Việt Nam Ðộc L�*p Ðồng Minh Hội Struggle for Liberty!

[Palle]

I did reload. It is strange how the computer likes Meeting Engagements, and normally so do I, but they are not very historical in the context of Indochina. Instead I got an advance against a Viet Minh Delay.

Tanks and arty helps a lot in killing those VM. And kill them you must, they do not run away- many surrender though if in close proximity to your troops.
But I foolishly let the AI pack my Transports by "Load all units into nearest Vehicle". This was a mistake as it packed many of my 81 mm mortars into planes. Thus taking some of my support from me and also deriving my landing of combat troops, which prooved costly as they dropped into the most heavily defended areas.

So the only lesson learned was that I will NEVER-EVER again be so lazy, in the future I pack my planes myself.

[Palle]

Another Defend, on a Custom Map of a Viet river and Village (I cannot recall its #).

Again the slow progress of the Viets left only the last 10 turns of a 33-turn scenario for combat. My French Paras were entrenched on the opposite side of a 4-7 hex wide river with only one bridge across with 4 Fast Patrol Boats (my own creation) in the river and supporting tanks, m16s, Amphib-Support and bunkers dug in with them. Two secondary defence lines to fall back to behind them (manned by snipers and reserves at start before I moved the snipers up) before the villages and Victory Hexes. The Viet side of the river was covered in barbed wire and mines and arty presighted on target hexes.

Võ Nguyên Giáp, "Comrades! The time has finally come for the final offensive to topple the colonial oppressors. The French mercenary rapists, murderers and child-molesters. They cover in their fortifications like children frightened of the dark. You, Comrades of the distinguished Viet Bac Division, shall recieve the honour of being the vanguard of this assault. You shall sweep them out of their pillboxes and rush into the Delta; liberating our oppressed brothers and sisters, and handing back Hanoi to the rightful owners! FOR FREEDOM!"

It was a massacre, the Human Waves got cut to pieces by arty while they approached and tank guns, maschine guns, snipers and presighted arty as they got to the barbed wire and mines. Only two scouts ever reached the water's edge and snipers picked them off. Most of the barbed wire remained till the end- and all the mines (I botched their placement a bit). The ground between the jungle and the river was a charnelhouse where dead bodies piled up only to be ripped to pieces by the hammer of modern warfare; artillery, medium and heavy mortars, light, medium and heavy maschineguns, autocannons and snipers. And when there was no target in sight cause of the smoke they merely fired blind behind the smoke, causing casualties to the rallying formations.

I think this is my greatest Decisive ever, usually my Decisives have the enemy with about 10% of my score. But this...

France Score - 5519, N. Vietnam - 262.
French losses:
-Men: 31
-Soft Vehicles: 1
-AFVs: 2

Viet Minh losses:
-Men 980


The Viets are incredibly tough. They do rally and keep coming on through the slaughter, but in this instance they did not stand a chance. What I personally need to improve a bit it my skill at laying mines and Barbed Wire, I never tried that before really.

[Palle]

Another battle fought. A Special Battle "DELAY" to follow up on the last one; apparently the VM tried to break through in more than one place and the Para "Fire Brigade" from GAP 2 had to be moved to plug the gap.


Again the Viets took a long time to reach the French lines and as the cunning French commander of GAP 2, Gilles, had sent a screen of Scouts and Snipers out to shadow the advancing Viets all the way in, and with the Light Helo, help direct arty fire at them. So when the remnants reached the French lines the Paras could mow them down with MGs and sniper rifles backed up by the Paras' rifles. Approximately a third of the Viet Force (estimated) got into contact, and they were almost all killed.

Edit, Napalm is indeed very nasty to packed infantry.

So another Decisive. I think in the future when the Viets are attacking, I will add at least 10 turns to do justice to their poor grunts slogging through the jungle.

[runequester]

Like your AAR.

You could view a meeting engagement as a quick spoiling attack, or an unexpected contact I suppose?

[Mustang]

The Viets are incredibly tough. They do rally and keep coming on through the slaughter, but in this instance they did not stand a chance. What I personally need to improve a bit it my skill at laying mines and Barbed Wire, I never tried that before really.

the viets retreat/disperse normally for me. maybe you accidentally set morale really high. either that or the sheer mass of them with overlapping unit HQs gives them good rally.

there's also a selection bias at work here, the only units which you come into contact with are the extremely high command rating ones that survived your artillery bombardment.