FIRE IN THE GROGS -- game complete

[JasonPratt]

TURN FIVE -- NVA FIRST INITIATIVE
---------------------------------

Release the Ho'pocalpse! :D

This is one of the cards that Team North players (whether NVA or VC) hope make the 50/50 shuffle cut when setting up a deck for a new game. How great it is?




So very great. It does have some limitations, because "Limited Operations", duh. What does that mean? Technically two things: I can't use special activities; and I'm restricted to one target space per operation. I emphasize "target" because I can often bring effects in from multiple valid spaces. Otherwise, the Ops can affect any valid space; Ops can be repeated as desired, including in the same target space; and I can select the Ops as I go along instead of declaring them all at once. Also, despite the NVA taking the lead on this card, the VC get to do their 3 LimOps first; and since they're cooperating as a team under my player leadership, I can make sure they won't be competing too much against each other. (Rather in the gist of the card! -- in a normal game, however, the two players could be messing each other up on purpose, since only one player can win!)

Best of all, all six Limited Ops are entirely free! :D (...unless there are exceptions against free application mentioned in the Op rules.)

So, VC first. I very heavily debated whether to concentrate my efforts to try to match Az's southern escalation near Saigon, but eventually I decided to put my operations in the north (-ish).

The sequence of the ops becomes important. So...

1st VC Limited Op: a Rally in the Quang Tri-Thua Thien province (the northernmost South Nam population area), to convert the two Guerillas to a Base. This increases VC score by one (from 29 to 30). I can still Agitate (thanks to my new Cadre VC capability) in a limited op, but I need both a base and... hey, I have a base here now, woo! Pay 1 Resource (from 17 to 16) to reduce Support down one notch from Passive Oppose to Active Oppose. The VC was already scoring 2 points here for the population of 2 at Passive Oppose; now we score another 2 points for the population at Active Oppose, raising our score from 30 to 32!

I just scored 3 points with only one resource spent! :D

2nd VC Limited Op: another Rally in Quang Tri, this time with the Base which allows me to bring in specs totaling the population number (2) plus the number of bases there (1) = 3 specs, which as usual enter hidden. There would be no point to Agitating further here, so I don't.

Technically, my first Op briefly turned the province over to COIN control, thanks to the US spec and division there; but my Cadre ability allows me to Agitate even where there's COIN control, as long as I'm doing it with a Rally. And the COIN control doesn't affect VC Rally validity, so the game allows me to bring in more specs -- which then solidly nerfs COIN control away again. Net result for the ARVN score is nothing, although technically their score went up 2 and back down 2.

Also, Agitation needs only one of either a VC spec or a VC base, and does not 'activate' the piece unlike many other such moves.

3rd VC Limited Op: a Rally in Quang Tin-Quang Ngai province (the farmland valley in the mountains south of Da Nang). I trade two specs there for a Base, ticking up VC's score by a point again (from 32 to 33). And I spend one resource again (from 16 to 15) to Agitate here, notching the Support down to Active Oppose, which with the population of 2 ticks up the VC score another 2 points from 33 to 35 -- that's only one point shy of the VC win trigger! :bd:

After very heavily debating myself over whether to build up strongly in the Parrot's Beak down south, I finally decided to work on the North with my NVA, too.

1st NVA Limited Op: Rally in North Vietnam. I have two Bases there, so I can deploy specs up to the Trail value (1) plus the bases there (2) = 3 specs. I decline to build up the Trail, since I'll be needing my precious few resources later for other things (stays at 9, Trail stays at 1).

2nd NVA Limited Op: March with Central Laos as my target space. I bring in all 3 Troops from Southern Laos, plus all three Troops and all three Specs from North Vietnam. (There's an NVA spec already in Central Laos, for a new total of 4 there.) This is a Limited Op so I can't March my forces again as part of this Op.

3rd NVA Limited Op: March with Quang Tri (the northernmost South Nam province) as my target. All 6 NVA divisions, and all 4 specs, go in.

Note that by doing this I concentrate force, and I also go around the Route 9 LoC between North Vietnam and Quang Tri, which would have slowed me down just as much (because that's a space, too!) for less forces at the end of my three Ops.

Team North forces in Quang Tri greatly outnumber COIN forces there, and my NVA forces outnumber VC forces, so I gain NVA Control of Quang Tri, which increases NVA score by the population of 2 points (from 5 to 7 total score). The area was uncontrolled so ARVN's score doesn't drop.

