From: "Mr. Scott Hannon" <hannon@UMBC.EDU>
re:  GDW's _Citadel_ (Dien Bien Phu)

>>Is this really considered a monster game? It only has two
maps and less than
>>800 counters!
>>Joe

Right...480 counters I think, although most of them are in
play at the same time. Given the 2 maps and large number of turns, I
consider it a mini-monster.

I also think it's one of the best games I've ever played.
BTW, what did your house rules & extra chrome deal with?

>     Okay, the first few posts were interesting but now I'm
curious. Can you
>give us a capsule summary of the game and review it here?
>...graphics

Typical late 1970's GDW...generally muted map colors (light
green woods, brown hills, blue streams, and white "clear" hexes).
Certainly not up to todays more flashy standards, but still acceptable. 
The counters were quite nice, at least the French....gray legionaires, 
tan colonials, blue French. And a sea of red Vietminh.

>...historical value

Quite good. The OoB seems to have been lifted from the
appendix of Bernard Fall's book. The map is a bit questionable in spots,
but is probably a case of "make it fit the hex grid". In terms of
game system, well, it has some strange rules, but the game was
obviously playtested enough such that apparent weaknesses are not
readily exploitable. Overall, I'd say it works well unless one
deliberately tries to finess the game (in which case imposing a few house
rules may be necessary).

>...speed of play

In the campaign game, the first few turns take a couple
hours, as a lot of action will occur (few casualties, everyone has a lot of
ammo, and a major assault in the works....lots of action!). After  a few
turns, things settle down into a cycle of a string of turns where
not much happens followed by a couple turns where major assaults are
attempted. Hmmm, an average turn might be somewhere around 45 minutes,
with most turns half or double that.

>...number and duration of turns
>Eric Wignall
Wignall@Exodus.Valpo.Edu

It's a tactical-operation scale game with 285 meter hexes
(?) and daily turns. Units are mostly companies/batteries and Vietminh
infantry battalions. Historically it was a 56 day seige. There are
scenarios of just a few turns, but the main game is the campaign, and it
is likely to last somewhere around as long as the historical battle (the
supply rules more or less force it).

As the game deals with a seige and involves a lot of waiting
around and gather supplies, it probably won't appeal to gamers who want
fast mobile action. The decisive element of the design is logistics, and
game play involves a moderate amount of tracking the quantity of
various types of ammo. The important decisions are: what do I attack/defend?
and how strongly? and can I afford it? No fancy maneuvers or magic
combined arms stacks.

Scott.
Scott Hannon, Wed May 31 1995 (hannon@umbc.edu)