Solo games - Ambush, Patton's Best, Up Front
Will Scarvie
Hello folks,
I'm interested in trying a solitaire, WWII, small unit board game.
I know of three so far: Ambush! (Victory Games), Patton's Best (Avalon
Hill) and the solo version of Up Front (rules apparently in the
Japanese module, Avalon Hill).
If anyone has any recommendations among these three, or others, please
let me know. What did you like/dislike about these games?
Thanks in advance,
Will Scarvie
wi...@vivaldi.saic.com
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Ken
Will Scarvie wrote:
> I'm interested in trying a solitaire, WWII, small unit board game.
> I know of three so far: Ambush! (Victory Games), Patton's Best (Avalon
> Hill) and the solo version of Up Front (rules apparently in the
> Japanese module, Avalon Hill).
>
Also look into Raid on St. Nazaire and London's Burning by AH; they're
both nail-biters!
> If anyone has any recommendations among these three, or others, please
> let me know. What did you like/dislike about these games?
>
Up Front...mostly because the game system has a wonderful fog of war.
The solo rules in Banzai! are pretty common sense. The Up Front web
site has a set of solo rules which work for static defense-type battles,
and can work for battles with more maneuver with a little bit of
tinkering.
I won't go into everything about UF; there were some posts a few weeks
back that covered it pretty nicely, and in considerable detail. A
little research at DejaNews should turn it up...one post, in particular
(can't remember the author) detailed the mechanics and pros and cons of
the game.
I haven't tried Patton's Best, but I have the General magazine which
spotlights it; it looks like a great game, and one I intend to look
into, as well...like UF, it looks like the "character identification" is
strong, as you generate your crew at the start of a campaign in a manner
similar (but more simply) than an RPG.
Hope this helps a little.
Ken Rutsky
Lawrence Lopez
You can't forget AH's "B17." It's also a nail-biter, well-worth the
price. I also have a game called "Eastern Front Solitaire." I've
never played, but hear it's very good.
I've managed to get incredible enjoyment out of playing AH's
"Breakout: Normandy" solitaire. While designed as a two-player game,
BKN really has the workings of a well-paced solitaire system, better
than others I've played.
-Lawrence
J. Hunter Johnson
Will Scarvie <wi...@vivaldi.saic.com> wrote:
> I'm interested in trying a solitaire, WWII, small unit board game.
> I know of three so far: Ambush! (Victory Games), Patton's Best
> (Avalon Hill) and the solo version of Up Front (rules apparently in
> the Japanese module, Avalon Hill).
> If anyone has any recommendations among these three, or others,
> please let me know. What did you like/dislike about these games?
I'd disrecommend Up Front (one of my favorite games) for solo play, at
least with the rules from Banzai. Here's the gist of the Banzai
solitaire rules: play both sides to the best of your ability. There
are one or two other rules, but that's the main one. Bleah.
Now, the Up Front fanzine Relative Range ran a set of decent solitaire
rules for Up Front, if you can find their back issues anywhere.
I haven't played Ambush! or Patton's Best.
Hunter
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Martin Pecheur
> I haven't tried Patton's Best, but I have the General magazine which
> spotlights it; it looks like a great game, and one I intend to look
> into, as well...like UF, it looks like the "character identification" is
> strong, as you generate your crew at the start of a campaign in a manner
> similar (but more simply) than an RPG.
>
I have Patton's best. It is interesting seen on the RPG side but the
tactical is drown in too much charts. Maybe it's me, but I think they
should have supplied the game with a load of aspirin either.
But if you are confortable with charts you would never learn (and alway
need to refer to), it is a nice game to play.
One more thing, your tank is pretty realistic but your squad suck and
sometime you'd like them to be killed early in the morning to play
quietly after.
('_')
--
Well, whatever...
RRI1
>I'd disrecommend Up Front (one of my favorite games) for solo play, at
>least with the rules from Banzai. Here's the gist of the Banzai
>solitaire rules: play both sides to the best of your ability. There
>are one or two other rules, but that's the main one. Bleah.
Which is how you play every other two sided game solitaire. (To be
honest, I don't like doing that either.) Actually I like Upfront better
than most other wargames for playing solitaire as the rules specify
leaving the newly drawn cards face down, so there is some uncertainty
lacking in many other games.
>Now, the Up Front fanzine Relative Range ran a set of decent solitaire
>rules for Up Front, if you can find their back issues anywhere.
Which basically forced particular plays by the defender in a set priority.
It still doesn't provide a good solitaire opponent, but it is a nice
effort.
Check out the Upfront Website (Link from Web Grognards:
www.grognard.com)
I don't know if that issue is on the web (they are intentionally 1 year
behind), but Mike Nagel (the publisher) sells back issues for $2 each and
his address is there.
But if REALLY want to play Upfront, you need another player.
As for Ambush, it uses a paragraph system. Basically you move members of
your squad around the board free form, checking in each hex to see if your
forced to reveal any enemy units/snipers/etc. once enemies are on the
board, then the game goes to a turn based format. Not infinitely
replayable, but not too bad if you like solitaire games. And there are
several additional expansions including Leatherneck for Pacific island
fighting.
Haven't played Patton's best, so I can't comment.
Other ideas in volving ground based WW2 combat:
- Raid on St. Nazaire (AH): A simulation of a commando raid on a naval
base in occupied France in 1942. Somewhat dicey. Can be very frustrating,
but a good simulation of the raid.
- Solitraire ASL: If you play ASL already, it might be worth a look. If
you don't (and I don't), forget it.
