or NVA forces first enter a US-occupied, non-SF camp location. See Section 11.32 for Ambush results resolution.

N/A, all American forces are either under HOLD or in SF camp.

NVA Open Combat Segment

(11.1) NVA must initiate combat if NVA strength is equal to or greater than US combat strength, otherwise NVA Open Combat is prohibited (NVA ambush is still allowed).

Start at Column 1 on CRT: 1. Determine Combat superiority 2. Determine Combat efficiency 3. Ambush? 4. Supporting locations? 5. HOLD marker 6. Artillery 7. NVA night attack 8. Out of supply 9. Observation helicopters

Plei Mei first:

Combat strength shift 1 right for NVA:

• NVA: 16.
• US: 12.

Night attack.

NVA: shift 5 right + 5 DRM.

• +1 combat
• +3 night attack
• +2 ER
• -1 SF Camp

US: shift 10 right + 2 DRM.

• +1 SF Camp
• +4 Artillery
• +1 OBS
• +1 HOLD (mistake, already +1 for SF camp)
• +3 ER

Results:

• NVA roll 1 + 5 for 2*, which is 1 Casaulty point due to presence of Gunship.

• US: roll 3 + 2 for 3B.

  • 12/33 roll 5 > 2, broken.
  • 13/33 roll 4 == 4, lose a step + 3 more steps, which is broken.

Both these move to Zone Display box G.

F6 next:

No combat superiority for either side.

NVA: shift 5 + 2 DRM.

• +3 ER
• +3 night attack
• -1 firing on HOLD

US: shift 9 right + 1 DRM

• +3 ER
• +1 HOLD
• +4 Artillery
• +1 OBS

Results:

• NVA: roll 1 + 2 for R.
• US: roll 1 + 1 for 2. Fly back to An Khe.

CP: 3.

The bummer here is that the 4/32 captures supplies and gets both steps back.

I think for combat results, apply step losses first, then check to see what's broken.

NVA Evasion Segment

(13.7) NVA units attempt to evade if they are Broken or outnumbered. Broken units evade on a roll of 1-5. Subtract 1 for each adjacent location with only US forces. (13.73) Successful evasion moves the unit to the corresponding Zone Display box. Broken units move into Cambodia one box per successive phase.

N/A.

American Maintenance Segment

Fatigued helicopters and Fired artillery are flipped to their combat ready side.

Flipped.

ET: 48:49. I did add a bit of Anki though. Combat procedure takes a while. I could probably learn to do it my head which would make it a lot faster.

End of 1st NVA Assault Phase.

2nd American Assault Phase

This is going to be a hunker down phase for the Americans.

Start: 10:50am.

Supply Segment

American player may purchase supply counters for An Khe.

No need.

Airstrike Segment

(7.0) Airstrikes may be against Locations containing (contacted) NVA units, or against a Zone Box on the Zone Display. The only column shift is for combat superiority. Use the strike factor for determining combat strength.

Pass. I might be in trouble if I need to retreat from Plei Mei. Save some transport points for Retreat results.

First Transport Segment

Helicopters cost 1 CP to move a unit or a Supply token.

Pass.

Ground Movement Segment

Ground Movement (10.1) Infantry units may either move from one location to a connected location, OR a HOLD market may be placed on the unit. Move up to 2 locations along connected major or minor road.

• Move the 1/12 to F3. It's now on a road and can book it back to An Khe to get recovered.
• 1/8 moves from An Khe to I3.

Support Segment

From table on page Rule 8 (p. 25), allocate artillery (1-2 CP), tactical air strikes (2 CP), and combat helicopter strikes (1 CP).

Pass.

Open Combat Segment

Combat (11.0): either open combat, or ambush, only occurs in between American and NVA forces in the same location. American units are never required to attack. NVA must attack if American total combat strength is equal to or less than NVA total combat strength, otherwise cannot attack.

N/A.

Final Transport Segment.

Same procedure as first transport segment.

Pass.

End of 2nd American Assault Phase

ET: 3:27.

End: 10:54am.

