Ho Chi Minh Trail 1

Previous:
Next:
Tags

I've finally done it. I'm designing my first game, with the tentative title Supply Lines of the American War: The Ho Chi Minh Trail. The title is a blatant rip off of an existing series of games, and I won't publish it with that title, but it's a good working title. The notion is moving enough supplies to launch Tet '68.

Here's the result of the first game.

Jan 1967

Trail level: 6. Budget: 6

Actions:

  1. Spend 2 for upgrade trail, level now 8.
  2. Move 4 + 8 supplies for 12. On track more or less.

Response: Bombing, Level back to 6

Supplies: 12

Feb 1967

Trail Level: 6 Budget:6

Actions:

  1. Spend 6 for base.
  2. Move 6.

Response: Raid, 1 base destroyed

Supplies: 18

Mar 1967

Trail level: 6. Budget 6:

Actions:

  1. Spend 6 to build base.
  2. Move 6.

Response: Raid, destroy base

Supplies: 24, not looking good.

Apr 1967

Trail level: 6. Budget: 6

Actions:

  1. Build base.
  2. Move 6.

Response: Search & Destroy, lose 2 supplies.

Supplies: 28. Bases: 1

May 1967

Trail level: 6 Budget: 6.

Actions:

  • Build base.
  • Move 3 supplies (Rainy season)

Response: Bomb, Trail level 5.

Supplies: 31. Bases: 2.

Jun 1967

Trail level: 5 Budget: 6.

Action:

  • upgrade Trail to level 7.
  • move (5 + 4) / 2 = 4 (Notes this should be (7 + 4) / 2 = 5, I'm leaving is as-is because it's too much trouble to change everything following without making even more errors, and it doesn't affect the game result that much anyway.)

Response: Raid

Supplies: 35. Bases: 1.

Jul 1967

Trail level: 7 Budget: 6.

Actions:

  1. Upgrade trail: 9.
  2. Move (9 + 4) / 2 = 6

Response: Bomb, trail level 8.

Supplies: 41 Bases: 1.

Aug 1967

Trail level: 8. Budget: 6.

Actions:

  • Upgrade trail to 10.
  • Move (10 + 4) / 2 = 7.

Response: Bomb, trail level 9.

Supplies: 48. Bases: 1.

Sep 1967

Trail level: 9 Budget: 6.

Actions:

  1. Upgrade Trail to 11.
  2. Move (11 + 4) / 2 = 7

Response: Bomb, trail level 10

Supplies: 55. Bases: 1.

Oct 1967

Trail level: 10 Budget: 6

Actions:

  • upgrade trail to 12
  • Move 16.

Response: Bomb, trail level reduced to 11 because Base protects 1 level of trail.

Supplies: 71 Bases: 1.

Nov 1967

Trail level 11. Budget: 6.

Actions:

  • Move: 17.

Response: Bomb, trail to 10.

Supplies: 71 + 17 = 88. Bases: 1.

Dec 1967

Trail level: 10 Budget: 6.

Actions:

  • Move 16 for 104 supplies.

Response: Search & Destroy, roll 2 d6 for 8, Supplies now 80. (Note: there was an error recorded here in the initial playthrough. Supplies were subtracted from the previous turn of 88 instead of this turn's 104.)

Supplies: 96 (was 80). Bases: 1

Jan 1968

Trail level: 10. Budget: 6.

Actions:

  • Move: 16

Response: Bomb, trail level 9.

Supplies: 112 (was 96). Bases: 1.

AAR

That was interesting. I made a couple of mistakes, as noted later.

The rules:

The game is played in 13 turns spanning January 1967 to January 1968 inclusive. Per turn, take 2 of the following actions:

  1. Build a base for 6 resources.
  2. Upgrade trail capacity by 2 for 2 resources.
  3. Once per turn, move resources to Supplies.

Suffer one of the following Responses by drawing a card:

  1. Bombing: - with Base reduce Trail Capacity by 1. - without Base reduce Trail Capaity by 2.
  2. Raid: remove 1 base
  3. Search & Destroy: Roll 2d6 and destroy resulting amount of supplies.

Victory condition: have 100 Supplies by the end of January 1968.

  • Bombing reduces Trail level by 2 without a base, by 1 with a base.
  • Bases cost 6 to build, maybe too expensive.
  • May through Sep, Trail capacity is halved due to rainy season.
  • Search & Destroy: roll 2 d6 and subtract from total supplies.
  • Raid destroys a base
  • Upgrade trail: spend 2 to upgrade Trail by 2 as an action.
  • 0, 1, or 2 actions per turn.
  • Start with Trail at level 8.
  • Budget is 6 resources per turn.
  • Resources not spent on base or upgrade can be moved as supplies.

This is version 1.0.0 of the rules. It will increment semantically. Micro increments will be adjustments to values. Minor increments will be modifications or additions to actions. A major increment to the rules version will be a substantially different game.

Can I computerize this to examine balance?

Here's the current version of the game:

Ho Chi Minh Trail version 1.0.0

Previous:
Next:
Tags

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.