Karp's Vietnam 13 - Silver Bayonet (2)

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From here out I'm going to refer to Vietnam 1965-1975 as "Karps' Vietnam" in title, while still using the appropriate tag in the article.

My usual Vietnam opponent stopped by to revisit Silver Bayonet, which we played in our previous session. As usual, he took the NLF in apposition to my FWA.

Since the FWA gets the first operation in this scenario, I moved all of 3rd brigade to the border on a Search and Destroy to attempt to eliminate the PAVN regiments. This went too well, and shortly afterwards recalled all support is halved when not in Free Fire zones. So the results were a bit skewed in FWA allies favor. I gave some of the replacement points back though, to extend the game. NLF did a strategic move to Pleiku for its operation.

On turn two, the NLF choose a Search and Destroy to attack Pleiku, bringing in some VC to soak up some damage. But the really bad rolls produced more losses than FWA losses. On the FWA operation, they went all in using ARVN to soak up damage and wore the NLF down for a win.

I believe it's possible for the NLF to get a draw, in fact, it might be the most probable outcome given perfect play. With perfect play on the NLF side, I'm not sure how much luck will be necessary to get a win, and how poorly the FWA would have to play.

This is such a good game.

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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.