Hexed And Countered

Tag: Solitaire

  • Gateway to Falaise: Caen, Normandy 1944 (VUCA Simulations) — Scenario 1 Gameplay

    Gateway to Falaise: Caen, Normandy 1944 (VUCA Simulations) — Scenario 1 Gameplay

    Box open, counters out — time to actually play Gateway to Falaise. This is Scenario 1, Operation Perch, the game’s solitaire learning scenario, and I run it from the German side as the British 7th Armoured Division comes on toward Villers-Bocage.

    Learning the system the right way

    Using the solo learning scenario as the on-ramp is exactly how I like to meet a new operational system — small enough to get the sequence of play into your hands, pointed enough to show what the design cares about. Defending toward Villers-Bocage is a fitting first test: the Germans have quality and position, the British have weight of numbers, and the Formation Series has to make that tension play cleanly. I flag what clicks and what I’ll be watching as the scenarios scale up.

    More Gateway to Falaise to come. Subscribe to follow the campaign.

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  • Cuius Regio: The Thirty Years War (GMT Games) — Scenario 1: 1619 Turn Gameplay

    Cuius Regio: The Thirty Years War (GMT Games) — Scenario 1: 1619 Turn Gameplay

    Scenario 1 of Cuius Regio covers the Bohemian Revolt, and after the 1618 opening turn set the board, 1619 is where the war starts to bite. This solo playthrough picks up with both sides mustering fresh forces and marching straight at each other across Bohemia and Moravia.

    The 1619 turn

    Cuius Regio: The Thirty Years War (GMT Games, designed by Francisco Gradaille) plays out at the operational level, and this turn shows why that scale works. Both sides raise provincial troops, hire mercenaries and step up artillery before the operations phase turns into a run of battles: the Protestants march on Kuttenberg, Bucquoy strikes for the Imperials, and clashes at Iglau, Kuttenberg and finally Prague itself decide the shape of the campaign. What stands out is how much the system leans on more than combat — overruns, supply checks and logistics attrition do as much to shape the turn as any single battle, and defending Prague becomes a logistics problem as much as a tactical one. It’s a demanding solo experience that rewards thinking a season ahead, and by the maintenance phase the 1619 position sets up everything that follows. If you like operational history with teeth, this turn is a good showcase.

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  • Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces (VUCA Simulations) — Scenario 3 Gameplay

    Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces (VUCA Simulations) — Scenario 3 Gameplay

    The first look showed the box; this is where the Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces expansion has to earn its table time. Scenario 3 opens with the coalition rolling into Helmand, and Turn 1 wastes no time putting that modern asymmetry to the test.

    Turn 1 — rolling into Helmand

    Managing forces along the eastern map edge, I push a column forward — Leopard 2 tanks, Vikings carrying combat engineers, and Mastiffs working the road network — while an Apache gunship stands by for close air support. The friction shows up fast: fouled tank optics, hidden insurgent RPG ambush positions, and the constant gamble of initiative and impulse points that keeps both sides reacting to each other. What works so far is that the system makes the coalition’s firepower advantage feel real without turning the insurgents into a pushover; a single well-placed RPG team can stall an advance and force you to spend an impulse you wanted somewhere else. It is a lot to track on a first pass, and the modern-tactical chrome won’t be for everyone, but the decisions feel like the right ones. This is the opening turn of the scenario — Part 2 picks up the fight and carries it through to a verdict on the system.

    Turn 2 is already on the table. Subscribe so you don’t miss how Scenario 3 ends.

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  • Space Infantry: Resurgence (Lock ‘n Load Publishing) — Campaign 1: Mission 1 Hive Infiltration

    Space Infantry: Resurgence (Lock ‘n Load Publishing) — Campaign 1: Mission 1 Hive Infiltration

    Setup is done, the squad is built, and now it’s time to find out whether all that prep survives contact with the enemy. This is Mission 1 of Campaign 0001 in Space Infantry: Resurgence from Lock ‘n Load Publishing — the squad’s first real descent into the alien Hive.

