Introduction

Dien Bien Phu, a strategic game of Indochina 1950-55, was designed by Dana Lombardy based on an original game idea by Guy R. Hail. The first edition was released in 1973 in issue 6 of Conflict magazine from Simulations Design Corporation. The second edition of the game was published by Flying Buffalo in 1977.

As the title implies, the game is strategic and concerns the last four years of the Indochina war in Tonkin, the northern French protectorate. The game is packaged in a ziploc bag. Scale is four months per turn, Groupes Mobiles (three battalions) for the French, and half divisions for the Viet-Minh (VM).

Components

1 yellow cover sheet with an illustration of victorious Vietminh soldiers above the French HQ bunker (as shown above).
1 10 1/2 ” x15 1/2 ” map of the Tonkin area in blue, white and red, with a time track and a supply and reinforcements table on the left part.
2 French movement order tables to plot the moves of all units for the 14 turns, with abbreviations and examples.
2 Vietminh movement order tables to plot the moves of all units for the 14 turns, with abbreviations and examples.
1 six-page rules sheet, fan-folded. 1 red and blue counter sheet with 77 die-cut counters.

Counter Manifest

French counters (28 blue)

4 DNA (1; 2; 3; 4)
8 GM (1; 2; 3; 4; 7; Viet; 14; 21)
2 Colonial Regulars (1; 2)
1 French Foreign Legion (13)
2 GAP (1, 2)
3 Irregular Forces
1 Turn counter
7 Arrow move counters

Viet-Minh counters (49 red)

12 Control counters
5 Arrow move counters
9 Supply counters
2 Independent Regulars (1; 2)
14 Half Divisions (304A&B; 308A&B; 312A&B; 316A&B; 320A&B; 325A&B; 351A&B)
7 Irregular Forces

Player’s Value

Dien Bien Phu is an unusual game with an area map, simultaneous plotting of all the moves and simple resolution of combat, with just a little chrome to show the oddities of the theater of warfare. The game map cannot meet the modern standard with its two colors, but the areas are clear with China, a VM sanctuary forbidden to the French troops, on the north (2 areas) and Laos (2 areas) to the west, Tonkin Highlands (9 areas) and Red River delta and coast (9 areas) in the main part. Each area is divided into countryside and city. The city is a refuge when enemy troops occupy the area. Units entrenched in the cities can be besieged (like Na San and Dien Bien Phu historically).

The sequence of play is very simple with placement of reinforcements and replacements, plotting of all moves for both camps and combat resolution area by area. There are 14 turns to finish the game, but each player can win before this by holding areas or killing units, with a quota per turn.

The plotting is easy with the order sheet provided. The VM divisional units move by foot, two areas per turn, and the VM player must plan ahead for the use of supply units required to allow moves in enemy areas and combat. There are few supply units at the beginning of the game and fewer are added each turn. So, as in the real conflict, the VM must organize offensives by stockpiling supply near the objective areas. The French react by coups de main. The French have more plotting options; the troops can move: by foot (one area), by plane (everywhere on a controlled city), by airdrop (everywhere on the map), or by DNA (dinassauts) everywhere in a coastal or riverside area. So the way the French conduct the war is derived from these move options. With airplanes and DNA, French troops are very mobile, can concentrate very quickly and don’t bother with supply. That represents a very different approach from the VM.

Combat is again very simple: each unit from either side counts for one. Low odds kill all attackers or force them to retreat; high odds force retreats or kill all defenders with the same number of attackers killed. For only one battle each season, the results seem correct. The challenge comes with even odds (1:1), where each camp can suffer losses or retreat. The key operative word for combat is concentration. However, this is easier said than done, because as the moves are simultaneously plotted, the resulting combat can be unpredictable. A few words about irregulars: once in an area, they don’t move, but help to control the area, and have to be dug out by enemy presence.

All in all, the rules are interesting and in a few pages succeed in correctly simulating this unusual war. But the plotting and area moves produce some odds results, very different every time. This game is perfect for play by mail (or email) with three players, each one playing a camp and acting as a referee for the other.

Collector’s Value

With concise and original rules and few other games on this period, for me the collector’s value is high, but the historical situation crys for a better game design. Boone quotes low, high and average prices of 7/40/17.7 at auction and 4/60/ 30.60 for sale for the first (Conflict 6) edition, and 7/24/14.00 at auction and 5/ 30/16.29 for sale for the second (Flying Buffalo) edition.

Support Material

I didn’t find any articles in wargame magazines on the subject, just a few comments in Nicky Palmer’s The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming about the SDC edition, which says: “...accurate and innovative but unbalanced against the French”.

Other games of this type

There are only two other games on the same subject: First Indochina War (Third Millenia) and Tonkin 1950-54 (Simulation Cornejo).

On the Dien Bien Phu battle itself, and at more of a tactical level, are Citadel (GDW), Dien Bien Phu (Jeux Descartes) and Dien Bien Phu: une saison en enfer (Vae Victis 33).

Also tactical, but on a different battle, is Indochina (American Designer’s Association).

I know nothing about either of the Dien Bien Phu titles from Wellington Victory or Hoyer.

Other games by Dana Lombardy

4th Reich (Task Force); Alien Contact and Streets of Stalingrad (Phoenix); Battle for the Factories and Fire on the Volga (Nova); NORAD (Mishler & SDC); Dunkerque 1940; Guerre a Outrance; Khalkhin-Gol and Cromwell (SDC); Kamikaze (Decision).

Introduction
Dien Bien Phu by Luc Olivier
Dien Bien Phu by Allan Rothberg