Bloody Business, A - The Battle of Hue, 1968

Please note that this is a DTP (Desk Top Publishing) game designed on a desktop computer and all components, including the counters which will have to be cut and mounted, are printed on paper. These are designed by some very well-known designers and are a low cost alternative to today's professionally produced games. On rare occasions, some of these games are reproduced by other companies with higher quality components including die-cut counters but most of them are not. If you believe this game to have a professionally produced version, please contact us with your inquiry and we will help you to locate it if it does indeed exist.

The Battle for Hue is an area movement game (no hexes) using two 11 x17" maps, 280 counters, rules. Unique in that the game also uses two decks of regular cards (not supplied). These cards are used to activate various units or random events. The game scale is platoons, 2-6 AFVs. Each turn is two days for a total of 10 game turns. AFVs include M-60 tanks, M-109, Ontos, Katyusha, and M-113. Other units include Cobra gunships, airstrikes, naval. This is not your typical Vietnam game--it is a slugfest in an urban area akin to recent battles in Grozny or those in WW2. The US Marines were hard pressed as they tried to regain areas of the city by a very clever enemy-the NVA.

The NVA caught the US off guard with this city attack and quickly occupied large areas. When the Marines arrived, it was a very bloody business that played well on American TV during the dinner news hour in their favor. Although the NVA would eventually rout or be destroyed, the US paid a heavy price in terms of losses and political reform-1968 was a presidential election year. The Marines won the battle in Vietnam, but it fueled the anti-war movement, which grew to massive demonstrations thoughout the land.