PanzerBlitz solitaire play

PanzerBlitz is surprisingly easy to play solitaire, but can be surprisingly difficult to "win." It can also be surprisingly fun. Here are a few guidelines:

The benefits of playing solitaire are numerous:

1. Clock time is relatively unimportant. Playing through a situation can take as much or as little time as you desire. Given you have a place where the game won't be disturbed, playing out a game over several days might make the difference between playing or not playing.
2. It's easy to play through the same situation multiple times, considering different strategies and tactics.
3. When clock time is unimportant, each turn can be considered in detail. There is time to takes notes, and time to read through the rules very carefully.
4. Conversely, games can be run with a timer, where each turn is knocked out in, say, six to ten minutes. Playing fast will expose blunders in playing very quickly.
5. Getting familiar with situations at one's leisure really helps game play when you have an opponent. The first time setting up a situation is the hardest and takes the longest. For people suffering from an occasional bout of analysis paralysis, suffering through the "set up blues" solitaire means not inflicting them on a live opponent. Plus you might learn a winning advantage.

PanzerBlitz lends itself well to solitaire, as it's challenging to play each side to one's best ability, and let the game play dictate the "winner."

How to balance solitaire play

Balancing play in solitaire games is difficult as a tendency to favor one side or another always seems to lurk just below the level of conscious thought.

• Use the 1-finger rule to speed up game play and reduce favoritism. The notion is that once a unit is moved, and the fingers which moved the unit lift, it's done. No going back and revisiting a move, what's done is done. (This would also work to speed up game play with two players.)

• Randomize smartly. For example suppose the situation called for the Germans to set up first (e.g., Situation #1), and the Russians to enter on any side of the board. Instead of choosing in advance which board the Russians enter on, let the dice choose. That way, the "Germans" will have to cover all sides. Conversely, suppose the Russians set up first as in Situation #3. Where should the Germans attempt to punch through? Throw the dice!

Note that playing solitaire doesn't necessarily imply "evenly matched opponents." Some PanzerBlitz scenarios are notoriously difficult for the Germans, and for an inexperienced player, will feel highly unbalanced. This simply means that the Germans must be played differently than the Russians, and that playing the German side well takes some experience.

Guidelines for Situations

1. Situation #1 The Russians can enter from any side, which is problematic when playing solitaire, because the German side can set up to exploit a known Russian entry. After the Germans set up, to randomize the Russian entry roll a d4 (or d8) and count from North edge of board as 1, east as 2, etc. If rolling a d6, just ignore rolls of 5 or 6 and re-roll until 1-4 is obtained. This way the Germans will have to consider Russians coming in from any side.

   Once a first game is determined, given an identical German deployment, further games can have Russians advancing from each side subsequently.

2. Situation #2 After the Russians set up, roll d6 to choose which board the Germans enter on. It really doesn't make a lot of difference in this situation, as entering from the center board in road march order puts the German player 1/2 turn behind at most, regardless of where the Russian advance is met.

3. Situation #3 Roll d6 to determine which board the Germans will attempt to drive a corridor through. This ensures that the Russians won't anticipate the German push. Note that a Russian strategy of having units mounted at the beginning of the game practically dictates these units are located on Board 2. If the German player decides to feint, the die should determine to which side: even east, west odd.

4. Situation #4 Very little initial randomization is necessary, which frees a solitaire player to mix up the entry strategy for both German and Russian forces. These initial conditions make Situation #4 a pretty good solitaire play.

5. Situation #5 doesn't present any obvious Russian randomizations. The game could be tilted by assigning numbers to each of the Russian units and locations, and enforce random placement, but this is a fair bit of work. For German strategy, a die roll could determine which of the three viable corridors across Board 1 will be forced (because they will have to be forced).

6. Situation #6 presents three choices for the Russians to cross Board 2: north of Bednost, through Bednost, or south of Bednost. Set up the Germans to protect against any choice, then roll the dice!

7. Situation #7 has an unusual condition: out of the box, it's a guaranteed Russian win, provided the Russians pretty much don't do anything. The Germans have to do all the work.

8. Situation #8 is a very difficult situation for the Germans, as the Russians control incredibly defensible terrain which is also very slow moving for the Germans. One way to play this solitaire is spend the time getting a solid Russian defense emplaced, then vary the German strategy for punching through.

There are surely more interesting and innovative ways to create solitaire playability. Ideas and pointers welcome.