I must admit that in recent years I am becoming more and more a fan of great solitaire designs – be it a dedicate solo title, a position with solo variant or simply solo-friendly wargame (like with chit-pull mechanics). Of course, the pandemic time contributed greatly here – as except for occasional Digital or VASSAL/Tabletop Simulator assisted plays, my main entertainment was moving the chits alone on the map (or using my two boys as great bots).

Anyhow, you have probably seen my articles on wargames with solo mode as well as another about dedicated solitaire positions. Today I would like to propose to the Dear Readers a different journey. My idea is to look at Solitaire Wargames Series!

Yup, series. A a solid system, with interesting rules and main game-play mechanics similar between installments but the theme / scale / time of events differing – that is a receipt for getting to everybody what they like most. So instead of individual titles, I will present “wargame families” – as BGG defines it – and will leave to Dear Readers, which exactly position to choose in the first place. Do not worry, you will never go wrong with below proposals – it is more matter of taste / interest which should decide what you should get.

So let us start – some true heavy hitters below!

Other articles in the series:

Light Wargames
Medium Wargames
Complex Wargames
Travel Wargames
No-dice wargames
Asymmetric Wargames
Card Driven Games
Work Placement Games
Space Exploration Games

Fields of Fire Series (Ben Hull, GMT Games)

About the series:

Fields of Fire is a solitaire game (or rather system) of commanding a rifle company between World War II and Present Day. The game is different from many tactical games in that it is dice-less and card based – yes!, the board is created from cards! There are two decks used to play. The Terrain Deck is based on a specific region and is used to build a map for the various missions your company must perform. The Action deck serves many purposes in controlling combat, command and control, various activity attempts.

The units of the company are counters representing headquarters elements, squads, weapons teams, forward observers, individual vehicles or helicopters. A single game is a mission and several missions from a historical campaign are strung together for the player to manage experience and replacements. A mission can be played in about 1 – 4 hours.

Current titles in the series:

  • Fields of Fire
  • Fields of Fire 2
  • Fields of Fire – Battle of the Bulge Campaign
  • Deluxe edition of Fields of Fire on GMT’s P500

Choices options:

You have variety of options here – whether to play with 9th Infantry Regiment / 2nd Inf Division (Part 1, WWII & Korea), 25th Infantry Division (Part 1, Vietnam) 5th Marines (Part 2) or again, going back to 9th Infantry Regiment (Battle of the Bulge). Another dimension to look at this is whether you would like to immerse yourselves in WWII campaign, re-fight battle of Korean War or maybe lead your Company in brutal battles of Vietnam War? The choice is yours! PS. Pretty soon we will get deluxe edition of Part 1, with re-written rulebook and tons of interesting training materials.

Some of the materials created by me on the series:

Valiant Defense Series (David Thompson, DVG Games)

About the series:

The Valiant Defense series allows you to play amazing stories of courage, with small forces holding the line against unimaginable odds. Games in the series focus on the individual defenders and are deeply rooted in history, while providing a quick play experience with a light complexity rule-set. Gameplay is focused first and foremost on solitaire play. Games take about one hour. Low complexity rules means that you can start playing almost immediately. Definitely, one of the series which will ease your entry in the world of Solitaire Wargaming.

Titles in the series:

Choices options:

Well, you have really some interesting options here. Pavlov’s House gives you three levels of battle – strategical, operational and tactical – and all of this in an epic struggle for Stalingrad between German and Soviet forces. The Castle Itter tells incredible story where Allies and Wehrmacht (!) cooperated against German SS units. Soldier’s in Postmen Uniforms is not only a heroic tale of the Gdansk (Danzig) Post Office defense, but brings new game mechanics with elevation. Lanzerath Ridge on the other hand further develops the weapon system in the game, while at the same time shines in the area of artwork and components.

Truly, the choice is yours and any of above will provide a fantastic experience.

Some of the materials created by me on the series:

D-Day Series (John Butterfield, Decision Games)

About the series:

As you probably can observe from my blog, I am devoted fan of John H. Butterfield creations. All those games are pretty procedural, with clear actions designed for the Artificial Intelligence (Bots). I really like the way cards drive the Competition / Germans / Japanese behaviors – you do not have to look up the possible actions in pretty complicated flowcharts.

Still, be advised that – especially in case of D-Day – you will face enormously difficult task to deal with. Those titles and its scenarios really try to depict the hardships, misfortunes and difficulties of the World War II amphibious assaults. But believe me, the joy of achieving even smallest successes is great.

Titles in the series:

  • D-Day at Omaha
  • D-Day at Tarawa
  • D-Day at Peleliu
  • D-Day at Iwo Jima (have not played, heard mixed opinions, part of the series but not John Butterfield game)
  • D-Day at Saipan (have not played, part of the series but not John Butterfield game)

Choices options:

I will focus only on first three games which I played. The main difference is of course between the European and Pacific theater; on top of this The Pacific Theater version brings usage of LVT (Landing Vehicle Tracked) to arrive at the beach, enemy actions from the onset of the game, close combat which significantly changes the flow of the game. If you start with the series, I suggest going with Omaha. My personal favorite is Tarawa (and only one I ever won!)

Some of the materials on the series:

State of Siege Series (Ben Madison, White Dog Games)

About the series:

State of Siege is a collection of solitaire games in which the player is the commander of a desperate situation. Surrounded by enemies in every direction, your decisions regarding your scarce military, political and economic resources decide the game.

The games share a set of characteristics: a series of tracks converging on an area. Each track can contain an enemy force, either real or abstract. A deck of cards (or chits marking the turns) instructs the players to activate units on tracks for movement and provides the players a number of action points, which are spent from a menu of options.

Players will engage the forces to attempt to stop them from reaching the end point of the track, which usually signals defeat. If the player can reach the fixed endpoint (usually the end of the deck of cards or last turn), victory points are summed up to determine the level of victory.

Some of the titles in the series:

  • The Mission
  • The First Jihad
  • Nubia
  • Gorbachev
  • Jeff Davis
  • Kaiserkrieg!

Choices options:

Those are plentiful – you can decide on interesting history period – from ancient times, through US Civil War up to World War I or recent times. You can also try slightly different mechanics – from pure state of siege (multiple paths converging at the center – Nubia), through the updated system (multiple paths each converging at separate areas you need to defend – The Mission) to such a novelty where enemy attacks from inside (The First Jihad). The choices are plentiful! And the new game, Global War, where I have a pleasure to be a play-tester, is almost ready to publish!

Some of the materials created by me on the series:

Honorable mention

I could not resist and avoid mentioning one of the newest releases which made great impression on me and has a potential to also become a series – Stalingrad: Advance to the Volga, 1942, Volume 1 in Solitaire Area Movement Series.

Stalingrad Advance to the Volga, 1942 puts the player in charge of the attacking and at the same time far more mobile German side while the game system handles the defending and largely static Soviet side. Believe me, not two games will ever be the same as disposition and composition of defenders will vary. After several plays I can definitely say this is system for me and can’t wait for the next installment (probably Manila!)

Summary

I hope that above title will be inspiration for Dear Readers to reach for some interesting titles I am proposing above. I can vouch for all above series – but the choices of particular title I am leaving to you (of course, I have some preferences!)

And what are your favorite solo games series? Please let me know in comments!