inconsequential ruminations

I tried to play Monty’s Gamble, my first serious wargame earlier this year. It was a bit of a disaster.

Inspired by Alfred’s solitaire gaming session reports and realising I was unlikely to find an opponent, I played it solitaire last week, when I was on holiday in Oxfordshire. The cottage has a spare room and table, and I had plenty of time on my hands in the evenings, with no computer to distract me. It was a successful experiment. I had a lot of fun with it. I used to read the solitaire suitability guidance on the back of Avalon Hill wargames in the 80’s thinking “What kind of weirdo could get enjoyment out of that?”, I now know the answer.

While playing, I realised it felt similar to playing a video game, as you can stop playing and come back to it whenever you have free time. That is very convenient when you are looking after a toddler.

Monty’s Gamble is certainly a very good solitaire game. The Allies have masses of troops and lots of choices. The Germans on other hand have few, weak troops and, as the defender, are reacting to the Allies’ attacks. In addition, there is no hidden information. Sometimes the game felt very like a puzzle, as I spent far more time worrying how XXX Corps could thrust their way up Hell’s Highway, compared to how the Germans could counter. I would go as far as saying that it probably plays better solitaire than two-player. Was that the intention? Regardless, I would still like to play an opponent, but as the Allies… Maybe I can find a game on Vassal?

Funnily enough, I recently bought a very highly rated video wargame, Korsun Pocket. I played the tutorial and although it scores points for fluidity and speed, I spend far too much of my life staring at a computer screen, so I think I will play solitaire tabletop wargames in preference. Having said that, I will probably give Korsun Pocket another chance.

Market Garden was a dramatic historical encounter, played for huge stakes and the game captures it . The operation is summarised well at Wikipedia and the same story is also told in the rules to the game. I think I now understand it far better than I would have done had I read a book or just seen A Bridge Too Far – even though it is an excellent movie. I will definitely be playing more wargames this way. Bittereinder is next, but that can wait for another post.