Wargame Vault

Greetings Grognards!

Sometimes, especially during the Summer, it's hard to get your wargaming buddies together to have a game night. The weather is great, lots of things for folks to do, the kids have games to play outside, etc., etc. But you want to roll some dice! Worry not dear Grog, we have the answer for you. Solitaire games!

This newsletter features games that are either intended to be played solitaire or are easily converted to play alone when your buds are busy. This is just a sampling of our single-player titles, look around the site and you'll find many more.

Till next time, good gaming to everyone, and watch your flanks!

~ Steve

Lone Sherman: A Solitaire Wargame

Lone Sherman puts you in charge of a single Sherman Tank and its crew somewhere in France in World War II, and tasks you with navigating your Sherman through varied and challenging Missions. Whilst this game is not a ‘narrative driven’ game as such, with a little imagination it will provide memorable stories. The Missions allow the Player to invent any kind of back-story they like in order to enhance the feel of the game. Some events are randomly generated, but the Player always has at least some degree of control over the level of risk they wish to take and how vulnerable they leave their Tank to these Events.

The aim of this gameis to present a clear, accessible, and quick to learn game, so that players can get into the action quickly. Each of the 11 Missions can be played in around an hour, although sometimes a Mission will last a much shorter time if your Tank is destroyed! Each Mission provides plenty of replayability due to the random set up of the initial forces and the many Events and decisions in the game.

This game is a solitaire hex and counter style wargame. You play the game, and the enemy is controlled by the game. You will need to bring at least 5, but preferably 7, standard six-sided dice. Full colour 'Mission Maps' are included.

Complexity: 3/5
Players: 1
Time: 60 minutes per Mission (average)

Gunfight at O.K. Corral, Advanced Edition

GUNFIGHT AT OK CORRAL, SOLITAIRE OLD WEST GUNFIGHT GAME, ADVANCED ED. simulates the most famous gunfight in the Old West, when the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday dispatched the Clanton-McLaury gang in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, in 1881, and many more gunfighters from the Old West. This solitaire game allows you stand in the boots of the participants (you play the lawmen, the system handles the outlaws) during this “30 shots in 30 seconds” encounter in history. The individual men are rated in variety of categories (gun speed, accuracy, experience, etc.) so the stage is set as you walk shoulder-to-shoulder down Fremont Street… toward destiny. This new edition adds many fully rated gunfighter counters (42 overall), so you can recreate a myriad of historical or design-your-own encounters with famous men like Billy the Kid, Bat Masterson, Tom Horn, John Wesley Hardin, Wild Bill Hickock, the Sundance Kid, Pat Garrett, Ned Christie, and many more, lawmen and outlaws alike. All using the same game system included in the 1st edition of the game.

This Advanced Edition expands on the original by adding several new optional rules, new scenarios (saloon shootouts, High Noon encounters, ambushes), 30 new historical Old West gunfighters, and a special Fantasy Supplement which brings many heroes from television westerns to life, all rated to integrate within the regular historical game, with everything presented in professional book format for the first time. Though designed as a solo game, you can easily play with two players.

While this new edition retains the same game system as the original, much more has been added. You are now presented with 42 historical, fully rated gunfighter counters, game markers, several new advanced optional rules, several new scenarios, game log sheets, plus 18 gunfighter counters from television's golden age of the 60s (McCain, the Barkleys, Dillon, West, the Cartwrights, etc.) including special rules for their use, not to mention over 20 rated, generic "townspeople" counters (banker, farmer, bartender, gambler, etc.) so you can populate your own scenarios with bystanders.

If you enjoyed the 1st ed. of this game, you will be sure to appreciate what's been added to this Advanced version. If you are new to the game and are a fan of tactical, old west shootouts, you will enjoy what the game has to offer.

GUNFIGHT AT O.K. CORRAL, ADVANCED ED. stands within the long line of highly playable, historically authentic games from Minden, and is available here in PDF format. Designer: Gary Graber. Publisher: Minden Games.

Close Quarter Battle

CLOSE QUARTER BATTLE® is a fast-paced, cinematic, action-packed tabletop wargame set in the modern era. Highly trained operatives are hired to conduct deniable military operations against drug cartels and their allies in crime.

Play an elite fireteam of operatives sent on missions that only the best of the best can hope to complete. Or, control the cartel opposition, while acting as a judge and setting the scene of a narrative campaign.

The Rules: Quick-to-learn rules, presented as core rules and advanced rules, ensuring you will get your models onto the battlefield as quickly as possible. Core rules are easily remembered while advanced rules can be referred to as needed. The presentation of the Close Quarter Battle – War on Drugs rulebook focuses on the Drug Wars, BUT! You can easily adapt these rules to any modern conflict.

-100page, full colour

-Two campaigns totalling 15 missions, to test your skills against the drug cartels

-Advice on how to judge a game

-Quick-reference tables

-Solo-play rules

Mac and Lee

Game design: John Theissen
Map artist: Ilya Kudriashov
Hex number: 66
Duration: 180 minutes
Players: 2
Solitaire Suitability: High
Theme: American Civil War

Mac and Lee is the second game in John Theissen's American Civil War Operational Series. Specific units and their strengths are hidden from your opponent as you perform a tense dance of cat-and-mouse maneuvers. This is especially important when modeling George McClellan’s ill-fated Peninsula Campaign, where doubts about enemy numbers and positions exacerbated the extreme caution that saw the promise of “the young Napoleon” give way over the course of these operations to his reputation as a passive, bewildered commander who was hopelessly outmatched by his Confederate counterparts. If they want to succeed, the Union Player will need to be bolder and more decisive than Mac; the Confederate Player, for their part, must use a skillful mix of maneuver, bluff, and nerve to stymie the enemy’s advance on Richmond. Knowing when to attack and when to hold back, when to run and when to make a stand, are paramount, and as ever, subject to the fortunes of war.

22" x 34" mapsheet
184 counters
8-page series rulebook
12-page module rulebook
2 display sheets
1 double-sided player aid
28 special event cards
1 six-sided die

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Customer Newsletter for 09/03/2023

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