I really like a good unique solitaire wargame. I get to learn something about a subject I know little to nothing about and also get to play a new system. Recently, I started playing a very cool themed solitaire game called That Others May Live: Combat Search and Rescue – Vietnam from Hollandspiele and while I struggled with it at first, mainly with the concepts and how I was to go about doing what I was supposed to be doing, it has finally clicked and really grown on me. That Others May Live is a solitaire card-driven wargame that tackles the subject of Combat Search and Rescue missions during the Vietnam War. The player will take on the role of a CSAR commander tasked with the rescue of downed American aircrew in North Vietnam and Laos. The game is scenario based, and you can even play the scenarios in a mini-campaign. I really want to share this game with our readers and this is a perfect way to do that.

In Action Point 1, we took a look at the Mapsheet (game board) and discussed its simple layout and how it works for the player. In Action Point 2, we discussed the various types of Aircraft and their movement and interactions with the Zones they enter. In Action Point 3, we reviewed the Action Cards to understand what tools the player has at their disposal. In Action Point 4, we discussed how the Resolution Deck works and then showed a few examples of the process in the areas of taking Hits from Anti-Aircraft Guns, attempted Rescue operations, Bombing of Enemy Guns and enemy Searches for the downed Survivors. In this Action Point, which is the conclusion to the series, we will discuss some basic strategy concepts that helped me to understand the game.

Strategy Points

Before we get too far into this one, the first point that I wish to make is that I don’t consider myself an amazing tactician. But I do believe that all games can be a bit more enjoyed if you follow some basics of strategy. There are always things that the players should be focused on and remember as they play that will help guide their decisions and give them a greater chance at victory. These points that I am sharing for That Others May Live: Combat Search and Rescue – Vietnam are such guiding principles.

Understand the Strengths of your Aircraft

One of the most important parts of the game is how the player utilizes their aircraft. The game includes four different kinds of aircraft that players can choose from and each have different uses and abilities to ensure mission success. These aircraft include Sandys, Fast-Movers, FAC’s and helicopters. Each of the aircraft have various capabilities that will work with the Action Cards in the players deck during missions. These capabilities include things such as ordnance-delivery, target-marking and rescue. During each of the game’s scenarios, a player will be instructed on which of the aircraft types they have and how many of each. These aircraft will be placed into the the Orbit Box found at the top right of the Mapsheet. The player can acquire additional aircraft from their Action Cards by playing a Request Aircraft Card.

Understanding each Aircraft type’s role in the game is critical and will take you a few plays to fully understand. The Sandy’s are generally used to smoke out guns and then suppress them to safely allow other Aircraft to enter the Zone. The FAC’s are critical to marking targets to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of the Fast Movers as they come into Zones to destroy guns. FAC’s can use the Mark Target Card that provides the benefit of doubling the hits on an enemy target by other friendly aircraft. Helicopters are at the heart of any Combat Search and Rescue Mission as they are the only aircraft who can actually land in a hot Zone and extricate a Survivor during the Rescue Segment of the game sequence. Remember thought that Helicopters cannot be assigned any Action Cards during the game and their only purpose is to Rescue. They cannot suppress, use ordnance or perform any other interference or interaction with enemy units on the ground. If you have no remaining functional Helos your generally out of luck and will be unable to rescue any Survivors to win the game.

Fast Movers are combat jet aircraft and their purpose in Search and Rescue operations is to deliver ordnance to the area of operation such as napalm to suppress and destroy enemy infantry and anti-aircraft guns set on destroying the Sandys and Helicopters. Fast-Movers have special movement rules and cannot ever be placed into a zone where there is a Helicopter. They simply move from the Orbit Box to a Zone chosen by the player and do not have to make their way from Zone to Zone to return to the Orbit Box. These are fast moving jets and they have much greater movement than the other aircraft in the game. The key with Fast Movers to keep in mind is that they can have up to 2 Action Cards assigned to them, which is very different than other aircraft, to perform various functions but typically are used to provide and deploy ordnance to suppress, destroy or stymy enemy infantry or guns.

Once you understand each of the functions of the Aircraft, and how they are best utilized, you will find that your effectiveness will improve and you might actually start to win games.

Slow Your Roll

I think that the biggest mistake that I made in my first few plays was that I would just throw caution to the win and rush into Zones headlong without a lot of thought or pre-planning. I needed to learn the different roles of the Aircraft as mentioned above, and setup the ingress and egress areas for my Helos to come in and rescue the downed Survivors. Early in each game, it is best to take a few turns to move into Zones with Sandy’s and FAC’s using Troll for Fire Cards to expose Enemy Counters. You do not need to do this in multiple Zones but should focus on 1 or 2 at first. After you reconnoiter in this fashion, you will begin to see where your best point to approach is and move through that Zone preparing the way with your Fast Movers and Sandy’s to suppress and destroy Enemy Guns before they can shoot down your Helos. A slower and more methodical approach, with a plan in mind, is the best way to attack the task at hand.

