Waterloo Solitaire Bookgame

 

 So, new year, new game, actually played!

Picked this up after Christmas on a whim with no knowledge of what to expect. Well there is not much to the game, simple rules, needs only a pencil and a single 6 sided die and you get to play either the Allied armies or the French.

The book is laid contains 24 maps, 12 with you commanding the French, and 12 where you control the allies. There are 3 levels of difficulty for each option (4 maps each) with a 'bot' controlling your opponent. As you play the game you mark off items on the map in play to keep track of what you have done in each turn. There are limitations on how many times you can command a unit to act, and units cannot act two turns in a row. Should you run out of activations for a given unit, you may still activate the unit by using your commanding general. You also have access to a limited number of combined actions that allow you to launch an attack with infantry or cavalry in the lead, and include support from whichever arm you did not use as the lead, or artillery.

Throughout the game random events may happen such as the arrival of the Prussians. When enough of them arrive they will attack the French right flank.

Bad image here, but this would be the view from the Allied side. At the bottom of the page are your command options, the small white boxes indicate the number of time that you can command the unit to activate. Each unit has a limited choice of options all related to their placement on the battlefield. You do have reserves that you can deploy to either flank and the French have the Imperial Guard who have more flexible options, but fewer troops. 

As your corps take damage you mark off one red or blue box/unit. Mark off all boxes and the Corp is eliminated. Lose two Corps and you lose the game. The elimination of enemy Corps offers new options. For the French, should they eliminate the British right flank they can then attack the British reserves. If the French attack the British right wing without first taking Hougoumont they will do so at a disadvantage. Taking Hougoumont can be done, but is not an easy thing to do, much like the actual battle. 

Overall rating

The game does not take long to play, so for me I did not have that empty feeling that I had wasted a lot of time for nothing. It is deceptively challenging, the limitations built into the game can frustrate (in a good way) your plans. A single die to roll gives you a randomness that can be frustrating (in a bad way) or maybe that is just my bitterness over a series of attacks that I launched as Napoleon that saw the French lose unit after unit without causing any damage to the British.

It certainly has re-playability, at each level, just make certain you use pencil to mark your maps. The bot worked well enough to cause me problems. I suffered from counter cavalry charges against my planned cavalry charge, and I had Wellington retire behind slopes just as I opened fire with my artillery. Certainly there were times where the bot did not stymie my plans, but the times the bot seemed to react to my moves were much more memorable and adds to my positive feeling for the game.

In closing, I enjoyed it, the game did what it was supposed to do and I had fun playing it. I am not certain it is worth the price, only time will tell if I get my moneys worth in play time but I do know I will play this again!