Vietnam Solitaire 16

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(Game started Jan 25, finished Feb 6)

Another game where I'm going to play a turn every day or two until it's done. The previous game was a minor victory, which is nice after the defeat two games back. For this upcoming game, I'm going to use the same strategy as before: commit as much as possible during the first 5 turns, then try to ride it out as long as possible. If the game played a bit shorter I'd think about collecting a lot of statistics, but the play time is just not short enough to make it worth my while. I'll continue playing like this for a while (months? years?) and see how it goes.

Meanwhile, let's get on with it.

Turn 1

A. Roll for Trail Counters:

  • Laos 3 and Laos 4, we're starting with a bang!

B. Attack Trail areas:

  • B52 Haiphong roll 3 succes.
  • B52 Laos 3 roll 3 success.

C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces:

  • 2 ARNV in Hue 3-4.
  • ARVN in Cu Chi 3-4
  • ARVN in Saigon 3-4.
  • ARVN in Mekong 3-4.

D. US/ARVN Combat:

  • Napalm Hue 1-2, roll 4 success.
  • Napalm Cu Chi 1-2, roll 2 success.

E. Place NVA/VC Units:

  • VC Highlands 3-4.
  • NVA Hue 3-4.
  • NVA Cu Chi 3-4.

F. Insurgency Combat:

  • Hue FWA prevails with no losses.
  • Highlands 3-4 lose 1 ARVN, 1 VC.
  • Cu Chi 3-4, ARVN prevails ose NVA.

G. NVA/VC Offensive:

  • Roll 2, no effect with no FWA.

H. AirCav Redeployment:

  • None.

I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll:

PP: 12 - 2 + 2 = 12. DRM +2. Event: roll 5 + 2 remove 1 US unit, but none on the map.

Turn 2

A. Roll for Trail Counters:

  • Haiphong and Cambodia 5. Lots of NVA coming on this turn.

B. Attack Trail areas:

  • B52 Haiphong roll 2 success.
  • B52 laos 4 roll 2 success.

C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces:

  • Air Cav and ARVN in Highlands 6.

That's enough, going to attempt to napalm my way to better PP.

D. US/ARVN Combat:

  • Napalm Highlands roll 3 success.
  • Napalm Mekong 1-2 roll 4 success.

E. Place NVA/VC Units:

  • VC roll 5 Mekong 3-4.
  • NVA Hue 1-2.
  • NVA Saigon 6.

F. Insurgency Combat:

  • Mekong 3-4, ARVN prevails.

G. NVA/VC Offensive:

  • Roll 5 Mekong no effect.

H. AirCav Redeployment:

  • None.

I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll:

PP: 10 - 3 = 7, -1 DRM. Event: Roll 3 - 1 = 2, no B52 next turn.

Turn 3

A. Roll for Trail Counters:

  • Haiphong 1, and Laos 4.

B. Attack Trail areas:

  • GB Laos 4 roll 1 success.
  • GB Cambodia 5 roll 6 fail.

PP: 5.

C. Raise/Move US/ARVN Forces:

  • Air Cav in Mekong 3-4.
  • US Saigon 3-4.

D. US/ARVN Combat:

  • Napalm Hue 1-2 roll 1 success.

E. Place NVA/VC Units:

  • VC Mekong 6.
  • NVA Hue 3-4 x2.
  • NVA Saigon 1-2.

F. Insurgency Combat:

  • Hue 3-4, ARVN prevails with no losses.

G. NVA/VC Offensive:

  • Saigon offensive: 3 vs 3, FWA prevails with 1 ARVN lost.

H. AirCav Redeployment:

  • None.

I. Scoring, Victory Check and Events Roll:

PP: 12 - 4 = 8, no DRM. Event: No US/Allied ground units placed.

Turn 4

I'm going summarize the turn for the rest of this game.

  • PP: 9 - 2 = 7, -1 DRM.
  • Event: roll 1 - 0 for 0, no effects.

Turn 5

  • PP: 13 - 1 for +2 DRM.
  • Event: 1 + 2 for 3, no GB attacks next turn.

Turn 6

  • PP: 14 - 12 = 12, +2 DRM.
  • Event: roll 5 + 2 remove 1 US unit.

Turn 7

  • PP: 13 - 1 = 11 +1 DRM.
  • Event: 6 + 1 = 7 remove US unit.

Turn 8

Massive NVA offensive is Mekong ended the game. Lost 2 ARVN, an Air Cav, and the Mekong with only Cu Chi under control. Ending PP is 15-16 depending on how it's counted.

AAR

Not so many lucky die rolls this game, or perhaps more unlucky rolls. I think a solid win probably requires two things:

  • Crappy Trail rolls for NVA along with good B52 rolls for FWA, and
  • An NVA general offensive a little bit early to clean out VC and whatever NVA is on the map.

Putting the game away for now, will break it out again in a couple of months to play a round or two of Easter Offensive.

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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.