That couldn't possibly be the COIN system. The event deck generates opportunities for everyone (usually), and only in some games do players have any control over just one card.
In FitL, each faction has one and exactly one card they can kind-of control play on; the same card every time for that faction. ARVN's card is Vietnamization which brings the rest of their pieces to available from out of play and allows putting a number on the board at once; VC for another example is the Tet Offensive which allows all their pieces to go on a free attack, joined by control of some of the NVA pieces. These cards can only be played once certain criteria are met, and players are penalized with some risk of failure if they try to play one of these events historically early out of sequence with each other.
None of these single cards that are alone controlled by the players, gives any points (directly anyway). Players control no other cards. The gameplay is definitely not like Gin.
You are probably thinking of the Twilight Struggle system -- I don't know if the series has a name, but there are several games kind of running the same system. There is no simulation or even really any direct conflict in that system; it really is an area control card game. There are no pieces on the board except influence trackers.
Compare this text/screenie AAR I wrote vs Barthheart on TwiStrug, with
my video series demonstrating Fire in the Lake.
