Tonkin: Getting Started 1. Introduction p.2 2. Getting Started p.3 3. The View From Paris p.4 4.

Viet Minh Opening Strategy p.4 5. Tieu Doan p.6 6. The Turn Sequence p.6 7. Viet Minh Setup p.7 8. The Highlands p.8 9. The Viet Minh in the Western Highlands p.9 10. Winning the HighlandsLosing the Game p. 11 11. French Defense of the Western Highlands p.13 12. Laos: All In p.16 13. Life in The Delta p.17 14. France Unleashed p.19 15. Political Objectives p.22 16. Replacements p.22 17. Step Losses, Eliminated Units and Victory Points p.23 18. Combat Results p.24 19. Disorganization p.24 20. Battle Results p.26 21. Combat Tactics p.28

Tonkin: Getting Started 1. Introduction When I am learning a new game I always reach a point where I have read the rules, set up the counters, studied the charts and I look at the map and think Okay, now what? Its sort of like writers block you know the overall goal but taking the first steps can be daunting when confronted with the seemingly endless possibilities of the opening move. And it does not help that you only have vague understanding of how the rules hang together. Like most gamers, I simply plunge in and muddle through a practice game or two, reviewing the rules as I go. I recently did this with Tonkin, designed by Kim Kanger (2nd edition, Legion Games). It is a fun, well designed game on a slightly unusual topic: French colonial forces vs. the Viet Minh in French Indochina,1950-1954. This is not a review of the game, I will leave that to others. Instead, I wanted to share with other gamers how I got through my writers block with Tonkin: my initial impression of how it works, what struck me as the salient factors in the game, and some basic suggestions on strategy and tactics. And along the way I will point out all the rules that I broke so that you can learn from my mistakes. This is by no means expert advice I was not a play tester and my observations are borne of solitaire play, which is prone to all sorts of bias. While I hope that some of what I say is useful to others learning Tonkin, I expect that much of this will be debunked by others with more insight into the game. That is fine - if this article inspires a discussion of Tonkin, all the better. One note: I assume the reader has Tonkin and may have even muddled through a turn or two. But I will try to explain the game mechanics as I go so that if you do not own the game you can follow along. For map references, see http://www.kangerproject.com/tonkin2/ If you wish to send comments directly to me, I can be reached at mkhnsy@earthlink.net. Happy gaming, Mike Hennessey NYC October 2012

Tonkin: Getting Started 2. Getting Started There are five scenarios in Tonkin but they can be linked together to play a full campaign game. Use the setup for scenario one starting in October of 1950, but instead of stopping at the end of the December 1950 turn as per the rules for scenario one, just continue on to what would be the next four scenarios until you reach May of 1954 where you use the victory conditions for scenario five to determine a winner. You can play a shorter campaign by stopping on the last turn of any of scenario, using the victory point (VP) threshold for that scenario. Each scenario has a starting VP total and the Viet Minh (VM) can lower it by eliminating French (FEF) units and taking geographical objectives. Conversely, the FEF can increase the VP level by inflicting casualties on the VM and controlling the same objectives. In addition, when reinforcements become available to the FEF, he can bring them in only at the cost of victory points. If he defers the reinforcements they are delayed six turns when he once again has the option to bring them in at the cost of VP (this VP penalty also applies to eliminated FEF units which are brought back via replacements points). At the end of the scenario if the VP level is below a specified threshold, the VM wins. Otherwise, the FEF wins. But draws are possible. But note that the difference between the starting VP level of a scenario and the cost of accepting reinforcements is such that if the FEF take all of the reinforcements available in a scenario, they can do no better than a draw if the rest of the VPs earned and lost balance out. In other words, if the FEF plan on using everything they can get their hands on, then they will have to engage in a more pro-active strategy in order to win. VM reinforcements are available per the turn record track, but cannot be brought on unless the VP level has fallen to a certain minimum: 75 VP by turn three, 65 VP by turn nine, and so on. At first I thought this would be a critical driver of the game as the VM would scramble to push down the VP level in order to acquire critical reinforcements. But as it turns out, not so much. The first set of reinforcements are three combat units that each have one strength point. The turn nine reinforcements are three regular regiments and two replacement points. While the VM could certainly use them, they are not a game breaker either way. Its not until turn 16 that substantial reinforcements are at stake - including truck transports! The starting VP level for the first scenario (and the campaign game) is 88 and the VM needs to bring it down to 14 by the end of May, 1954 in order to win. This means that they must earn 74 more VP than the French, not an easy task. In this article I will take the vantage point of the full campaign as that provides the largest context for discussion. Most of this applies to the shorter versions of the campaign game and the individual scenarios, but perhaps with more or less emphasis on certain factors.

Tonkin: Getting Started But beware of the automatic victory conditions! If the VM ever occupies Hanoi he wins the game immediately. And if the FEF ever eliminate Ho Chi Minh (personified in the VM HQ unit) it is an automatic French victory. 3. The View From Paris FEF forces have a fixed setup so there is no decision making there. The initiative will belong to the VM in the first few turns so the French will simply be responding to what the Viet Minh do. Obviously you have to garrison Hanoi at all times. And if the opportunity to kill the Viet Minh HQ presents itself, definitely take the shot. But otherwise just keep in mind that the VP for taking a hex is dynamic the VP level changes immediately with change of possession. It is not he who has it first that matters, but he who has it last that wins. This means you can cede some territory early to consolidate your forces, giving you the opportunity to seize the initiative later and score enough victory points to deny Ho Chi Minh a seat at the negotiating table in Geneva. The French start the game in reasonably good shape. They control the Delta, the western Highlands of Vietnam, and Laos. They have a sizeable forces in both the Delta and on the northern border with China at Lang Son (CC-11). They have interior lines of communication, air and navel transport, and a decent amount of firepower. The French can respond to a variety of threats and inflict a great deal of punishment on VM forces. The only no-brainer first turn move I can recommend regardless of what the VM do is to airlift the 2/2 RTA out of Lao Kay (Q-7) to someplace useful. Lao Kay has no value to the FEF and abandoning this outpost will not make a difference in terms of controlling the Highlands for victory points (see discussion below). And because Lao Kay is friendly to the French, if the VM want to control it they will have to occupy it, which means sending a unit across the board to garrison it for the rest of the game. 4. Viet Minh Opening Strategy The initial communist setup is fairly fixed, with some units beginning within a space or two of a start hex. This facilitates game play as you dont have to start from scratch in deciding where to put units. The exception is that the VM may place 18 Tieu Doan battalions (each with one combat factor) one per mobilization center in Vietnam and then move them two hexes, the only rule being that they cannot finish in the same hex as an enemy unit. This was my first rules glitch: I put a Tieu Doan in I-10 to threaten Lai Chau (K-8), based on the mobilization center in Phong Saly. Unfortunately that is in Laos, so it cannot be used for this initial deployment. Oh well I will return to the Tieu Doan deployment in a moment. The VM start with their forces in basically three clusters: a group of regiments on the south coast at Thanh Hoa (R-23), units in the Red River Valley running from Yen Bay (S-12) to Thai

Tonkin: Getting Started Nguyen (X-11), and a force in the Eastern Highlands near Dong Khe (CC-8). The basic drama of Tonkin is in coordinating these three clusters to seize real estate and inflict losses on FEF forces. If the VM consolidates his forces for maximum striking power, then the French will be able to do the same. And because of their interior lines, they can do this more efficiently than the VM. In addition, the VM have a few victory point hexes of their own to protect, so consolidating their forces on either side of the Delta means ceding easy VP to the FEF. My initial impression from the setup is that the VM need to spread the FEF out by attacking on multiple fronts. Not only does this stop the French from concentrating their strength, it allows the VM to maintain the initiative by keeping the French off balance. But conversely, attacking everywhere means dissipating ones forces, making them vulnerable to a French counter stroke. The key is to apply enough pressure at multiple points so that the French are spread thin, but have enough strength at the point of contact to survive when he responds in force. For my initial VM strategy I decided to apply direct pressure at opposite ends of the playing field. First, I committed my forces in Thanh Hoa to taking Phat Diem in hex T-22 (10 VP) and then threaten Nam Dinh in V-19 (30 VP). At the other end of the Delta, I launched the forces near Dong Khe (CC-8) against the French at Lang Son (CC-11). Historically the VM were able to drive the French from this part of the Highlands by late 1950 and I was also successful. But that is where I diverged from the historical script. Instead of pushing on to Hanoi for a series of futile (and bloody) assaults like General Giap, I marched through the forest towards the coast and laid siege to the port cities of Hong Hay (BB-16) and Cam Pha (CC-16) from the relative safety of the nearby mountains. This cut off the forces in Tien Yen (EE-14) and Mong Cai (HH-13) and put me within reach of Haiphong (Z-17). At 40 VP it is the most important city after Hanoi. I decided to play defense in the Red River valley, opting to protect the critical supply center of Thai Nguyen (X-11) instead of attacking Hanoi. My reasoning was that if I went after Hanoi the French would be willing to temporarily sacrifice Phat Diem or Hong Hay to save the capital. But he would not abandon Hanoi for the sake of any other city. In this way I could force the French to split their forces between three places while allowing me concentrate mine on just two. And as we shall see when we talk about supplies and activations below, bringing pressure to bear is not simply a matter of throwing combat units around you have to support them with material (supply dumps) and leadership (activations). My sense is that the VM do not have the resources to support three major offensives at the start of the game so I went with just two thrusts. But more on that in a moment.

