First Impression!

It is 1965 and the US ground war in Vietnam is in full swing. As a US Army commander, wage a counter-insurgency (COIN) war to secure the Ia Drang valley, on the border with Cambodia.
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Weather
Private First Class - Opel Blitz
Private First Class - Opel Blitz
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 5:21 am

First Impression!

Post by Weather »

Howdy folks,

I just picked up the game this afternoon off Steam. First off let me thank you for making a Vietnam strategy game, it's almost non-existent off the table-top. Secondly, I'm a big Vietnam nerd and I am currently reading the "War Managers" by Douglas Kinnard, if you can pick up a copy, its a great read.

Now, I had seen a few let's plays and walkthroughs, but it seemed as though they were more like stumble-throughs....kind of like the real conflict. But needless to say, I wanted to try my hand at it. I went through the tutorial and soon enough I was in country. I started in a quiet valley somewhere in the western highlands of South Vietnam....but things soon got hot. I decided on an airmobile strategy, as the central road only ran across the northern part of the map, and a long river which bisected the map would provide a good avenue for choppers headed westwards.
I found a good spot for my firebase and was determined to bring the war to the enemy. However, finding them proved to be of some difficulty, requiring 2 Green Berets and near constant patrolling of various towns. There were two villages in the center of an immense jungle which I simply had to give up on...

I threw on some period tunes from Youtube and was determined for the long-haul. The struggle of keeping men and machines operating in the jungle struck home, and while I did not lose any units to lack of supply, there were more close calls then I wish to mention. Support elements of 2 Cobras (eventually) and 1 Howitzer gave me adequate fire support for the boots on the ground while they stirred up trouble in the various shacks and villages spread across creation. A huge fleet of hueys and 2 Chinooks gave me ultimate combat mobility in the poor infrastructure of the map. The stress of wounded combat elements getting medivaced with Charlie hounding every move really gave me a start.

I found that Marvin the ARVN was better suited to village patrols than front line battle. However, a well timed NVA offensive forced me to put these reserve units into action where they performed admirably...perhaps I was lucky 8)

Ultimately I won with 75% hearts and minds and over 35 confirmed KIA Charlie and NVA, at the loss of 13 WIA and 1 KIA US Forces.

Thoughts:
The game was grinding, but in a way which enhanced the experience-I'll explain. Most of the Vietnam War was trying to find the enemy and being constantly disappointed, all while wasting vast amounts of supply and ammunition to destroy targets which more often than not didn't exist to begin with.
The constant restraints of US forces ability to wage war was very well represented with political points, however I have a bit of a critique in that the peak of troops in '69/'70 was hard to reproduce here. In other words, historically, allocations took place more on the basis of increased activity by the VC and NVA, not the ability of the troops to kill the enemy. In game however the starting political situation would have us believe that US forces started with a huge amount of resources and were slowly bled out...when in actuality US forces in '65 were relatively limited and were only expanded when the enemy was found to be much stronger than previously estimated. Its not a huge deal though and I understand that it is necessary for the game mechanics to work, but just a small critique.
The combat, when it did occur, was pretty much spot on, but again here just a small critique. More often than not, confirmed kills were hard things to come by in Vietnam, and kill counts were inflated beyond reason. I think it would be interesting if the VC/NVA squads would simply disappeared, and you wouldn't know if you killed them unless you moved on to their tile with infantry. Of course with things like NVA bases, this wouldnt apply, just a thought.
I also think it would be interesting to have a river boat squadron or something of that sort, seeing as there are often villages centered around the rivers... again just a thought
Lastly, my only real problem with the game is lack of atmosphere, the artwork is good, I dont play games for graphics, but they are pretty good. The only thing letting me down is the lack of period music or battle chatter.

TL:DR I really like this game, a lot. But there are just some minor hiccups that don't really hurt the game so much as they could be improved/explained.

Thanks for reading,
Sam
Every Single Soldier
Vietnam ’65 developer
Vietnam ’65 developer
Posts: 1770
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 4:40 pm

Re: First Impression!

Post by Every Single Soldier »

Thanks for the feedack, really appreciate you taking the time to expound it like you did :)

We did look at theme music, the cost was almost as much as the development :shock:

I get your point about the build up etc, I had to use a bit of poetic license in balancing the game though, so forgive me :)

Essentially, I was trying to capture the essence of the war within three hours, totally impossible I know, but attempted it anyway....
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