Matrix Games Forums

In boardgames even.

According to Boardgame Geek, there's a good few boardgames covering the area, from Indochina war to Vietnam war, and beyond. See the listing, HERE.

Yes, I only just received my second boardgames, John Prado's Khe Sanh 1968, from Against the Odds magazine. Interesting articles on the magazine, too:




Previously, I only had the Dien Bien Phu 1954 game from Vae Victis magazine, in French even, but it was easy to find translated rules, a good set was available at Grognard.com for example.



Image from Boardgame Geek

So which Vietnam games do you guys own and play? Always interested to hear what's out there, and how do you like them [:)]

Squad Battles: Tour of Duty and Vietnam
Vietnam 65

All the following are board games:

Dien Bien Phu from Legion Games: Best Game on the siege bar none. There's a fantastic review by Bruce Geryk on YouTube for it.

Silver Bayonet 25th Anniversary Edition from GMT Games: Really good operational game of the Ia Drang Campaign.

Vietnam 1965-75 by Victory Games: an incredible simulation of the entire war made in 1984.Still the best.

Lock n' Load Tactical Forgotten Heroes from LnL: Great fun tactical game

Fields of Fire from GMT Games: Has a Vietnam campaign Hands down the best tactical wargame I've ever played. It's also fully solo. There's a volume 2 out that has the Marines at Hue.

Anyone tried Vietnam Rumor of War by Compass?

ORIGINAL: Plodder

All the following are board games:

Dien Bien Phu from Legion Games: Best Game on the siege bar none. There's a fantastic review by Bruce Geryk on YouTube for it.

Silver Bayonet 25th Anniversary Edition from GMT Games: Really good operational game of the Ia Drang Campaign.

Vietnam 1965-75 by Victory Games: an incredible simulation of the entire war made in 1984.Still the best.

Lock n' Load Tactical Forgotten Heroes from LnL: Great fun tactical game

Fields of Fire from GMT Games: Has a Vietnam campaign Hands down the best tactical wargame I've ever played. It's also fully solo. There's a volume 2 out that has the Marines at Hue.

Vietnam 1965-75 by VG indeed has quite a nice reputation. BGG marketplace prices for it are quite something, too...

Have to give a shoutout to all the above, and also throw in a word for Fire in the Lake (GMT) and Hearts and Minds (3rd Edition with Compass)-- both are strategic-level Card-driven games that to my mind do great jobs of capturing the historical flavor of the conflict (gamey aspects notwithstanding). MMP just released Front Toward Enemy, which is a tactical-level game and the initial feedback I've seen is pretty positive (I can only comment on the physical components, which are nice).

Of the aforementioned games, Silver Bayonet, Heroes of the Nam and, in particular, Dien Bien Phu: The Final Gamble are worth searching out.

Boonierat-- re: Rumor of War, I purchased it from Compass on release and the components are lovely. I haven't taken a dive into the rules yet because Hearts and Minds arrived on my doorstep shortly afterwards and ate up my time. I'd also heard some concerns expressed about a rule system first used for a Korea game (Korea: Fire and Ice) being fitted for Vietnam as well, and whether that was feasible given the differing nature of the conflicts. That said, I've had great experiences corresponding with designer Adam Starkweather re: rules clarifications, etc on his other games-- he's courteous, prompt in replying, and very patient-- so it could be worth taking the jump if you're curious.

One final game of note: The War in Vietnam (the forum won't let me post a link but you can search for it on Kickstarter). Slated to be an Axis & Allies-style game with 800+ pieces. I'm on the Kickstarter roster and am eager to see how this one turns out.

I have heard only good things about Fire in the Lake, I'd earmarked it as my first COIN game once I go there.

Thanks for the shout at the War in Vietnam kickstarter, too. Now there's a proper miniatures monster in the making [X(]

ORIGINAL: Boonierat1972

Anyone tried Vietnam Rumor of War by Compass?

Ooh but this looks interesting as well. Their Operational Scale System series features a Korea game too, Korea: Fire and Ice. Neat.

I've invested quite some time to MMP's Operational Combat Series, which features a Korea game as well, Korea: The Forgotten War. Or reading the manuals, rather, haven't really managed to set up a game apart for some solo try-outs.

MMP's features some quite intriguing WW2 games in their OCS set (a particular shout for their The Blitzkrieg Legend), but no Vietnam game, at least not yet. Korea is as modern as they've done so far.

Yes, Fire on the Lake is great-- and designers Mark Herman and Volko Ruhnke are currently working on an expansion that takes the game through '75 (it currently ends around 1972 if I remember correctly).

I've got Korea: The Forgotten War on my shelf as well, but unfortunately haven't cracked open the rules yet. Very intrigued to try it eventually, though!