Tonkin: Getting Started Lastly, I decided to pursue a very low cost strategy in Laos and the western Highlands, along Route Colonial 6 (RC 6), the road running from Hoa Binh (S-17) to Lai Chau (K-8). There are victory points to be had, FEF units to be destroyed, and the French can only reinforce this part of the map via air transport. At the cost of a small Viet Minh force I hoped to tie down substantial French resources and still earn some victory points. And the Tieu Doan would be perfect for this type of assignment. 5. Tieu Doan Tieu Doan have four unique qualities. First, they can be absorbed by regular regiments to replace lost steps in the reinforcement phase if they are within two hexes of each other. Second, their losses do not count for VP. Third, in the mobilization phase the VM can bring back one destroyed Tieu Doan for every two VP hexes he holds (rounding up), deploying them within two hexes of a mobilization center in Vietnam (even if occupied by a French force). Fourth, during the supply phase at the end of the turn they are always in general supply if they are in Vietnam or China. This does not count as combat supply, but it is still valuable as units out of general supply can suffer attrition losses and the VM have no supply centers on the west side of the map. Either they use regular forces and supply dumps in the western Highlands or they use Tieu Doan. 6. The Turn Sequence Speaking of the reinforcements, mobilization, and supply checks, a brief overview of the turn sequence would probably help those of you who do not own Tonkin. In the reinforcement phase both players receive new units, replacement points, and supply dumps. Replacements can be spent to bring eligible units back up to strength (this is where Tieu Doan can be absorbed). Next is a VM movement phase followed by an FEF movement phase. Then there is a joint operations phase. During your movement phase you may move all of your units and these moving units may overrun defending units. But forces in separate hexes may not combine their move or jointly overrun. In the ensuing operations phase the players alternate taking a variable number of actions during which they can activate a hex for movement (and thus overruns) or may declare an assault where multiple forces in different hexes that are already adjacent to an enemy hex may combine for an attack (there is no movement allowed with this type of activation). As one can see, overruns become the principal form of combat. There is no limit to the number of times a unit can be activated. And you may get up to three activations in a row. You can double your movement factors if you do not enter an enemy ZOC or overrun, which means a stack of VM regiments with 9 MF can double move from deep in the Highlands to just outsides Hanoi in one activation and then overrun the capital on the second activation. Its these kind of threats that keep the French up at night and why they have to defend Hanoi even if there is only a token VM force in the Red River Valley.

Tonkin: Getting Started There are other actions a player can take during the operations phase such as removing disorganization markers, building trenches, etc. After the ops phase, check supply status. And that ends the turn. I have glossed over some game mechanics here, so please dont use this summary as an actual turn outline. 7. Viet Minh Setup The critical factor in setting up of the Tieu Doan is knowing that the first things that will happen once the game starts is that depleted VM regiments can absorb them and then the VM will get the first move. There are two divisions on the south coast within one hex of Thanh Hoa (R-23) that each have a step loss. There are three mobilization centers within two hexes of this starting space: Nghe An, Than Hoa itself, and Ninh Binh (remember, you can use a mobilization center even if it is occupied by FEF forces). Looking north just a few hexes is the mobilization center in Nam Dinh. If you set up a Tieu Doan within two hexes at T-20, it will be within the two hex absorbing range of a VM regiment in R-22 or S-22 (both of which are within the required one hex setup range of Thanh Hoa). In this way, both divisions in the south can be brought up to full strength even before the first roll of the dice and you will have two more Tieu Doan available for future loss replacement. Because there will be some heavy fighting in the south, I put one more Tieu Doan in S-21, two hexes south of Phu Ly (V-18). I put three Tieu Doan with the VM force near Lang Son - another place that can be counted on to see some action: BB-10 from Lang Son, AA-13 from Uong Bi and Z-10 from Thai Nguyen. The Tieu Doan in BB-10 will be absorbed right away by the regiment in DD-8 with a single step loss. In the Red River Valley, I placed three Tieu Doan to shield Thai Nguyen (X-11) by placing them in X-12 (from Phu Lang Thuong, X-14), W-12 (from Vinh Yen, V-14), and V-12 from Tuyen Quang (V-11). Three Tieu Doan went into the western Highlands, within two hexes of the mobilization centers of Lai Chau (K-8), Dien Bien Phu (I-13), and Son La (N-13). The remaining four went in the following hexes, with their corresponding mobilization center in parentheses: Q-17 (Hoa Binh, S-17) R-15 (Phu Tho, T-14) O-8 (Lao Kay, Q-7) R-14 (Yen Bay, S-12) On the first move they all use double movement towards Tuan Giao (K-2). Units moving west along RC 6 can still double move when bypassing Na San (N-14) even if they move adjacent. You many not enter an enemy ZOC while using double movement but FEF units do not project a ZOC into forest or mountain hexes (I overlooked this rule in my first playing). The idea is to 7

Tonkin: Getting Started mass the Tieu Doan in one hex so that the entire force can overrun using a single activation. A good spot is K-1, from there they have enough movement factors to overrun Lai Chau (K-8) or Dien Bien Phu (I-13), forcing the French to reinforce both right away. And with two consecutive activations this force could overrun Na San (N-14). All are VP hexes which will lead to more Tieu Doan mobilizations in future turns. And, to state the obvious, they are VP hexes! 8. The Highlands Speaking of VP hexes, lets look at little more closely at how to earn VP. Ill start with the geographical objectives (the Highlands, the Delta, victory point hexes, and political objectives) first and then address step losses. Lets start in the Highlands, where there are 23 communities (towns, villages, and cities). If the VM controls 20 of them, he earns 10 VP. In addition, nine Highland communities are worth an additional 50 VP (the ones marked L are in Laos): Lai Chau 5 Dien Bien Phu 5 Na San 5 Nghia Lo 5 Hoa Binh 5 Lang Son 5 Muong Khou (L) 5 Luang Prabang (L) 10 Xien Khouang (L) 5 At the beginning of the game the VM controls none of the Highland VP hexes and just handful of the non-VP ones. His main forces are in the eastern Highlands on the Chinese border or in the Delta, far from the western Highlands and Laos. Worse, all of the communities in Laos and the western Highlands are friendly to the FEF. This means the VM has to garrison them in order to satisfy the victory conditions, which will tie up units. Finally, since 5 of the 23 communities are in Laos, the VM will have to take at least two Laotian communities to control the Highlands.

Tonkin: Getting Started 9. The Viet Minh in the Western Highlands The only VM units that can start the game in the western Highlands are the Tieu Doan battalions with their combat value of one. But these units are very restricted in terms of what they can do in Laos. They can only attack FEF units within one hex of the border and cannot finish a move more than one hex into Laos. And while they are automatically in general supply anywhere in Vietnam, that does not apply in Laos. So it is not a viable strategy to use them in Laos. The Viet Minh allied Pathet Lao start the game in the mobilization box and the VM can only bring them onto the board during the reinforcement phase if there are more mobilization centers in Laos under his control than there are Pathet Lao units on the map (all five Laos communities are mobilization centers). So, with no Pathet Lao on the map to start the game and the Tieu Doan restricted to border operations, the VM will have to use his regular regiments if he wants to invade Laos. Given that this area of the map is well beyond the three hex radius of the supply centers printed on the map, the VM will have to commit at least one supply dump (SD) to this theatre of operations. Reminder: the VM HQ unit cannot be used as a supply source in the way that the French HQ can. And independent VM regiments are in automatic supply only while in Vietnam or China, not Laos. Unfortunately, supply dumps will slow the pace of operations while his regiments have 9 MF (18 with double movement), a SD has 6 MF (12 with double movement). The principal terrain in Laos is forest, which costs the VM 3 MF per hex, limiting a VM force with a supply dump to 4 hexes per double move. And a force cannot overrun while double moving. It is possible for VM regiments to run ahead of the SD to overrun FEF garrisons. As long as the SD is within three hexes to provide combat supply, there is no -2 combat DRM. But the VM need to finish their move within three hexes of the SD otherwise it will be out of general supply at the end of the turn. I actually made this mistake twice the first time I played Tonkin! Suppose you have a VM regiment in M-20 and a SD in N-24. In the movement phase you double move the SD to M-21. The regiment spends 6 MF to reach M-18 and announces an overrun of the FEF garrison in Sam Neua. This uses up his last 3 MF (2 MF to overrun, 1 MF for the terrain cost of the hex being overrun). Because the VM regiment in M-18 is within three hexes of the SD in M-21, it avoids the -2 combat DRM for being out of combat supply. You roll the dice and the overrun is a success. So far, so good. But, as per the rules, an attacker is required to occupy the hex after a successful overrun. The VM unit does so, taking Sam Neua. But now the regiment is four hexes from the SD, which means that at the end of it the turn it will be out of supply (OOS) unless it moves back a hex or 9

