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Vietnam - Pledge |
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Vietnam. This is a strategic level Vietnam War game that does not "bog down" in guerrilla warfare. Vietnam uses a card driven system similar to DG's Krieg to simulate the complexities of the War in Indochina, 1964-75, the era of American military intervention. The central feature of the game is a deck of Strategy Cards. Players choose from a wide range of strategies, representing the military-political strategies of the combatants. The critical feature is that these cards allow for the politics to be introduced without a lot of extra rules. They also account for guerrilla warfare without the usual protracted attritional combats. This frees up players for thinking of the "big picture" as well as launching major convention offensives, such as Tet 1968. The cards will be based on the actual strategies of the original combatants. For example, there are cards representing the three phases of Revolutionary Warfare: Organizational (or Defensive), Guerrilla (or Equilibrium), and Final Offensive. Play of an Organizational Stage card will give the Communist player additional forces, but restrict his ability to conduct military operations. The Guerilla card will attrition government forces, depending upon the relative strengths of unconventional forces in each area of the map, on an area by area basis. A Final Offensive card will cause players to execute combat in a conventional wargame style, giving the player additional movement and combat impulses at the expense of their organizational efforts. Each game turn will represent one year of operations. But periods of intense activity will be simulated by having certain cards provide additional move-fight impulses within a turn, thereby allowing for more complex maneuvers with conventional forces. Each country will have a Commitment level, representing its willingness to fight in the war. The higher the Commitment, the more troops and other reinforcements that are available. But if Commitment collapses, then that country withdraws its forces or even capitulates. Vietnam is a two player game. One player controls Communist forces (North Vietnamese, Viet Cong, Pathet Lao, Khmer Rouge). The other player controls the Allies (United States, South Vietnam, Cambodian and Laotian governments, ANZACs, ROKs, Thais and others). Card play will represent the complexities of the historical situation. For example, one can trigger coups in friendly governments in the hope of placing more militant leaders in control, but this can backfire and cause increased instability. Certain cards can only be played once, representing maximum efforts. For the Communists, this is the General Uprising card, which can possibly trigger a Tet Offensive that can collapse the enemy's morale or, if not properly supported, can backfire and cause the enemy to resist even more. For the Allies, this will be an invasion of North Vietnam, which can lead to a wide range of unpredictable results, from Chinese intervention to Communist capitulation. Since these cards can't be reused, players commit them only if they have properly set up the military and political situations. The game map will use hexagons with major areas delineated for political purposes (such as the Central Highlands, the Mekong Delta, etc.). Game units will include divisions with brigade/ regimental breakdowns. There will also be battlegroup sized unconventional warfare formations, representing guerrillas, special forces, Communist sappers, and Allied mercenaries. Airpower will represent tactical and strategic formations, air defense, and U.S. special operations aviation. |
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P.O. Box 21598, Bakersfield, CA 93390-1598 |
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