From: thornley@giga.cs.umn.edu (David H. Thornley)
Subject: Re: Solitaire Games
Organization: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, CSci dept.
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 17:25:46 GMT

In article <1992Aug20.161735.12314@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> eam3@po.CWRU.Edu (Eric A. Meyer) writes:
>
>In a previous article, cmt11@eng.cam.ac.uk (C. M. Tuerk - MPhil) says:
>
>>[I'd like suitable and challenging solitaire games, particularly
>> with multiple-player versions.]
>
>   I also happen to like Victory Games' "Ambush" series, which also
>includes "Battle Hymn" and a couple of others whose names escape me.
>"Ambush" and "Battle Hymn" are solitaire squad-level combat games set
>in WWII Europe and the Pacific, respectively.  VG has come out with
>at least one other game of this type featuring tank combat and I've
>heard rumors that there will be a solitaire carrier game...
>
VG produced a game called "Shell Shock" which is allegedly two-person
"Ambush", but I never got it so I can't review it.  If memory serves,
"Ambush" was the first game, set in Europe, and had "Silver Star",
"Purple Heart", and one other supplement.  "Battle Hymn" was the later
Marine game, using the same system, and had one supplement, "Leatherneck".
It's a good solitaire system, quick and simple.

VG produced "Open Fire" for tanks, with a similar system, but it's more
cumbersome and the reviews were not as good, claiming the scenarios
were unbalanced.  I never played it, so I can't speak to that.

The carrier game is out, and is fairly good.  It does a good job of
providing reasonable actions for the Japanese without too much work or
revealing the Japanese actions too soon, but you can't outthink it.
You can't put clues together to determine that *this* must be the
carrier force, since it's randomly put together.  It's still a lot of
fun, and includes rules for bringing the Nimitz back in time if you're
feeling too frustrated.

"Ironbottom Sound" is VG's solitaire surface naval game, set, of course,
off Guadalcanal.  The Japanese play fairly well, and any deficiencies
are masked by their devastating torpedoes.  I haven't played this much, so
I can't give you a good review.  It does have two-player rules, unlike
other VG solitaire games.

GMT has produced a couple of fun solitaire games, "Hornet Leader" and
"Thunderbolt/Apache Leader".  In HL, you command a squadron of FA-18
Hornets flying off a carrier, and randomly draw and execute missions.
Works pretty well.  In TAL, you are assigned to a specific section of
front, and select your own missions, which are all to attack enemy
military units.  In this game, both victory and defeat tend to reinforce
each other, so a graduated scale of victory points is not really applicable,
but a graduated scale of campaigns is provided, so you can select from a
wide range of difficulties.  Both are fun and recommended.

As far as AH goes, "B-17" is not very challenging, in that player decisions
are a lot less important than the dice in deciding whether the plane fulfills
the mission, fails, or is shot down.  "Raid on St. Nazaire" is better in this
regard, although some of the initial die rolls are very important, and
a *lot* of victory points ride on one roll at the very end of the game.
"Patton's Best" allows you some command decisions and a lot of tactical
decisions, seeming to provide a combination of tank and company commander.
It is more complex than the above two, however.

West End's "RAF" is a good solitaire game covering the Battle of Britain, in
which the German missions are determined with multiple card draws, and how
much info you can get determines how many cards you draw before committing
yourself to your reaction.

"Republic of Rome", from AH, has solitaire rules but I wouldn't buy the game
primarily to play solitaire.  It is a lot of fun multiplayer.  If you can get
the old SPI game "Empires of the Middle Ages", it's playable solitaire (and
multiplayer play is largely competitive solitaire).

DHT