Tonkin: Getting Started the SD move up. Either way costs an activation. And as you will see, the only thing more precious than supply dumps are activations! This example also illustrates another problem of combat units racing ahead of their supplies. In the movement phase you can move all of your units. But in the operations phase, you activate individual hexes for movement. In this example, the VM regiment and SD would each require their own activation in the operations phase in order to make this work. By keeping combat units and SDs stacked together you can economize the expenditure of activation points. Since I am talking about economizing here, Id like to mention hex P-15. In a later playing of the game, I parked a supply dump on this hex and used it on consecutive activations to supply a stack of Tieu Doan that overran Na San from O-14 and a VM regiment that overran Sam Neua from M-18 (supply dumps are not consumed when supporting overruns). There are other spots on the map where the VM can put a supply dump to support overruns against multiple targets (I16 for Dien Bien Phu and Muong Khoua, J-11 for Lai Chau, Phong Saly and Dien Bien Phu, etc.). The only question is whether they need a combat unit to provide security. SD do not have a ZOC or a combat factor and cannot retreat before combat so an enemy unit that overruns them does so automatically without having to expend the extra 2 MF. However, it is still an overrun, which means that units cannot use double movement to overrun a SD. This matters because the FEF garrisons have a MF of 7 and forest hexes cost them 4 MF. Moving along on a road in the forest costs them 2 MF and along a river 3MF). Thus it is safe to leave a supply dump without a combat unit just two or three hexes from FEF garrisons in Sam Neua or Na San. Or is it? Suppose the VM uses the movement phase to move a SD to K-17 to support overruns of Na San and Sam Neua in the following operations phase. The FEF garrisons could stay put and fight it out, hoping to inflict a step loss in an exchange. But if the FEF garrison unit is going to die anyway, why not go after that SD? In the FEF movement phase use double movement to get adjacent to the SD, allowed because SDs do not have a ZOC. This will force the VM to waste an activation to move it out of harms way. Even if this allows the VM to take a community uncontested, the now foot-loose FEF garrison still has a whole turn to harass the supply dump before being marked Out of Supply. And even then it has the movement phase of the next turn to reach a friendly community to get back in supply before it suffers attrition. Supply dumps are critical to the VM in the Highlands and Laos. Given that the loss of said unit would bring operations to a halt for the VM on that side of the board, it is certainly worth it for the FEF to cede a community he would have lost anyway to take out a VM Supply Dump.

10

Tonkin: Getting Started The counterpoint to this analysis is that the FEF garrison units are not necessarily doomed: the French could airlift in reinforcements, entrench, and make a fight of it. And the VM could send more than a single SD into the Highlands so that losing one would not be so costly (and he could also send sufficient forces to shield the supply dumps from opportunistic FEF units). But these are tactical responses that beg the larger question: whats the Highland strategy for both players? 10. Winning the HighlandsLosing the Game? While both sides can earn valuable VP on this section of the map, neither player can win the game solely by taking the Highlands. But if they overcommit resources to this sector that could be better used in the Delta, it could lose them the game. One of my first impressions from playing Tonkin is that the key to the Highlands is to force your opponent to over-spend his resources there while you minimize your own commitment. All the French have to do to deny the VM control of the Highlands (10 VP) is hold any four Highland communities. And if three of those include Muong Khou, Luang Prabang, and Xien Khouang (the three hardest for the VM to each) thats another 20 VP denied to Uncle Ho. From this perspective, the French could dig in around the Lao capital, devote his resources to the Delta, and leave the rest of the Highland to its fate. The most the VM would get is 30 VP, leaving him 44 short of victory. And even if the French cede the Highlands in this manner, the VM still has to commit forces to taking it, starting with an attack on Hoa Binh at S-17 and then working his way down RC 6 to Na San, Dien Bien Phu, and Lai Chau (and dont forget Nghia Lo at R-12, just over the mountains). These first two each have a garrison of 4 CF so the VM will need to commit two regular regiments with 6 CF each to get a 3:1 (see below for an analysis of combat). After that, the FEF garrisons have 2 CF, so two regiments might be a bit of overkill. But some of these garrisons are entrenched and it is possible the VM will suffer some exchange results in combat, reducing them by a step or two. So, it would not hurt to have a little extra padding. Sending some Tieu Doan battalions along with the two regiments invading the Highlands is a good strategy as they can secure the slower moving SD, provide replacements to the regiments as they take losses, and they can garrison communities as they fall (some of which will generate even more Tieu Doan units in the ensuing mobilization phases because they are victory hexes). Assuming that the French invest nothing in the Highlands, this force should be enough to get the job done. But how long will it take? The supply dump will always double move and it should move at least twice per turn (once in the movement phase and once again during the operations phase). If it originates out of the supply center in Thanh Hoa (R-23) it could fuel an overrun on Hoa Binh (S-17) on turn one. Moving west on RC 6 after that it could be in position to support an overrun of Na San on turn three, 11

Tonkin: Getting Started Dien Bien Phu on turn five, then Lai Chau on turn six. Meanwhile the VM regiments stacked together will also move twice a turn. But because they will be initiating overruns about every other time, they will not be double moving as often. But then again, they wont have to as they have 9 MF to the SDs 6 MF and they need to stay within three hexes of each other. However, six turns to conquer the Highlands might be a bit optimistic, even if the French are completely passive. The FEF garrisons may need more than a single attack to be dislodged and going over the mountain to Nghia Lo will take some time. In addition, at the start of the Operations Phase both players have the option of expending a supply dump in order to expand the list of possible actions they may take (the principal one being an assault where forces in different hexes can combine for an attack on single hex). But if both players decline to expend an SD, then skip the Ops phase and go straight to the supply phase and the next turn. This rule neatly captures the lulls in the action that can occur when both sides need to catch their breath and given that the pace of operations will likely be quite frantic at the start of the game, there is bound to be one such lull somewhere in the first half dozen turns. With this in mind, the VM should not expect to take the Highlands before turn ten. That leaves 28 turns to go in the full campaign game. The five Highland VP hexes will mobilize three Tieu Doan a turn. Although there is a theoretical maximum that can be on the board at any time (18 to start the game), given that VM regiments will be absorbing them to replaces losses, this is not an issue. This means that the Highlands are worth about 85 replacement points to the VM over the rest of the game. This is pretty significant - the VM only get 18 replacements the entire game as part of their scheduled reinforcements. Never mind the VP, the French need to fight for the Highlands to keep this from happening! Given the replacement points available, should the VM consider committing more forces to the Highlands to bring this benefit forward? If they create a second Highland force (two regiments, a supply dump and a handful of Tieu Doan) to work in parallel with the first force, the VM could pull the conquest of the Highlands forward a few turns as one force focuses on Lai Chau and Dien Bien Phu while the other tackles Na San, Nghia Lo, and Hoa Binh. If they accomplish this task in half the time, that is five more turns of Tieu Doan mobilizations at the rate of three a turn, for a total of 15 units (each with 1 CF). Each VM regiment has 6 CF, so each force is about 15 CF overall. Is it worth tying down another 15 CF for five turns to generate another 15 CF? Maybe. After all, you are not losing those original 15 CF, they will return the Delta eventually. Think of it lending 15 CF to the Highlands for five turns and then having 30 CF for the rest of the game. But can the VM afford this kind of commitment in the Highlands? At the start of the game, the VM has five divisions on the board, each consisting of three regiments with 6 CF. That is 90 CF. There are five independent regiments at 5 CF each for another 25 CF. And there are 18 Tieu Doan at 1 CF a piece. That is about 130 CF (some units 12

