I am looking for a solitaire wargame

[Nefaro]

True. I have Shadows of Brimstone too, though to an extent, I do like the live pictures of actors for FanG. It's very cheesy but that's what pulp action is like - cheesy. At least it is to me. The cultists fit into that well, even if you want to ::) a lot while in it.

Hell, I was watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade last night again for the first time in probably 10 years (seen it many times before that, including when it premiered in theaters; it's just been a while since I've seen it). I couldn't help but make some comparisons to this board game. Not many, but some.

FF obviously got inspiration for many of it's games from movies. 

A Touch Of Evil has a lot of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow theme to it, along with other older horror-mystery monster flicks.  Conquest Of Planet Earth has the Mars Attacks and older Pulp Martian movie influences.  You can tell they enjoyed the old B-movie sci-fi & horror genres.

Shadows Of Brimstone was a marked change in habit for them.  Instead of the game being based on moving around and finding clues/treasures in order to win, it's heavily focused on combat and light RPG-style level-ups.  Obviously inspired by the Deadlands Horror-Western RPG and the old Warhammer Quest adventure game.  I wonder if they'll continue to step outside their movie genre themes for future Co-Ops, or return to it.

I'm not as big of a fan of those FF cooperative/solo games as others.  I think the themes are what gets me to play them.  For game mechanics & strategic decision making, I think there are better options for solitaire out there.  That doesn't mean they're not fun, though.

On a side note, I see Tragic has been doing another YT Let's Play series on the Mage Knight Board Game.  I've been avoiding watching it because I'll be forced to break it out and do a solo conquest scenario after doing so.  Got stuff in line for the table before doing that.

[chemkid]

Hi!
Maybe it's time to reconsider getting CoH Awakening the Bear...?
The Solo expansion is shipping and Academy Games did great job on this one, too!

It's so 'Solo'... you'll forget that it's only you and the game!

OK, it's a little on the expensive side if you don't own CoH AtB yet... but I'd recommend it nevertheless!
Cheers!
chem!

[DennisS]

Have you looked at RAF?

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40209/raf-battle-britain-1940

Contains 2 solitaire games RAF: Lion and RAF: Eagle and a 2 player game. Really good operational level air combat game of the Battle of Britain.

I haven't got D-Day at Omaha.... yet....

For sub games there's the Compass Games Silent War or Steel Wolves that are solo.
http://compassgames.com/index.php/military-simulations/silentwar.html
http://compassgames.com/index.php/military-simulations/steel-wolves.html

Quite expensive but I hear good things about them. Rekim here plays Steel Wolves.

I own RAF, love it. Own Silent war. Love it too! Don't have Steel Wolves...kinda scared off by the price.

Thanks for playing!!   O0

[DennisS]

Barth and his digs...lol

I second RAF. Either first or second edition; the 2nd Ed is the one out now but the 1st is just as good IMO. Just in case you find either somewhere, it's a great system and a lot of fun.

I do have D-Day at Omaha and D-Day at Tarawa (hush, Barth), but I've not played either yet. I've read the rules though and there is a lot of replayability. First glance at either of these games will make you choke probably, but once you read the rules, the map makes perfect sense. I've heard nothing but good things about both of these games.

I'd recommend a lot of the product over at Victory Point Games - go check them out and use their Search filter to find their solitaire games. I have Ottoman Sunset (completed an AAR in the forums here), Hapsburg Eclipse (also have an AAR on this, though I'm far behind on it now), Swing States (a great solitaire sim for running for President, if you like political games), Cruel Necessity (a really fun game), and Darkest Night. Check them all out. I have other VPG games, but they're multi-player.

Legion Wargames makes some pretty entertaining stuff, too. I did a review of Picket Duty here for GrogHeads...a solitaire game where you command a destroyer during the Battle of Okinawa and fight off Japanese Kamikazes. They also do a solitaire B-29 Superfortress game and an expansion for it called Hell Over Korea. The B-29 game isn't incredibly fun...it's kind of fidgety when it comes to navigating long distances. The Hell Over Korea expansion is a lot more fun.

Finally, check out Flying Frog. They're a company that make Shadows of Brimstone, which is a solitaire and co-op game (you can play alone or play with multiple folks) with horror elements. Also, they make Fortune and Glory, a terrific game that can also be played solitaire or with multiple players.

