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This is what the DMZ looks like now. The NVA has used the covering monsoon to really good effect last turn

Ian has cleaned out all the Allied units from Kae Sanh to the west and looking southeast from there looks to

be another assault brewing soon. I'd best do something about it. Maybe move the ARNV HQ unit at the very least.

This is May and last year the monsoon ended in June so maybe it'll end in June again this year. That means I

can move the 1st Inf Division into this area and reclaim all that territory. It would be really nice if I could

somehow hang onto all this real estate during the monsoon season. I would need plenty of arty to try something like that.

This is 50K feet above the Delta before I have started moving anybody and you can see all the broken bridges and

there's a few VC units still on the map. There were 11 battles during Ian's turn but none of them were down

here in the Delta. I'm wondering why he's leaving them on the map for me to kill. Maybe he's throwing the game just so I

can win. He's a nice guy, maybe he would do that. @Ian: please don't. There's a scientific experiment being conducted

here and throwing the game would taint the data.

For some strange reason about 1/3 of the plane fleet is grounded in reorg's. I have no idea what caused that and

I'm wondering if the monsoon had something to do with it. There's no pattern to it. It effects the Air Force planes and

the Marine planes and fixed wing and chopper and CS and INT; there's no discernable reason that I can see. They are all

green, they are all healthy. Huh.

This is a view of Saigon and shows how many of the city's defenders are parked on a bridge. The bridge in the

yellow circle was broken last night and my engineers just now finished repairing it again. This is about the third time

that particular bridge has been broken. Ian has been busy breaking bridges all over the Delta.

Turn 55

As a result of the recent offensive and the elimination of the US garrison at Khe Sahn the VP's push up to +16 to the VC and a milestone is reached as the EVV hits 47....almost halfway to the maximum before the US have to get out.

After intense lobbying I get the newstring announcing world leaders have urged the US to withdraw.....quite right too 😁

The Monsoon ends and there is a change of pace as the VC wind down activities for now and the NVA consolidate to preserve there strength. Encouragingly the new strong 20th Division has just arrived from Hanoi to provide an added boost.

Before the VC stepped down activity five VC battalions attempted to overrun an isolated ARVN HQ in Thua Thien but heavy US air support saw them take 50% losses and the attack was abandoned. As a small consolation the MiGs shot down another 12 US aircraft and in total almost 60 planes are downed....

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

For some strange reason about 1/3 of the plane fleet is grounded in reorg's. I have no idea what caused that and

I'm wondering if the monsoon had something to do with it. There's no pattern to it. It effects the Air Force planes and

the Marine planes and fixed wing and chopper and CS and INT; there's no discernable reason that I can see. They are all

green, they are all healthy. Huh.

Larry you have 50% air shock without free fire and 25% air shock during monsoons. That is bound to cause some units to become disorganized. Remember don't use free fire during monsoon you will get the VP penalty and it will not improve the monsoon air shock.

Original: Hyding
Larry you have 50% air shock without free fire and 25% air shock during monsoons. That is bound to cause some units to become disorganized. Remember don't use free fire during monsoon you will get the VP penalty and it will not improve the monsoon air shock.

Hey there William dude. Thanks for posting and yep, I have to admit that you have pinpointed the problem and there's nothing to do about it. And your advice sounds sound and proper. Only a couple of years left in the game and it's starting to get exciting. Keep those good ideas coming. Your opinion is important.

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

Original: Hyding
Larry you have 50% air shock without free fire and 25% air shock during monsoons. That is bound to cause some units to become disorganized. Remember don't use free fire during monsoon you will get the VP penalty and it will not improve the monsoon air shock.

Hey there William dude. Thanks for posting and yep, I have to admit that you have pinpointed the problem and there's nothing to do about it. And your advice sounds sound and proper. Only a couple of years left in the game and it's starting to get exciting. Keep those good ideas coming. Your opinion is important.

Ha !

Not so fast young Larry..[;)]

We have nearly SIX years left in the game (1965-75) potentially....you have only made it through until 1969 so far.....

Plenty more Washington demonstrations to endure yet !!

Now here's one for the history books. This NVA unit had severe losses. Losses so severe that he lost more than he had. More than there were present at the start. That's a neat trick. I wonder if it turns water into wine too?

ORIGINAL: devoncop

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson
...Only a couple of years left in the game ....

Ha !

Not so fast young Larry..[;)]

We have nearly SIX years left in the game (1965-75) potentially....you have only made it through until 1969 so far.....

Plenty more Washington demonstrations to endure yet !!

Yep, I have to admit you're reasoning is sound. But I'm planning on Vietnamizeing this thing and getting out of dodge and letting the ARVN try to handle it. I'll lose but hey that's what happened.

Here's me choosing the Early Vietnamization program. I'm going to need more ARVN when I start pulling stuff

out of 'nam. They aren't much good but they are all that there is. At least they will respawn after they are killed. Some

of the torn up formations ( Marines ) can be pulled out of country to make way for the incomming divisions.

Here's a look at the HCM trail and I'm seeing juicy targets. I need the B-52's for targets this good. I'm

going to have to use the F-100's etc. for it as it is. That means losses to their AA guns if there are any. The time to

bomb them is the turn they appear in the middle because they turn invisible after that ( unless they move ).