Tonkin: Getting Started start with a step loss). A Highland force of 15 CF is about 12% of the VM total. Adding a second force of 15 CF means 25% of your army is not available for operations in the Delta. But the real cost to the VM is in activations. A Highland force will probably need two activations in the Operations phase because the SD and its security force will probably not be stacked with the regiments. So two forces would need four of the ten activations per turn. Well, need might be too strong of a word here. But if you go to the effort of putting two forces in the Highlands to capture the VP hexes more quickly but then dont support them by allocating the activations they need to finish the job quickly, then why bother? And leaving only six activations for the Delta seems like a mis-allocation of resources. That is, 25% of the VM combat strength would be consuming 40% of the command bandwidth. It seems that putting two forces in the Highlands might be mistake (I would be interested in hearing what other gamers think). Which brings us back to the initial opening move I outlined above where I pursued a low cost strategy in the western Highlands by sending just six Tieu Doan down RC 6 and committing all my regulars in the south to taking Phat Diem. This Highland force was just too week to make a difference: the best they could do against the Thai garrison in Na San was a 1:1 and the French had sufficient time to airlift troops into Dien Bien Phu and Lai Chau to produce similar odds. In my follow-up games I have added regiment to the western Highlands and so far my insight into the matter can be boiled down to at least two, but no more than four. And that is all the French need to know with an eye towards getting the communists to over commit resources here. 11. French Defense of the Western Highlands I hope you did not think I was serious about the French just giving up the western Highlands without a fight and decamping to Luang Prabang! That was just to establish the best the VM could do when faced with no resistance. And there is plenty the French can do to resist. First order of business is supply. The negative DRM for not being in combat supply only applies to attackers, not defenders and the early disposition of forces in the Highlands would suggest an overall defensive posture for the French. Eventually the French will want to launch a counter offensive and will need SDs to fuel that. But for now, the main logistical concern for French forces in the Western Highlands is general supply. Units in trenches are automatically in general supply when checked at the end of the turn so it would appear that the only vulnerable unit is the garrison at Na San (N-14). But not so it is a Thai FEF unit and Thai units are in general supply if they are within three hexes of a friendly Highland community. But building a trench here will allow you to reinforce with other FEF units so that they wont be out of supply, plus the combat benefit. 13

Tonkin: Getting Started

But it is important to remember that the French build trenches differently in the Highlands than in the Delta. In both cases you consume a supply dump and build up to three entrenchments. The difference is that if the SD is on a FEF supply center in the Delta you can build your trenches anywhere in the Delta that you have combat units in supply. But in the Highlands, you can only entrench units within three hexes of the SD being spent (but note that if the SD is on an airstrip, then you can entrench any three airstrips on the map at the cost of 1 air transport). The FEF has two air transports per turn to start and each can move three stacking points of infantry or one SD. In the first FEF movement phase I like to use one air transport to move a SD into Sam Neua (M-17) and in the ensuing operations phase activate it to entrench Sam Neua and Na San. That leaves the second air transport: what else do you airlift to this side of the map? How much is enough to hold the Highlands? Or better yet, how little is enough? Tonkin uses limited intelligence in that the FEF can only see the top unit in a communist stack (naturally, the VM can inspect the contents of an FEF force anytime he wants). But you can see lone units until they form a stack so it should be relatively easy to figure out what is going on in the first turn. The VM have six regular regiments at Thanh Hoa on the south coast. If Phat Diem comes under attack by that many regiments on the first movement phase then you know that very little effort is going into the western Highlands. The key is the 138th independent regiment that starts within two hexes of Hoa Binh (S-17). If it moves south to support the assault on Phat Diem or moves north to bolster the Red River Valley, then the VM is going with just Tieu Doan into the Highlands and will thus only have six or seven combat factors per attack. While that is not enough to get 3:1 against Hoa Binh, it is enough for everywhere else. But it only takes two more combat factors in Na Son, Dien Bien Phu and Lai Chau to drive this down to 2:1 or less. Not that this makes it impossible for the VM to take these communities, just that it cause more losses for both sides and takes longer. And once the Tieu Doan suffer a few losses, the invasion momentum will dry up. Further, since the Tieu Doan cannot invade Laos, if the VM goes lightly into the western Highlands, the FEF does not have to invest resources shoring up the Lao defenses (although you might as well build that trench in Sam Neua when you burn the supply dump to entrench Na San). If the French use their second air transport to move a single infantry unit into each the three communities (member that infantry unit in Lao Kay [Q-7] that should bail on the first move?) then he has a good chance of holding the western Highlands until the VM step up their game and commit at least two regiments to the cause. If they do, this is something of a win for the FEF your 4 CF from the Delta forces the VM to pull 12 CF from the Delta (I am not counting the FEF unit from Lao Kay because it was in the Highlands already).

14

Tonkin: Getting Started While we are busy earning frequent flyer miles here, one detail of air transport I messed up in my first playing is that you can only move units between any two friendly occupied airfields. In my first game I moved the garrison in Na San up the road to Dien Bien Phu in the movement phase and then airlifted an infantry unit into Na San in the operations phase. You cannot do that you have to airlift in the unit first and then the garrison can move out. Back to the 138th independent regiment: if it moves west along Route Colonial 6, then the French have another 5 CF to account for in the Highlands. And independent regiments are automatically in supply anywhere in China and Vietnam, so it is not going to attrition to death. If a regiment from Thanh Hoa joins the fray (it will have to bring a SD), then the FEF are dealing with around 16 CF. This is enough to get a 4:1 against any garrison of two infantry units (of 2 CF each). And it means the invasion force can hit Laos, stretching the French defensive line. Faced with this force, and a stack of four Tieu Doan near Tuan Giao threatening Dien Bien Phu and Lai Chau, my response was to airlift three infantry units into Na San so that it had 9 CF, preventing the VM from getting better than a 1:1 (and I entrenched right away). I also had the infantry unit abandon Dien Bien Phu (I-13) and double move towards Lai Chau (K-8). If it can make it, the 3 CF in Lai Chau are enough to stop the Tieu Doan from doing better than a 1:1. So what if the Tieu Doan take Dien Bien Phu uncontested? Yes its 5 VP and half a mobilization for the Tieu Doan. But they cannot invade Laos and are not strong enough to do anything else. If the invasion force of regulars continues up RC 6, the French should have enough time to airlift 6 CF to Muong Khoua (F-16) to join the 2 CF already there. It has a trench, the minor river adds a -1 combat DRM and since the Tieu Doan will not be available, the best the VM can do is a 1:1. Instead of going for Muong Khoua, this VM force would be able to take Lai Chau for 5 VP and another half Tieu Doan mobilization. But then what? If the VM regulars heads back to the Delta, the 8 CF in Muong Khoua can easily strike lowly Tieu Doan garrisons in Dien Bien Phu and Lai Chau. So those two VM regiments will have to stick around to secure these VP hexes. And in that stalemate, who wins? French garrisons of 9 CF in Na San and Muong Khoua means 18 CF are tied down. For the VM, its about the same (two regiments at 6 CF each plus a few Tieu Doan). But there is no way the VM will be able to take the 20 communities it needs to control the Highlands. If the two VM regular regiments take Hoa Binh and Nghia Lo before marching on Lai Chau, then their max VP on this side of the board is 20, leaving them 54 short of victory. If the VM control the Delta (10 VP) and take the VP hexes of Phat Diem (10 VP), Cam Pha (5 VP) and Lang Son (5VP), that still leaves them 24 VP short with the only two VP hexes left to fight for being Haiphong (40 VP) and Nam Dinh (30 VP). And if a French cannot hold the 20 or so hexes that connect these two cities with Hanoi, then what good is he anyway? 15

Tonkin: Getting Started

Yes, as the French bring on reinforcements and take casualties the VP level will go down. And there are five political objective each worth 5 VP (more on those in a minute). So the VM can still win the game. But if combat losses balance out and the French can score two of the five political objectives, then it is tough for the VM to win. In that sense, a stalemate of roughly 18 CF a piece in the western Highlands would seem to favor the French. If instead of driving down RC 6 to Dien Bien Phu, the VM turns south at Na San (N-14) and invades Laos, it is the same story: instead of losing Lai Chau the French lose Sam Neua (5 VP). Instead of gaining a Tieu Doan mobilization for the Victory Hex, the VM get a Pathet Lao unit. And instead of reinforcing Muong Khoua, the French airlift those 6 CF into Xieng Khouang ( F1). Perhaps the only difference is that Xieng Khouang does not have a trench and is not on a minor river so the French might want to airlift a supply unit into Luang Prabang and truck transport it to D-24 where it can be used to entrench both Xieng Khouang and the capital. The other potential attraction of moving south from Na San for the VM is that once he gets to the Plaines des Jarres (E-24, F-23) he can threaten both Luang Prabang (10 VP) and Xieng Khouang (5 VP). While not a game changer per se, it would tie down more FEF units than taking Dien Bien Phu and Lai Chau. For that reason I favor invading Laos from Na San instead of moving on Dien Bien Phu. 12. Laos: All In The last variation for the VM to consider is one that I have not yet tried myself: go into Laos and the western Highlands with everything you have, conquer it as quickly as possible, use Pathet Lao and Tieu Doan to maintain control of the communities for VP purposes, and bring the main force back to the Delta for the middle-to-end game. The only problem with this approach is that you can never truly secure a section of the board because of the French air assault capability. The French start with two air transport points and each can move a SD or three stacking points of infantry. For air assaults, its the same capacity but the infantry must be paratroopers. They (and the SD) can be dropped on any non-forest, non-mountain hex (yes, they can be dropped on rough terrain). More importantly, they can also land on enemy occupied hexes, triggering an overrun attempt with a -2DRM. But even with that penalty its hard to see a lonely Tieu Doan surviving an attack from even a single para unit, given the French morale bonus. This would then allow the French to airlift one or two more stacking points worth of regular infantry into a hex with an airstrip, using up the remaining capacity of the first air transport point. Then with the second air transport point the FEF could lift a SD into the hex. Entrench in the ensuing operations phase and you have a formidable little garrison that is always in supply.

