The board game Purple Haze explores combat scenarios from the Vietnam War

Phalanx Games, editor of Martin Wallaces Rocket men and the complex U-Boot: The board game, focuses on the Vietnam War. His next title is called Purple mist, and it goes live on the Gamefound crowdfunding platform on January 25th.

Purple mist promises to offer single-player and cooperative exploration in addition to small arms combat in a format that is most similar to a light roleplaying game. Polygon got a quick demo back in December, and while it’s not quite as complicated as the publisher’s other offerings, it certainly sounds like an interesting premise.

Although it’s not a purely historical game Purple mist will reflect real events in Vietnam from September 1967 to spring 1968, according to Phalanx. This time includes the Tet Offensive, a massive coordinated attack by the North Vietnamese on urban areas, and a particularly dark time for the US Marine Corps. The players take on the role of a squad of rookie entrepreneurs fresh off the boat from the States. Eight linked missions are included in the base game, and Phalanx tells Polygon that an expansion can also be pre-ordered during the crowdfunding campaign.

Driving Action is a mission booklet that helps players navigate a branching storyline. Purple mist will rely on a simple system of keywords to record player progress. Complete a specific objective, write down a specific keyword as a reward, and use that word later to circumvent, improve, or otherwise customize the challenges your squad is facing.

The base game features over 20 different fictional US Marines, each with a range of RPG-style stats – survivability, charisma, perception, intelligence, and willpower. Marines can be upgraded with experience points between missions, and they can also gain specializations over time, including roles like scout and sniper. Character deaths are possible, and while physical damage can be healed to a certain point, psychological damage remains, reflecting the grueling effects of Jungle Warfare.

Image: Phalanx Games

Components include replicas of actual U.S. military topographic maps, each of which requires players to navigate through a grid. Combat is dice driven, with players throwing the dice for the enemy and then rolling the dice to defeat them. Each battle is represented by a large map that shows the view of the battlefield from the perspective of the commander of the naval unit. Multiple targets will be displayed and it will be up to the players to aim their fire at specific targets upon first contact.

The game tracks the time of day, level of fatigue, and the level of attention the unit pays to itself based on their pace of movement and the locations they traverse. Build up enough threat and combat encounters will show up in a short amount of time.

Image: Phalanx Games

All of this may sound pretty complex, but it’s actually a much simpler game than others in the Phalanx library. Submarine, for example, contained a 3D submarine with cut sides and a mobile app to simulate with the periscope.

Phalanx’s campaign is one of the first high profile crowdfunding projects this year to launch on Gamefound, a platform tailored to the needs of tabletop developers and publishers. Many board game designers and publishers have shown renewed interest in Gamefound after Kickstarter announced it would take over Blockchain technology go forward.