    Into the Hive — Mission 1

    Squad Leader Joe Hex takes the team deep underground on an infiltration run, with orders to find and eliminate the command group in Node E. What follows is a tense solo grind: relentless Sithonian swarms, claustrophobic cave-ins, and a string of dice rolls that force tactical retreats as often as advances. This is where Resurgence shows what it’s for — the node-by-node reveal keeps you guessing about what’s around the next corner, and the system does a good job of making a single squad feel both capable and badly outnumbered. It’s punishing in the way solo players tend to want, where a bad draw or a failed search can turn a clean push into a fighting withdrawal. Whether the squad clears Node E or claws its way back out, the mission feeds straight into the campaign layer, so the outcome here shapes what the team carries into the next drop.

    The campaign is just getting underground. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next mission.

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  • Space Infantry: Resurgence (Lock ‘n Load Publishing) — Campaign Setup & Mission 1 Prep

    Space Infantry: Resurgence (Lock ‘n Load Publishing) — Campaign Setup & Mission 1 Prep

    Solo tactical sci-fi is a crowded shelf, but Space Infantry: Resurgence from Lock ‘n Load Publishing earns its place by leaning hard into the campaign layer — the part where a squad becomes your squad over a run of missions. Before any aliens get shot, though, there’s a full session of setup to work through, and that’s exactly what this video covers.

    Session 0 — building the squad

    This is Campaign 0001, “Prelude to War: Nexus Flashpoint,” and I treat it as a dedicated Session 0: filling out the campaign and squad sheets, creating a squad leader (Lt. Joe Hex), and spending points to build the roster and bring on specialists like a demo trooper and a scientist. From there it’s into the mission draw, an HQ support event and skill check, a Strategic Option card, and the reveal of Hive mission H003 — including generating the Hive map and its special nodes. The takeaway from all this prep is how much the game front-loads decisions: point-buy squad building and Strat Op draws mean two campaigns rarely open the same way, which is the whole appeal of a solo system like this. The flip side is that setup is not trivial, and newcomers should expect to spend real time with the books before the shooting starts. With the squad prepped and the map generated, the next video takes the team into the Hive for the first mission proper.

    This campaign is just getting started. Subscribe so you’re there when the squad hits the Hive.

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  • Space Infantry: Resurgence Invasion Pack (Lock ‘n Load Publishing) — First Look

    Space Infantry: Resurgence Invasion Pack (Lock ‘n Load Publishing) — First Look

    Sci-fi solo gaming (and all solo gaming in general) lives and dies on whether the system can generate a story without a human opponent, and Space Infantry: Resurgence has built a reputation for doing exactly that. This first look cracks open the Invasion Pack from Lock ‘n Load Publishing to see what you actually get in the box.

    What’s in the box

    The Invasion Pack is a reprint combo that bundles the core game together with its expansion, so there’s a lot of cardboard to dig through. In the core box I go through the rulebook and campaign structure, the mission maps and node systems, the squad rosters, the enemy races, and the deep stack of cards and counters that drive the game. Then it’s on to the expansion, which adds ultra maps, new mission scenarios, and additional hostile types. It’s a generous amount of content for a solitaire title, and the layout gives you a clear sense of how a campaign hangs together.

    Who it’s for

    Space Infantry: Resurgence is squarely a solitaire game (and as a bonus, it can do co-op and competitive as well). You’re running a squad of troopers through mission after mission against an AI-driven galaxy of hostiles, managing risk on the node map and hoping your dice hold. If you like the idea of a self-contained sci-fi campaign you can pull off the shelf and play in an evening, this combo is an easy one to recommend a look at. I’ll reserve judgment on how it plays until it hits the table, but the first impression from the components is a strong one.

    First looks and solo playthroughs post to the channel every week. Subscribe to keep up.

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  • Old School Tactical Vol. 5: First to Fight — Scenario 1 Gameplay (Part 1)

    Old School Tactical Vol. 5: First to Fight — Scenario 1 Gameplay (Part 1)

    A first look tells you what’s in the box; a playthrough tells you whether the thing actually works on the table. This is Scenario 1 of Old School Tactical Vol. 5: First to Fight – the Battle for Poland 1939 played solo, and it’s where Flying Pig Games’ tactical system meets the opening days of the war.