16

Tonkin: Getting Started This assumes that the French will target a hex with an airstrip. Since there are eight airstrips in the western Highlands, this seems reasonable. Which means that the cost of garrisoning all these hexes against air assaults would be quite high. The maximum air assault strength the French can muster is 9 CF (three para at 3 CF a piece), so the VM would have to commit at least 4 CF to each airstrip to prevent the FEF from getting better than a 2:1. That is 32 CF doing nothing. Holding 9 CF of elite French troops in reserve on an airstrip in the Delta to tie down almost four times as many combat factors in the Highlands seems like a good deal for the French. Perhaps this is why I have yet to try the all in strategy in Laos as the VM player. But if I do try this in my next playing, the general outline of the strategy is to move all the regulars and some SD from Thanh Hoa west along row 24 towards Xieng Khouang (F-1). This would be a strong force of 25 CF and the French would have to commit serious resources to shoring up the Lao defenses. The 138th independent regiment and what ever else I can spare from the Red River valley moves south to secure the supply base at Thanh Hoa. The VM force on the Chinese border push the FEF out of Lang Son and drives on Cam Pha. Hopefully the need to meet the dual threat to Haiphong and Laos (plus the ever present need to protect Hanoi) will prevent the French from launching a drive on Thanh Hoa or the Red River Valley. 13. Life in The Delta The Delta is the clear / forested terrain of Vietnam that stretches from the ocean inland to the rough terrain. If the VM can control 10 Delta communities he earns 10 VP. And there are seven victory hexes here worth another 100 points. The VM start with control five communities and three victory hexes worth15 VP so their strategy revolves around protecting what they have while looking to get more, with Haiphong at 40 VP being the big prize. Well, Hanoi is the big prize as it is an automatic victory should the VM ever occupy it. Previously I outlined a VM strategy of pushing the FEF out of Lang Son and driving towards Cam Pha, holding in the Red River Valley while the forces near Thanh Hoa attack Phat Diem in the south. With that basic approach in mind, lets look at French strategy in the Delta. First, I would not bother trying to deny the VM control of 10 communities in the Delta, at least not at the start. There are 29 communities in play and most of them are VM friendly so that unless the FEF occupy them they atomically become VM controlled. And the VM start with five already under control. This means the French would have to garrison 20 hexes to prevent the VM from taking five more. And it is not like the French can create a perimeter to keep VM out as the Tieu Doan can be placed within two hexes of any mobilization hex, even if it is enemy occupied. A quick glance at the map shows that about 80% of the Delta is within two spaces of a mobilization hex, so the Tieu Doan can pop up just about anywhere that really matters.

17

Tonkin: Getting Started It would tie down quite a few units to garrison those 20 hexes, units that could be better used elsewhere. Worse, the French would have to spread them pretty thin in order to cover this many spaces, probably no more than a single unit per hex. Such garrisons would make ideal targets for opportunistic VM regiments raiding from the Highlands that can overrun a colonial battalion at 5:1, get the victory points for killing an FEF unit, and return to the safety of the forest. The Viet Minh can play that game aaaalllll daaaaay. Instead, as the French I focus on securing the Inner Triangle first and look to take the initiative later. The Inner Triangle is the space bounded by the roads that connect Hanoi, Haiphong and Nam Dinh. Lose control of this and you lose the game. The first line of defense is to push the perimeter out. For Haiphong this means holding onto Uong Bi (AA-15) and Hong Hay (BB-16). In the south, Phat Diem (T-22) can screen Nam Dinh (V-19). But the Hanoi perimeter is a little harder to extend as moving north of Vinh Yen is to essentially invade the Red River Valley. There is something to be said for the idea that the best defense is a good offense, but lets not get ahead of ourselves here! We will come back to the Red River Valley once we secure the Inner Triangle. For now, it is essential that the FEF hold Vinh Yen V-14 and W-14 as VM forces in these two hexes can assault Hanoi while drawing combat supply from Thai Nguyen. The max strength of a VM force attempting an overrun is 25 CF, so keep these hexes entrenched with at least 9 CF to prevent the VM from getting better than a 2:1. Include an armor unit or paratrooper to get the morale bonus in combat and for the disorganization DRM (see the combat example below). A VM attack on Hanoi from the south is less of a threat. If the VM regulars from Thanh Hoa march north they will have to double move in one activation (which means they cannot overrun) and then overrun in the next activation. While they would have sufficient MF to attempt overruns on Ha Dong in Hanois southern suburbs, they would not have sufficient MF to overrun Hanoi itself. At best they would be able to overrun Hanoi on the third activation. And because that will take 5 of the 9 MF, they can only attempt one such attack per activation. In other words, it would be very difficult to surprise the French with a lighting strike from the south. And since three is the maximum number of steps that can be lost in a single round of combat, no matter how weak the garrison is in terms of CF, if the French keep four steps worth of combat units in Hanoi, he can guarantee that it will not fall in a single attack. Another problem with a thrust from the south is that it leaves the supply center at Thanh Hoa unprotected, making it vulnerable to the French forces in Nam Dinh. And because a force attacking from the south will be out of the range of any supply center, the VM will have to include a SD, which reduces its mobility.

18

Tonkin: Getting Started In my first playing of Tonkin, as the French I dug in at Lang Son (CC-11). I inflicted some casualties on the VM but eventually had to retreat in disorganization with several units having lost a step. But in my second playing I simply abandoned the Chinese border on the first move and pulled everyone back to the Delta, moving south on RC 4 to Cam Pha and Hong Hay. I also double moved the garrisons from Mong Cai (HH-13) and Tien Yen (EE-14) to Uong Bi (AA-15) This was a radical move as it meant abandoning some supply dumps (which are immobile) and surrendering a victory point hex (Lang Son) without a fight. But it also meant that I could secure Haiphong, free up units to support the other two legs of the Inner Triangle, and airlift a few units from the Delta to the western Highlands to blunt the VM advance down RC 6. In addition, Mong Cai and Tien Yen are FEF friendly, which means they are the rare communities in the Delta that the French can abandon that will not automatically flip to VM control. With the Inner Triangle relatively secured, the French can think about semi-offensive strategies to knock the VM off stride. I say semi-offensive because the French does not need to get carried away. The burden of action is on the VM to earn enough VP to win the game. From that perspective, French can pursue the old adage that the best defense is a good offense in an opportunistic manner. Lets look at four possible French strategies in this vein. 14. France Unleashed The first French offensive strategy to consider is choking off the flow of men and material into French Indochina by controlling the northern border with China. This has intuitive strategic appeal and is what the French tried historically - that is why they start the game camped out at Lang Son. But this strategy failed in 1950 and the game well illustrates why. There is just too much ground to cover and the terrain is unfriendly to the French, who are more likely to become disorganized when attacking in forest hexes. They move slower than the VM as it costs them 4 MF to march through forest hexes while the VM only pay 3 MF. And since FEF SD are nearly immobile, once you airlift them to a hex, it anchors that force to a three hex tether. Worse, the French are leaning into the punch here. There are two VM supply centers just across the border in China, which means VM forces can overrun without needing SD. The VM can rebuild depleted units right on the front lines and they can retreat into the sanctuary of China, where FEF units cannot tread. You simply could not pick a worse place to pick a fight with the VM and that is why I abandon the Chinese border on the first move and never look back. The second offensive front for the French to look at is the Red River Valley. Historically the FEF drove into this region with some initial success before getting bogged down and suffering critical reverses. Again, operating far from their supply centers in rough terrain is not very attractive for the French. But there is one target the French should consider here: Thai Nguyen (X-11). 19

