Citadel: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu

Introduction

Citadel is a two player game of the battle of Dien Bien Phu, March-May, 1954. The French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, and the accompanying destruction of the best elements of the French Union Forces, marked the end of the French colonial rule in Indochina. One player in Citadel assumes the rôle of the French, the other the rôle of the Vietminh. The French must attempt to hold the valley fortress; the Vietminh must take it and in the process destroy the French.

Credits

Publisher: GDW, 1977
Designer: Frank Alan Chadwick
Developer: Doug Poe
Graphics: Paul R. Banner
Each turn represents one day of actual time, and each hexagon covers 200 yards from side to side. The units are from Sections to Battalions.

Components
2 22"x28" maps of the valley with the strongpoints
2 40 die-cut counters on two counter sheets
1 Rules folder
1 Set of four charts (Air Chart; Turn Record Chart; Two Combat Result/Terrain Effects Charts)

Counter Manifest

Vietminh (Black on Red)
38 Infantry Battalions
30 Heavy Weapons Companies
10 Vietminh Regimental Headquarters
21 Artillery Units
12 Antiaircraft Units

French Union
35 French Foreign Legion (Black on Grey)
19 Colonial French(Black on Light Blue)
26 Indochine French (Black on Lt.Brown)
5 Morrocans (White on Dark Brown)
15 Algerians (Black on Dark Brown)
61 Air Army Units (Black on Dark Blue)
15 Air Naval Units (White on Blue)

Player’s Value

Citadel studies in depth the battle of Dien Bien Phu at an operational level. All the clichés you can remember or imagine about this terrific battle are there: powerful units of the French Foreign Legion; Veteran Paratroopers with higher moral; tanks against human waves of Viet Minh; desperate battles at 1 to 50 odds for strongpoints with poetic names like Beatrice, Huguette or Eliane.

At the scale of one day a turn with companies and battalions, the full 55 day battle can be a long affair and the game is truly qualified as a mini monster. Seven smaller scenarios, from half a turn to seven turns long, are provided. They analyse the most interesting phases of the battle in an easier format, and are often playable in one evening.

The mechanics are quite involved and were new for the time. First, the famous infinite movement capability: all units have no specific movement points, and can move as far as they want during a game turn. However, some hexes are classified as vulnerability points depending on the camp, for instance every three clear terrain hexes, roads or rivers. When a unit reaches one of these famous points, the other player’s units can trigger an opportunity fire which often pins and may be quite deadly.

Fire combat involves five firing classes: small arms; recoilless rifles; mortars; howitzers; and heavy machine guns, as well as direct and indirect fire phases. Fire can pin a unit or remove some steps. Units can also use melee combat, which is bloody and decisive, depending on the sheer number and morale of the units, with overruns and counterattacks. The French Foreign Legion, paratroops and tanks are terrific against the human waves of Viet Minh, shifting hopeless odds to more managable ones. The battle is highly attritional in men and ammo.

Every unit possesses steps, from 14 for Viet Minh battalions to 1 for machine gun sections, and each combat removes steps which are very hard to replace. So often, the players must choose when to stop an attack, or retreat from an intenable position. Each fire class except small arms needs ammo to fire, which must be tracked on a specific log and resupplied when necessary. The French use airplanes which must survive flak and target a shrinking perimeter. The Viet Minh must utilize a long road which is vulnerable to bombing by French airpower.

The French possess a significant airforce, but there is still not enough for all the available sorties. There are other rules for Viet Minh trenches, strongpoints, Thai Desertion and the weather. The rules are not overly long, but need practice to be applied correctly.

By current standards, Citadel is an old game: long, demanding, and with a lot of cumbersome rules. Sure, the game is still pleasant to play, but the movement rules and the attrition triggered by the different combats result in long turns with lots to do and watch. The air rules and ammo supply can be a headache to organize and follow.

There are some historical mistakes, like the one I cannot explain: in the game, all Viet Minh regiments have four battalions, which runs contrary to the Communist habit of organization in three battalions. The fourth battalion should be removed from the game according to the real OOB, what would be good news for the French defenders.

To conclude, I’m not sure the full campaign game can work because the losses are so important in each scenario and the ammo consumption so high that I can hardly imagine how to manage the full thing for both camps. I tried most of the scenarios, and they worked, but when I began the campaign game the result was disastrous for the Viet Minh, with excessive losses and critically low levels of ammunition. The game can be fun to play, but primarily with the scenarios.

What the reviewers said:

“This looks, without having had the chance to actually play it, to be a very interesting, innovative and challenging tactical modern warfare game. Devotees of Panzerblitz, et. al. should really enjoy it. Game designers could acquire (steal?) many useful innovations here. Highly recommended to those who don’t mind a fair amount of complexity when it’s well presented and attractively packaged.” Don Lowry in Campaigns 79.

Citadel is not a game that can be played with only a quick skim over the rules. ... Playing and enjoying Citadel is analagous to sipping a fine wine rather than chug-a- lugging it. ... Also included in the rules booklet are information on the eight scenarios (seven operational engagements plus the slugfest Campaign scenario), and perhaps the best Designers Notes I’ve seen yet.” John J. Vanore in F&M 8.

“Citadel does quite a creditable job with Dien Bien Phu. This is because the game presents the dynamics of the battle, perhaps excepting its tank usages, in a strong and forthright way. Indeed, anyone with a desire to recapture the feeling of Dien Bien Phu would be well advised to play Citadel.” John Prados in Moves 33.

Collector’s Value

Two editions have been published, one ziplocked in 1977 and one in a green box with beautiful Rodger MacGowan cover art in 1980. Boone quotes low, high and average prices of 8/65/29.11 at auction and 13/ 60/44.67 for sale, but doesn’t specify for which edition.

Support Material

Being the only game of the battle of Dien Bien Phu for quite some time, the game has been frequently reviewed. Some quick reviews can be found in Campaign 79, F&M 8 and Moves 33. Two full analyses have been provided in Moves 33 (again) and Paper Wars 16. The Grenadier 2 has provided some rules variants. One French in-depth analysis can be found in Casus Belli 11 (1982). Another French article was in Science & Vie 777 (1982).

Other games on the Battle of Dien Bien Phu

Dien Bien Phu (Jeux Descartes); Une Saison en enfer (Vae Victis 33); Vallée de la mort (DTP).

Other games by this designer

Muchos...