Dien Bien Phu                              
March 13 - May 7, 1954
by Kim Kanger 

"Dien Bien Phu" depicts the decisive battle which took place in a distant jungle valley in northern Vietnam. It was a battle where both sides knew from start would be a final showdown. The French were desperately seeking for an opportunity to bring the Viet Minh main battle force into battle on French terms. Dien Bien Phu was a trap where superior units and weapons would crush the Viet Minh onslaught. Viet Minh felt they could not win the war unless they managed to upgrade their mode of fighting into a full scale war. The French were too strong in the delta but in a distant valley they had gathered almost all their best units without whom France would lose their will to continue. Dien Bien Phu was the place where France would be dealt a crushing defeat.

It was a battle of preparation, assault and reaction. Viet Minh dug approaching trenches before assaulting the French strongpoints. The overwhelmed French defenders were forced to react by throwing reserve battalions into the pyre in order to save their position. The game will depict this chaos and these furious attacks by adopting the open game turn system. During a game turn you will have minor and major assaults, replacements and reinforcements, reaction move, reaction attack and so on. These events took place in no specific order, therefore neither should the phases of the game turn. Both players will play the phases of the game turn by playing cards. Each card is a phase and can be played in any order. You can play the reinforcement while your opponent perhaps plays the assault. It will be crowded, furious and very tense."