No Trumpets, No Drums is a game of the war in Vietnam. Two players or teams representing the Communist states and guerrilla armies of Southeast Asia and the pro-Western and neutral states and forces of that region and their American allies combat each other in a political and military duel for control over Indochina.

The players maneuver divisions, brigades, regiments and guerrilla bands and their supporting air, naval and artillery units in conventional and insurgent war situations. Combat is often continuous and always bloody, but the core of the game is not merely military success but the political goals that lie beyond such success.

Both players make military and political decisions to shape their war strategies, competing against each other for martial dominance of the countryside and for the hearts and minds of the population. Careful planning and astute generalship can often be the keys to victory, but even at the moment of triumph the unexpected string of ambushes, a coup in a neutral state or an unfavorable election can reverse the tide.