The Cardboard Republic’s Risk Variants and Solo Game Play

Judging from where this bookmark is located in my list of bookmarks I found this site some time ago. What I was originally searching for is any ones guess, however having found what looked like an interesting resource, and I saved the bookmark.

Although I just started to explore this site in earnest, I came upon two topics that are near-and-dear to me. They are the board game “Risk” and Solo board games.

Variant Risk

This page list three different variants of Risk; Vendetta or otherwise known as Assassin, or Paranoia. Vendetta takes two of revised versions missions and applies them to everyone. This variant is said to shorten a five player game down to two hours.

The second variant allows one to accumulate territory cards past the usual five card maximum. That is to say you can cash them in at a more appropriate time when the number of armies issued is at an all-time high.

The third and last Risk variant mentioned is One World Dominion, which includes a PDF for a print and play version of Risk. One World Dominion includes its own set of Territory cards, and its own set of rules and situations. This variant looks like a very interesting and might prove to be quite challenging to play.

One World Dominion, Territory Card

Solo Edition: The Appeal of Single Player Board Games

This page lists three board games that include either rules for or components for playing solo. The three listed board games that include solo versions are: Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm, Arkham Horror, and Ascension: Storm of Souls. Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm includes a miniature game board for solo play.

Malta Convoy, a Free Solo Dice Game

Roll the dice for the make-up of your convoy, length of trip, and many other attributes. All you need to supply are one or two 6D dice and pencil and paper (Or use the included map). Roll for your beginning attributes and as you progress you will be rolling for possible enemy contacts. See the second page for complete rules.

An alternative game that is a bit more sophisticated that uses ship miniatures can be downloaded from GHQ.

The Plant-A Solo RPG Game

The Plant is a one person RPG. The Plant’s premise is that your daughter is somewhere in an abandoned factory building and you need to find her. The game requires ten index cards that are numbered one to ten. Around the edges are printed the letters A-D. You will also need three index cards with “Down” written on them. The Down cards indicate that you are descending one level in the factory through the use of a ladder, stairs, or pipes, ETC.

You will also need to author ten situation cards. Sample situations are provided, but you can create your own, here are a few of the samples:

• New Transformer doll
• Unopened letter
• Smell of baking cookies
• Sound of a Jazz
• Shadow in the shape of something
• Glimpse of your daughter in distance

The game mechanic is through the use of the ten index cards you would have created and how they are laid out. Each laid card has a letter and each letter has a situation associated with that letter. Depending on the other letters on the card situations (the actions you are to complete) may have alternative situations that you will be told to go to.

Western in My Pocket a Free Print and Play Game

Download the "Western in my Pocket" zip folder which contains the games components. Once you unzip this file you will find a set of tiles, Event and Score cards, and game rules. Pick a character and scenario. This is a one-person or solo game. There are good guys and bad guy scenarios. The rules are very basic and open for interpretation. Not that you need them to play I suppose “old” west miniatures of any size could be used, but with the size of the tiles as they are I would propose using either 15 or 25mm miniatures instead of some miscellaneous token. This might make playing the game more meaningful.

Sink the Bismarck-Free Print and Play Game

Sink the Bismarck is a free print and play solo game, but I have played the game with two contestants before. Instead of rolling for both sides, just pick the side of the attacker or the defender.

The basic premise of the game is to sink the battleship Bismarck. The Sink the Bismarck PDF includes an 8.5 by 11-inch game board, twelve British Swordfish torpedo bombers, and instructions on how to play.

“The game ends once 5 torpedoes hit the ship. You'll will also score points for each aircraft and torpedo you destroy.”

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Alternative Sink the Bismarck Game

Escape of the Dead- Yet another game of zombies

Escape of the Dead is another fine game from the folks of the Experimental Playground. The game includes three cards, with backs, eight miniature zombies, and a one page pocket mod with the game instructions. The art work on the game components is great.

The three cards represent the Lawn, Barricades, and the Garage. These cards represent three unique phases of the game. The object of this solo game is to fix your vehicle while defending yourself against hordes of zombies who are continuously trying to break into the garage.

A Current List of In my Pocket Series of Games

Recently I was looking through my collection of Print and Play games and I came across two “In my Pocket Games” and I thought I would revisit the Boardgame Geek site to see if there were any new “In my Pocket games” available. Besides the Western in my Pocket and Zombie in my Pocket games, which I already have downloaded, I found a few new titles.

I have included a list of those games that are currently listed. All of these games are Print and Play games, and many of these games can be played solo.

1. 10,000 in my Pocket
2. Airborne In Your Pocket: Free Trial Version
3. Fairy Tale in my Pocket
4. Raiders in my Pocket
5. Western in my Pocket
6. Zombie in my Pocket

Solo Dungeon Bash

Solo Dungeon Bash uses a 9 (width) by 10 rows deep square grid. Each row represents a new level. Each level gets more difficult as the odds of having to fight a monster of some sort grow with each level. On level one you a 1 out of 6 chance of having to fight and kill a monster. After level 3 you have a 4 out 6 chance of fighting a monster.

