Down through the 50-plus-year history of board wargaming, solitaire wargames have seemed to generate discussion and debate out of all proportion to their number. Many gamers ‘play’ all manner of wargames solo, but games designed specifically for play by a single person have been few and far between in comparison to the total number of game titles published.
The appeal of solitaire games is obvious – for many gamers the opportunity for real face-to-face play is a rare treat. Solo games allow players to move along at their own pace, ponder problems to their heart’s content and experience some of the ‘unknowns’ usually only encountered in FTF play.
Remember when?
My middle-aged memory is a little hazy on the subject, but I believe my first encounter with a solitaire design was SPI’s “Operation Olympic” – a counter-pushing slugfest that covered a hypothetical invasion of Japan. Creditible solo games have long legs, so it’s no surprise I’ve still got that one up in the Closet O’ Games somewhere.
Another memorable solo game from my distant and misspent youth was Victory Game’s “Ambush” and its various follow-ons. The original game for that series also still inhabits the closet, although I’ve shed the add-on modules over the years.
The past couple of years has seen the publication of a virtual barrage of very well-received solitaire game designs. Two of them have even managed to land in the vicinity of the Big Table.
Currently on the table is “D-Day at Omaha Beach” from Decision Games. I’ll say up front that I think this is one of the best-produced packages Decision Games has published in recent memory. Errata is slim to none, rules and aids are well-structured and the large-format counters are simple, attractive and highly readable.
At first glance the game map appears a bit odd with all of the color-coded ‘fire dots’ and German positions, but in play it is a wonder of functionality. Terrain definition is very clear, the large hex-grid is easy to use and all of the color-coding turns out to be extremely practical.
Designer John Butterfield is highly-regarded in the gaming industry, and this game certainly serves to enhance his reputation. While I have not yet tackled the ‘advanced’ game – Turn 17 and beyond when the action moves inland – the basic game flows smoothly and plays quickly. The core system is really not very complex. “D-Day at Omaha Beach” also pulls off a 1-2 combination that many games – solitaire or multi-player – fail to achieve: It creates a strong game narrative without feeling scripted or otherwise straight-jacketed.
Into the South Atlantic...
In the on-deck circle is the newest addition to the Closet O’ Games, “Where There Is Discord” from Fifth Column Games in the UK. Designed by Daniel Hodges with graphics by Mark Mahaffey, WTID is undeniably one of the best-looking games in my collection. Component quality rivals anything I’ve seen from much larger publishers like Fantasy Flight Games. Large, “euro” style counters, mounted map board. In organization, the rules closely follow the sequence of play – although with another game on the table I’ve just barely started to crack into them.
After I get my fill of D-Day, this game will hit the Big Table very quickly. I’m a part-time naval game geek anyway, but the Falklands War has always been a particular interest. Although very limited in scope, it was ‘the’ modern combined-arms conflict to watch (and then study) during my distant and misspent youth.
Since the early 80s, I’ve had the good fortune to either speak with or interview several men who served in the conflict. I spoke at some length with an air operations officer from HMS Hermes, encountered at a three-day US Naval Institute seminar in Pensacola. Next was a former Royal Marine (45 Commando) who I met while tooling around Mayport. And some years later in Orlando I managed to paste on God’s Own Drunk in the company of some Royal Navy divers taking a short leave from their ‘Maritime Survey’ cruise of the Caribbean – one of whom had gone ashore on South Georgia in some un-mentionable capacity (SBS, most likely).
Note: I didn’t glean much information from that last encounter – except that Royal Navy divers can drink a LOT of beer and still keep their keels in the water.
There is certainly a bit of a renaissance of solo games at the moment. If I had any gumption I would write a big blog post in my own blog about this. Matt Kirschenbaum was drawing one kind of distinction between solo games that are played mostly on ‘tracks’ (Discord) and those that are played on hex maps (Olympic).
I would tend to group them by period. All of the below is from memory, so no apologies for omissions.
The old SPI games (Wolfpack, Olympic, Fall of Rome)
The Victory Games/West End Games (Mosby’s Raiders, RAF, Tokyo Express, Carrier, Ambush and descendants)
The interregnum (What notable solo games came out between the end of VG and a few years ago? Miranda put some in S&T, and I’m sure there have been others, but any standouts that people would recogonize by name? Catherine the Great is one that appeared in S&T.)
The modern glut…(RAF II, Fields of Fire, D-Day at Omaha Beach, Discord, the Victory Point Games ones, etc.)
The one I tried from VPG was interesting until after the second play. Once you know the cards it’s like…playing a game of solitaire rather than playing a solo wargame, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, why am I wasting good blog content in your comments section?
Oh, the VPG title was Red Dawn, the one on the Russian Civil War.