Vietnam 1965-1975; 11 - Operation Starlite (10)

May 4 2022

Operation 1, VC

VC make their usual move to 5020 and 5120. As usual I do not know which unit is which, the USMC will have to mount a Search & Destroy operation to determine that.

Since the VC do not want to fight, they are Ops Complete.

Operation 2, USMC

Search & Destroy by 2/4/3M with Target Hex 5020.

Move: 2/4/3M moves to 5020.

Reaction: VC in 5120 moves to 5019.

Support: Naval, I want to interdict, and willing to spend the points to trap the unit if it's a regiment.

Interdiction: 6 points of Naval for 1 Interdiction level.

Alert: roll 5 - 2 scenario - 2 enemy - 1 interdiction = 0. This is interesting as had I not interdicted, the alert move would have succeeded.

Round 1

Attack: 2/4/3M reveals 70R again.

DRM:

Odds: 3:8 is 1:3, which is -3 DRM, which is not good. I didn't bring any Air support in on this operation.

Casualties: roll 4 - 3 for 1, pursuit -1.

VC: 6, lose 1 repl
USMC: 5, lose 2 repl. Rolling a 4 wasn't the worst roll, but it wasn't bad either.

Maybe should have had 1-2 Air points to get the odds to 1:2.

Retreat: 6 - 2 scenario - 2 enemy in hex - 1 interdiction = 1, 70R moves to 4920.

Pursuit: carry forward +2 pursuit into next round.

Activation Reserves:

2/12: 4820 Airmobilized.
3/3/3M: 4919.
3/7/1M: 4920.
7/1M HQ: 5020.
Cruiser: 5218.

Interdiction removed.

Round 2

I need to get a little bit luck with the die rolls, or the USMC will lose.

No offensive interdiction.

Combat factors:

USMC: 3 + 21 / 2 support = 12.5 = 12
VC: 8

DRM

odds: 3:2, +1 DRM
pursuit: +2
total: +3

Casualties, roll 3 + 6 for 6, +2 Pursuit:

VC: loses 2.
USMC: loses 0.

Tie game.

Retreat: 70R to 5019.

Pursuit: 3/7/1M pursues to 5019.

Round 3

3/3/3/M attacks.

Factors:

USMC: 3 + 21/2 => 12.
VC: 6 + 2 = 8.

DRM:

odds: +1
unit pursuit bonus: +3
pursuit bonus from die: +2
total: +6

Casualties, roll 4 + 6 for 10, pursuit +6

VC: 6 + 12.5 = 18.5 lose 4 repls.
USMC: 3 + 2 = 5, lose 1.

USMC wins again!

AAR

I've blundered in the past by not moving the cruiser to stay in range. That was dumb.

Winning looks like being able to trap the VC, then driving up the DRMs with pursuit modifiers.

I'd really like to see how it plays out when a Political Section is the first encounter. Without it being completely random, very difficult for me to play a realistic decision.

What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

Have a solo game ready to play.
Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
Referee a game in progress.