Guild of Blades Vietnam
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A few years ago, I decided I would play All The (Vietnam) Games. This of course meant acquiring those games. At that time, there did not seem to be all that many, perhaps 40 or 50, of which due to existing interest I'd already acquired and played a significant fraction.
(I'll address the situation as the date of writing in 2024 some other time.)
Along the way I discovered 1. there were more games on Vietnam than I had initially reckoned; and 2. close to a majority of these games are not commercially or otherwise formally published, or exist as DTP or PnP titles only. For this second point, it means that at least some titles would require some personal arts and crafts.
Some titles, such as Guild of Blades Vietnam we're covering today, are formally published, but sold as a PnP.
The natural first question for any of these games including this article's subject is "Is the game worth printing and playing?"
The answer: It depends.
For me, yes, as I have an interest in both the history of the Vietnam War, and history of games about the war. That said, there are varying degrees of commitment to both "printing" and "playing."
For reasons I'll make explicit below, this article will focus on game play mechanisms and intent, and not concern itself with a full play through. And that should be sufficient.
One last thing: I'm fitting in this article on "chores day," so it's not like I'm wasting time better spent on better games. It's my perfect time to scrape away at this and similar obscuratica.
Setting up
Setting up is relatively simple, with not very many pieces on the map.
First thing to notice is we're in alternate history or counterfactual country immediately: the Vietnam player has access to Soviet helicopters. Cambodian units are explicitly represented, but not Laotian units. There is no explanation or rationale given in the rules, we'll roll with it.
As can be seen, everything is the same color!
Game play
Vietnam player goes first, then the US player in the usual IGO-UGO fashion. Let's step through each phase in detail.
Turn 1 Vietnam player
Phase 1: Political Options
Both opponents have a politic events table with a number of activities listed. Among the Vietnam player's activities, spurring Political Unrest in South Vietnam seems like the most appropriate. This needs to succeed before the Ho Chi Minh Trail comes into play. Roll D10 for 3 with 1-5 being success. Follow up rolls 50% chance of US Support dropping 1 point (fail), 50% chance of placing a VC unit in South Vietnam (also fail).
This is good for North Vietnam, they can open the Ho Chi Minh Trail next turn.
Phase 2: Naval Movement
N/A for North Vietnam.
Phase 3: Air Movement
N/A on this turn.
Phase 4: Air Combat
N/A on this turn.
Phase 5: Land Movement and Combat
Movement costs are provided in a table rather than on a counter, which is fine. Vietnam will not move anything this turn.
Combat is attritional, and proceeds until there is only one faction present in the space. Since no movement, no combat.
Phase 6: Building New Units
Each turn, the Vietnam player acquires resources based on the number of cities and towns under control. The game starts with 12, which are not carried over from turn to turn. This seems right.
For Turn 1, build:
- Build 4 VC for 8 RP. Place these in South Vietnam unoccupied cities.
- Build 4 INF for 4 RP. Place these in Hanoi for convenience.
And that's it for the top of Turn 1. Let's turn to the US player.
Turn 1 US player
The US going second feels like having to be more reactive than proactive, at least at the start, which seems plausible.
Phase 1: Political Options
Install Puppet Regime in South Vietnam seems like the best option. Put the free infantry unit in a northern town in South Vietnam. Roll 7, no Entry increase.
Phase 2: Naval Movement
None this turn.
Phase 3: Air Movement
None this turn.
Phase 4: Air Combat
None this turn.
Phase 5: Land Movement and Combat
Move 1 US to a town where there is a 1-4 VC unit.
Fight it out:
- US rolls 7 for no hits.
- VC rolls 1 to destroy US unit.
Ok, that was interesting.
Phase 6: Building New Units
I'm going to save the resources for Turn 2, but really, I'm going to write up more of my thoughts from a play of this first turn, then decide if I want to continue.
Phase 7: Political Effects
Both sides reconcile any Political Effects incurred during the game turn. In this case there are none.
Closing remarks
I think there is a game here, or perhaps close by, and possibly even something interesting. The game's closest cousins would be Viet Nam and The Fall of South Vietnam, both relatively light games, both of which don't quite meet the mark. The contribution Guild of Blades Vietnam brings to the table is the attempt to integrate politics as a top level concern for the player. Comparing to Fire in the Lake, here the politics are proactive rather than reactive. In Fire in the Lake, players choose whether to respond to political events represented by the cards. Here, the Politics are chosen by the players, and game play results.
The Good Stuff
The game is simple. There are 2 pages of rules and a 1 page Politics table. Movement is simple, combat is simple, and game play proceeds quickly. There is market for these style of game, I enjoy such myself from time to time.
Proactively setting poltical stance at the start of a turn is really nice, and works well with the history of both sides of the Vietnam War. If anything, more could have been done with this mechanism.
Game play improvements
Here are a couple of high lift low impact suggestions which I believe will improve game play without affecting the overall balance (whatever that may be).
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VC units should be able to voluntarily engage in combat, and retreat on demand. Having a "hidden" versus "exposed" mechanic for VC units would add verisimilitude without much game play overhead.
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Comabt values feel unbalanced with D10. It would be much more convenient to use D6, with a likely side effect of speeding up game play. With VC requiring 1/10 to hit, that's a lot of wristage for not much effect. D6 are much more efficient with buckets of dice combat system, throw all the D6 dice at the same time for each round of combat.
Design is there, development is not
As mentioned above, there is a viable game designed here, but there seems to have been very little game development, and certainly not with respect to the game's presentation. Here are some suggestions.
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Component improvement, specifically with respect to imagery, followed closely by generally bringing components up to modern standards. It matters. The game as published doesn't really meet what I'd consider prototype quality.
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Better alignment with history, specifically, ARVN units should be included. If Cambodian unit are to be present, they should have very little ability to affect much more than US politics. They were not well-trained, well-led, or well-equipped. Given Cambodian units are present, the Pathet Lao is conspicuous by its absence.
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Counterfactual or alternate history is fine, as long as there is serious consideration given to the actual history, as well as what would be plausible. For example, based on my reading, the Soviets were really not interested in getting tangled up in Vietnam, and were in fact worried that their involvement would trigger escalation from Washington.
And there you have it: I played it so you don't have to.