Since there was no support for Saigon in this province, my specs can move in still hidden, even though it's a mass move. (If Team North specs aren't sneaky enough they get noticed and flipped to active. Since this space isn't a LoC, and it doesn't have Support for Saigon, my specs can sneak in. AzTank can see they're there, but still has to flush them out or whatever.)

This ends my part of Turn Five. AzTank as the US has second initiative.

I'm going to try tipping the camera a bit this time to help show stacks better.




Let me know if that helps, Az!




The US can either pass (for 3 ARVN resources), or run a full US Operation plus Special Activity.

The ARVN has 5 Police divisions in that Available stack. The US has 19 military divisions in their Available stacks.

Here's the upcoming card for Turn 6 again:

[ArizonaTank]

"When a nail sticks up..."

The US hammer falls.

US will take Special then OP in that order

First, airstrike on Quang Tri.  Destroy all six NVA troops there.  Also, degrade trail by 1.  Since the locals already hate me, no effect on opposition.

Then train in Quang Tri.  US can select any province with US pieces.  Since I don't have ARVN troops available to train, I can take them from the board.  Put 6 ARVN troops in Quang-Tri by taking 3 from Ba Xuyen and 3 from Kien Phong.  This will take away NVA control in Quang Tri.  Will cost 3 resources for the training.  I can't pacify since no COIN control.

[JasonPratt]

You have a spec, not a base, in Quang Tri, so you can't train/strat-move ARVN cubes. You'll have to revise that part.

(Note to self: this mod made the specs little circles, instead of hex cylinders. I should work on trying to fix this for easier viewing reference. Maybe stacks of six chits = 1 spec cylinder? I don't think I can convert the little circles to something else and keep the art on them. But I can copy-paste as many of the specs as I want to 'build' an ad-hoc cylinder... Update: that didn't work, so I decided to scale down all the specs by five steps. They should still be visible and countable on the snapshots, but are highly unlikely to be mistaken for bases now!)

You're free to revise the Air Strike, too, if you really reaaally want to.  :-" But it can be used with any move if you want to do something other than Train.

The Airstrike as given still removes NVA Control, since it leaves over an equal number of VC pieces, plus your spec and division: I'd have to have 7 NVA pieces there for control.

[ArizonaTank]

You have a spec, not a base, in Quang Tri, so you can't train/strat-move ARVN cubes. You'll have to revise that part.

Maybe I am reading it wrong, but rule 3.2.1 "Train" does not mention COIN control as being needed for the US to train.  It only mentions that US pieces need to be present.  This is reinforced by the player's aid card that states the location as: "cities or provinces with US pieces"  COIN control only comes into play in the second part of the "train" operation.  You do need COIN control to do the pacify action.  So I can bring in troops, but I can't do the pacify part afterward.

If this was the ARVN turn, I would not be able to train there without the airstrike.   ARVN can't train where there is NVA control.  But note that COIN control is not required even for ARVN.  So with the airstrike, NVA lose control of the province since as in 1.7: "The NVA alone Control a Province or City if NVA pieces exceed all other pieces (including VC)."  After the airstrike there are 4 VC and 4 NVA pieces.

So if you agree with my rationale...I will keep my turn as originally messaged....

[JasonPratt]

You have a spec, not a base, in Quang Tri, so you can't train/strat-move ARVN cubes. You'll have to revise that part.

Maybe I am reading it wrong, but rule 3.2.1 "Train" does not mention COIN control as being needed for the US to train.

I agree (and agreed) with your rationale regarding COIN control, but my point was that you needed a US base for the US to put something more than a 1-2 Irregulars, but let me check...

(3.2.1.) PROCEDURE: First, in those selected spaces desired, if US, place 1-2 Irregulars or, at US Bases, 1-2 Rangers or up to 6 ARVN cubes (any combination of Troops and Police)

And then rules allowing you strategic movement when you're out of the cubes you want to deploy, of course. But you have to have a US base there and you don't. You have a US special force Irregular. If you want to train 1-2 Irregulars there, that's fine: "The US may select any Provinces or Cities that have US pieces," regardless of COIN control or support -- I wasn't disputing that point. But you have to have a US Base to deploy ARVN cubes (whether military or police, your choice of any mix up to 6 total).

