Matrix Games

It is 1965 and the US ground war in Vietnam is in full swing. As a US Army commander, wage a counter-insurgency (COIN) war to secure the Ia Drang valley, on the border with Cambodia.

In order to win the Hearts and Minds of the local population you will need to search for and destroy the Vietcong (VC) insurgents, who infiltrate from the Ho Chi Minh trail and destabilize the province by intimidating the locals, laying mines and ambushing your forces.

The insurgents also have a bigger brother, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). This well trained, conventional army have much wider ambitions than the VC, they want to take total control of the valley, a stepping stone to unifying North Vietnam with the South under communist rule.

The NVA conducts operations from across the border, primarily aimed at supporting the insurgency and launching offensives when the time is right.

To carry out your COIN mission, co-ordination of ground troops, special forces, artillery, mechanized units, training of local forces (ARVN) and airmobile assets is essential, but of greater consequence is winning the support of the local population. With greater co-operation from the local inhabitants comes the reward of intelligence, a key factor in COIN warfare.

The war is not fought in isolation, so as the commander of the US forces, you will have the added complexity of managing the support for the war back home, should you the lose the Hearts and Minds of the American people, the war will also be surely lost.

This is a game that captures the true essence of the Vietnam War, where airmobile operations are paramount, fire support bases play a critical role and air strikes can save the day.

Rise through the ranks and watch your personalized uniform transform from a junior Lieutenant to General as you relive the Vietnam War.

 “Enjoying a game that captures the challenges of counter-insurgency operations and the character of the Vietnam War better than any title I can think of”.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun March 2014

• Hearts and Minds victory conditions
• Political support model
• Full range of US units including transport helicopters, APC’s, armor, Gunships, Engineers etc
• Firebases and artillery support
• Special Forces operations (Green Berets)
• Operational intelligence map
• Training of South Vietnamese Army (ARVN)
• Napalm strikes
• Medevacs and in field repairs
• Minesweeping and ambushes
• Full logistical model
• Road and base construction
• NVA offensives

Grogheads Preview
"Nonetheless, as a game of Search and Destroy operations in the Vietnam war I thought it captured the broad idea reasonably well."

Armchair General Review
85% - "Ultimately Vietnam 65 is a fun and engrossing wargame with good re-playability and a high return on investment for your gaming dollar."

Warfare History Network Features Article
"Coordinating troop movements, supply routes and public relations with both the locals and the folks back home is quite a lot to put into one game"

Preview from Games.cz