The Vinh Raid 2026

The Vinh Raid is a counterfactual historical wargame based on a real U.S. Marine operational plan from February 1971. During Lam Son 719, two rifle companies of Battalion Landing Team 3/9 were prepared to fly into North Vietnam, seize Vinh airfield, demolish its facilities, and withdraw within twenty-four hours. The force rehearsed the mission, but the order to cross the coast never came. The game begins as if it had.

The Vinh Raid is a small-footprint solitaire area-movement game played across four linked areas: Beach, LZ, Perimeter, and Airfield. The Marine player controls two rifle companies, each normally conducting one operation per turn. Combat uses an odds-based CRT with column shifts for supporting arms, surprise, disruption, and other tactical advantages. PAVN strength is uncertain: enemy formations receive hidden strength chits at setup and are revealed through contact, while additional reaction forces arrive and operate according to the game system. A second system tracks Air Engagement, making helicopter movement and Cobra support increasingly dangerous. The central decision is how much force and airpower to commit to wrecking the airfield without taking losses that make extraction impossible or turn a successful raid into a costly failure.

—description from the designer