    Setting up Scenario 1

    I walk through the rules and the pre-turn setup before the shooting starts, and Poland 1939 brings some specific wrinkles worth slowing down for. Hidden sniper mechanics keep the Polish defender dangerous in a way you can’t quite see, German pioneers lay smoke to screen their advance, and there’s off-board naval bombardment from the battleship Schleswig-Holstein, a nice historical touch that also matters tactically. I take the combat calculations step by step so it’s clear how a firefight resolves rather than just showing the result.

    How it plays solo

    Old School Tactical has always been approachable without being shallow, and that holds up here. Solo, the system runs cleanly once you’ve internalized the sequence of play, and the 1939 material gives you asymmetric problems like a Polish force fighting for time against a German attack with more tools. This is Part 1, with the scenario still developing; Part 2 is where we see how the fight actually turns out. If you’ve been curious whether the Poland expansion is worth it, watching it played is the best way to judge.

    Part 2 picks up right where this leaves off. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.

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  • Sensuikan: Japanese Fleet Submarines in WWII (Compass Games) — First Look

    Sensuikan: Japanese Fleet Submarines in WWII (Compass Games) — First Look

    The submarine war in the Pacific is almost always told from the American side, which makes Sensuikan a welcome change of periscope. This one from Compass Games hands you the Imperial Japanese Navy’s submarine arm — a force with excellent boats, capable crews, and a doctrine that too often sent them chasing warships instead of the supply lines that might have mattered more. In this first look I go through the box and the rules so you know what you’re getting into.

    A theater that rewards patience

    Submarine games live and die on tension — the long stalk, the firing solution, and the gut-check decision of whether to shoot and give away your position. A first look is the place to see how the sequence of play, the detection rules, and the campaign structure turn that into something you can run solo on the table. If the system captures the patience-then-panic rhythm of undersea warfare, it earns its spot.

    First looks here lead straight into full playthroughs. Subscribe to see this one dive.

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  • The 6: My Favorite World War I Solitaire Wargames

    The 6: My Favorite World War I Solitaire Wargames

    World War I usually takes a backseat to other eras in wargaming, which has always struck me as a missed opportunity. The Great War produces some of the most compelling solo experiences available — the tension, the tragedy, and the tactical problems that have no clean answers. In this countdown I run through my six favorite solitaire WWI games, the ones that keep earning a spot on the table.

    Why the Great War rewards solo play

    The range on offer is wider than people expect. You can spend an hour on a nerve-shredding trench raid, hunt convoys in the cold Atlantic, or fly the sweeping aerial campaigns over the Western Front. Some of these are quick, self-contained puzzles; others are career-spanning narratives where you sweat every replacement and every roll on the wound table. That spread — from tight one-session games to long, personal campaigns — is exactly why the era suits solitaire so well.

    I’m not going to spoil the order here — the full ranking, with what each game does well and who it’s for, is in the video. If you’ve been sleeping on WWI as a solo subject, start with number one and work backwards; I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. And if your own list looks different, that’s half the fun — tell me what I got wrong.

    Want more of the era? There’s a longer look at the period on the site in In the Trenches: Devil Dogs.

    Countdowns, first looks, and full solo playthroughs land on the channel every week. Subscribe to keep up.

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  • The Lamps Are Going Out (Compass Games) — First Look

    The Lamps Are Going Out (Compass Games) — First Look

    The title comes from Sir Edward Grey on the eve of war — “the lamps are going out all over Europe” — and Compass Games’ The Lamps Are Going Out sets out to put that whole catastrophe in your hands. It’s a card-driven, solitaire-friendly treatment of the entire First World War, and in this first look I go through the map, the cards, and the flow of a turn.

    Grand strategy you can run alone

    What makes this one interesting is how it compresses four years of grand strategy — multiple fronts, the home fronts, technology, and the ever-present pressure of national will — into something a single player can actually manage in an evening or two. Card-driven systems are well suited to that job: the deck paces the war, throws events at you, and forces hard choices about where to spend a finite hand. A first look is the right place to see whether that machinery clicks before you commit to a full campaign.

    Gameplay follows this overview, so if the system appeals, subscribe and follow the war as it unfolds on the table.

    Solitaire-friendly first looks and playthroughs, several times a week. Subscribe to follow along.

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