Y’all may know Ralph’s work from other GMT titles such as Operation Dauntless, Blood & Roses, Infidel, and the soon-to-be-published Arquebus. He was a valuable member of the playtesting team, and, below, he describes his experience with the 25th Anniversary Edition of Silver Bayonet.

When I heard Mitchell Land was working with GMT to re-issue Silver Bayonet, I approached him about playtesting the game. I knew Mitch from his Next War series and like his ideas on modern war. Many years ago, I had played the original Silver Bayonet game. It is a good game with a few flaws that kept it from being a great game. As one of the first GMT games, the rules and scenarios were ambiguous at points. The lack of smaller advanced game scenarios kept me from playing anything but the standard game. I just couldn’t convince my opponent to play the 39 turn campaign so we could use all of the cool hidden movement rules and helicopters.

I took those concerns into the playtest of the new game and to Mitch. He had already decided to create some shorter advanced game scenarios, which was excellent news. Mitch had begun the process of tightening up the rules from the 1990 version and had also included some new concepts from later games in the Operational Series like Operation Mercury, such as Attack Coordination. Throughout the playtesting process he added rules and tweaked the existing ones to ensure that they worked to add verisimilitude to the game. I feel the end result, particularly the advanced game rules, recreates the feel of the conflict as described in the books that I have read about the campaign.

The advanced game scenarios showcase the choices and capabilities of the two sides. As the Free World Allies player (US/ARVN), you have unprecedented (at the time) mobility for your units, as well as massive amounts of artillery, helicopter gunships, and air power to defend or attack anywhere you choose. The problem becomes one of finding the enemy, marshalling your assets to destroy him, and hoping he doesn’t slip away from you. As the PAVN (NVA/VC) player, you must concentrate your forces to strike at the objectives you need to win, without getting pushed into fights of the FWA player’s choosing. Moving your ground bound units across the map, using the hidden movement rules, while being harassed by the Air Cavalry, highlights the challenges that must have been faced by the actual NVA commanders at the time.

While the advanced game scenarios allow the system to really shine, the standard game scenarios are still a lot of fun. They can be very tense affairs that come down to desperate fighting over the objectives on the last turn to determine who wins.

Most standard game scenarios can be completed in a single sitting of short to moderate length. The added complexity, well worth it, of the advanced game scenarios make them suitable for a longer session or several shorter ones. Of course, there is still the 39 turn full campaign game for those with the space and the fortitude to take up the challenge.

Overall I am very pleased with the way the new edition of Silver Bayonet turned out. I think it is a fitting tribute both to those who fought in the Ia Drang in 1965 and the game company that spawned from those three games made in 1990.

Author: Ralph Shelton