Saigon 75

Manufacturer:

Nuts! Publishing

The Vietnam War raged for two decades across the Southeast Asian country, involving its neighbors Laos and Cambodia as well as the Soviet Union, China, and the United Sates. The conflict resulted in a breaking of relations between the Communist superpowers, precipitated a refugee crisis, and caused a generational split in the West. However, direct US involvement in the war ended in 1973. After a brief ceasefire, the corrupt South Vietnamese regime – bolstered by massive aid from the US – fought on alone against the ideologically-drive North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in late 1974, and a failure by the US congress to provide more funds, demoralized the South Vietnamese. Despite superior equipment and numbers of combat troops, the south’s Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) proved unable to halt the rapid loss of most of the country. Finally, in April 1975, the South Vietnamese capital Saigon fell to the NVA.

Saigon 75 is a fast-playing, two-player strategy game with one player controlling the “communist” forces of North Vietnam as well as the Viet Cong (NV player) and the other the “liberal” forces of South Vietnam (SV player). The game is played on a map of the southern part of Vietnam, divided into 20 provinces, as well as an area corresponding to Cambodia, Laos, and North Vietnam.

The game takes place over a maximum of 8 turns, each representing a season of three months. The aim of the NV player is to take control of Saigon province, while the SV player wins by retaining control of Saigon at the end of turn 8. Every turn, each player must play an Event card from their hand. The number of units a player may move and/or attack with is determined by a die roll. Combat is resolved by each player rolling their Battle Dice, which determine the number of casualties taken by the enemy as well as retreating units.

The game is highly asymmetrical, with the NV player having more activations, a higher proportion of favorable events, and the ability to launch attacks across a wide front, while the SV player benefits from air support, and paratroop and mechanized units. A dedicated solo mode uses a deck of solo cards to enable a single SV player to take on an automated NV opponent.

Ages: 14+
Players: 1-2
Game Length: 60 minutes