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New Edition of Vietnam 1965 -1975 Wargame is Up on the GMT Games P500

Mar 4, 2021

GMT Games is taking preorders for a new edition of the classic Victory Games wargame Vietnam 1965 – 1975. The game is considered by many as the best strategic level simulation of the war. Vietnam 1965-1975 is for two players, ages 14+, and plays in three hours or more. You can preorder Vietnam: 1965-1975 for the P500 price of $59.00 with an expected MSRP of $85.00.

About the game:

“This simulation game re-creates the longest, most complex, and least understood conflict in US history in all of its military and political aspects. The rules include detailed treatment of movement, terrain, search and destroy operations, special operations, firepower, airmobility, riverines, brigade-level formations, limited intelligence, and auxiliary units in each scenario…”

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.

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.

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Jeff McAleer

Founder/Editor-in-chief of The Gaming Gang website and host of The Gaming Gang Dispatch and other TGG media, Jeff tackles any and all sorts of games but has a special fondness for strategy, conflict sims, and roleplaying games. Plus, he's certainly never at a loss for an opinion...