Designed by Frank Chadwick
Published by GDW, 1991

Tet is a simple, fast playing strategic game on the communist Vietnamese offensive in 1968. The map uses areas and covers South Vietnam and the border areas in Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh trail. There are four areas divided by corps zones, which are divided into provinces and cities. There are three countersheets containing units of four sizes (1 1/4”, 1”, 3/4” and 1/2”) representing battalions, brigades, regiments, divisions, air units and control markers. The graphics are not up to today’s standards, but still the game components are of excellent quality, and the map is mounted.

A player wins by demoralizing his opponent’s army. This is accomplished by inflicting losses and taking cities. The USA loses morale by bombing units in cities (inflicting damage on the friendly population). The rules are simple. This is an excellent game for introduce a newbie to wargaming. The game is only five turns long. The first turn represents a day, with a steadily increasing length for each additional turn. The play is straight forward. The NVA moves and attacks, both players take replacements, allied air mobile and mech units move, then allies search, attack and move all units. NVA movement is limited; typically a unit may move one province. Given the short length of the game and slow movement rate, there isn’t time to effect a large scale redeployment.

Combat consists of a simultaneous exchange of fire between units. Rather than a conventional CRT, each group of units targets a single defender, rolls a die and consults the CRT. The results are either miss, defender eliminated or defender retreat. Terrain affects combat, in some cases allowing the defender to fire first, or halving certain types of units. Because of the superior mobility of the allies, they can rapidly reinforce threatened cities, so it’s necessary to deceive the allied player. After both sides take losses, replacements are taken. Again, because of the short length of the game, they aren’t of great importance. The NVA can recover quickly, though.

In the allied turn, air mobile and mech units move, and may reinforce or attack key provinces and/or cities. Mech units move an unlimited distance on roads so it’s important not to go marching off into the jungle. NVA units are normally inverted and only revealed when attacked or when entering a city. To attack them in the bush, the allies must roll for detection. Combat takes place between units in the same area, just as usual, then allied units may move again. This asymetric movement means that allied infantry will only be able to engage enemy units that attack it. Only mech and air mobile units are useful in an offensive role.

Despite its simplicity, the game has the elements of strategy and tactics. Each side has different strengths and weaknesses. Detail has been abstracted, allowing the players to play the game quickly. As I mentioned before, this is a good choice to introduce new players to wargaming.

Components

1 oversized colorful mounted map
300 colorful die-cut counters in four sizes
15 plastic counter stands
1 rulebook
1 extra large box
1 plastic counter tray
1 white six-sided die

Other Games by Frank Chadwick

1815; 1940; 8th Army; Alma; Arctic Front; Assault; Asteroid; Attack in the Ardennes; Avalanche; Azhanti High Lighting; Bar-Lev; Battle for Basra; Battlefield Europe; Beda Fomm; Belter; Blood and Thunder; Bloody Cassino; Bloody Kasserine; Boots & Saddles; Bundeswehr; Case White; Chieftain; Citadel; Crimea; Drang Nach Osten; the Fall of Tobruk; Great Patriotic War; A House Divided; Kasserine Pass; Battle of Lobositz; Battle for Moscow; Narvik; Operation Crusader; Operation Market Garden; Overlord; Persian Gulf; Phase Line Smash; Battle of Prague; Race for Tunis; Red Empire; Road to the Rhine; Sands of War; Soldier King; Southern Front; Space 1889: Sky Galleons of Mars; Spain & Portugal; Stand & Die; Suez ’73; Tacforce; Team Yankee; Third World War; Torgau; Trenchfoot; Unentshieden; White Death.