Take a break to water some plants, then get after the NVA 2d Assault Phase. I'm really wanting to break into High Frontier 4. It's mocking me. I'm going to do it, I'm going to get into it before finishing the other games I have in flight (Burma, Sorcerer, LotR quest), but I'm bent on finishing this game first. Or at least getting to a point where victory for one side or another is overwhelming.

2nd NVA Assault Phase

First Target Determination Segment

Check for priority targets in Zones occupied by Identified NVA units (NVA units in the Zone Display), then check how many Identified units atack the priority target, then check to see if this is actually an ambush. Note that Identified NVA units in the Zone Display are the subject of this phase.

Priority targets, in decreasing order: Pleiku, any SF camp, any road location with US ground forces, any empty road location, any non-road location with US ground forces.

Only 11/33 in Zone C, no priority targets.

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

Roll 2d6 and cross-reference NVA Offboard Movement Table.

Roll 5 for 3B which is no effect.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip if no Offboard Movement OR Turn 15, otherwise repeat First Target Determination Segment.

Skip.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

Ground movement is conducted by Contacted NVA units, that is, NVA units which are at a Location on the map. Break ties by moving towards Pleiku if possible.

Move stacks towards Pleiku along Route 19.

NVA Ambush Segment

Ambush (13.6) may occur if US ground forces first enter an NVA-occupied location, or NVA forces first enter a US-occupied, non-SF camp location. See Section 11.32 for Ambush results resolution.

N/A.

NVA Open Combat Segment

Start at Column 1 on CRT: 1. Determine Combat superiority 2. Determine Combat efficiency 3. Ambush? 4. Supporting locations? 5. HOLD marker 6. Artillery 7. NVA night attack 8. Out of supply 9. Observation helicopters

N/A.

NVA Evasion Segment

NVA units attempt to evade if they are Broken or outnumbered.

N/A.

American Maintenance Segment

Fatigued helicopters and Fired artillery are flipped to their combat ready side.

End of 2nd NVA Assault Phase.

Supply Phase

(4.5) All American supplied units on the map expend 1 step of supply. (6.3) Supply Consumption: For each supplied stack during this phase, reduce accompanying supply by one step.

Done.

Fatigue Phase

(4.4) American ground units in Pleiku, Plei Mei, or Duc Co camps, and the An Khe Box may remove 2 steps of Fatigue. See also Section 12.4.

All Fatigue markers off.

End of Turn 5

Turn 6

Now being 1/3 of the way into the game, I suspect about half the turns in the game don't really have much effect, where other turns end up being really involved.

The US has 5 stacks on the map which will need end-of-turn supply, and one or more of them may need combat supply as well. Given none of the US units attack this turn, it's not clear how much combat supply could be necessary, as it's not clear which stacks could be subject to NVA assault.

There are 3 supply counters in An Khe right now. Only Plei Mei is seriously at risk for being out of supply. Purchasing 2 supply counters should get the US through Turn 6. The 1/12 needs to get to Pleiku, where it's out of action until Turn 9 when it's completely recovered from Fatigue.

I think it's a good turn to do some airstrikes. Here's the plan:

• Supplies: 2.
• Transport supply counter to Plei Mei: 1.
• Airstrike on F5: 5 x 2 for 10.

That's an initial spend of 8, which leaves me with plenty of juice for the 2d phase.

(I miscalculated, airstrikes cost 2 CP, not 1), so that's going to hurt.

Command Phase

(4.11) The American player gets 20 Command Points to manuever, fight and supply his forces.

US gets 20 points.

Intelligence Phase

The American player may expend Command Points to reveal face-down Landing Zone counters, and to attempt to Identify or Contact NVA units. There is no Intelligence Phase on Turn 15.

Locate LZs

(5.0) Spend one command point to flip one LZ marker face up.

Pass.

Locate NVA

(5.1) US may attempt to Identify or Contact NVA units. Either action succeeds on a d6 roll of 1, with DRMs of +1 per Command Point to a maximum of 3. To Identify, the successful roll moves 1 or more NVA units from Unknown Box to an appropriate Zone Display. Contact works in a similar manner.

Pass.