Tonkin: Getting Started

Thai Nguyen allows VM forces to attack Hanoi while in combat supply and can be used to bring on reinforcements. And its a victory point hex that controls the road network in the Highlands. If the French can take Thai Nguyen they go a long way to securing Hanoi while putting a dent in the VM ability to maneuver on this part of the map. Even better, Thai Nguyen is within combat supply range of Hanoi, meaning FEF units can overrun without a negative DRM. On top of that, there is actually a clear terrain hex the French can attack from, reducing their chances of becoming disorganized. Given Thai Nguyens importance and the fact that it is within reach, I would make it my first choice for a French offensive. The only caution is to not get greedy. If you take Thai Nguyen (not a given as the VM will put up a fight) it might be tempting to go after Tuyen Quang and the rest of the Red River Valley. But the terrain gets tricky, the supply line gets longer, the captured communities need to be garrisoned, etc. All of which extends French forces and makes them vulnerable to the VM.. As tempting as it might be, I would be reluctant to push beyond Thai Nguyen. Third on the list of offensive targets to consider is Thanh Hoa (R-23), the southern version of Thai Nguyen. It is victory hex, can bring on VM reinforcements, and is a source of combat supply for VM attacks on Phat Diem and Nam Dinh. But the French can strike at Than Hoa and still be in supply via Nam Dinh, kill a few units, and deny the VM 5 VP. From there it becomes difficult for the VM to get regular units into the southern part of the map, allowing the French to reduce his defense of Nam Dinh and commit those forces elsewhere. Fourth is Laos. While not part of the Delta, devoting some resources here at the right moment can force the VM to respond in kind, easing the pressure on the Delta. The French will want to reinforce a few garrisons in Laos and the western Highlands to blunt VM forays. At some point he should airlift a few units and a SD into one of the forward camps to overrun a VP hex or two. For example, Sam Neua can be used to attack Na San. For each of these strategies, the French should bear in mind the potential contribution of air assaults landing three paratroopers on Thai Nguyen or Thanh Hoa in the movement phase and successfully overrunning either (and then airdropping a SD on the hex) is certain to derail whatever plans the VM had for the turn. And as discussed above, VM controlled VP airstrips in the western Highlands garrisoned with a single Tieu Doan are just ripe for the picking. The key here is to realize that air assaults can be used to support your strategy, but are not a strategy unto themselves. What makes an air drop on Thanh Hoa viable is that you can use ground troops from Phat Diem or Nam Dinh to consolidate these positions in the operations phase. Without such follow-up support, the paratroopers will be battered by VM regiments desperate to re-take these vital hexes. If you are not in a position to coordinate an air assault with 20

Tonkin: Getting Started your ground forces, then dont bother distracting the VM for a turn or two at the cost of your paratroopers is not worth it. Think Dien Bien Phu. And what about the western Highlands, where follow-up ground support is not really viable? Again, its not the air assault that counts, its what you do next that matters. In this case, overrun a distant airfield, airlift in a regular infantry battalion with a SD, entrench, and bring the para back to Hanoi for its next mission. This will drive the VM nuts as he will have to devote resources backtracking through the Highlands to re-take these VP airstrips while the FEF eyes his next target of opportunity. The exception to all of this talk about supporting the strategy is using air assaults to gain an automatic victory. If the VM is sloppy and leaves his HQ unit lightly defended in a rough or clear terrain hex anywhere on the board, it is worth paying a surprise visit with the paratroopers to see if you can win the game outright. Its important to remind the FEF player that there are only two airstrips in the Delta that he can count on using throughout the game, Hanoi and Haiphong (Hoa Binh may fall to the VM at some point). To keep the VM on his toes, you need to keep a few paras and a SD in either city in excess of what is necessary for securing them from a VM attack. In other words, if the only troops you have in Hanoi are two para units, then you really dont have a credible air assault capability and the VM will know it. Ill close this section on the Delta with a tactical suggestion for the VM player and a reminder for the French player. One advantage the French posses in the Delta is their interior lines. Hanoi is 6 MF from Haiphong and 5 MF from Nam Dinh. Haiphong and Nam Dinh are 4 MF apart. The slowest FEF units have 7 MF, which means that any of these cities can reinforce each other with a single activation in the operations phase. But not if there is a Tieu Doan blocking the road. Tieu Doan can be placed within two hexes of a mobilization hex, of which there are many in the Inner Triangle. While they only have a single combat factor, it costs two MF plus the cost of terrain to overrun. Further, you cannot use road movement for an overrun, so if that pesky Tieu Doan is occupying a river hex, the FEF will have to pay an additional one or two MF. And there are only two hexes in the Inner Triangle that do not have rivers. You cannot double move through an enemy ZOC, so going around them is not really an option. All of which means that it will be impossible for the French to shift their units between these cities in a single movement if a Tieu Doan is clogging the roads. As part of an overall strategy, the sacrifice of a Tieu Doan in this manner can pay big dividends. Consider VM pressure in the south. The VM could mobilize a Tieu Doan in Vinh Bao and Hung Yen and then overruns Nam Dinh. Assume he inflicts some losses on the French garrison and 21

Tonkin: Getting Started disorganizes it. In the Operations phase, the French roll two activations (about average). Ideally they would spend one activation removing the disorganized marker and use the second to send reinforcements from Haiphong. But with a Tieu Doan blocking the road at X-18, the French will not be able to do both and will have to choose between reinforcing and reorganizing. To add insult to injury, if the French decide to reinforce, the eliminated Tieu Doan will not count on the VM losses track for VP as only regimental losses count there. The final note for the French is to remember that when you spend a supply dump to build three trenches in the Delta, you can build them wherever you have combat forces. It is only in the Highlands that have to build them within three hexes of the supply dump (the VM can build trenches within three hexes of a supply dump or supply center across the board). 15. Political Objectives Each scenario has two political objectives on the map, one specified by the setup and the other chosen by the VM. Both are marked with a counter but only one is real, the other is fake. And only the VM knows which is which. At the end of the scenario if he controls the real objective the VP level is lowered by five. If not, the VP level increases by five. In the campaign game, these objectives are re-set and VP calculated five times for a total of 25 possible VP. Given the open ended nature of choosing these objectives and the fact that which ones are selected by the VM player will depend on the game situation, I just dont have any insight on how to pick them. I mention political objectives only in the context of estimating VP levels needed for victory. Since only the VM knows which one is real, he will have the inside track on seizing the correct one so I will assume that he achieves this objective four out of the five times, with a net result of lowering the VP level by 15. 16. Replacements Each turn there is a fixed replacement /supply dump allotment. The VM may choose between two SD, four replacement points, or a single SD and two replacement points. The FEF can trade off between six replacements, one SD and four replacements, or two SD and two replacements. The way the numbers stack up, if the VM can inflict even a few casualties on the FEF every turn, the French will have to choose between SDs and replacements. And if the French choose replacements, his ability to entrench or launch offensives will be diminished. On the other side of the coin, the VM receives Tieu Doan units in the mobilization phase that can be used as replacements. And when the VM take a hex after combat, if the battle result was Ex-DL or 2DL they add one to their replacement track. These two game mechanics allow the VM to minimize the need to choose to between SDs and replacements as long as the casualty rate is only a few steps per turn.

22

Tonkin: Getting Started Each turn the VM counts the number of VP hexes he controls and receives half that amount (rounded up) in Tieu Doan. If he has seven such hexes, he will receive four Tieu Doan, which means that during the replacement phase he can take two replacements and effectively match the French maximum of six and still take a supply dump. Its a minor advantage on an incremental basis but over the course of the game can give the VM a decisive edge. The VM start with control of three VP hexes and should make it four early in the game with the capture of Lang Son. Denying the VM that seventh VP hex is something the French should keep track of. 17. Step Losses, Eliminated Units and Victory Points One clarification: VP are earned for all step losses, not just combat losses. VM regimental losses are marked on a track and when they reach ten the VP level increases by five. The math here is easy each VM step is worth half a victory point. When FEF units with one or two steps are eliminated the VP level decreases by one. Larger units (three and four steps) push the VP level down by two. So each FEF step is also worth about half a VP. But as with many things in Tonkin, its not quite that simple. Each regimental step loss for the VM is irreversible in terms of its impact on winning the game. It may take a while for those losses to show up in the VP column, but sooner or later they will. The same cannot be said for French losses: the VP level is reduced only if a unit is actuallty eliminated. This is a crucial difference, one the French should try to exploit where possible. Consider a stack of FEF units worth six steps that is overrun by a VM forces of ten steps. The result is an exchange and each side loses a step. The VM repeat the attack and get the same result. The VM regimental loss track now shows two steps lost while two FEF units are flipped to indicated they have each lost a step. During the next French activation he activates the hex and withdraws the reduced units back to a French supply center. During the next reinforcement phase he spends two replacement points to bring them back up to full strength. If this cycle is repeated four more time, the VM regimental loss track will reach ten and the VP level will increase by five. But no French units will have been eliminated so no adjustment to the VP level will take place despite the fact that both sides have taken identical losses! The French may not always be able to move reduced units out of harms way in time. And even if they do, the FEF may not have the replacement points to restore all of his damaged units before they have to fight their next battle, putting them at risk of being eliminated. But consider an average turn where the VM conducts two overruns in the movement phase. Lets assume average results for each battle, exchanges in which both sides lose a step. In the French movement phase he conducts an overrun. During the operations phase the VM devotes seven of his ten activations to movement (but no assaults) and four of these include overruns. The FEF 23