Here's how badly the12th Marine Air Group has been mauled since turn 2 or so. Some of the losses were due to Migs and some were due to rocket attacks on the airfields. I have since moved a lot of them to Thailand to get them out of harm's way.

Turn 56

So interesting developments as Larry chooses the "Early Vietnamization" Theatre Option. Naturally enough being as disorganised as an anarchist commune I have no real knowledge of what this means in practice so I go scrambling off to the scenario notes.....

1) This increases the EVV by +10 (so it is now 57)....This is a "GOOD THING"[:)]

2) This increases the size of ARVN Forces by 40% ! ...This is a "BAD THING"[X(]

3) This takes up to 2-3 years to build up the ARVN ...This is a "GOOD THING"[:)]

This also means that soon Larry will start withdrawing non ARVN forces which will consequently reduce the EVV....I now am thinking ...when is my best opportunity to overrun the country and take Saigon......is it in the next 2 years before the ARVN achieve maximum effectiveness (the option also allows ARVN fixed garrison units to start moving and makes the Rangers even more effective)......or is it a case of hitting the ARVN with everything I have got once the Americans have high tailed out and just maintaining the pressure until then.....?

This turn Larry failed a proficiency check before he could cause too much mayhem on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to my poor Cadres eating their noodles so I have moved them pronto. Appearing in a rice paddy near you soon.......

VC presence has been minimised for now so I am restricted to a couple of sustained rocket attacks. One on the 30th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Korean Division in the mountains of Thua Thien causes about 20% casualties and a more devastating attack on 95th Artillery in Chu lai which is obliterated with the loss of all 14 of its SAM Missile launchers.

Turn 57.... August 1969

VP's fall to +8 to the VC and EVV remains constant at 57.

Well the best laid plans come to nought this turn as a single round of light bombardment of the 30th Korean Regiment and US 1st bttn of 11th Infantry Reg in Thua Thien causes a proficiency test fail and the turn comes to an abrupt end.

Thankfully not too many units are left exposed.

There was however the evaporation of another US air unit....this time VF-24 which was blown out of the sky attempting more interdiction on Tay Ninh.

Turn 58 ...September 1969

VP's +9 to VC.......EVV =58

Take a note of this turn as it may well prove a pivotal moment in the war where NVA hubris may have cost them a victory...all seemed to be going well. Very large numbers of VC flooded into multiple provinces of South Vietnam to try a mass pacification programme whilst the NVA, already pushing into Thua Thien and with a reasonable presence in Quang Tri kept the Americans busy.

Suddenly overconfidence took over......

Remembering the stunning success at Khe Sahn a few months ago where the NVA overran the Marine Tanks and a battalion of infantry with them the NVA tried the same against 4 units of the 52nd Artillery Group south west of Khe Sahn that had been conducting a heavy bombardment of NVA positions....Simply put.....a military catastrophe ensued....without the cover of the monsoon over 100 US aircraft massacred the NVA as they advanced to try and make contact with the gunners who left their guns and picked up their M16's and manned machine guns. By the time the NVA fled over 2000 infantry squads had been wiped out for the loss of only 20 or so for the Americans and a couple of 155mm guns.

The Loss Penalty up to this turn had been 12 for the US and 1 for the NLF.

It won't be now.[X(]

Turn 59

I open the turn with some trepidation to find that the NLF loss penalty as a result of last turn's military incompetence has indeed increased........by 1.....up to 2 in total. It is evident the loss tolerance of the NLF is much higher than that of the US/ARVN. As a result and taken with the big increase in VC activity last turn net VP score actually increases to +11 to the VC. I am happy with that. EVV ticks up again to 59 and I get confimation that the Ho Chi Minh pipeline has been completed.......great news.

I am expecting the battered NVA to return shortly but they will need quite a period of R and R to get them ship shape.

This turn there is some desultory shelling from Cambodia and Laos of US and ARVN troops and some minor movement by those VC battalions that survived what was a pretty aggressive ARVN and US response last turn.

Here's the area around Tay Ninh right now. I'm conducting a trawl through the jungle heading north to herd the bad

guys back across the line. I've noticed that if you don't keep searching an area within the lapse of a short period of

time it converts back to enemy controlled, it seems. I'm searching this stretch of jungle for the second time in about 6

months or so. I gotta remember to keep searching, periodically, the old areas.

Here's what the DMZ looks like right now. I've pushed some ARVN units into the northern parts of the country and it's backed up by arty and of course the aircraft. This is working so far.

Turn 60

VP's +10 to the VC and EVV hits 62 and the news string reports students in the USA are protesting against the draft......things getting tense back home !

Larry wiped a lot of the vC out last turn though a few surviving the central provinces and the south. The northern provinces and around Saigon are pretty much VC free and have been for some time.

The NVA make a welcome reappearance in the north but for now lick their wounds north and west of the border.

Interdiction is heavy so I am forced to fly the MigGs again despite preferring to rest them. US air losses were quite high last turn so I am hoping the interdiction may die down a bit soon.

My turn consists purely of bombarding US and ARVN troops in Thua Thien from Laos but the shelling was effective and managed to hit an artillery concentration from the Marine Amphibious Force taking out over 40 155mm guns before a proficiency test fail caused the turn to end early.

The next monsoon looms soon and maybe I need to go back to operating then given the devastation the US airpower caused when I tried to attack in clear weather.......