You start the game with 17 health, 1 attack die and 1 defense die. If your health reaches 0 you are dead and lose the game.

The turn sequence is as follows:

• Pick the next square and move into it. You can move into any square except for a square you have already moved into and don’t pick a square that will eventually block you in.
• Roll to determine the room contents
• If the room contains treasure add it to your treasure score. Treasure can be used to purchase weapons and amour or potions.
• If the room contains Potion add it to your treasure score. Treasure can be used to purchase weapons and amour or portions. Potions can be used to add health points.
• If the room contains a monster, you must fight to the death
• Take any or all the potions you have collected
• Exchange any treasure items

Monsters only have one health.

The fighting of a monster goes as such:

• Monster rolls an attack die, each roll of a 6 is a hit
• Player rolls defense die. Each 6 reduces the counts of hits. Remaining hits are subtracted from the player health
• Player rolls their attack die. Each 6 is a hit
• Monster rolls their defense die. Each 6 reduce the number of hits by 1. If there are nay remaining hits after deducting, the monster is dead

What will I need to play?

A 9 by 10 grid laid-out on a pad. There are four provided with the instructions; a pencil to keep track of health, potions, treasure, ETC statistics, and up to ten dice.

Zombie in my Pocket a Solitary Tile Laying Game

Zombie in my Pocket is a free, print and play, solitaire game.

Typical playing time is anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. The download includes a four page PDF, which includes a Pocket Mod rule book, development cards, tiles, and folding instructions for the pocket mod. All that is needed is some sort of marker or token for the protagonist. The one page instruction sheet is straight forward and easy to decipher. There are eight full color indoor and outdoor tiles and nine development cards.

There are several other “In my Pocket” games, such as a Western in my Pocket, Predator in my Pocket,   and 10,000 in my Pocket that look rather interesting.

In my Queue

I have added two new games to those that need their components cut-out:

Cod Wars:

Cod Wars is a game for two players, one taking the side of Great Britain and the other Iceland. The Cod Wars were fought on and off for about twenty years between these two combatants for control of Cod fisheries.

An interesting back-story and game scenario can be downloaded from the Navel War Game Society.

Zombie in my Pocket:

Zombie in my Pocket is a solo variant of a game by the same name. The “In the Pocket” theme has gotten some additional attention through the creation of the Western and a Predator in my Pocket games.

Queued Print and Play Games

Here a few more games I have downloaded but have yet to “cut out” and play.

The Battle of Dorking, fictional alternative Victorian battle between the British and Imperial Germans. This is a two person.

Battle of Malaya,a WWII battle between the Imperial Japanese and British Commonwealth forces. This is a two person game.

Untermehmung, is a two person game depicting the German invasion of Yugoslavia.

Battle of Honey Springs, a one or two person game that depicts a Civil War battle between Union and Confederate forces taking place in Kansas.

"Paraguay is a board game for 2-4 players created by Julio Trois, whose theme is the War of Paraguay. For 10 rounds, the armies of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay must defend their cities and destroy all the defenses of Paraguay.”

Marignano, is board game for one to three people depicting a battle which took place in Italy between the French and Swiss in 1515.

Espinosa, is a two or three player game depicting the battle of Espinosa de los Monteros in 1808. Espinosa  is one of Napoleonic Brigade Series published by Multi-Man Publishing.

Two Solo Games Resources

I find solo games quite intriguing and have featured a few of these games in my posts. I would prefer playing a game with others, but that isn’t always possible, so I am always on the look-out for fun games that can be played solo. Recently I found these two resources that I would like to share with those like-minded individuals who by preference or out of necessity play solo games.

1 Player Guild

The 1 Player Guild is actually a directory of directories of solo games. You will find many recommendations for solo played games on this page.

My Solo Experience - The First Year of Games

My Solo Experience - The First Year of Games is an interesting succession of twenty-five games the author played over the course of a year. Many of the games were played more than once. The author reviews the game and mentions whether he thought the game was a fun solo play

Top Ten Dungeon Crawl Board Games

Back in October I made a post on “Six Print and Play Dungeon Crawl Games”. Recently I came across Top Ten Dungeon Crawl Board Games site, where ten dungeon crawl board games are rated, reviewed, and discussed.

These games are not free or print and play and will have to be purchased and although the title suggests that they are all board games there is a card game listed within the mix. By the way, this game “Dungeon Crawler” is a solo game that can be expanded to allow more players to participate.