Tonkin: Getting Started use his activations to move units, build trenches, barrage, and remove disorganized markers, conducting a single overrun. Thats seven overruns total, resulting in seven loses per side. After three average turns the VM will have suffered about 20 step losses and the VP level will increase by 10. If the French are able to spread his losses out so that none of his units are eliminated, the French will not lose any VPs, giving the FEF a 10 VP advantage. However, as stated, it will be tough for the French to juggle his losses so that not a single unit is eliminated. In that context, a conservative French player might plan on only being able to earn a 5 VP advantage every few months by diligently managing his losses. I will be the first to admit that is an fairly abstract analysis, one that can be hard for a French player to use a source of strategy. But even allowing for lulls in the action in which fewer losses are taken, the point is that turns of average combat intensity where each side takes about the same number of losses can be a 2:1 advantage in VP for the French if they are able to rotate their depleted units back to supply centers for replacement points. And it is this dynamic that informs the VM need for sustained pressure on a given target. Simply put, the VM should lean towards multiple attacks in a row on a single target with an eye towards depleting, disorganizing and destroying FEF units rather than spreading his attacks out across the map. If the VM gets three activations in a row during the Operations phase he could launch overrun attacks on Phat Diem, Lang Son and Hanoi. It is doubtful that any one of the these will destroy an FEF unit. Yes, he will inflict losses but the French can withdraw the depleted units out of the line of fire in his next activation. But if the VM hammers three straight times a Phat Diem, he has a much better chance of destroying a unit and thus taming the VP ratio for combat losses. 18. Combat Results There are two die rolls for each battle. First you roll for losses then you roll for disorganization. And the disorganization result can lead to more losses. Combat losses are pretty uncomplicated. In an exchange (EX) each side loses a step. An EX-AL is the same as an EX except that the attacker loses an extra step. And an EX-DL does the same to a defender. You can guess who loses what with a 2AL or 2DL result. 19. Disorganization Both players then roll one die for disorganization (defenders in a trench -1, if any unit in the stack has a morale of 5+ you get a -1 DRM, terrain mods, etc.). If the defender took any losses and becomes disorganized and the attacker is not disorganized, the defender will take an additional step loss if he does not retreat. Lets call this a D-Loss for Disorganization Loss to differentiate it from a combat loss. If the defender chooses to retreat he does not suffer this DLoss. And the defender can reduce his combat losses by one if he retreats a hex. 24

Tonkin: Getting Started

For example, suppose a defender suffers a 2DL result and becomes disorganized while the attacker does not. If the defender chooses to retreat, the two step combat loss is reduced by one so that it suffers only a single step loss. But if it stands, then it suffers the full two step combat loss and the D-Loss for a total of three steps lost. Note that a 2DL result where both sides are disorganized the defender could refuse to retreat and suffer just the two step combat loss. The interplay of retreating and loss taking can make for some difficult decisions. If you occupy a hex that you want to deny your opponent (like Hanoi!) then your casualty rate can double from one to two during exchanges (the most common result) if you become disorganized and the attacker does not. Another problem is supply dumps because they cannot retreat. A stack with a SD can retreat but it has to leave it behind. Or it can stay put and take the extra loss. It quickly becomes apparent when setting up your defenses, not only do you want to create a strong enough force to deny you opponent a high odds attack, you want to reduce your chances of becoming disorganized. That means building trenches. And if you are the French, then you are lucky because only you have units in the game with a morale of five. And remember that when you include an armor unit in a stack, any one unit (including fellow armor units) will have their morale raised by one for all purposes. That infantry battalion with a morale of four suddenly becomes a five with a tank company in the neighborhood. Once I understood the impact of disorganization, I had a new found respect for barrages. Initially I was skeptical of bothering with such attacks as a quick review of the barrage table shows that they are not likely to inflict any losses, but they do consume activations and supplies. While causing a step loss might be hard to do, its not hard to disorganize an enemy stack. And once you have rendered that result on a defending unit (especially in a trench) you have greatly increased your odds of inflicting extra losses (or forcing a retreat). Conversely, if you are defending against an adjacent enemy force that is making a major push on your position, a barrage that disrupts them will eliminate the need to decide between taking extra losses and retreating. However, when it comes to retreating there is one interesting wrinkle that benefits the VM: if they take a hex via a Ex-DL or 2DL result they add one step to their replacement track. This is one of the interesting asymmetries of the game the French do not get this benefit when they take a position. In some cases the French may want to stay put and absorb the loss just to deny the replacement point to the VM. Given that the FEF have a higher replacement rate per turn, this is a practical consideration. Lets look at the statistics to shed some light on disorganization. Exchanges are neutral in that each side loses a step. The disorganization table under the exchange result shows that either side becomes disorganized on a roll of four or higher on a single die. This means that each side has a 25

Tonkin: Getting Started 50% chance of becoming disorganized and a 50% chance of remaining in good order. So far the results seem pretty equal for both sided. But the chance of two separate events happening together is the percentage chance of each outcome multiplied against each other. For example, in an exchange there is a 50% chance the defender will become disorganized. And there is a 50% chance the attacker will not become disorganized. Thus the percentage chance of both of these outcomes occurring is 50% x 50% = 25%. Thus, even though the losses in an exchange are the same for both sides, there is only a 25% chance that the defender will suffer the additional penalty of having to take an extra loss unless he retreats. Now look at what happens when the defender is a French unit with a morale of five in a trench. This is good for a -2 modifier on the disorganization roll, meaning the French will only become disorganized on a 6. That is one sixth of the time, or 16%. The percentage chance of the defender becoming disorganized while the attacker remains in good order during an exchange drops from 25% to 8% because 50% x 16% = 8%. 20. Battle Results Take a look at the table below. This is the percentage chance of rolling this number with two sixed dice. The CRT in Tonkin uses a range of die roll numbers to determine battle results. To get the percentage chance of a specific outcome for given set of odds simply add together the percentage chances of rolling all of the results that would yield that outcome. Die Roll 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Combinations Possible 1 2 3 4 5 6 5 4 3 2 1 Total Combinations 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 Percentage Chance 3% 6% 8% 11% 14% 17% 14% 11% 8% 6% 3% Percentage of Rolling This Number or Less 3% 9% 17% 28% 42% 59% 73% 84% 92% 98% 100%

For example, an attack at 2:1 will result in an exchange on a roll of 6-9. There is a 14% chance of rolling a six, a 17% chance of a seven, a 14% chance of getting an eight, and an 11% for a nine. So the chance of rolling an exchange is 14 + 17 + 14 + 11 = 55%. On the other hand, a 5:1 has only a 25% chance of getting an exchange (6% + 8% + 11%). The last column is the percentage chance of rolling that value our less. If you need to roll a 4 or less, that is 17%. 26

