Alan Snider  - Aug 28, 2006 11:01 am (#15238 Total: 15269)  
Solitaire gaming is crap, but I may have to learn to enjoy it.
http://www.stalag17wargames.com/ 

SPI Year of the Rat 

GAMENIGHT, August 26/2006: Well everyone, it has been a long time since
I've managed to get some gaming done. I spent an evening out in Langley
with Clayton Baisch and Craig Nynych. They continued to toil away on
their game of "The Longest Day", and inbetween turns Clayton and I set
up SPI's "Year of the Rat". This is a Vietnam game which covers the 1972
Spring offensive. I took command of the VC, while Clayton got to be the
big, bad Americans (+ south Vietnamese). 

The setup is quite critical for the Vietnamese, who must initially place
14 units (7 of which are dummies) on the map within two hexes outside of
Vietnam, next to their respective regions as per the historical setup.
Then the American place their units and finally the balance of
Vietnamese forces are placed with 5-6 units of VLF(?) which start behind
enemy lines. The same placement holds for supply units and dummy
supply...as the American really have no idea where the Vietnamese push
will come from (as all Vietnamese units are hidden until combat) 

To start, the Vietnamese are considered to be in supply for the first 2
turns and the pressure is on them to take advantage straight out of the
gate. Due to the supply rules, the Vietnamese cannot attack unless they
are within 8 hexes of an actual supply unit (that can be expended).
There are plenty of cities within reach just beyond the 8 hex range, so
if at all, these must be taken in the first 2 turns. They must
subsequently be defended, although the American only recover 1 VP per
city if/when they recapture, while the VC get 2 VP's for capturing it
the first time. 

In the initial push, the limitations of my deployment were evident, as I
likely had put too much force up in the North. My thought was I could
quickly deal with the meagre forces there and flood into the central
provinces... Supply (and the CRT) the became my next hurdle, as the CRT
was nearly bloodless (except at 8-1 or greater). This meant retreat into
enemy ZoC's would be the only way to eliminate enemies. This was only
part of the strategy though, as simply forcing a retreat to occupy a
city/town was the most central to VP's. The elimination thing was
important early on, as this reduced the ZoCs that the VC faced in order
to flood into a particular region. 

The supply expendituure was tricky, as one could activate ANY units that
were within an 8 hex range on a single supply. This suggested an "all or
nothing" approach with VC attacks. Also important was the fact that
there is only 7 actual VC supply units; meaning that after the first 2
turns, the VC could only launch 7 attacks in the final 9 turns. 

The US deployment (and mine too), did not allow for much of an incursion
inland, as I got bunged up in rough terrain and ZoC's. I will add that
the movement rules require that you pay for both entering and leaving a
ZoC (worse for the US). It takes very little to bring things to a
standstill. 

I had the most success in the central region of Vietnam capturing a few
border towns, as well as 2 towns up in the North, where my strength was
mostly concentrated. It was at this time that the see-saw battle of US
airpower and it's ability to 'pin' or 'disorganize' a unit took effect.
This made it extremely difficult to co-ordinate a strong Vietnamese
attack. every time I saddled up to get a 4-1 or so attack, the US would
batter it into a 2-1 opportunity instead. 

After padding a lead of about 8 VP's, I struggled to get a couple more,
but the aforementioned US airpower was the balancing factor. As a result
I was force to launch a few piddly attacks at 2-1 on the off chance I
could roll a "1" for dr1 result. I totally fluked out an succeeded with
a few of these, really annoying the Americans. 

The most successful part of the Vietnamese strategy was in the Mekong
Delta region and near Saigon, where I deployed solid dummies and dummy
supply. The Americans never did try their luck with them after they
captured a city as they must have looked too strong. Eventually as the
game proceeded, the bluff slowly became clear as the Vietnamese player
must remove 1 dummy unit per turn starting with the 3rd turn (of 11). I
was most successful in slowly giving up ground while simultaneously
revealing a dummy, while at the same time maintaining an illusion of
strength. 

The mid-game involved the see-saw battle of US airpower and the
Vietnamese ability to rally, hoping to get a legitimate attempt to
attack and capture a town to gain more VP's. Problem was, the US just
kept getting more and more air power so thing did not get better. In
addition, the US air Cav, allowed them to drop in units where needed and
this often messed things uop just prior to a Vietnamese offensive. 

The USA were able to use their airpower in brutal forces to get the
"disorganized' roll they needed to knock the VC to half strength prior
to a follow-up ground attack in the North (2 cities) and one city in the
central area of Vietnam. It was fairly easy to force a retreat to
recapture the towns. 

Simultaneous to the above, the Vietnamese made a crazy run with 4-5
infantry units from the North through a clear area and into a relatively
open region containing a few cites the US was not currently protecting.
This somewhat balanced off the losses of the 3 cities the US had been
able to capture. the VC likely spent the last 3 turns of the game
without any supply left (unbeknownst to the Americans). 

In the final tally, the Vietnamese had 9 VP, good for a draw but just
barely. This game is one of those simple ones which effortlessly
simulates the situation without a lot of rules. I spent all my time on
strategy and none of my time in the rulebook; always a sign of a good
game. I will say that the Vietnamese setup determines much as to how
their game will go, and I likely did not have the best setup to start.
Up North where I had deployed my strength, there is some ugly terrain
which can waste turns to get through and has few cities to capture. This
is also where the VC reinforcements come from, so it is not as critical
to deploy units there to start. 

I will recommend "Year of the Rat" to anyone who wants a clever yet
simple Vietnam game with plenty of uncertainty and replayability. I
believe I will try this again next weekend.