Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
A solitaire game of the US and South Vietnamese war against the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army. US and ARVN brigades/regiments and police battle VC battalions, NVA regiments, and subversive Political Cadres for Provincial control throughout the country.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Area Movement
Move pieces between connected regions rather than along individual spaces.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Movement Points
Spend a movement allowance across spaces with different costs.
Combat Results Table
Compare opposing strength as a ratio, then consult a table to resolve combat.
Read the full game description
A solitaire game of the US and South Vietnamese war against the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army. US and ARVN brigades/regiments and police battle VC battalions, NVA regiments, and subversive Political Cadres for Provincial control throughout the country. It is early 1965. The South Vietnamese government and army (ARVN) are collapsing in the face of growing Vietcong attacks. President Johnson feels he MUST act. On March 8, 1965, the 9th Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, lands at Danang to take over the large base’s defense from ARVN forces who are presumably now free to conduct offensive operations against the VC. US Army units shortly deploy to Bien Hoa and other strategic areas. By fall 1965, the 1st Cavalry Division is engaged in a full-scale offensive in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. "Americanization” of the war has begun. Before it's over 10 years later, Cambodia and Laos are dragged into the struggle. US forces leave Vietnam in 1973 having never lost a sizable battle, but South Vietnam quickly falls nonetheless, in early 1975. Welcome back to 1965, now YOU are in command! The ARVN has basically collapsed and the North Vietnamese Army is infiltrating the south in large numbers even as local VC forces grow in strength. If you can hold Saigon until Summer 1977 (50 quarterly turns), the communists will be totally spent - Victory! Or will you, like Johnson and Nixon, find the VC and NVA impossible to completely defeat?