Starting situation
Turn 1 : Assault on Gabrielle and Beatrice
Gabrielle :
Effective artillery preparation, and a complete encirclement of the position.
The Thai auxiliaries are sent on reconnaissance to prepare a counter attack.
The 308th gained a foothold in the strongpoint.
The 8 BPC counter-attacked and asked the RTA to prepare an exit.
The road was reopened. The strongpoint was not evacuated
Béatrice
Again, powerful artillery preparation and mass attack of the 312 with the aim of isolating the defenders.
The legion took many losses in the fighting
It was the BEP that took charge of the counter-attack
Here too, the road is reopened ! But the 3/13 is judged too weak to hold the position
Beatrice is abandoned
Turn 2
The 308th division has been joined by elements of the 316 to seal off a perimeter around Gabrielle...
BEP and BPC launch a counter attack in force to free the RTA skirmishers
But the Viet trenches are now deep ... and the counter attack fails .
The whole 5/7 RTA had to lay down its arms
The defensive perimeter of DBP is reorganized :
Turn 3
While Anne Marie was being attacked by the 308th, the 312th took the Dominique outpost. Again the paratroopers' counter-attack failed .
The VM trenches are advancing ... but good news, half of the Bawouan arrive on the area
Turn 6
point at the beginning of the turn :
During the last 2 turns, the 312th and 316th divisions have harassed the eastern hills .
The fictitious and Mont Chauve have fallen, as well as part of Dominique 2.
The BPVN is set to defend these strong points. .
logistic point :
Tour 8
As expected, the Huguettes suffered a violent assault from the 308.
At first, the support points were effective in defence, but they were almost submerged. Hanoi reacts and drops the 6 BPC which counterattacks hardly on the ground. The colonials pass on the belly of the 308 which saw itself triumphant, unblocks the legion and takes its place in the hand-to-hand combat...
On the eastern hills, the assault was also general and the positions were nibbled away. The BEP's counter-attack on Eliane 2 failed.
Problem: the ammunition bunkers of the entrenched camp are almost empty...
Turn 9
Terrible battles take place all around the camp.
On the Huguette side, the defenders were able to engage the 6 BPC in Font and beat the 308 severely.
The general assault on the Dominique turns into a bloodbath.
D1 fell but was retaken by Bigeard. The BPVN failed to retake D5, leaving the last defenders of D2 in a difficult position.
But the heavy losses and the lack of real results began to dent the morale of the attackers whose ranks were floating
Turn 10
The 308th and 312th renew their assaults.
The 2/1 RCP is allowed to join the fighting ... but the weather in Indochina turns sour .
D2 falls .
Once again, H7 resists. The BEP relieves Bigeard in the strongpoint.
Turn 11- April 12
This time it is too much for the defenders . The BEP was knocked out by shells and for lack of reinforcements D1 was evacuated...
The defence of the camp seemed very precarious, with supplies becoming increasingly scarce and with no reserves ...
Turn 15 - April 24 Avril - Arrival of the monsoon
The 6 BPC has just lost Huguette 6, the counter attack of the 2nd BEP (just arrived) having failed to deliver it.
In Huguette 1, attacked by 308 and 312, 2/1 RCP failed to keep control and also failed to disengage.
The 316 slowly nibbles away at the Eliane...
Turn 19 ( May 6 )
The French defences cracked on all sides. The combat companies were destroyed one after the other and the strong points fell.
But despite the successes, the entrenched camp still seems to hold and the defensive victory is in sight.
The relief forces left from Laos. They suffer heavy losses and drain supplies but they also mobilize VMs.
Tour 20
Eliane2 has finally fallen after weeks of fighting.
The VM launched a series of attacks to try to break through definitively.
But all these attempts without exception are repulsed by the defenders who cling to their last defences.
The battle is lost for the Viets, they give up...
The losses of the French Union forces:
A very nice game , spoiled by a rule error , understood only at the end :
Kim : "The amount of Fuel and Spares that you are allowed to deduct per turn is based on how many trucks you have, not on how many Fuel & Spares you have left."
Pictures from Pierre Schoendoerffer's"Dien Bien Phu" movie and the counters :
