Campaign Series Vietnam

[Jason Petho]

It is most interesting to play this scenario. Operating in the plantation and things seem to be going relatively smoothly when all of a sudden, well, they aren't. The losses haven't been too bad thus far, although the Australians have definitely taken the brunt of the casualties so far. You can see the differences between the Australian and US Airborne troops, especially in terms of movement in the jungle terrain. Let's just say I'm glad I have the firepower I do in this scenario, it's all about the firepower.

[Jason Petho]

We wrapped up Operation Crimp, which went fairly well. I cleaned up the map, mostly, although seemed to have missed some key Event Point items, including an elusive headquarters that I was struggling to destroy. After that, we started up a Dien Bien Phu scenario, the Loss of Beatrice. In this scenario I'm playing the Viet Minh and assaulting a well defended French position. Night is about to fall but I have managed to get a toehold in the position. Exciting times for the Viet Minh!

[Jason Petho]

If you like the French scenarios, this session was for you!  We finished off Loss of Beatrice, which turned out to be pretty easy as I was already in the western part of the defences. Beatrice fell and there didn't appear to be a counter-attack, so it was ending turns until the end. Next we played Ninh Binh Attaque, which was a fantastic little battle and went right to the wire on turn 12. Absolutely fun and nerve racking. Then we started another French scenario called GM1 Counter where I am trying to recapture Ninh Binh. I spent the first few turns preparing for the assault that will be coming. Exciting times with lots of explanations!

[Jason Petho]

Another session with some French scenarios. I finished off GM Counter and then started up Operation Tulipe. Operation Tulipe seems to be an interesting scenario, I am up against a significant Viet Minh force as I am attempting to clear a highway while advancing from the north and south. It's a little larger than the other French scenarios I have been playing, which is a nice change - I do prefer the larger ones. There are lots of options for assaulting and maneuvering. While I am making good progress, some lessons were learned in assaulting a well defended town.

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam:  We wrapped up Operation Tulipe with great success. It went to the last turn though, so that was fun! Lots of small battles cumulating into the large affair. There are a lot of small unit tactics lessons in this video, as well as showing the importance of heavy weapon reliance for the French forces, much as we see later on when the US arrives in Vietnam. In that sense, it is good practice!

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam: Well then, here I go trying to do something fancy and it blows up in my face. Completely and horribly. Here are some good examples about how NOT to attack a well defended position, especially against regular NVA troops, with ARVN troops. I was thinking that my flanking move would save the ARVN some casualties instead of a frontal assault against some hills. Silly me.

[Jason Petho]

Day 2 of the Hill 50 series is much easier than Day 1. I'm not trying anything fancy this time and the attacks are going relatively smoothly. There are some great examples of how to assault defended positions, especially as the Marines have the advantage of firepower - as they should. I have received another ARVN parachute battalion as reinforcements, but with a low level defence, they really are paper tigers when facing NVA regulars, as we are here.

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam:  I'm back after a month holiday and was streaming live today! We returned to Tightening the Noose and wrapped that up before we started with Operation Chopper, the first large use of American helicopters in the Vietnam theatre circa 1962. It's a fun little scenario with not enough heavy weapons and a lot of hide and seek with ARVN versus Viet Cong forces. I suspect this won't go well. HA!

[Jason Petho]

That was an interesting scenario. I played through Operation Chopper to the end. Alas, I ran into a few situations where I lost significant numbers of helicopters and my Birddog.  What does that mean? Well, I lost something fierce because it, even though I was well warned about it. I did find the HQ, but didn't have the forces to take it out. After that we started the Battle of U Minh Forest. An early war scenario where I have command of a handful of ARVN battalions and we are tasked with rooting out the Viet Cong U-Minh Battalion. 

[Jason Petho]

Campaign Series Vietnam:  All my positive vibes in the world don't seem to be helping my ARVN troops as they attempt to push into the U Minh Forest. I have a lot of troops to assist with the assault, but alas, they are struggling to gain some ground. Surprisingly enough, I haven't lost any helicopters. My Hogs are providing some excellent fire support thus far, I just wish I had more of them. It's a slog, but a fun battle nevertheless! There are some valuable tactical lessons to be learned in the swamps. 

[Jason Petho]

We spent the session playing this to the end. Well. Wow. Just wow. There are some great lessons that were learned in this playthrough.  The most important lesson is the quality of Rangers compared to ARVN regulars in this scenario. Knowing what I know now, I would definitely make sure they were the primary battalion into the forest instead of the ARVN regulars that were on the airfield at the start of the scenario. Generally it was a very difficult scenario. Impossible? No, but definitely a challenge and a half. I look forward to trying this one again in the future.

[Jason Petho]

 A new scenario. The Swarm: The battle of Dong Xoai. This is a small scenario over a wide space. Helicopter management and following instructions are important. The first half of the scenario has gone better than I had hoped, so that's good. Well, it did. I have lost part of the CIDG camp, but the Viet Cong around Dong Xoai have taken a terrible toll. On the other hand, the Viet Cong battalions in the other areas are causing me some terrible grief. Losses are mounting.

[JasonPratt]

Campaign Series Vietnam:  All my positive vibes in the world don't seem to be helping my ARVN troops.

I'm having the exact same problem right now in Round 2 of my current Fire in the Lake mp game. The VC got an overpowered momentum early in Round 1, that let them stay eligible each turn, so they're like 14 points ahead of their win condition (and barely missed winning at the end of Round 1), and I'm having to whack-a-mole them while teaching the US player what has to be done to focus on whittling that score down before the end of round 2 -- while the NVA player is ready to tidal-wave us into the stone age of the workers' paradise.

Strategic, not tactical, but still. Playing ARVN mostly involves stopping everyone else from winning until I can get Vietnamization off the ground. And then still probably losing.

[Jason Petho]

Yes, you're absolutely right!

[Jason Petho]

Assault after assault against the penetration of the Viet Cong in the Dong Xoai CIDG Camp. This really shows how the quality of troops makes all the difference in effective campaigning. On the bright side, things are going much better for the ARVN, especially as we have Rangers on the ground now south of Dong Xoai. They are AWESOME! Well, keeping things in perspective compared to the rest of the troops.