Comments, Suggestions and Feedback

[oninohalibut]

Evening,

After playing the game for a week I have some feedback for you (both positive and negative). However before I start I would just like to thank Vietnam65 Developer/Dev team and play testing team for one of the most interesting strategy games I have played in a long time (been wargaming figure, board and computer games for 25 odd years now) . Even though I am losing more than winning but thats a good thing as it keep bringing me back to the game.

Some of comments have been suggested in other forum posts

I think the game really reflects what the troops and commanders faced over there from what I know of the conflict

It's a bit more than a beer and pretzels game but not an uber gronad game and I think that this strikes just the right balance

No good Vietnam Strategy game has been released in an awful long time

Have found no bugs so far

In several games I have come up against 3 or 4 armored vehicles within the first 10 turns or so and they really do rip to shreds (which they should do) infantry and engineer units. This is very game unbalancing as well as historically incorrect. I would like to see a limit placed on the number of these that spawn any one time. Maybe 1 for turns 1 - 10 then 2 from 11 - 20 etc.

I think the ARVN units are way over powered and/or just too damn useful and there is no negatives in having them on the board other than training time which pays for itself extremely quickly. I would like to suggest two tier of ARVN units one which the GB train and these would be more like the RF/PF units and a second ARVN unit which is like the current one but can only be purchased with points.

Could we also get some different types of maps I would really like to have some kind of mountains terrain to reflect I Corp combat and also rivers/marches which would reflect the terrain down in IV corp. Ideally some kind of slider or something to ask us what we would like to fight over. This would mean new tactics having being developed depending on the terrain type.
VC/NVA Artillery units (see below from some more comments on Artillery in general) these would then help to take place of the limited vehicle spawning issue I mentioned above and would add another dynamic to patrol type missions

Different types of Artillery units (Mortars, Light and Heavy Field battery s). Mortars have been commented on in other threads but I would like to see a light and heavy art units in the game the light one being able to be deployed in the field but has a lot more limited range than its heavier counterpart.

Additional US units - I would like to see Marine units (epically if we get Mekdong Delta type terrain) obviously this unit would be able to board boats and travel around as well as have the ability to traverse water terrain easier) Air Cav units again having the ability to board choppers instead of having to move dedicated units to them. These would be very expensive to purchase and also expensive to run to make up for the fact that they have a dedicated transport ability.

Politics - I would like both villages and ARVN units to have some kind of political rating that would have either a positive or negative impact on the game. For ARVN units this may be that the fight better if they have a good rating but fight poorly if they have a bad rating this could be done with either some kind of random trait that would be applied when the unit is recruited or even better have unit commanders that have to be assigned. The way this would effect villages is that you might get better or worse intel from them and would also tie into the village improve aspect that has been commented on a few times

Bigger maps

Longer games

Named Villages

Some kind of starting scenario text explaining where you are what the villages are called and unit names at the moment it all just feels very generic

Hex overlay

Weather - Thinking mainly around this grounding air units and backing artillery a bit less potent

A campaign game where you start off in 65 then work your way through until the end with perhaps a different outcome

Pre Built scenarios (tied into the point above) things like Tet offensive (not the whole thing), Siege of Khe Sanh ect

I am sure I have some others but need to play some more to get them out of my brain again but it's too late to start another game now

[zakblood]

a good in-depth review and im sure the developers will reply, glad you liked it

[Every Single Soldier]

Firstly , thanks for the support

several games I have come up against 3 or 4 armored vehicles within the first 10 turns or so and they really do rip to shreds (which they should do) infantry and engineer units. This is very game unbalancing as well as historically incorrect. I would like to see a limit placed on the number of these that spawn any

As you get better at the game this will not happen as it is usually only occurring in the mid game. NVA armor is a representation of an NVA offensive, which is triggered by three successive drops in HM across the battlefield, so with a bit of experience you will prevent them from pitching up....

ARVN are not strong in combat at all, especially against NVA , and often lose to VC , their strength lies in gathering Intel from the villages, it is here they outperform the US Infantry. Will monitor feedback and maybe calibrate going forward. I did consider Ruff Puffs, but adding units into the game effects balance, every new unit requires at least a month of testing due to getting the balance right, the toughest challenge of developing this game.

Map differentiation is a priority, close to the top of the wish list ..... Think Vietnam'66 Mekong Delta

Arty/additional units is also up the list, just takes a bit longer, but yes, would dearly want to include the Marines, one of the few iconic features of the war not represented in the game, at the moment....

I like your idea of HM for ARVN , thanks for adding to the list

Longer games, weather, hex overlays, named units and villages : I think you will be a very happy customer fairly soon, just saying .....

[oninohalibut]

Not sure I agree with the ARVN combat effectivness yes out in the field then tend to get mauled now and then but sticking them in ambush or leaving them in villaged where the AI just tends to run into them I tend to find that they win more times than not and if you can keep them alive and get them experianced up then they become even more so.

OK understand a bit more about the vechile aspect perhaps a different unit icon for them would probably make me re-think that comment.

