Operation Pegasus (Task Force) Review by Alan Sharif During the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) 1968 `Tet' offensive, US forces found themselves besieged in the Khe Sahn combat base. The US knew that a conventional ground assault to lift the siege would result in a long and bloody campaign. It was unlikely that Khe Sahn could hold out that long. Instead they deployed the lst Cavalry division with it's new and revolutionary helicopter tactics. Troops would be landed either side of NVA troops and attack towards one another, driving the NVA out of the jungle and into the clear where US firepower was at it's most potent. The effect was to lift the siege in just seven days, and with only light casualties. Victory conditions require the US player to repeat that success whilst the NVA player tries to hold him back and take Khe Sahn. This gives each player a very clear goal enabling them to stay well focused. Graphically the game is quite reasonable considering it was published in the early eighties. The game is physically quite small and the unit count light. NVA units have an untried side like Soviets in Panzergruppe Guederian. All units feature icons rather than NATO symbols. A game turn commences with the US player receiving any reinforcements due. Next is the helicopter phase. The US player has a limited number of helicopter points which can be used to either transport new units to anywhere on the map, support combat, or for observation. Observation enables the US player to flip an untried NVA unit from its untried to its revealed side. The unit, once revealed, may turn out to be a dummy and is therefore removed. If not, the helicopter remains over the hex and serves to observe for US air strikes and artillery fire later in the game turn. Helicopters cannot be used for two turns consecutively and must be rested for a turn following use. NVA anti-aircraft fire, if effective, may lead to a helicopter point being unavailable for two turns. Planning the use of helicopter points can become an interesting subgame in itself. When helicopter missions are resolved tactical airstrikes can be made against spotted NVA units but adjacent US units may come under `friendly fire' a fact often overlooked in wargames. B52 units are capable of making strategic airstrikes but these are inaccurate and the results often disappointing. All missions and airstikes are resolved via die rolls on the various tables provided. Some modifiers exist but all procedures are very simple. Movement and combat conclude the U.S. players turn and differ from traditional wargame mechanics. Units move from hex to hex but there are no zones of control and any NVA unit that a U.S. unit moves adjacent to has the option of firing on the U.S. unit. The trade-off is that in doing so the unit is flipped from its hidden to its revealed side, showing its combat strength. The U.S. unit may then return fire. To resolve combat you cross reference the type of unit firing with the type of target unit and the terrain in the defenders hex. Once completed a die is rolled on the appropriate column and the result given is the number of strength points lost by the target. Artillery barrages and air strikes are also resolved in this way. I found that this manner of resolving combat worked very well but fire combat alone leads to a long game of attrition, not very interesting to play. After fire combat U.S. units are able to advance into NVA occupied hexes for hand to hand combat. Losses will be high but this is the only way to achieve immediate results. Players will have to judge when circumstances warrant this approach. The NVA players turn comprises ofjust receiving reinforcements, movement and combat, as he has no helicopters or airstrikes, to complete a game turn. Operation Pegasus cannot be played solo due to the `hidden' nature of NVA units. To play with them `revealed' unbalances the game in strongly in favour of the U.S. player. It is also not suitable for beginners being a little to complex. What this game does give you is an accurate simulation of Khe Sahn, and a situation that allows both players to attack and defend. Vietnam seems to be a subject overlooked by the wargaming hobby, surprising in view of its U.S. involvement. I think this is because often the type of combat experienced in Vietnam is difficult to simulate in game terms. Provided you have two players interested in the period this is a game well worth looking out for.