They Were Soldiers and Dak To - Hill 875
by
Cadet Games
This game, or actually games, has done exactly what I love about wargaming. It has presented me with a piece of history that I know little about. So, naturally I had to find books about the two battles. I knew some about the Battle of The Ia Drang Valley, as it was the first time that a group of U.S. soldiers were used in Vietnam en masse and not just as trainers or Green Berets. I had never watched the film 'We Were Soldiers' either. I know, shame on me. I knew next to nothing about the Battle for Hill 875. The way I look at it is you cannot judge a historical wargame without knowing the true details about the battle or campaign.
Cadet Games gives you both battles inside the box. Let us look at the historical synopsis from Cadet Games:
"At 10:48 A.M. on the morning of November 14th, 1965, the first 80 soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the U.S. 7th Cavalry landed in a small clearing at the foot of the Chu Pong Massif in central Vietnam near the Cambodian border. The Americans had landed in the middle of the base area for an entire North Vietnamese division, and were almost immediately attacked from multiple sides of their small landing zone - called ‘LZ X-Ray’.
The battle raged over the next several days, with high losses on both sides. In the end, the Americans had proved their new airmobility tactics and had inflicted high losses on the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers they faced. The NVA had also learned how to fight the Americans - and had inflicted serious losses on a high-tech superpower enemy by using classic light infantry tactics with only a fraction of the firepower available to the Americans.
This game challenges the players to re-fight the first day or so of that battle - the critical time when the NVA forces had the chance to overwhelm the Americans and overrun the landing zone. Can you, as the U.S. player, hold your ground and repeat history? Or will the NVA player triumph and overwhelm the perimeter - cutting the Americans off from supply and reinforcement? Get ready to re-live or re-write history in the battle for LZ-Xray!
At 09:43 A.M. on the morning of November 19th, 1967, the lead platoons of the 2/503rd Airborne Infantry began advancing south up the north face of hill 875 in the central highlands of Vietnam near Cambodia. The Americans, just 330 strong, expected to face a company of the NVA. The pre-assault bombardment by aircraft and artillery had created much deadfall, craters and holes in the thick jungle.
The battle that followed became one of the bloodiest in the Vietnam War. The NVA had been expecting the Americans and had a plan of their own. The 2/503rd was nearly wiped out but was quickly reinforced by their 4th battalion. The battle for the hilltop raged for days with serious losses on both sides. In the end, the Americans took the hill - but the NVA had slipped away with many of their soldiers to fight again."
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| Map for the Ia Drang Battle |
So, both battles have the U.S. player definitely on the backfoot. Your job as the U.S. is to survive the onslaughts. If playing as the Vietnamese, you must try and destroy the U.S. units without using up all of your troops to do so.
This is what comes with the game:
32 NVA And Vietcong Soldiers
20 U.S. Cavalry Troopers
2 105mm Howitzers
3 Huey Helicopters
2 A1 Skyraiders
1 Mortar
50 Number Markers
40 NVA Unit Markers
40 Wounded Markers
30 NVA Markers
100 Gray Chips
40 White Chips
23 U.S. Unit Markers
30 Bright Green Chips
50 Olive Drab Chips
20 Green Chips
5 Downed Huey Markers
78 Game Cards
10 Fire Mission Markers
2-Sided Mounted Map
1 Rulebook
1 Battleboard
1 NVA Reinforcement Card With Hidden Unit Boxes
1 Cavalry Reinforcement Card
1 Fire Support Layout
2 Status Markers
1 Initiative Marker
1 Game Turn Marker
2 Landing/Take Off Hex Markers
15 Airborne Unit Markers
2 NVA AAA Unit Markers
2 NVA Mortar Unit Markers
10 NVA Bunker Markers
1 Spooky Marker
This is quite the list!
The map is mounted and double-sided. The maps are very nicely done and really show off the terrain you have to deal with. Both Maps show a smaller area than you might have thought. The scenarios for the battles are very early in each battle and only show the part of the terrain that matches with the beginning of both battles. Think of it as a map of one of the fortified positions of Dien Bien Phu and not the entire valley. I cannot go over all of the game's components separately or this would be one very long review. All of the plastic soldiers and counters etc. are manufactured to a very high degree of workmanship. As I mentioned in my last Cadet Games review, if you do get soldiers or planes that are a bit bent, do not sweat it. Just put them in some hot water and they can be fixed into their original positions. One thing that is great for we grognards that are getting older is that all of the components are large. You will not have to fiddle with 1/2" counters in these games. The game comes with two rulebooks. One is for the Battle of Ia Drang Valley (and is the main rulebook for the games). The other is for the Battle of Dak To Hill 875. The Ia Drang Rulebook is twenty-three pages long, while the one for Dak To is just eleven pages. They are in full color and have some illustrations of the rules inside. The components, maps, and Rulebooks are definitely up the level of the other Cadet Games wargame that I reviewed 'Nguyen Hue '72, The 1972 Easter Offensive in Vietnam'.
The different colored 'chips' to the side of the map are used underneath the plastic soldiers to show the unit's strength. A full-strength unit of either side has 7 'steps' and thirty-five soldiers. It is an easy and simple way to keep track of your units' strength points.
Everything that was encountered by either side in the battle is included. There are NVA bunkers, anti-aircraft, and mortar units. The U.S. has Huey helicopters and howitzers. These are just a few of the units that you are capable of using in the game.
Victory is determined in Ia Drang by the U.S. casualties taken. The smaller the number of casualties means a U.S. victory. In Dak To Hill 875, the NVA player has to eliminate the U.S. soldiers and make sure none are on the top of Hill 875 at the end of the game. The U.S. wins even if they have a wounded unit on the top of Hill 875.
The other game from Cadet Games that I reviewed was a strategic one encompassing the whole of South Vietnam. The rules for this game are not just leveled down compared to it. The Sequence of Play, movement, and combat have all been designed for a tactical game. The one thing U.S. players have to keep in mind is that neither of these battles shows off the immense resources that the U.S. had during the war. These are both very small action knife fights. In every hex toward your goal might lie an ambush. The NVA player in Dak To Hill 875 can take as many casualties as are needed to reach your goal. As long as you have one unit left and the U.S. has none you are king of the hill.
Both of these battles, as has been shown, are very different from the ones in documentaries. The U.S. player has a very minimal amount of air and artillery to keep the NVA at bay. I am as impressed by this game's rules and play as I was by the Cadet Games strategic game I reviewed. The games have short rulebooks and are easy to learn but still have a lot of depth for the player to revel in.
Thank you, Cadet Games, for allowing me to review another great product from your stable. Wargamers, and especially grognards, should look past the small plastic soldiers etc. to see the real wargame underneath. These games are not Axis and Allies clones.
Robert
Cadet games:
They Were Soldiers, and Dak To Hill 875:
My review of:
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