FAQs

Middle East is a natural progression for the series. Due to the time span (1948-1985) it provides an excellent opportunity to portray the various battles from the end of the Second World War to near the end of the Cold War. There are many weapon systems portrayed and experiencing the tactical differences in combat between a 1948 battle and a 1973 or 1982 battle makes one eager to experience more.

A lot of thought has gone into the scenarios chosen to be included with the first release. In most cases, they are battles that provided both sides an equal opportunity of victory, regardless of whom actually won the battle. In addition, each of the scenarios attempts to teach the player, or players, a tactical lesson. Of course, these lessons change as the decades progress.

— Jason Petho

Vietnam was actually started before Middle East, but was put to the side due the inherent complexities
found in the Vietnam war that the Campaign Series engine could not cope with at the time. After Middle
East was released, work was resumed and an overhaul to the engine ensued to take into account these vast
complexities of the Conflict in Vietnam, especially one without defined frontlines.

The appeal of the Conflict in Vietnam from a design aspect is the nature of the conflict itself. The
progression of the types of battles, the weapons used and the tactics developed during the time period to
confront the impossible terrain leads to a wide variety of interesting scenarios utilizing many of the new
features that have been built into Vietnam.

A lot of thought has gone into the scenarios chosen to be included with this release. In most cases, they
are battles that provided both sides an equal opportunity of victory, regardless of whom actually won the
battle. In addition, each of the scenarios attempts to teach the player (or players) a tactical lesson. Of
course, these lessons change as the conflict progresses

— Jason Petho

Vietnam initially covers the Vietnam conflict from the French involvement through to the Vietnamese
Civil War to the American involvement to the end of 1967. With over a 100 scenarios included with the
first release, there is ample to keep one actively playing for hundreds and hundreds of hours.

Planned Downloadable Content that will be available in the future that will cover the following:

1. The Final Years – Tet to the Easter Offensive 1968-1972
2. The End of the Road – Vietnam 1973-1975
3. The Laotian Campaign
4. The Conflict in Cambodia
5. The Border War – China and Vietnam 1979
6. The Korean War 1950-1953, likely with some hypotheticals covering a longer era than the historical war itself

— Jason Petho

Good question that has a few answers.

I have been a fan of the series since its inception. I have seen the improvements over the years but most importantly, saw the potential in the series with a competent programmer to take the series further than it has ever been before. That programmer has been found and, quite frankly, he’s a magician.

I have looked and have not found an engine that can do what I wanted it to do without dumbing down the Campaign Series experience. The Campaign Series, in my humble opinion, is similar to chess in the sense that it is very easy to learn but rather difficult to master. That being said, our programmer has taken the experience to a new level, added some additional complexity to ensure that the playing experience will be refreshing and capable of replayability.

The team is intimate with the Campaign Series engine, file structure and design. We were well aware of the limitations and did many things to either remove those limitations and/or and design Middle East for expansion.

— Jason Petho

User Interface: While familiar, the User Interface has been modified and enhanced. It provides each
user the opportunity to set up their game how they wish with only a few clicks. All of the user interface
windows have been upgraded and made more modern. The most important new addition to the User
Interface is the introduction of the Tool Bar Buttons, helping find your way through the buttons easier
through their organization in the categories.

New Zoom levels: There are now nine zoom levels, four 3D and five 2D. The 2D portion of the game
has been increased by two additional zoomed in levels. Similar to Middle East, there is a new 3D zoom
level that improves the legibility of the terrain and the units within.

New Map Graphics: Both 3D and 2D received a facelift. All graphics are new and improved.
Mouse Wheel Zoom: As part of the interface improvements, you can now scroll through the zoom levels
using a mouse equipped with a scroll button.
Improved 2D Graphics and functionality: With the new Zoom levels, improved 2D graphics was a
natural progression.

Thermometers: Thermometers that are useful in 3D modes are also available in 2D.

Extensive OOB’s: Similar to The Campaign Series Middle East, there are extensive Order of Battles &
Organizations included with the game. These are ideal for creating your own scenarios and for playing
Randomly Generated Battles. The Order of Battles span two decades for each of the countries that are
included in Vietnam and the various organizational and equipment changes are represented. It is not
complete, but an excellent starting point to continue growing as future UPDATES are released.

Hundreds of Platoons: As the Order of Battles and Organizations continually changed over the decades,
so too did the platoons. Each country has hundreds of unique platoons depicting these variations. Some
are subtle, some are major, but we decided that a one-size-fits-all was not the approach we wanted to
pursue.