Your Reserve is Your Salvation

Each Turn the player will draw a number of Action Cards to increase their hand size including their Card Reserve to 5 total cards. Players can assign Action Cards to the Card Reserve for use later in the game. Each Action Card that is assigned to the Reserve is placed in one of the 3 Reserve Boxes. Cards in the Reserve Box may be discarded by the player at any time and used just as they would a regular Action Card played from their hand, or retained in the Reserve from turn to turn. This is important with powerful cards that can drop ordnance, reduce the Search Marker or that can be better used at a later point when Aircraft have been moved into position on the Mapsheet. Understanding when to place a card in the Reserve and when to allow it to be discarded at the end of the Turn is a fine point of the game and will require time and plays to understand its nuances.

This point is a reminder how important the Reserve is and how you should manage it. Keep that one really important ordnance or smoke card in the Reserve until you need is very key. But remember, there are multiple copies of each type of card so you will see that card again. As a reminder, here is a look at the Action Card Deck makeup by card type:

Learning the cards, their usefulness and the general number of each in the deck is very important. Just make sure that once you are hot and heavy into a Zone or when you are attempting to land you Helos to rescue a Survivor that you keep at least a few Action Cards in your hand as these can be discarded to eliminate hits on your Aircraft. You will always have to take at least 1 Hit but the difference between 1 and 4 is huge and will save your assets.

Don’t Ignore the Enemy Search Level

The Search Marker tracks the alertness level and capacity to search for the downed airman by the game controlled enemy. As the Search Marker is moved up on the track, it means that the enemy is closing in on the Survivor and their chances of finding is higher as they will draw a number of Resolution Cards from the Resolution Deck to see if the Survivor is captured during each of the Enemy Search Segments at the end of each Turn. The Search Limit is set at 4 on the Information Track and can never go higher but at 4 cards the player will most likely be found. Keeping the Search Marker low is paramount to the player doing well in the game and it can be manipulated by the use of various Action Cards. Also remember that at the end of each Turn, the Search Marker will be increased by 1 to represent area being covered by searching enemy units. In this effort, the Ordnance Cards are your friends, including things like CBU’s, Napalm and Smoke Marker as when they are used they will lower the Enemy Search Level.

Remember the Mission

I know that the game has a lot of really interesting and cool aspects to it, and trying out the different types of Action Cards is pretty neat but remember what you are here for. To rescue your downed airmen. The player will need to remember that goal and stay focused. Doing any other thing in the game really is preparatory for clearing the way to the area where your downed Survivor is located, picking them up and getting out safely. Don’t get caught up in trying to destroy all of the Enemy Guns in each of the Zones. I have found that it is more important to suppress the Enemy Guns at the right time rather than trying to destroy. And if that is not in your hand of cards this turn, remember that there are more cards upcoming and you may be better off doing it later.

Counting Cards

At various times throughout each game, the player will have to randomly draw cards from the Resolution Deck to determine the outcome of actions such as taking Anti-Aircraft Fire, an attempted Rescue Operation, Bombing Enemy Guns on the board or for Enemy Searches of downed pilots. The Resolution Deck is a separate deck that is made up of various cards with icons found on them that coincide with these actions. Each of the Resolution Cards has one (or more) of these icons printed on them that is used to resolve the outcome of actions in the game. Understanding the makeup of the Resolution Deck is very important because you are drawing from a single Resolution Deck for the outcome of all of the different actions in the game. I think that it is important to understand the makeup of this deck and the number and relative frequency of each type of icon that appears on cards. There are a total of 30 Resolution Cards found in the Resolution Deck and as a reminder I will show you that makeup again here:

As you can see, the majority of the Resolution Cards are in the Crosshairs area, which is used to determine the number of hits on the players aircraft when moving into or through Zones with Enemy Guns. There are a total of 13 of these Crosshairs icon cards in the deck and they make up over 43% of the total deck. The other common card icon in the deck are the Blast icons which are used to determine the outcome of Hits scored on aircraft. Remember, it is a bad day when one of these Blast icon cards is drawn as your aircraft and its pilot are immediately killed. This is really bad as it moves the Abort Level up and makes the game end draw nearer. The Blast icons appear on 7 cards , which represent a total of 23.3% of the cards in the Resolution Deck. Just remember, according to Murphy’s law, “anything that can go wrong will go wrong” and you will pull the exact card you didn’t want to see!

I also wanted to give you a bit more insight into the makeup of the Crosshairs icon cards as there are differences in the number of hits that each card will score. There are a total of 13 Crosshairs icon cards with 5 of those being single Crosshairs or 1 Hit, 6 being double Crosshairs or 2 Hits and 2 being Triple Crosshairs or 3 Hits.

I know that players don’t typically enjoy card counting but in this game it is somewhat of a benefit to have a general idea about what has been pulled already and what is left in the deck. Think of this as not gaming the game, but more as using your recon and intel about the enemy forces in the area and knowing what their capabilities are. It is a part of the game and you have to embrace card counting in order to be effective.

Keep in mind that I am by no means an expert at this game and have lost way more than I have won. But if the player keeps these simple tips and strategies in mind when playing, you will find that you are more successfully than if not planning and keeping these things in mind.  I really have enjoyed playing That Others May Live and have come to truly appreciate the design and its simple yet interesting mechanics. This is a very good solitaire wargame and I cannot wait for Brad Smith to design more in the future.

-Grant