Three Solo Boardgames

Although I hadn't been playing figure games (until last weekend), I had and have been doing some more board wargaming. All of the below are designed for solo play, which is a welcome change from managing both sides.

 First, I broke out the venerable Long Range Desert Group. It's a game I have played maybe a dozen times. Every time I find the victory conditions annoying - this time, I did not get enough kills to win, despite capturing the objectives.

Enemy Coast Ahead: The Doolittle Raid has been played before as well. I'm still playing the six starter scenarios that only make use of the attack maps. I have yet to branch into any of the approach or planning stuff. These mini games are fun though and a narrative develops naturally - pictured below we see a Zero has latched onto Doolittle. Thankfully, the pilot was a terrible shot, and Doolittle managed to shake the Japanese fighter over Yokosuka, before turning for China.

The latest and currently on the table is Pavlov's House. The board has three sections  for different levels of the action. It feels both personal - the Soviet counters have names and in most cases, photos, of the defenders  - and operational as you decide whether to send supplies to the defenders or setup anti-aircraft guns to prevent further destruction of your communications or supply barges, for example.

This is my first full-length game after playing a few trial turns the other day.

My defenders are in good spirits, despite one comrade becoming the victim of a German sniper,  but the German attacks have begun to intensify. Unfortunately, my machine gunners are apparently blind. On the plus side, my anti-tank crews are some of the best the Red Army has ever trained, at least when it comes to knocking out Pz II's and III's.

Thank goodness I bought the card table!

The game is not at all complicated and turns play quickly. The rulebook is mercifully well written and is clearly designed for use during play. There are three handy reference cards as well (not pictured) that are useful once you know mechanics of various actions. I'm not quite there yet for everything but the included page number references on the cards means I don't have to flip through the book to find the info I need.

Of course, as miniature gamer I can't help but look at these games as useful fodder for  toy soldier scenarios or campaign generators as well, but that's a thought for another post.