The Tet Offensive - Some Common Back Ground Material for all Players

It is the night of the 31st January 1968 and the players will find themselves enveloped in one of the defining moments for Vietnam the Tet Offensive. The 1st January for the Vietnamese represents the most important holiday of the year and a 2 day ceasefire had been announced by the NVA and ARVN. This ceasefire was not to hold and the NVA launched a bold attack throughout Vietnam to try and finally defeat the ARVN and their Allies. This is one of the few operations where the communist fighters came out of the jungle to take on the ARVN and Americans in a head on fight.

The city of Huế (pronounced “HughA”) was the former Imperial capital of a united Vietnam and represented a key political centre for the NVA to capture and control. With many Southern political leaders and their staff working and living in the city the target was of prime importance for the North and South. Highway 1 passed through Huế and the city itself was divided by the Perfume River with only 2 bridges connecting the Old Imperial City to the North and the new city suburbs to the South. The old Imperial palace was of national importance and became a hostage in the war between North and South.

Players will take on the roles of the commanders trying to control this important city and they will be free to make decisions as they see fit. The units will be battalion / company level. There is no need to research as the scenario is based upon the battle but will not necessarily accurately reflect the historical reality. The game will be designed to give players an insight to the actual battle and issues faced by the real commanders of the day.

This Map shows where Hue is sited on the Vietnamese coast



The two photos give some idea of the size of the old city and its former role of an Imperial city.



Surrounded by Moats and stone walls up to 8 meters high the city was modelled after the Forbidden City in China. At its centre the Imperial Palace had been home to the Royal Family between 1802 – 1945.



The Game will take place using this area map (Players will have higher resolution map) The squares are 1km Square



There are several key locations on the map.

Camp  Evans at top of master map. (A forward Firebase)
PK17 just down the road from Camp Evans towards Hue (An ARVN Base)
HQ 1st Div top right of Hue City (Location of General Truong in Hue)
1st Div Training Cntr bottom left out side Hue city (ARVN Training Area)
MACV – US Advisor's just the other side of the River from Hue
Tam Thai on road South of Hue - (An ARVN Base)
Phu Bai This is bottom of map on right - (USMC Main HQ)

Walter Cronkite famously visited Hue in the middle of the battle, then went back to the states and just 10 days later made his historic "quagmire" broadcast, which has been thought of as a turning point in the war. So, just wondering, will he be represented in the game? We NVA might want to cease fire while he's around. ... And the US/ARVN might try to frag ol' Walter.