Also forgot to mention that Strategy and Tactics has released a couple nice-looking operational games-- In-Country and Winged Horse. I've got both and-- familiar refrain-- have only parsed through the rules and ogled the maps/counters. In-Country in particular seems pretty robust, though I'm curious as to how all the disparate pieces would hold together once I'm able to actually play it.

Going back to the First Indochina War, Kim Kanger (The Final Gamble designer) just had his game "Tonkin" rereleased through Legion and I've heard good things about that. Given the high quality of The Final Gamble, I can only assume good things.

ORIGINAL: stanthecaddy019

Also forgot to mention that Strategy and Tactics has released a couple nice-looking operational games-- In-Country and Winged Horse. I've got both and-- familiar refrain-- have only parsed through the rules and ogled the maps/counters. In-Country in particular seems pretty robust, though I'm curious as to how all the disparate pieces would hold together once I'm able to actually play it.

Going back to the First Indochina War, Kim Kanger (The Final Gamble designer) just had his game "Tonkin" rereleased through Legion and I've heard good things about that. Given the high quality of The Final Gamble, I can only assume good things.

I will definitively need to earmark the both S&T issues should there be a seller at BGG with decent prices. The few that are there at the moment are quite steeply priced, yet. Or maybe I am just cheap. Thanks, for the Tonkin link as well!

Want to mention that the VG Vietnam 65-75 boardgame has a nice VASSAL module. Used that to play two games as Vietnamese into 66 and 67 respectively. Both games took quite a few months to go to that point

I've only played the computer games Vietnam 65, Battlefield Vietnam and there were some Vietnam scenarios in the Art of War game.
The world longs for more Vietnam games. It has been overlooked by game developers despite being a very interesting war which is similar to the Cold War not being gamed until the nice Flashpoint Red Storm game came along to fill the void.

Squad Battles Vietnam is worth a try. The first Squad Battles game released.

ORIGINAL: wodin

Squad Battles Vietnam is worth a try. The first Squad Battles game released.

Hi wodin,

Red Victory is the only SB title I have. I was thinking maybe Advance of the Reich but sounds like you have a high opinion of SB Vietnam. Does it include the French in the early years? How about later in the war in Laos and Cambodia?[;)]

I have Silver Bayonet but never opened the game

Upvote for Vietnam: 65 - 75 by Victory Games. Covers the whole war and has a variety of scenarios. Not a short or very simple game, but well worth the effort.

ORIGINAL: krakowca

Upvote for Vietnam: 65 - 75 by Victory Games. Covers the whole war and has a variety of scenarios. Not a short or very simple game, but well worth the effort.

OK +1. Think I will look into it. Thanks krakowca!!!

ORIGINAL: Big Ivan

ORIGINAL: wodin

Squad Battles Vietnam is worth a try. The first Squad Battles game released.

Hi wodin,

Red Victory is the only SB title I have. I was thinking maybe Advance of the Reich but sounds like you have a high opinion of SB Vietnam. Does it include the French in the early years? How about later in the war in Laos and Cambodia?[;)]

Vietnam is split into three games in the SB series-- there's Tour of Duty, Vietnam, and Dien Bien Phu (which covers the broader French war). Far as the American period, am not sure if there's a rhyme or reason to ToD vs Vietnam-- both seem to cover a variety of actions and it doesn't seem in my experience playing that one covers early war vs late war, etc. I prefer ToD because it includes several campaigns, whereas I believe Vietnam is just individual scenarios. If you check out the pages on Tiller's site, it gives a good breakdown of which major actions are included in which module.

ORIGINAL: stanthecaddy019

ORIGINAL: Big Ivan

ORIGINAL: wodin

Squad Battles Vietnam is worth a try. The first Squad Battles game released.

Hi wodin,

Red Victory is the only SB title I have. I was thinking maybe Advance of the Reich but sounds like you have a high opinion of SB Vietnam. Does it include the French in the early years? How about later in the war in Laos and Cambodia?[;)]

Vietnam is split into three games in the SB series-- there's Tour of Duty, Vietnam, and Dien Bien Phu (which covers the broader French war). Far as the American period, am not sure if there's a rhyme or reason to ToD vs Vietnam-- both seem to cover a variety of actions and it doesn't seem in my experience playing that one covers early war vs late war, etc. I prefer ToD because it includes several campaigns, whereas I believe Vietnam is just individual scenarios. If you check out the pages on Tiller's site, it gives a good breakdown of which major actions are included in which module.

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the update on the SB 'Nam games! I didn't know that and I appreciate your input. The Campaigns are an interest of mine so I'll check out ToD for sure.

Regards,
John[;)]