Can't wait for future patches/updates/dlc then. I shall start preparing my Brown Water Navy for action Boats instead of Helicopters or would that be apcs or both.

Also the ability to give choppers to repeatable supply runs over and over would be nice (slightly lazy of me I know)

[Every Single Soldier]

Had a few requests for PBR's already...

[ErissN6]

ARVN are not strong in combat at all, especially against NVA , and often lose to VC, their strength lies in gathering Intel from the villages, it is here they outperform the US Infantry. Will monitor feedback and maybe calibrate going forward.

Historically, if I'm correct, the Casualty Report should show in the end something like:
U.S. 03
ARVN 12
V-C 50
NVA 10

And I don't think we have those results..
But, in the game, those casualties seem include their economical cost, which were half the reverse of the 1 US for 20 VC+NVA body-count: 1$ commie loss costs 10$ for the US,
so its's okay for the game Report, but it should be better explained that it includes the economical cost (not only the body-count).

[strollen2]

Thanks to Tom Chick's review and podcast, I picked up this game Friday and have been playing it obsessively ever since.. It is a little gem, and reminds me of one of my favorite boardgames Vietnam 1965-1975 by Victory games. I like the scope of the game, a wargame in a few hours is just about perfect and at $10, a real bargain.
Here are my suggestions.

1. Difficulty levels. I am currently at major general with all my victories at over 70 HRM, I am finding the game a bit too easy. I like the benefits of getting faster airstrikes but it also makes the game easier. We need a way to send our promising officer into tougher battles

2. Balance. I find artillery much too expensive, and armor slightly too cheap. Since you can move a tank 1-3 hexes (depending on roads) from a FOB shoot and then move back to your base without using any supply that gives a tank an effective range of 4 to 6 hexes. Since GB do much of the spotting and they are generally in or near your bases that makes tanks as effective as artillery for 1/2 the cost. I find supplying tanks to be considerable easier than supplying artillery. I'd increase the cost of tanks say 2K and cut the cost of artillery to also 2K.

Actually I think a better idea, (perhaps in an expansion) would to recognize the defensive ability of artillery. Meaning that any unit that is attacked within range of an artillery unit gets a big defensive bonus. So for instance in order to attack a US unit the VC has to survive pre attack by American artillery if it fails the check the VC/NVA unit isn't hurt is just moves away. Plenty a unit in Vietnam was saved by nearly instantaneous artillery which arrives much faster than an airstrike or a Cobra. This defensive fire wouldn't use ammo, since it is a fast reaction and not a major bombardment.

3. UI issues. I often accidentally hitting ambush or mine sweep, so an undo or something other fix. Hex outlines you are fixing.

4. Intelligence. I also would like to see a VC contact this turn as well as a cumulative look. I am also not sure I like know the exact number of VC cadres/NVA units perhaps the accuracy should be a function of intelligence/difficulty.

5. Terrain I think my single biggest issue is the lack of defensive benefits for being in jungle or rocky terrain. One of the biggest issue the US had in Vietnam is killing VC in the jungle.
If they were caught in the open they were slaughtered due to vastly superior American firepower. But I think that 70-83% kills for troops in the Jungle by airstrikes or artillery is much too high. At a mininum think indirect fire should be halved in jungle.

Right now it doesn't make a lot of sense to waste PP to clear jungle, yet it was common to clear out an area around firebase to make fire power more effective. I'd like to see a game with more fighting but the same or lower causalities.

[Every Single Soldier]

Great feedback, thanks

1. Difficulty levels. I am currently at major general with all my victories at over 70 HRM, I am finding the game a bit too easy. I like the benefits of getting faster airstrikes but it also makes the game easier. We need a way to send our promising officer into tougher battles

In the update we are putting in a custom game option, wherein you will be able to crank up the difficulty along with other variables like PP points etc

2. Balance. I find artillery much too expensive, and armor slightly too cheap. Since you can move a tank 1-3 hexes (depending on roads) from a FOB shoot and then move back to your base without using any supply that gives a tank an effective range of 4 to 6 hexes. Since GB do much of the spotting and they are generally in or near your bases that makes tanks as effective as artillery for 1/2 the cost. I find supplying tanks to be considerable easier than supplying artillery. I'd increase the cost of tanks say 2K and cut the cost of artillery to also 2K.

Balance, balance , balance

3. UI issues. I often accidentally hitting ambush or mine sweep, so an undo or something other fix. Hex outlines you are fixing.

Fixing this in update.

4. Intelligence. I also would like to see a VC contact this turn as well as a cumulative look. I am also not sure I like know the exact number of VC cadres/NVA units perhaps the accuracy should be a function of intelligence/difficulty.

This was a debate, the main reason for showing it is to reassure the player that something was actually happening, as there could be times where the player doesn't see enemy for a while and could frustrated and assume the AI is bad...

5. Terrain I think my single biggest issue is the lack of defensive benefits for being in jungle or rocky terrain.

Updated combat modifiers are in the update, including proximity to friendly units.

Hope this answers your post....