My War Games by Conflict

Here is another list of my prepared war-games, this time by conflict. It is always more fun and rewarding to play a war game once you have thoroughly researched the conflict. I want to be able to see the conflict from either side. Of course history is always through the eyes of the victor, but through thorough research you can take a peek into the reality of the conflict.  Here are some starting points to that research:

Seven Years War

Battle of Lobositz

American Revelation

The Battle of Brandywine Creek

The Battle of Germantown

American Civil War

The Battle of Brier creek

The Battle of Honey Springs

Spanish and American War

The Battle Manila Bay

World War II

Sink the Bismarck

The Malta Convoy(solo)

The Battle for Malaya

Unternehmung 25

The Battle of Gimley’s Mine Game Helps

For those of you who might have downloaded the Battle of Gimley’s mine game. I have created a “helps” form. The form can be found here.

The Battle of Gimley’s Mine-Battle Report

The Battle of Gimley’s Mine is a quick and easy to learn game to play and play. By the time you play through the five rounds you understand, quite completely, the games dynamic. I played the game times several times, switching back and forth from and aggressor to the defender. Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages. There is very little skill or strategy involved in the game play. It is more a game of chance that used up to three 6-sided dice. I do recommend reading the back story before playing the game, It gave the game purpose and made the playing the game a bit more interesting.

My Games List

Here is a list of the games I have printed, have cut out, and are ready for play. I hope to get a few more finished before winter sets in. These games will give us something to do when the weather has turned nasty. I will be making additional posts or battle reports once a game is played.

1. Escape of the Dead, fantasy and horror, solo tile game
2. Planet Run, SCIFI, solo board game
3. Bad Grandmas, horror, two person card game
4. Sink the Bismarch, WWII-military, one or two person board game
5. The Battle of Greenbrier River, ACW military, two person board game
6. The Battle of Manila Bay, Spanish and American War-military, two person board game
7. The Malta Convey, WWII military, solo, pen and paper and dice game
8. The Battle of Gimleys Mine, fantasy and horror, solo board game
9. The Sword of Valhalla, fantasy and horror, solo board game
10. The Last Case, horror, solo pen and paper game
11. Santa Clause & the Goblin War, fantasy,  two person board game
12. Utopia Engine, science fiction, solo pen and paper and dice game
13. Postcard from the Revolution: The Battle of Brandywine Creek, American Revolutionary War, two person board game
14. Battle of Lobositz, Seven Years War, two person board game
15. The Battle of Germantown, American Revolutionary War, two person board game

The Sword of Valhall, Battle Report

Although I might have misread the instructions for The Swordof Valhall, the game process seemed a bit redundant. To the best of my knowledge, here is how the game progresses. You start on the first hex and roll a die. Your roll is tied to the associated outcome under the correct table for the Rune you happened to be on.

For most of the Rune tables you must roll a two to move to the next Hex. The outcome, depend on the Rune symbol you are sitting on, you may be told to add an artifact to your inventory, or remove one from your inventory, ECT. There are five outcomes for each of the Runes.

What I found was that I was either adding an inventory point or losing one. This went on for several rolls until I rolled a two and was able to move on the next Hex. Although every table had its unique actions, the add one or remove one was constant on all of the tables.

Like I have already mentioned, perhaps I need to go back and revisit the instructions. I will give this game another go and perhaps if I added some miniatures to represent the explorers the game might be more interesting.

The Sword of Valhalla

The Sword of Valhalla is a solo dungeon crawl game published by 8RadGames. The rules are very simple. You start with six inventory points and four explorers. The Artifact Track is used to keep track of the artifacts that you find along the way as you search for the prized Sword of Valhalla. Artifacts are sold when your inventory points run low. The four explorers represent four lives. If a turn starts with 0 explorers or inventory points you lose the game.

There are three actions for each turn: Roll, React, and Resolve. There are four rune symbols used on the map, for each turn you move one space on the map. You then roll one dice to roll against the rune symbol that matches the one you are on. You may use any one of the three actions to modify or change the result of your roll.

Actions Table
Action	Costs	Result
Nudge	1 Inventory Point	May move up or down 1 place for every inventory point spent
Re-roll	1 Inventory Point	Re-roll the result once per point spent
Camp	1 Inventory Point	Sell Artifacts from Artifact Track 1 Artifact buys 1 Inventory Point 2 Artifact buys 1 Explorer

There aren’t any games pieces, three dice are used instead. One is placed on the number six on the Artifacts table, one is used as a token representing one explorer, and the other with the number four up represents the four lives you start the game with. Instead you could use coins or buttons to present an explorer and the number of artifacts you currently have in your inventory.

                                                                

What is on the Docket this Weekend?

Not that I expect to get to all of these game this weekend, but I do want to give The Sword of Valhalla game a try. I also want to get a handle on The Malta Convey and Utopia Engine game rules. These two dice and pen and paper games look intriguing.

• The Sword of Valhalla, 1 person print and play dungeon crawl board game
• The Malta Convey, 1 person print and play WWII dice and pen and paper game
• Utopia Engine, 1 person print and play science fiction themed dice and pen and paper game