I am looking for a solitaire wargame

[DennisS]

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.

[Barthheart]

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.

[BanzaiCat]

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.

[BanzaiCat]

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.

[Barthheart]

Yeah, sorry, just couldn't let it slide by.  :D
Fortune and Glory does look like a lot of fun. Do you have all the add ons?

[BanzaiCat]

No, only the base set. Add-ons are something I'd like eventually. I need to play the heck out of the base game before I think about dropping another fifty or so bucks on an expansion.

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").

I reached out to Flying Frog after we published my unboxing article on the game, giving them the link, but they never replied. Their FanG web page has links to 2012 conventions but the other parts of the site look up to date, so I don't know what's up. Would have been nice to get a relationship going with them insofar as covering their product and it kind of sucks when developers ignore you, especially when you've given them free press. Oh well.

[Arctic Blast]

I'm going to offer a counter-point on Fortune & Glory, because I really didn't like it all that much. I have a particular annoyance for games in unnecessarily large boxes, and there is no reason at all that game comes in a coffin box. It could have come in a standard game box if they'd simply re-done the folds in the board. Beyond that, it dragged out for what it is. I have no problem with games that take hours to play. But when that game is as simple as this one is, it overstayed it's welcome. Finally (if you play with multiple players), you'll have one poor bastard who finishes his turn in 30 seconds thanks to some poor rolling. He then gets stuck waiting 15 minutes to play again while everyone else goes on fantastic adventures...only to again be done in 30 seconds.

Had it been in a more reasonable box (and therefore at a more reasonable price) and with the same time frame to play as some of FFG's other games, I'd probably still have it. But it didn't, so it's gone.

As for Flying Frog as a whole, communication has never been a strong point. They're on every social media outlet in existence, but they don't update anything. I'm not sure why they bother pretending.

[bayonetbrant]

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

[Nefaro]

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...

[Barthheart]

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

[BanzaiCat]

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.

Excellent point, I'll give you that. The Mafia/Mob doesn't feel right in the game. Cultists with dick-nose masks, though...  ;D

[Nefaro]

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

It was sold out by the time I looked for it about a year (or less) after it's release.  Didn't find any used copies for resale at the time, either.

Happens all too often these days.  Especially with solitaire/co-op games.

I'll pick up the Gato Leader sequel when it comes out, instead.  And the reprint of the original, maybe. 

I've P500'd the upcoming Pacific version of The Hunters in the hope that it's evolved a bit more.  The Hunters isn't bad.. just needs more to it IMO.

[Nefaro]

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.

Excellent point, I'll give you that. The Mafia/Mob doesn't feel right in the game. Cultists with dick-nose masks, though...  ;D

Sounds like your problem with the Cultists is the same I have with many of the FF games... the poor looking Live Action pics of goofy costumes & props on their cards.  Not necessarily the idea of a crazy cult in a cliffhanger setting full of mythical artifacts. 

I mean.. the second Indiana Jones movie literally had a crazy sacrificial cult in it.  The problem is the screwy looking pics on the cards.

When they include actual artwork, such as in Shadows Of Brimstone or Conquest Of Planet Earth, it looks great and doesn't look F'd up.

[BanzaiCat]

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.

[ArizonaTank]

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