Lethality: As the decades progress, so did the efficiency at killing. A number of new weapon systems
were introduced to assist in fighting; Anti-tank weapons, Recoilless Rifles, Anti-tank missiles, artillery,
tanks and other armoured combat vehicles and helicopters.
Night Combat/Day & Night Transitions: Many battles in the Vietnam game are fought during the
transition of day to night, night to day or take place at night. Certain platoons are Night Vision capable,
giving them a distinct advantage during Night Combat.

Helicopters: Helicopters make an appearance progressively as the decades pass. There are three primary
types of helicopters included; reconnaissance, transport and gunships.

Helicopter Resupply: In order to prevent the abuse of helicopter gunships, a new resupply model has
been created that requires the combat helicopters, once they have run out of ammo, to fly back to their
headquarters and land to rearm. Otherwise, all helicopters are required to refuel after a set number of
turns. There is no limit to the refueling, but if a helicopter runs out of fuel it will be forced to the ground
and will unlikely be recovered.

Air Flight Zones: With the implementation of helicopters and their use, four different Air Flight Zones
have been created; Ground, Nap of the Earth, Low and High. Each Zone has advantages and
disadvantages of being in them. While ground combat and movement is still conducted in the Ground
Flight Zone, the three additional zones give the game a 3-dimensional aspect.

Tunnels: In many areas, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese has substantial tunnel networks that they
could rely upon for safety. Many Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units are capable of entering into
Tunnels while only a handful of Free World units can enter them, making them a sanctuary for the Viet
Cong and North Vietnamese. The Free World forces can destroy them from above though, so they are not
impervious!

Air Strikes: Air Strikes perform similarly to The Campaign Series, but they are now attacking in either
the Low or High Flight Zone. That depends on the aircraft and the ordnance package. The Air Zone is
attacks in will determine the level of Anti-aircraft the aircraft receives during its attack run. Air Strikes
that are shot down are counted against your Victory Point total.

Combat Air Support: A brand new Air Strike model the provides you the opportunity to select the best
type of Air Strike for the mission at hand.

AAA Model: Anti-aircraft artillery has been remodeled to accommodate the new Flight Zones.

SAM Model: Not only has Surface to Air Missiles been added, the way the larger batteries operate has
been modified. Batteries are controlled by a guidance radar; if the radar is destroyed, the SAM batteries
will no longer function. Handheld SAM’s are not affected by this system.

SAM Fire Model: SAM Batteries are able to fire at targets in the High Level outside of normal Line of
Sight, as they are radar controlled. If SAM batteries are present, it is recommended to fly in the N or L
Flight Zones.

Recon Reveal: This allows #ReconUnit flagged infantry, vehicles and helicopters the ability to perform
an in-turn reconnaissance.

Adaptive A/I: A new system and encrypted file that modifies dozens of different parameters of the A/I
that will affect game play against the A/I. The parameters are tuned for each nation or side in a scenario
and the values are stored in a new file type. Default values that you may be familiar with in the original
Campaign Series are no longer the case when playing with the Adaptive A/I.

Campaign Series Event Engine: A new system that allows scenario designers to script events in their
scenarios to add more capabilities not seen before in the Campaign Series games. This system uses
programmed lua files to determine what the events are and how they interact with the scenario. All of the
scenarios that are included with Vietnam have a large component of the AI using the Campaign Series
Event Engine where one side is fully scripted, providing an exciting opponent to play against.

Enhanced Fog of War: Extreme Fog of War has been enhanced and modified to be more enhanced than
before. It requires your units to be in the hex to establish sight lines to see where you can shoot. It also
prevents you from seeing where the enemy can see and limits the intelligence gathered during combat.
Additionally, there are Enhanced Spotting and Enhanced Reporting that provides additional Fog of War
elements adding to realism.

Civilians: A necessary unit in the game that changes the flow of combat. While they do not appear inevery scenario, the scenarios they do can be game changers if inappropriately handled. Always take time
to positively identify what you should and should not shoot at. Civilian casualties can rapidly change the
victory conditions in your opponent’s favor if too many are killed over the course of the battle.

Folder Structure: The game folder structure has been heavily reorganized. It is much simpler to find
game files and save game files for PBEM and modifying.

More Elevations: There are 50 elevations to help provide accurate terrain. By means of the ‘.’ hot key,
elevations will display on-map.

Anti-Tank Ditches: New terrain type that limits vehicle movement across hexsides, but still allows
infantry to cross.

Water Transportation: New methodology for unloading and loading water borne craft, allowing for
more options for embarkation and disembarkation of troops. This is especially useful for the Riverine
scenarios.

Infantry Model: A new system for determining defence, assault and soft and hard attack values has been
created. The calculation considers a number of items: number of men, weapon level, technology level,
doctrine level, cohesion level, number of squads and support weapon types

— Jason Petho