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Silver Bayonet Archival Material, Part 1

by Mitchell Land
In the course of conducting research and going over old material, Gene and I have stumbled
across some items, initially released via the original, paper (*gasp*) version of InsideGMT from
1991. Within those hallowed (and yellowed) archives, we found two additional scenarios as well
as some Advanced Game solitaire suggestions. As I get the rest of them cleaned up and ready
for consumption, here is the first scenario for your gaming pleasure.

Silver Bayonet Scenario 13: Assault on Duc Co

During July and August of 1965, the NVA 32nd Regiment made several major attacks against
the Duc Co Special Forces Camp. The camp was manned by a handful of American Special
Forces troops, nearly four hundred Montagnards and Nuongs of the local CIDG, and two
companies of ARVN elite troops. This scenario is a Basic Game scenario, representing four days
of fighting.
Game Length: 4 Turns (NVA is the first player)
Setup:
ARVN (Sets up first):
Duc Co (1614): 2 x CIDG, 2 x ARVN Special Forces
Thanh Binh (2812): 1/42 Mech
Air Points: 10 on GT 1; 15 on GT 2; 20 on GTs 3 and 4.
NVA:
Within 3 hexes of Duc Co: All units of 635/32 and 996/32, A/32 Artillery and B/32 Artillery
Reinforcements:
ARVN:
GT 2:
At Thanh Binh (2812): ARVN 2/42 Mech
At LZ Falcon (1312), Plei Mok Den (1017), or Plei Loung (2116): ARVN 2/1 & 2/2 AB
GT 3:
At Thanh Binh (2812): ARVN 3/42 Mech

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At LZ Falcon (1312), Plei Mok Den (1017), or Plei Loung (2116): DELTA
NVA: None
Special Rules:
Players may remove Fatigue markers from fatigued units that are not adjacent to an enemy unit
during the NVA Initial Phase of GT 3.
Victory:
Both sides earn victory points for destroying enemy steps and for occupying Duc Co (1614) at
the end of the game, as follows:
2 points per enemy step eliminated
5 points for occupying Duc Co.
The player with the most points wins. Any other result is a draw.

Silver Bayonet Archival Material, Part 2

by Mitchell Land
cover (1) Here is the second of two scenarios Gene and I have dug up from the InsideGMT
archives. Also included are the solitaire rules required for this scenario.

Silver Bayonet Scenario #14: Battle for the Villages Solitaire scenario
This scenario uses the Solitaire Rules as detailed below.
Game Length: 7 Turns (US/ARVN is the first player)
Setup:
NVA (Sets up first):
All NVA and VC combat units except the 20th Artillery Battalion (which is not used in this
scenario) are available at start. They are placed as follows:
The Tea Plantation (3310): B,C,D of VC H15, LF VC Art
3309: A/H 15, 1 x LFVC Hex
3311: I x LFVC
3410: 1 x LFVC
Each of the nine village hexes are controlled by a battalion of NVA troops. In each village hex
set up companies C and D and 1 divisional artillery; in one or two hexes adjacent to that village
hex set up companies A & B.
The units and their villages are:
996/32: Plei Gong (2421)
334/32 Plei Ngoc (3017)
365/32: Plei Loung (2116)
1/33: Thanh Binh (2812)
2/33: Plei Dan Ngoi (2308)
3/33: Plei Pan Lan (1508)
7/66: Plei Ya Krel (0715)
8/66: Plei Mok Den (1017)