Richard Irving rr...@aol.com
Made with recycled electrons!
J. Hunter Johnson
RRI1 <rr...@aol.com> wrote:
>> I'd disrecommend Up Front (one of my favorite games) for solo play,
>> at least with the rules from Banzai. Here's the gist of the Banzai
>> solitaire rules: play both sides to the best of your ability.
>> There are one or two other rules, but that's the main one. Bleah.
> Which is how you play every other two sided game solitaire. (To be
> honest, I don't like doing that either.)
Well, the original poster didn't specify that he wanted to play a
two-player game solitaire, but that he want a good solitaire game.
Which Up Front ain't. :-) But at least we agree.
Is this really how all other wargames pretend to be suitable for
solitaire play? I'm glad I haven't bought any of them for that
purpose then. Blackbeard wasn't like this, was it? Is Peloponnesian
War like this?
Bill Tricomi
>Is this really how all other wargames pretend to be suitable for
>solitaire play? I'm glad I haven't bought any of them for that
>purpose then. Blackbeard wasn't like this, was it? Is Peloponnesian
>War like this?
>
>Hunter
Oh no! Those solitaire games of Ambush and Patton's Best are completely
for one player. Most of the game's intricate rules is for establishing the
"artificial intelligence" of the game. Patton's Best takes an easy way out in that
it's designed as a set of randomly determined encounters which then use a
set of strictly ordered game routines for determining the action.
Ambush is much more involved, in that you move your 8-man squad onto a board
and have to determine what happens by referring to a paragraph booklet as you
move from hex-to-hex. Ambush is a set of orchestrated scenarios, and may suffer
as a result from low replay value unless you 1) put the game away for a couple of
years until you forget the details of each scenario; or 2) buy the expansion sets,
which are designed to have a variety of responses, depending on what activities
your pieces set into motion.
It's hard for the system to cover every eventuality of course. I remember one scenario
in which one of my soldiers moved circuitously, stepped over a ridge line...
and suddenly found himself standing on top of a jagdpanther. Guess the designers
never considered the route of approach "I" took.
But..Ahh.. the assault on the German naval base, where half my squad was taken out
by the guard dogs, but the remaining 4 men still KICKED BUTT...now that brings
back fond memories...
Did I mention I liked the Ambush series of games? :-)
M.Rapier
In article <33B86C...@albany.net>, long...@albany.net says...
>Will Scarvie wrote:
>> I'm interested in trying a solitaire, WWII, small unit board game.
>> I know of three so far: Ambush! (Victory Games), Patton's Best (Avalon
>> Hill) and the solo version of Up Front (rules apparently in the
>> Japanese module, Avalon Hill).
>both nail-biters!
>> If anyone has any recommendations among these three, or others, please
>> let me know. What did you like/dislike about these games?
>Up Front...mostly because the game system has a wonderful fog of war.
>The solo rules in Banzai! are pretty common sense. The Up Front web
>site has a set of solo rules which work for static defense-type battles,
>and can work for battles with more maneuver with a little bit of
>tinkering.
It isn't a solo game though, you might as well say Squad Leader, Panzer
leader, Panzer Blitz etc are solo games too - in fact they are probably better
as the fog of war is not so great in them.
>I haven't tried Patton's Best, but I have the General magazine which
>spotlights it; it looks like a great game, and one I intend to look
>into, as well...like UF, it looks like the "character identification" is
>strong, as you generate your crew at the start of a campaign in a manner
>similar (but more simply) than an RPG.
Pattons Best is great fun, though as in all games of this genre, heavily luck
dependant - it combines very tactical (ie what each crew member of the tank is
doing) with operational (route that your tank battalion takes, use of air
support, artillery etc) and a campaign (replacements, medals etc). It is
great, I especially like the way that _all_ German tanks are Tigers until you
spot them properly (when they usually turn into some junk like a Marder II).
The only slight wierdness is that you ability to complete the missions is
heavily dependant on the amount of daylight, so they are dead easy in summer,
and a right stinker in winter.
Ambush is also great fun - I played it with all its expansion kits for years.
You have a 'squad' who have to perform various missions, and the Germans have
varying setups and responses. For a squad level game it works very well, but
some of the missions to descend into 'Where Eagles dare' type silliness -
although they are great fun, with all sorts of wierd stuff happening, the
attack on the E-Boat base I remember as being a great laugh. Trying to stop
the Panzers with hand grenades dropped in the turret is also quite a challenge
(but you get quite good at it after a bit). The identification with each sqaud
member is very strong, and there was a General issue with stats for the
British, as well as extra toys like Bren guns, flamethrowers etc.
In an old copy of the General is a solo play version of Tobruk that works
well, but I can't remember which one, and someone even wrote a computer assist
program that plays one side (you still have to push the counters around;).
For higher level stuff I've heard very good things about B17 - I'm sure I've
seen some stuff on the web where people play this in teams launching huge
bombing missions. I also enjoyed Mosbys Raiders, though it got a bit samey
after a while.
East Front Solitaire is great, the only drawback is the lack of scenarios - if
only they'd taken the time to do some setups for e.g. the prelude to
Stalingrad, Kursk. Destruction of Army Group Centre etc. The game system is
very innovative, and the system controlled Russians can give you a very good
run for your money. As it is zone based, it is also very suitable as a
framework for a wargames campaign. I've seen this one sitting on the second
hand shelves in various game shops, so some people must dislike it.
Cheers.
Martin.
Cheers.
Martin.
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