Cruel Necessity has always looked interesting. I should have remembered this as an option. Ricky Royal has an excellent let's play on youtube.

I will look at Flying Frog. No experience with them. Good stuff!

Picket Duty seems too one dimensional for me..and I wasn't impressed with what I read on the B-24 game, that it was like B-17: QotS, but LESS.

[DennisS]

Forgot to mention Silent War by Compass Games. I haven't played it yet because it will take a major time commitment (not to mention space) on my part, and I just haven't had a chance to do it yet. You said you own several sub games; if this is not one of them, take a closer look at it, too.

And two others, one of which is a little different...Omega Games makes one called Eastern Front Solitaire which is fairly simple and large-scale, but a lot of fun to play. They also make one called Ranger, which is very interesting and nothing like I've played solitaire before.

I have owned all three of these. Ranger had the very interesting mechanic of plotting movement and combat using grease pencils..never seen it before or since. This game was lost during one of my military moves, decades ago.

[DennisS]

Any of the States of Seige games from VPG are pretty good.

The Hunters from ConSim Press won out readers choice award a few years back as a solo sub game. Tough to find tho...

I would stay away from the COIN games as solo games, even tho the "bots" make it theoretically possible to play that way. Much of the real dynamics of the COIN games - especially the Afghan one - is the interpersonal negotiation and dynamics during the turns. Tough to negotiate in a solo game

I have personally been searching for the Hunters for a long time. I just cannot justify the E-Bay price when it does show up.

The COIN games look good, but very fiddly. Not enough fun for me there.

[DennisS]

Rise of the Crimson Hand doesn't look all that good, to be honest. The others, though (Sands of Cairo, Danger Pack 1, and Treasure Hunters) all look good. I could be wrong about Crimson Hand; there's just something not very threatening about dudes in capes, hoods, and long-nosed masks that doesn't scream "evil" (more like, "orgy" or "stag film").

They're supposed to be the supernatural/demonic cultist baddies in Flying Frog's games.  I first noticed mention of them in A Touch Of Evil, which is more fitting, being an 18th century gothic horror-mystery type setting. 

However, I would much rather have them as an option than one of the two in the base set - the Mafia.  The Nazi bad guys is quite appropriate since Fortune & Glory is practically Indiana Jones The Co-Operative Game.  But having the Mafia run around the world, delving deep into peril-ridden ancient temples to retrieve The Ghost Ring Of Odin or The Enchanted Axe Of Power, seemed to be a much worse thematic mix than the cultist nutter group.

One thing I never liked about the FF games were the live action actors in place of what is typically artwork on the cards.  The props & such in those pics are too obvious as being just that, and the wardrobes can be iffy too.  I'd much rather have art.

The FF games certainly provide some adventure narrative solitaire play.

I have tons of them....but I am still searching for the perfect game.

I have pretty much everything DVG sells..all the leader series. I have all the old school solitaire games...Ambush!, QotS, Raid on St. Nazaire, London's Burning, Carriers!, Tokyo Express, etc.

I don't mind complexity..and I was looking the Omaha D-Day game. How is the replayability there?

I like sub games, and own several..but wouldn't mind another.

Let me know your thoughts please.

My most-played solitaire games are Darkest Night (Necromancer bundle edition - light & quick but still has plenty decision making to do), Sentinels Of The Multiverse (PC & tablet versions available now too), and the Mage Knight Board Game (very popular solitaire game, even with the hardest Hex Grogs). 

You already have Thunderbolt Apache Leader, judging by your post, so I didn't list it amongst those.

I've also wanted to check out the D-Day solitaire stuff.  The system seems to be related to that in RAF (fun but can get a bit repetitive after awhile), which puts it firmly on my wishlist.  I hear that the same publisher/printer creates those as the latest RAF, however, and punching the counters for my RAF was a damn nightmare.  I HAD to cut them out with a hobby knife since the die-cutting was so lousy they were getting easily tore up when I first started.  Makes me a bit hesitant.

I played a little Silent War (the Pacific sub campaign game) but the time investment on all but the smallest scenarios is just huge.  Still something I want to play again, for a longer stretch.  On the other end of the spectrum, I thought The Hunters was a bit too thin with too few details & choices to be made.  It's quick & fairly easy but I feel there was some missed game mechanic opportunities in the attacks.  Wish there was something in between the two for submarine solitaire board gaming.

