Vietnam: 1965-1975 GMT Edition

That's the blurb from the back of the original Victory Games edition of the game. This game has long occupied the top spot in many gamers' lists of favorite Vietnam games. GMT Games is excited about the opportunity to get a new version of this classic back into print.

If you're not familiar with the original game, there are several small scenarios and a couple of campaign games. Each year is divided into four seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter), and each season has two turns (so, roughly 6 weeks per turn). The map scale is roughly 6 miles per hex and units are, generally, battalions or regiments. During the operational phase, players take turns (who gets to operate is determined by the NLF player) conducting operations with their units to destroy the enemy, clear the roads, take towns and cities, or just reposition units. In the Campaign Game, during Seasonal Interphases, each player decides whether and how many additional units and/or resources to bring in to the fight. The game features hidden VC units, airmobility, riverines, national morale, pacification, ARVN effectiveness, and many other nuances that allow the player to grasp the some of the experience of what it might have been like to conduct the war in Vietnam.

Word from the Developers

For many of you, as for us, the mere existence of this announcement is a dream come true. That we get to work on it is just icing on the cake.

Vietnam 1965-1975 has always represented the quintessential grand operational Vietnam game for us. The systems all work together beautifully to evoke the feel of the war whether playing the focused scenarios or the sweeping breadth of the campaign games. To that end, let us tell you what to expect with this reprint edition.

But first, we want to let you know what this reprint is not: it is, most emphatically, not a reimagining of the game. There will be no major rule changes. No chrome will be added. Although we are well aware that the available historical record on Vietnam is vastly expanded since the original publication, the game has always been an abstraction of the conflict as opposed to a meticulously exact reproduction of every fact. The intent with this edition is to clarify where needed and change only if necessary.

With that said, let's get on to the good stuff! The primary goals are to bring the components up to a modern standard and to clean up any ambiguity in the rules. This will be done using both the collected wisdom of the community as well as Nick's input through close consultation as to his original intent on some of the thornier questions.

We're increasing the hex size on the map which will force us to move to three maps, but that's so we can accommodate making the unit counters bigger: 9/16" for units counters while informational markers remain at 1/2". And of course, there will be plenty of player aid cards. There will be 12 PACs in the box including a two-sided CRT/TEC for use during the season, an 11x17 fold-out for use during the Seasonal Interphase, and an 11x17 Operational Flow Chart that details each type of Operation.

With this we will bring this game back in to print and breathe new life into it.

--Mitch and Ralph

Non-exhaustive List of Clarifications and Changes

1. The US, ARVN, and FWA are now collectively referred to as the Allies. US, ARVN, and FWA, when used, specifically mean those units.*
2. More rule numbers have been provided for easier reference.
3. Units may not be assigned to more than one operation per turn with the exception of Offensive Reserves (who conduct their Offensive Reserve operation and are then assigned to the ongoing operation).
4. The defender choose his terrain in combat immediately before combat ratios are determined.
5. VC HQs exert ZOCs.
6. International, Corps, and Regional boundaries and their effects have been clearly defined.
7. Operations have been clarified in terms of which can have support assigned, etc. (a new, more detailed Operations Flow Chart is available).
8. Reaction movement is clarified.
9. Airmobile Support losses is clarified (in terms of when they are lost vs available to be lost).
10. Dedicated artillery is clarified (in terms of when it can be used in an operation).
11. Ground-bound units has been changed to be less restrictive in terms of amphibious operations (105mm and 155mm independent artillery can use riverine points).
12. Strategic Movement for Ineffective ARVN is clarified and expanded.
13. Regional Forces do qualify a force to use ARVN replacements.
14. Regional Forces are available for the HEX they occupy regardless of the terrain chosen by the defender.
15. ARVN units in Cambodia and Laos fall under the Chief of Staff for Effectiveness.
16. Bombardment and/or interdiction is not an invasion.
17. North Vietnam may be Bombarded.
18. The Queen's Cobra Regiment no longer has a commitment cost.
19. Sea Supply has been altered: 2 points are added for each NVN commitment point spent on sea supply.

* There's a necessary design note included for this, too: Design Note: The term, “Allied,” is not meant to imply an equal partnership between the US, FWA, and ARVN. This was very much a US-controlled conflict. It’s use within the rules is exclusively meant as a short-hand convenience when speaking to the general versus the specific.