Harvesting Opium PTO (id:#66813)
(Franc-Tireur #16 ID: FT341)   [next]   [previous]
Dien Bien Phu, French Indochina 1946-04-06 ()
Designer: Lionel Colin
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
FrenchChinese
50%

Overview:

At the beginning of 1946, after the French-Vietnamese Treaty signed on 7th March 1946, the 180 000 Chinese troops occupying the Nord of Vietnam were supposed to go back to China. The French forces reoccupied the country but in some place the Chinese were not willing to leave. Near Dien Bien Phu, the 93rd Division was very busy harvesting opium and didn't obey Tchang Kai Chek orders. Coming from China, the 2500 French of Lepage' s Column, survivor of the French Indochina army destroyed by the Japanese in 1945, approach Dien Bien Phu during the night of the 5-6 April. The Indochinese company of Capitaine Michel act
Attacker: French (16ème Régiment Mixte d'Infanterie Coloniale)
Defender: Chinese (93rd Infantry Division)  
5.5 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: None     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:13.0 D:15.0
AFVs: A:0
AFVs: D:0
Guns: A:0
Mortier de 60 mle 35
D:0
Type 89(j) Heavy-Grenade Launcher

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: PTO, LJ, Exc: Roads exist, Brush: Brush, Mist (E3.32): T1-3, A: Free French (A25.53)
Overlays: X9
Errata (source)
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Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2026-02-14(A) Herve Duval vs In progress
2025-04-21(D) Andy Bagley vs Neil Brunger Chinese win4 hrsReally interesting scenario. When I set up as the Chinese I thought it looked really hard, as the French start close to 4 of the 5 victory buildings they need, with superior forces, and the Chinese setup is quire spread out. But it's a long way through difficult terrain to get the fifth building and it will take the French a bit of time to take the four readily-accessible ones (particularly with concealment creating a bit of deception on their real strength). And the French then have to defend those buildings against the Chinese reinforcements that enter on Turn 3.
So it was a close game that went down to the last turn. In the end, the French couldn't quite make it to that last building, so the Chinese held on.
2024-05-09(D) Patrice Sajkiewicz vs Free French French winI played the scenario another time vs. a different player. I have changed my mind about the scenario, and think it is balanced. I realise I had been too much aggressive on the 1st play, taking too great a risk, leading to handicapping early losses. As a defender, the couple of first turns are a bit limited in action, but things change from turn 3 on where so me interesting options open up.
2024-05-01(A) Patrice Sajkiewicz vs Chinese winI believe the scenario is unbalanced. The Chinese have more troops than the attacker, and the low number of turns forces the French forces to move extremely aggressively. I would suggest to remove the reinforcements on Turn 2 and add 2 extra turns to make it more even.

Beyond these points, I found it nice to play. I am highly interested in everything related to Dien Bien Phu. The scenario offers a nice opportunity to play a light PTO game, with Chinese troops. Very a limited number of turns and troops, the scenario is full of action, and remains fun to play.
View all or balance report
ActionDate
Hutch Modified the overview2026-08-01 14:03:49
Hutch Modified the overview2026-08-01 13:49:48
Hutch Modified the misc. rules2026-07-31 15:38:50
Hutch Modified the overlays2026-07-31 15:36:36
Hutch Modified the Defender's Guns2026-07-31 15:36:13
FileDescriptionUserViews
FT341 Setup File (FT341 Setup File.vsav)VASL SetupBongiovanni1053
(french-redchina.png)Imagehoxson11097
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 7.50Votes: 4
Views: 0
To-Play list count: 0
Estimated Play time: 3.5 hours
Recorded Games: 4
Archive recorded plays:
French1
Chinese2
Drawn:0

ROAR Data: (as of today)
Harvesting Opium
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[A] Chinese 2
[D] Free French 1
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