Vietnam '65 - Out Now

Thanks for the hype on Vietnam 65. I played it on my iPad till dawn today. First time I have been genuinely hooked on a game for a while. I think I have solved it now but the rush of learning the system is really awesome. What I adore is this games mechanics are 100% obviously about the authors views of Vietnam warfare, its really nifty to see an artists expression so clearly articulated through mechanics. Very good.

The fact that you said you solved the game bothers me. Is this a puzzle game that once you figure it out it loses replay value?

I think there is an optimal strategy. Part of the fun for me was figuring out what that was so I won’t ruin it by posting it. For sure you can replay the game (different maps each time) but I think (maybe I am wrong) but I >think< now I know the optimal strategy my decisions require less thinking.

Yeah, definitely not a puzzle game. Not in the least.

Rod, I presume you’re playing on veteran, right? I haven’t come anywhere near to “solving” it on veteran, but the lower difficulty level is really just a tutorial to let you explore the game mechanics. Once you’ve done that – and it still requires reading the manual, which is included in the game – you’re not really playing until you’re playing on veteran.

-Tom

The sequel, Afghanistan '11, is being released on March 23rd.

Check out those quotes!

Afghanistan '11 looks very good. Some gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRQRp2xC8Js

RPS has a very good preview up today that pretty much mirrors my own feeling about the game.

The Ken Burns’ Vietnam project has piqued my interest in Vietnam '65 and it looks like ownership of the game has had an uptick recently, at least according to Steam Spy.

Coming soon to a tablet near you.

I am really curious to see that version, because the computer version is struggling, performance-wise, on both my Mac and my PC.

I have a question about forward bases. The manual says that you can build as many as you want, and anywhere, as long as they’re at least two hexes away from any village. Could it be there’s another restriction?.

Is your Engineer Unit sitting beside a village in the top left? If I remember right, that’s the unit that builds the FOB. Other than that I got nuthin’.

Yes, that’s the engineer over there. it’s selected in the screenshot, and you can see the available areas marked with green border.

I thought you had to be on the tile you wanted to build the base on but maybe not. Hope you figure it out, it looks fine.

Based on where the available hexes are highlighted to the right of the village, the required range looks to be 4. The cell you’re wondering about is one square closer than those.

Right, that makes sense. Thanks. I guess the manual is a little out of date.