Tonkin: Getting Started

But this does not take into account die roll modifiers. Suppose you attack a unit in a trench at 2:1. This terrain effect subtracts two from the die roll so that you will get an exchange on a roll of 8-11 instead of 6-9. There is a 39% chance of that outcome. But your chance of getting the dreaded 2xAL result jumps from 9% (by rolling a three or less) to 28% by rolling a five or less. And a 2xAL result all but guarantees a disorganized attacker. I dont want to get too crazy calculating percentage outcomes here, I just wanted to provide a framework to estimate the chances of winning a given battle. But there is one observation worth making about the CRT. In general, most gamers expect to win a battle if they can get 3:1 odds. The only outcomes that can clearly said to be wins for the attacker are EX-DL and 2xDL. With no die roll mods, an attacker wins at 3:1 by rolling eight or higher. But there is only a 41% chance of getting that result as a 3:1 attack has 59% chance of getting an exchange or worse. And since we have seen that exchanges result in D-Losses for the defender only 25% of the time, I cant call an exchange a win for the attacker. Now take a look at a 1:1 battle in which the attacker has a +3 DRM, the maximum allowed. Here he gets an EX-DL or 2xD result on a roll of eight or more. That is just as good as attacking at 3:1 with no die roll mods. For example, suppose the VM activates a hex with a few VM regular regiments (one of which has a morale of four) and overruns a trench with several FEF units with a morale of three. The odds are 1:1. The VM unit is within three hexes of a supply dump so it does not suffer a -2 DRM for being out of combat supply. The trench is a -2 DRM but the VM gets a +1 for the morale differential and there is a +1 for French incompetence in early 1951 so those two balance out. The VM declares Bolshevik Spirit and gets to roll one die, using that result as a combat DRM. The average die roll is 3.5 but the max combat DRM is -3 or +3 so assume that the VM gets +3. Suddenly this 1:1 attack has just as much chance of succeeding as a regular 3:1 attack. Conversely, a 5:1 with no DRMs has zero percent chance of a getting a 2XAL result. But suppose the attacker does not have combat supply and the defender is in a trench. Both of those are a negative 2 DRM and there are no positive DRMs for the attacker. So that tops out at -3 DRM. Now a roll of 2 or 3 is a 2XAL result. And there is a 9% chance of that happening. The take away here is obvious: you cant just count combat factors, you have to take into account DRMs. And that means tracking terrain modifiers, morale differentials, combat supply, French incompetence and monsoons. And then there is the wildcard, Bolshevik Spirit. It costs the VM one extra step in combat losses to use Bolshevik Spirit, getting a DRM of plus or minus 1D6 in return. But the maximum DRM possible after all mods have been totaled is three. 27

Tonkin: Getting Started Suppose the VM are attacking a French unit early in the game at 3:1 and the VM have a one morale point advantage. This works out to a +2 DRM. The best the VM can get by expending a step for Bolshevik Spirit is another +1 DRM because the maximum DRM is -3/+3. This is an expensive way to buy a single DRM for a battle the French do not have much chance of winning in the first place. In this case, the automatic step loss for using Bolshevik Spirit is something of a gift to the French. On the other hand, suppose a stack of VM units attack an entrenched French position at 2:1 with the DRMs working out to -2. Using Bolshevik Spirit here makes sense as the single step loss has a 33% chance of changing this from a -2DRM to a +3DRM. And as we have seen above, a +3 DRM is as good as column shift (or two). Yes, you lose a step for employing the Spirit. But the better combat results might lower the combat losses you otherwise would have taken, so this is probably a wash. 21. Combat Tactics I had quite a few a-ha moments in my first playing of Tonkin and many of them revolved around combat. Its not a complicated system by any means but there are several game mechanics that will conspire to punish a lazy gamer (or a bold beginner). Lets look at a few of these. First, keep in mind that when you move a stack in the movement phase or activation phase, it can overrun but it cannot combine with forces in other hexes. You can only combine separate forces by declaring an assault in the activation phase, in which case all the units already adjacent to an enemy hex may combine to attack. This is worth emphasizing - there is no movement in an assault activation. The obvious point here is that if you want to assault a hex you have to move everyone into place first and attack second. For example, in the first movement phase of the first VM turn I moved the six regular regiments from Thanh Hoa towards into two hexes adjacent to the FEF forces in Phat Diem (T-22). Seeing this, the French could elect to withdraw or reinforce in his movement phase, knowing that the VM will get the first activation in the operations phase. In my game, the French reinforced. In the operations phase I declared an assault and activated both stacks for a combined attack on Phat Diem. Another aha moment was having to unlearn the standard gaming convention that when you attack a unit in your ZOC, you have to attack all the enemy occupied hexes in your ZOC. This is not required in Tonkin and can have serious implications for the defense of Hanoi as an interlocking set of ZOCs from a bunch of infantry battalions adjacent to the city does not effectively double the defensive strength of the perimeter. A VM force can move adjacent to two FEF occupied hexes and attack just one of them while ignoring the other.

28

Tonkin: Getting Started Stacking is limited to 13 stacking points. VM regiments have stacking value of three and a combat factor of six. This means that the max strength of an overrunning VM force would be 24, plus a Tieu Doan (one step) for a total of 25 CF. Knowing that, the French will want 9 CF at critical defensive positions so that the best a VM overrun can get is 2:1. Actually, I would suggest 10 CF. The most likely result of a 2:1 attack is an exchange and that means a 25:9 becomes 24:8 in the next combat, which is now a 3:1. By starting with 10 CF, the FEF can stay ahead of the odds for three exchanges as a 24:9 becomes a 23:8 and then a 22:7. It is likely that will you have a chance to reinforce your position (or withdraw) before the VM can mount a fourth consecutive attack. Another tactic to consider is the VM two step. Suppose a VM force launches an overrun against an FEF hex and the French retreat in order to reduce their losses. The VM take the hex and are thus allowed to keep moving. Lacking sufficient MF to execute another overrun, it goes back to its original hex and ends its move there so that at the start of the next French activation it is not adjacent to an FEF force. This matters because the French can only barrage VM forces that are already adjacent to his units (there is no movement in a barrage activation). The VM two step forces the French spend a movement activation to put a unit adjacent to his force in order to barrage it in the second activation. By pulling back after wining an overrun, the VM has doubled the activation cost for the FEF to barrage this stack. Lets take a look at different kind of tactic, one where discretion is the better part of valor. By retreating, the defender can reduce his losses by one. In a series of battles resulting in exchanges, a defender can maintain his original strength while the attacker will lose a step in each round of combat. Trading a hex of terrain for a step loss advantage over several battles can pay dividends as the attacker will eventually attrition himself into less attractive combat odds. For example, two VM regiments (12 CF) attacking a FEF force of 6 CF is a 2:1. After an exchange in which the French retreat, the VM can do no better than 11:6 or 1:1. Finally, lets consider ambushes. This is available only to the VM and only on defense (the VM can ambush anywhere on the board - initially I had thought they had to be in forest hexes to do this). Select an FEF unit from the attacking stack as the target, select a VM unit as the ambush unit, and roll 1D6. If the result is equal to or greater than the FEF units morale, it takes a step loss and becomes DG. And on a 6, the VM ambush unit loses a step. When should you ambush and which units should you target? The short answers are always and it depends. Okay, maybe not always. Take advantage of your intelligence advantage to examine the FEF stack. You have a 16% chance of losing a step yourself, but since a six will

29

Tonkin: Getting Started also guarantee a step loss to the French, it usually wont effect the subsequent combat odds if that happens, as your losses will be equal. But beware of a few break points where it will matter. For instance, if the FEF has 23 to 8 and you each lose a step, that French 2:1 just became a 3:1. Other break points to look out for are 14 to 5 and 8 to 3. In those situations I am reluctant to ambush because losing a step and giving the French a column shift is just too much to give away in exchange for making a unit DG and inflicting a step loss. As for which unit to ambush, this is a tough call. Going after a paratrooper with its morale of five is very attractive. The French are probably going to use that unit for its morale advantage to gain a DRM in combat and for the modifier on the subsequent DG role. So bringing that morale down from five to four is probably more important than the single combat factor the French will lose. And there is a 33% chance of getting that result. But there are two considerations for picking on a lower value unit, one with a morale of four or three. First, your chances of a successful ambush go from 33% to 50% to 66%. And that means a unit in the attacking stack is DG. Which in turn means that you, as the VM, do not have to take losses instead of retreating if you become DG yourself. If you are defending a critical hex like Thai Nguyen or are stacked with a SD (which cannot retreat) then this is a real factor to consider. And there will be cases where the French will have more than one unit with a morale of five in the stack, so knocking one of them down a notch does not help on the DRMs. The second factor to consider is the combat odds the French will get in the following battle. If he is attacking at 3:1 or better, there is a good chance he will not become DG but that you will. That means extra losses for the VM or a retreat. Ambushing a lesser unit to get a DG result in this situation is a good defensive play. On the other hand, if the French are at 2:1, the chances of you becoming DG and the French not becoming DG are quite a bit lower. Thus, going for the DG result via an ambush is a bit less important. And if a French 2:1 contains a unit with a morale of five and he is counting on the DRM from that units morale, then I would make that the target. The French do not have a lot options in countering ambushes. You cant examine VM stacks to figure out the exact factors you need to get a 3:1 and thus take into account potential ambush results. But when attacking at 2:1 or less and including a unit with a morale of five to get the die rolls mods, just know that the VM is probably going to target that unit and that he will succeed a third of the time. If its a critical attack (arent they all?) then make sure to include two units with a morale of five to make sure that at least one is able to contribute its morale to the fight.

30