I've made the specs smaller now (more like specks!  :)) ) to keep them from being mistaken for Bases when flipped underground; they'll show up smaller on the next snapshots. But that's an Irregular, not a Base.

There is a similar rule preventing me from training more than one Guerilla if I don't have a base in the training area; similarly I can only bring red cubes onto the map, and upgrade red specs to cubes, in areas where I have one or two NVA bases. I can't replace those cubes you're airstriking out except where I have at least one base: I can't do a special "Infiltrate" activity and put cubes directly back into Quang Tri, for example, because I don't have a base there (yet).

The rule has some variation between factions, but the basic principle is the same.

[JasonPratt]

To clarify the account, the US has a maximum of 6 potential bases. You started with two out of play (they'll have to be constructed in effect); two Available (constructed and ready to deploy but starting 'at home'); and two on the map (at Saigaon and Pleiku). Since then you've recently put one base from Available into Ba Xuyen.

1 Base at Ba Xuyen
1 Base at Saigon
1 Base at Pleiku
1 Base at home (Available)
2 Bases out of play (need constructing)
-------------------------
6 total bases

The US can only train ARVN military and police divisions (yellow and orange cubes) at Ba Xuyen, Saigon, and Pleiku currently; or since you've deployed all yellow cubes already, you can strategically redeploy up to 6 yellow cubes at one or more of those places if you do a Training op there.

The ARVN is more restricted because it needs to avoid NVA control areas, but it's also more flexible because it can train divisions (Troops or Police) at cities and at ARVN bases as well as at US bases. The US can only train ARVN cubes at US bases.

[ArizonaTank]

I see it now:

3.2.1
"PROCEDURE: First, in those selected spaces desired, if US, place
1-2 Irregulars or, at US Bases, 1-2 Rangers or up to 6 ARVN cubes
(any combination of Troops and Police);"

So I will modify my move to place 2 US irregulars in Quang-Tri instead of the ARVN troops.

I believe that is legal.

[JasonPratt]

Yep, that's valid. Will mark up and proceed.

[JasonPratt]

I won't be able to do a full Turn report to end Turn 5 and start Turn 6 until this afternoon when I can get back to my computer that can take snapshots. But if you want to plot ahead for Turn 6 and 7, and maybe even take the Turn Six Event: the newly active card will be Ambassador Taylor (with ARVN and then VC having initiative sequence), which you can see a snapshot of upthread.

The upcoming Turn Seven card will be Sihanouk, card 75 in the playbook list, with ARVN, NVA, US, and VC initiative order.

Have fun making that choice eventually!  >:D

[JasonPratt]

TURN FIVE -- US CHOICE
----------------------

Hmm... in hindsight I'm wondering if I should have kept some NVA troops back in Laos. Ah well.

Note that players doing a Special activity can play it and the Op in any order they choose; Az could have even put his Air Strike in the middle of his Training if he wanted! Or vice versa: he could have Air Struck my forces, trained some forces, and then degraded the Trail.

As it is, he zorched all six of my wave of NVA divisions going into Quang Tri, and in hindsight I really should have thought that out better. :P If I lose eventually, I'm going to blame this, kthx?

Anyway. AzTank had the US play a full op with a special activity; his special activity was Air Strike against up to 6 total targets in any of several areas which also had US forces spotting for the strike -- and he put all that rolling thunder into Quang Tri, vaporizing my entire corps of NVA divisions which I had been carefully building up for several turns. This left me 4 NVA specs, but that wasn't even enough to outnumber the VC forces much less them plus his two US forces in the province, so I lost NVA control, nicking my NVA score back 2 points from 7 to 5. Also, he bombed the Trail back past the Stone Age again (from 1 to 0), and I'll have to spend precious resources doing something about that eventually. The hell of it is that had I gone with my other main plan, I would have had the Trail up to its maximum level 4, and a bunch of forces ready to kick butt more safely. Live and learn. Or die and learn in this case.

Az also Trained in the same province, but since he didn't have a base he could only add 2 more special forces, for a total there of 3 US specs and a US division. That wasn't enough for COIN control, so he couldn't spend cash increasing support for Saigon. His single Training target cost 3 ARVN resources (from 37 to 34), and his special activity as always was free.







