Fire in the Lake

Volume IV in the Series: COIN (GMT) dives headlong into the momentous and complex battle for South Vietnam. A unique multi-faction treatment of the Vietnam War, Fire in the Lake will take players on US heliborne sweeps of the jungle and Communist infiltration of the South, and into inter-allied conferences, Saigon politics, interdiction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, air defense of Northern infrastructure, graduated escalation, and media war. Fire in the Lake features the same card-assisted counterinsurgency game system as GMT's Andean Abyss, Cuba Libre, and A Distant Plain, with twists that take the Series to another level, including: Pivotal events that trump initiative (Tet Offensive, Vietnamization, Easter Offensive, and Linebacker II) Inter-coup campaign effects that vary by RVN leader Counterinsurgent guerrillas (US-led Irregulars and ARVN Rangers) Insurgent troops (NVA) for direct force-on-force engagements Tunneled VC and NVA bases Trail construction and degradation A larger-than-ever event deck for even greater play variety Short and medium-length scenarios with either random or period-event options -- description from publisher

{
  "game_id": 144189,
  "name": "Fire in the Lake",
  "core_verb": "choose faction action on card",
  "decision_shape": "mixed:combinatorial+social",
  "reward_schedule": "delayed",
  "aesthetics": [
    "Challenge",
    "Narrative",
    "Submission"
  ],
  "core_loop_pitch": "On each event card pick one of four asymmetric faction operations to shift territory, support, and patience meters.",
  "mobile_translation_difficulty": "Hard",
  "translation_difficulty_reason": "Four asymmetric factions with non-zero-sum politics and a 3+ hour arc fight phone session length; bot AIs exist on paper but are heavy.",
  "direct_digital_port": null,
  "direct_digital_port_kind": null,
  "closest_loop_translation": "none yet",
  "primitive_tags": [
    "asymmetric_faction_operations",
    "eligibility_rotation_gating",
    "event_card_dual_use",
    "territory_support_meters",
    "non_zero_sum_alliance_tension"
  ],
  "confidence": 0.6
}