1st American Assault Phase

Supply Segment

(4.13A) American player may purchase supply counters to place at An Khe, 1 Command Point per supply counter.

Spend 2 CP for 2 supply.

First Airstrike Segment

(7.0) Airstrikes may be against Locations containing (contacted) NVA units, or against a Zone Box on the Zone Display. The only column shift is for combat superiority. Use the Strike factor for determining combat strength.

Hit 'em hard in F5. Using 5 aircraft, we get 3 shifts right.

• 101/66: roll 6 for 1 steps.
• 102/66: roll 6 for 1 steps.
• 103/66: roll 2 for -.
• 104/66: roll 2 for -.
• 8/32: roll 6 for 1.

Not great, but not super bad either. Maybe hit 'em again next turn and chew them down a step at a time.

CP: 8.

First Transport Segment

Helicopters cost 1 CP to move a unit or a Supply token. Pathfinder unit accompanying others turns any Location into an LZ.

Move a supply to Plei Mei.

CP: 7.

Ground Movement Segment

Ground Movement (10.1) Infantry units may either move from one location to a connected location, OR a HOLD market may be placed on the unit. Move up to 2 locations along connected major or minor road. Check for NVA Ambush condition (13.6).

1/12 to Pleiku to reduce Fatigue.

I need to remember to use the Pathfinder unit every turn. I'm going to need it.

Support Segment

From table on page Rule 8 (p. 25), allocate artillery (1-2 CP), tactical air strikes (2 CP), and combat helicopter strikes (1 CP).

Allocate 2 artillery to Pleiku, just in case.

CP: 5.

Open Combat Segment

Combat (11.0): either open combat, or ambush, only occurs in between American and NVA forces in the same location. American units are never required to attack. NVA must attack if American total combat strength is equal to or less than NVA total combat strength, otherwise cannot attack.

Pass.

Final Transport Segment.

Same procedure as first transport segment.

Pathfinder to I4. Will drop supplies there next phase, and take the Pathfinders back. I should have done this on the first transport segment.

CP: 4.

End of 1st American Assault Phase

1st NVA Assault Phase

The offboard movement should start getting pretty interesting now.

First Target Determination Segment

Check for priority targets in Zones occupied by Identified NVA units (NVA units in the Zone Display), then check how many Identified units attack the priority target, then check to see if this is actually an ambush. Note that Identified NVA units in the Zone Display are the subject of this phase.

Zone C is the only zone with a non-broken NVA unit which isn't already contacted, but there are no Priority Targets in Zone C. This is a pass.

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

Roll 2d6 and cross-reference NVA Offboard Movement Table.

Roll 5 for 3B, which is no effect on the 11/33 in Zone C.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip if no Offboard Movement OR Turn 15, otherwise repeat First Target Determination Segment.

Skip.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

Ground movement is conducted by Contacted NVA units, that is, NVA units which are at a Location on the map. Break ties by moving towards Pleiku if possible.

Stacks moving towards Pleiku on Route 19.

NVA Ambush Segment

Ambush (13.6) may occur if US ground forces first enter an NVA-occupied location, or NVA forces first enter a US-occupied, non-SF camp location. See Section 11.32 for Ambush results resolution.

N/A.

NVA Open Combat Segment

(11.1) NVA must initiate combat if NVA strength is equal to or greater than US combat strength, otherwise NVA Open Combat is prohibited (NVA ambush is still allowed).

Start at Column 1 on CRT: 1. Determine Combat superiority 2. Determine Combat efficiency 3. Ambush? 4. Supporting locations? 5. HOLD marker 6. Artillery 7. NVA night attack 8. Out of supply 9. Observation helicopters

N/A.

NVA Evasion Segment

(13.7) NVA units attempt to evade if they are Broken or outnumbered. Broken units evade on a roll of 1-5. Subtract 1 for each adjacent location with only US forces. (13.73) Successful evasion moves the unit to the corresponding Zone Display box. Broken units move into Cambodia one box per successive phase.

N/A.

American Maintenance Segment

Fatigued helicopters and Fired artillery are flipped to their combat ready side.

Looks like airstrike counters are abstract, there is nothing in the rules limiting the number of airstrikes for the given segment.