Here is the horrifying tally we brave and poor communist terrorists national patriots must struggle against, featuring my new tilt-o-vision (for showing stacks of cubes better); smaller special troops (so they'll be much less likely to be confused with bases); and spec rows in fives (so it's easier to count them at a glance in their Available boxes).

I suppose it was, indeed, a ho'pocalpyse, now -- just not the one I was ho'ping for.

But a new turn starts next, and... boy howdy, things aren't going to get better for me soon, are they?

ARVN and the VC are the two eligible players for the Sixth Turn, and in that order according to the new active card:




Event context from the official Playbook: "General Maxwell Taylor was a decorated veteran who commanded the US 101st Airborne division during WWII. He was General Ridgeway's Chief of Staff during the Korean War and President Kennedy appointed him the fifth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1962. After his second retirement from active military service in 1964, Taylor became the US Ambassador to South Vietnam through 1965."

Ack! -- anyone who commanded the 101st Airborne in WW2 is not to be trifled with!

The ARVN, with first initiative this turn, has the full spectrum of choices available: Pass (which I feel safe betting Az won't do this time); take his choice of Event options; play a full ARVN op with a special activity; or play a full ARVN op with no special activity (which would limit my VC options later).

For reference, this is the upcoming card:




That's a bit of a harsh choice. I said I'd bet against AzTank passing for ARVN, but he might pass just to scotch me from getting this event: between the two, I'd benefit quite a bit more operationally from this one than I could punch him down strategically by taking the other card.

[ArizonaTank]

ARVN will take the event.  +9 AID and Resources.  2 out of play US troops to Quang Tri

[JasonPratt]

Seems valid; since my move(s) for the next two initiatives will likely involve a lot of map update, I'll have to wait until this afternoon. You can expect the US to be getting a full operation + special for the second half of Turn 7 (probably).

Maaaannnn I'm regretting marching all those NVA divisions into range of your airstrike...  :pullhair:

[JasonPratt]

TURN SIX -- ARVN and VC CHOICES
-------------------------------

AzTank's ARVN faction, as first initiative, takes the Event "Ambassador Taylor: Interventionist", as expected. That means the ARVN (and the US by extension) picks up 9 Resources from 34 to 43; and ARVN's also goes up by 9 from 23 to 32. From this point the US could actually mess with ARVN by taking away some Patronage! -- but since they're a cooperative team under AzTank, he elects instead to muster two US divisions into existence from out-of-play, and deploy them onto the map at his choice of Quang Tri. This potentially gives him a higher score later if he can get them home, and meanwhile they can be stomping and defending with superior American pwnage. He still needs another two forces in Quang Tri to control it, but he's making a stab at it!

My VC now have the option of passing for resources, or playing a full operation plus special; and I take the latter since I already have plenty of resources and my NVA partner is guaranteed to have first initiative (and the event) next Turn.

For my full operation... well, I fully expect AzTank to pave the mountains in Quang Tri with my dishonored guts or the equivalent thereof, at his first opportunity. So I am definitely going to eliminate a division; but punching any US Troop (or Base) is suicidal, and they're naturally more powerful than his specs anyway if he decides to attack.

Fortunately, this is where my special Ambush ability comes in. I could also trigger it with a March, but its primary purpose is to convert any Attack on US Troops or (if possible) Bases into a safe elimination. Here's how it works:

Step 1.) Choose up to two spaces to attack. (I could in fact choose more, but I can only Ambush in two and for various reasons I'd rather not pay to attack farther this turn.) I choose Quang Tri (duh!), and also Binh Dinh while I'm at it, because it also has a US division sitting in a space with some underground VC.

Step 2.) Pay 1 resource per target space. Two targets = 2 resources deducted from 15 to 13.

Step 3.) Declare I'm Ambushing there instead of Attacking. (If I was Moving, the Ambush could precede or follow the Move(s) in any order; but for Attacks the Ambush replaces the designated Attacks.)

Step 4.) I activate one and only one underground spec per target space. (Otherwise I'd have to activate them all, rendering them all susceptible to counterstriking!)

Step 5.) I choose one target COIN piece per space, and I choose one US division each space.

Step 6.) Those two green Troop cubes go to the US Casualty box. Eventually they'll go home, and back to Available, thus upping Az's US score! -- unless I can figure a way to remove some more Troops before the next coup. (1 out of 3 US casualties are removed out of play during coups.)

Step 7.) Ignore the usual US attrition that would force me to take off one of my attacking pieces from each space.