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9/66 Plei Ya Tong (1519)
After all units are set up, take 6 Hidden Unit markers from the countermix, and turn them to
their blank side (theyll be used as dummies). Then take the three HQ units and the Hospital
unit, and turn them to their back sides. Randomly pick units from this pile of 10, and place
them, blank side up, one per village and Tea Plantation hex. These units will have no combat
value, no movement capacity, and may not retreat. If a US/ARVN unit destroys all other units
occupying a village or plantation hex, then the blank counter is captured. In this way, the
player will occasionally capture HQs and the Hospital. He receives a victory level bonus if he
captures enough real HQ or Hospital units.
US/ARVN (Set up second):
Duc Co (1614): 1 x CIDG
Plei Mei (3228): 1 x CIDG
1st Cav HQ (3702):D/ I /9
Old Pleiku (3803): 1/42, 2/42, 4/42 ARVN mechanized
All other US and ARVN ground units (yes, the whole countermix!) begin the game in the Pleiku
Ready box on the US Player Aid Card.
All helicopter units (except the 1/9 OBS helicopters) begin in the Ready boxes of the US
helicopter display. OBS helicopters are not used in this scenario.
Air Points: 30 on GT 1. Roll on the Air Points Table on GTs 2-7.
Reinforcements / Replacements:
There are no reinforcements/replacements in this scenario.
Special Rules:
Because of the refugee traffic on the roads, road movement is more difficult. Combat/Motorized
units pay 1 MP per road hex, while all other units pay 2 MPs per road hex.
Tea Plantation and village hexes have been fortified by the NVA. All nine occupied village hexes
and the Tea Plantation hex have a Terrain Defense Value of 3 instead of 2. Also, NVA and/or VC
units defending in such a fortified hex may ignore retreat results on the Maneuver Combat
Table. Both of these special characteristics of fortified hexes last until a US/ARVN unit first
occupies a fortified hex. The hexes then return to normal in all respects.
NVA movement and combat: Because this is a solitaire scenario, certain parameters must be
established for NVA movement and combat. They are as follows:

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NVA/VC units never move, retreat, or refuse combat from a village hex. They fight to the last
man. If stacking permits, the highest efficiency unit adjacent to an attacking village hex will
attempt to react into the village.
NVA/VC units not in a village hex during their movement phase will move as quickly as
possible to the nearest friendly occupied village hex. If stacking permits, they will stack in the
village hex. Otherwise, they will stop adjacent to the village.
An NVA/VC unit in a village hex will only attack out of that hex by Maneuver combat when it
can achieve a 4-1 odds attack against a hex (before reaction movement and modifiers). The unit
will not advance after combat. Units in villages will never Assault out of the village hex.
NVA/VC units not in village hexes will attack by Maneuver combat any time they can achieve 41 odds. They will advance after combat. These units will Assault anytime their attack factors
outnumber the defending factors by 2-1.
NVA/VC artillery will Bombard any unit in a hex with a Terrain Defense Value of 1 or 2. They
will Support (offensively or defensively) any combat within range, and will fire Defensive
Bombardment in support of any unit within range.
NVA units always attempt Air Defense Fire when eligible to do so.
Victory:
The US/ARVN player is judged by the number of village hexes, including the Tea Plantation,
that his forces physically occupy at the end of game-tum 7 as follows:
9-10 hexes occupied: Decisive Victory
7-8 hexes: Substantial Victory
6 hexes: Marginal Victory
4-5 hexes: Marginal Defeat
2-3 hexes: Substantial Defeat
0-1 hexes: Decisive Defeat
The player receives a victory level bonus in his favor for capturing the NVA HQs and hospital
units, as follows:
1 level of victory if at least 2 units are captured.
2 levels of victory if all 4 units are captured.
The player loses 1 victory level if 15 or more steps of US/ ARVN ground units are destroyed
during the game.

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The player loses 2 victory levels if 25 or more steps are destroyed.
Silver Bayonet: Advanced Game Solitaire Rules
Dont use the Hidden Unit markers. All NVA units are placed in full view on the map.
Dont use Observation helicopters or Patrol rules.
Skip both Observation and Concealment phases in each player turn.
NVA units may be attacked by Maneuver and Assault combat normally. Only NVA units that
are within two hexes of friendly (US, ARVN, or CIDG) units may be Bombarded.
Increase the NVA replacements in scenarios 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 to 2 points per game-turn.
Draw three automatic victory chits for each side at the end of every game turn. If one side
currently meets ALL objectives, that side wins and the game ends. If neither side, or BOTH
sides meet ALL conditions, play continues.
Basically, these suggestions allow the advanced game to be FUN when played solitaire. Youll
miss a little of the suspense and a fair amount of realism, but youll gain a playable solitaire
GAME that should be a different experience each time you play. We hope you like it.