Dien Bien Phu #2 Loss of Beatrice

[Scud]

The following is a first playtest of David Galster's DBP #2 Loss of Beatrice.

Please note this was a test for bug reporting and general playability. Based on any of my observations, the scenario can, and most likely will, go through additional iterations before release. I used the beta release code from November 1, which alone, has evolved. I received permission from the developers to release the report publicly for the enjoyment of the Blitz community and for those who might be interested in the Vietnam era.

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[Scud]

Final thoughts.

Though most of my critique is confidential, I think it is fair to go into the strongest parts of this scenario and the game itself. I know so little of the battle other than what I learned in High School in the mid to late 60's. The French lost. As is common with living history, not much was taught about Vietnam. Our textbooks were the evening news and the New York Times. So, off to Youtube I went and there's a wealth of information to discover.

The map! It is identical. Very impressive. David Galster dropped in the gun placements accurately and the Viet Minh's jumping off points. Same with the French. As the VM commander I made decisions that differ from the actual battle, but that's the fun of it. Would the VM had won following my strategy. Of course! OK, but probably. Dunno, but playing the AI it gives you a real feel for the historic battle while still having a good, though often, frustrating time playing it. The French Legionnaires were superb.

The guys are talking. A bit over my head. The things they can do with the code to make playing the AI is pretty phenomenal. Head to head, time will tell, for that we'll have to wait and see. 

Dave

[RedDevil]

My thoughts.. are the French even able to hold out? Attack out of their positions and kill the NVA in their staging areas, or are we just playing thru history again? IMHO only, to repeat, what's already been done, is rather vanilla.

the anti-history scholar
Dev

[Jason Petho]

My thoughts.. are the French even able to hold out? Attack out of their positions and kill the NVA in their staging areas, or are we just playing thru history again? IMHO only, to repeat, what's already been done, is rather vanilla.

the anti-history scholar
Dev

Yes, yes you can... and you'll soon see why it wasn't a good idea.

Also keep in mind that this a scenario about the taking of a particular part of the defences. For something like you're suggesting, you'd want a larger scenario that covers a greater portion of the attack and the entire battlefield where having more operational objectives over a longer period of time makes more sense.

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

Final thoughts.

Though most of my critique is confidential, I think it is fair to go into the strongest parts of this scenario and the game itself. I know so little of the battle other than what I learned in High School in the mid to late 60's. The French lost. As is common with living history, not much was taught about Vietnam. Our textbooks were the evening news and the New York Times. So, off to Youtube I went and there's a wealth of information to discover.

The map! It is identical. Very impressive. David Galster dropped in the gun placements accurately and the Viet Minh's jumping off points. Same with the French. As the VM commander I made decisions that differ from the actual battle, but that's the fun of it. Would the VM had won following my strategy. Of course! OK, but probably. Dunno, but playing the AI it gives you a real feel for the historic battle while still having a good, though often, frustrating time playing it. The French Legionnaires were superb.

The guys are talking. A bit over my head. The things they can do with the code to make playing the AI is pretty phenomenal. Head to head, time will tell, for that we'll have to wait and see. 

Dave

An excellent book to read is     Hell in a very small Place    .  I've read it 5 or 6 times.  Been a few years now.  Will probably read it again.  Would be cool to see it on PBs scale.  Either PBs or PzCs for the entire French in Indochina war.  Probably PzCs unless they are not as large as one might think when you consider North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  Anyway, if you haven't read the book above, I think it is a must read.

[Crossroads]

Time to bump this thread as well. Well, it is first and only of a kind in this AAR forum but still 

In my next Dev Diary, I will cover the French Indochina War scenarios in the game at least to some extent. For Dien Bien Phu, there's a whopping ten-series scenario set by David Galster to be enjoyed. 

Some of the scenarios are more fluid in their situations, particularly the initial airdrop, but also some French counter attacks from their positions. 

Then, some of them portray the absolutely brutal siege the Vietminh put in place, such as this one. 

But, there's other scenarios too, Street Without Joy, Kilometre Post 15, Day River campaign, Hoa Binh campaign. 

Stay tuned!