Step 8.) Profit. No, not really: I had already taken away COIN control, and my four NVA specs in Quang Tri still don't outnumber everyone else. Nor does the action in Binh Dinh change anything on the track.

This brings us into the start of Turn Seven.

[JasonPratt]

TURN SEVEN -- NVA CHOICE
------------------------

Here's a recap of the newly active card, plus revealing the upcoming Event for Turn Eight:




From the Playbook's historical context: "The Sihanouk trail was the portion of the Ho Chi Minh trail that operated inside of Cambodia and supplied operations in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam. The Sihanouk trail received supplies from the north via Laos and the coast. Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia sought a balanced policy between East and West blocs that led him to tolerate NVA presence on Cambodian territory and North Vietnam's use of Sihanoukville port and a 'Sihanouk Trail' from there into South Vietnam."

Had I not chosen to build up NVA divisions in the north (and then marched them all into a virtual Khe Sahn elimination :P ), but rather had I built up Parrot's Beak and the Trail, I could be spitting out quite a few more NVA specs now! As it is, eh. Oh, I'll take the "Sihanouk: Sea Supply and Sanctuary" Event -- the alternative is spending my few NVA resources for less effect than taking these free actions benefitting both VC and the NVA. I'm just bummed that things aren't better. My own fault and Az's good play (and luck).

So, for the VC:

1.) I Rally one spec each (the maximum under the circumstances) into "North Cambodia", "The Fishook", "The Parrot's Beak" and "Sihanoukville". This doesn't change scores anywhere. None of these provinces have South Nam population, much less a VC base, so my Agitation capability would be useless. The Event allows each Rally province to have a March with the first destination free; Normal Marching rules apply otherwise. As far as I can tell, "Marches" do not allow me to move beyond one area per March, even if I could pay for it.

2.) So, the VC spec in Sihanoukville marches into Kien Giang (to join its fellow lone spec). This effects no change.

3.) The VC spec in the Beak Marches through the town of Chau Doc (which being a town is not a space but rather an access point where no one can legally stop), and onto the Upper Mekong Line of Communication. This is a LoC, which could trigger activation on the move, but there aren't any COIN forces here so I stay underground. This won't immediately change the ARVN's Econ level, but I'm threatening it for later!

4.) My spec in the Fishook has a number of exit options, and after a lot of internal debate I choose to send it onto the Route 14 LoC. This threatens the ARVN's Econ level for later.

5.) Finally my spec in Northeast Cambodia moves into Pleiku Province (its only South Nam option, although I could have moved it north into Laos or south into the Fishook.) This puts Team North forces in the province equal to Team South forces, and nixes COIN control, reducing ARVN's score by 1 point from 38 to 37.

6.) Next up, the NVA's share of this Event. I Rally one NVA spec each for the same four Cambodian provinces. (Theoretically I could have brought more into the Parrot's Beak with my Base there, but the Trail is currently kaput.) This changes no track marks.

7.) After a lot of debate, I decide to only March one spec, from Sihanoukville to the Parrot's Beak. This changes no track marks.

8.) This Event, as far as I can tell, only counts as one Rally (per faction) with any or all of four free target provinces. Consequently, the NVA cannot improve the Trail four times. But I can improve it once! -- which I do, increasing its level from 0 to 1 and deducting 2 NVA resources from 9 to 7.

With this, initiative goes to AzTank's US faction. He has the choice of passing (not likely) or doing a full operation and special activity (which scares me).

Since we're now starting to cram a bunch of cubes into single provinces, I am experimenting with reducing their scale by five clicks. This should also help when-if-ever we start putting multiple specs and divisions onto the LoCs.

Az, here are the updated board snapshots (incorporating your previous ARVN action and my VC and NVA actions):








Oh, argh, I forgot to move my NVA cylinder to the Event for that snapshot. Just pretend it's there.  #:-)

[ArizonaTank]

US will do an op and special op

First, sweep. two parts

-move 2 US troops from Ba Xuyuen to Kien Giang, and activate the two VC Guerrillas there.
-sweep in Quang Tri (surprise, surprise).  I have five units there, so activate 5 Guerrillas

For special,

The hammer again.  Air Strike. 
Kill the 2 Guerrillas in Kien Giang.  Kill 2 VC and 2 NVA guerrillas in Quang Tri.  Degrade the trail back down to 0