End of 1st NVA Assault Phase.

2nd American Assault Phase

Supply Segment

American player may purchase supply counters for An Khe.

Pass.

Airstrike Segment

(7.0) Airstrikes may be against Locations containing (contacted) NVA units, or against a Zone Box on the Zone Display. The only column shift is for combat superiority. Use the strike factor for determining combat strength.

Pass.

First Transport Segment

Helicopters cost 1 CP to move a unit or a Supply token.

Supplies to I4, pick up Pathfinders.

CP: 3.

Ground Movement Segment

Ground Movement (10.1) Infantry units may either move from one location to a connected location, OR a HOLD market may be placed on the unit. Move up to 2 locations along connected major or minor road.

Pass.

Support Segment

From table on page Rule 8 (p. 25), allocate artillery (1-2 CP), tactical air strikes (2 CP), and combat helicopter strikes (1 CP).

Pass.

Open Combat Segment

Combat (11.0): either open combat, or ambush, only occurs in between American and NVA forces in the same location. American units are never required to attack. NVA must attack if American total combat strength is equal to or less than NVA total combat strength, otherwise cannot attack.

Final Transport Segment.

Same procedure as first transport segment.

Pass.

End of 2nd American Assault Phase

2nd NVA Assault Phase

First Target Determination Segment

Check for priority targets in Zones occupied by Identified NVA units (NVA units in the Zone Display), then check how many Identified units atack the priority target, then check to see if this is actually an ambush. Note that Identified NVA units in the Zone Display are the subject of this phase.

Priority targets, in decreasing order: Pleiku, any SF camp, any road location with US ground forces, any empty road location, any non-road location with US ground forces.

N/A.

NVA Offboard Movement Segment

Roll 2d6 and cross-reference NVA Offboard Movement Table.

Roll 2 for 236F, no effect on 11/33.

Second Target Determination Segment

Skip if no Offboard Movement OR Turn 15, otherwise repeat First Target Determination Segment.

Skip.

NVA Ground Movement Segment

Ground movement is conducted by Contacted NVA units, that is, NVA units which are at a Location on the map. Break ties by moving towards Pleiku if possible.

Advance the stacks.

NVA Ambush Segment

Ambush (13.6) may occur if US ground forces first enter an NVA-occupied location, or NVA forces first enter a US-occupied, non-SF camp location. See Section 11.32 for Ambush results resolution.

N/A.

NVA Open Combat Segment

Start at Column 1 on CRT: 1. Determine Combat superiority 2. Determine Combat efficiency 3. Ambush? 4. Supporting locations? 5. HOLD marker 6. Artillery 7. NVA night attack 8. Out of supply 9. Observation helicopters

N/A.

NVA Evasion Segment

NVA units attempt to evade if they are Broken or outnumbered.

N/A.

American Maintenance Segment

Fatigued helicopters and Fired artillery are flipped to their combat ready side.

Done.

End of 2nd NVA Assault Phase.

Supply Phase

(4.5) All American supplied units on the map expend 1 step of supply. (6.3) Supply Consumption: For each supplied stack during this phase, reduce accompanying supply by one step.

Done.

Fatigue Phase

(4.4) American ground units in Pleiku, Plei Mei, or Duc Co camps, and the An Khe Box may remove 2 steps of Fatigue if they did not move the previous turn. See also Section 12.4.

Victory Point Phase

NVA minimum VP catching up: at least 40, there is no way I can win this game!

US this turn: 0, total: 7. NVA this turn: 7, total: 47+

End of Turn 6

AAR

The biggest blunder was placing LZs basically randomly on the map.

The next biggest blunder was not calculating VPs after every turn, so that I could see how badly I was losing!

The first blunder was losing Duc Co SF camp. That needed to be held pretty much at all costs. Losing that puts the NAV VP count so far ahead it would be a miracle to recover from it.

I think there is good use for the very weak 1/9 unit, but I'm not yet sure what it is. If it could be employed with a lot of fire support to attempt to break or eliminate reduced NVA units, seems like a good use it.

Tags

• first-team-vietnam