There are other good solo ones out there such as Eldritch Horror and Robinson Crusoe but they can be extremely brutal.  There are also some solitaire capable "deck-builders" if you want a lighter, but still varied, themed card game experience.  Not sure which themes you're okay with, or whether you'd prefer to stay with certain historical periods...

I have Eldritch Horror, and Elder Signs, and Arkham Horror. All great games. Robinson Crusoe looks very hard.

I have TAL, it may be my second current favorite solitaire game, besides Mage Knight (and the expansion) Terrific concept, but I need to relearn how to play every time I open the box.

[DennisS]

I found DVG's U-boat Leader to be good fun as well.... and probably between The Hunters and Steel Wolves.

Have U-Boat Leader..and and considering the other two strongly.

This is the guy that took the old SSI game Submarine!, and played the solitaire variant in the General magazine for several years. Yes..I had a subscription to the AH magazine for its entire run.

[DennisS]

Here is an AAR I did on D-Day a while back. May help you decide.

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=9310.msg236057#msg236057

I read this. Great writeup. My biggest concern here is the same one I had with Ambush! Step on that hex, and A, B, and C happens automatically. I appreciate that the Gods of the RNG kick in at that point...but why would you step there if you trigger a massive attack? Why didn't then land at Calais instead?   

[DennisS]

Hi!
Maybe it's time to reconsider getting CoH Awakening the Bear...?
The Solo expansion is shipping and Academy Games did great job on this one, too!

It's so 'Solo'... you'll forget that it's only you and the game!

OK, it's a little on the expensive side if you don't own CoH AtB yet... but I'd recommend it nevertheless!
Cheers!
chem!

I will research this. Thank you.

[DennisS]

OK..researching BGG, I ran across Beserker Games, and their print and play games. Seem very cheap...a GOOD thing. I don't care about graphics...but how's the gameplay?   :)

[Nefaro]

OK..researching BGG, I ran across Beserker Games, and their print and play games. Seem very cheap...a GOOD thing. I don't care about graphics...but how's the gameplay?   :)

I picked up their Thud Ridge game, and printed the materials.  Just haven't cut them all out, but I did give the rules a once-through.

It seems like a lighter Hornet/Phantom Leader style game, albeit with player controlled hex map movement for ingress/egress.  Much of the rest isn't as detailed, however, such as weapon selection (just basic AtA & Bombs values IIRC).  From what I gather, his other air squadron solitaire stuff all use a modified version of the same basic system. 

The WWI version is still one I'd like to check out too, although I still have yet to try GMT's Bloody April official solo variant (along with actually playing Thud Ridge).  So not in a big hurry. 

I can't speak for his special forces, ground campaigns, or adventure game stuff.  They all look to have potential with some refinement and better graphical presentation.  They're the type of games that should probably get the Victory Point Games indie ziplock bag game treatment.

Speaking of Victory Point Games.. they have some stuff worth checking out for solitaire, as mentioned previously in this thread.  While I have their Darkest Night, Cruel Necessity, and Dawn of the Zeds solo/co-op games, which are great, I'm also impatiently waiting on their deluxe version of Nemo's War to be released or KS'd.

[bayonetbrant]

I picked up their Thud Ridge game, and printed the materials.  Just haven't cut them all out, but I did give the rules a once-through.

PanzersEast did a re-work of the Thud Ridge counters a while back
http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=12101.0

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Enemy Coast Ahead is a fun solitaire game about the Dambusters. 

http://www.gmtgames.com/p-439-enemy-coast-ahead-the-dambuster-raid.aspx

GMT is releasing a sequel that will cover the Doolittle raid on Japan.  It's looking pretty good.


http://www.gmtgames.com/p-567-enemy-coast-ahead-the-doolittle-raid.aspx

[DennisS]

I believe that I am going to go with Cruel Necessity, and five different PnP games from Beserker..Aces of Valor, B17- Bomber Squadron, Hunters over Korea, Thud Ridge, and Tradition of Glory.

10-15 dollar games work for me, solitaire works for me, and having a missus who's an Art Department chair works even better. She has access to cardstock, cutting tools, and a true artist's flair for mixed media.

Thanks for the inputs!!! The missus and I are building what will be our retirement home, and a very large space in our walkout will be my gaming room. I will have 2-3 table areas for my board games, 'cause one just isn't enough!