Board wargaming in the modern, commercial sense have generally concentrated on gameplay designed for two or more participants.
A well designed solitaire game attempts to immerse the player in the subject matter, forcing him to make decisions of the same kind made by his historical counterparts who participated in the actual battles or events being simulated.
That same year, Avalon Hill produced B-17, Queen of the Skies, possibly the very first boxed solitaire board wargame.
While Iwo Jima relied on the static nature of the Japanese defences to avoid the need for another human player, and B-17 created opposition by the use of simple charts and dice rolls, Ambush!
had an innovative set of "mission cards" that one read in a view sleeve, with entries corresponding to the hexes on the game map.
by Ross Mortell and Compass Games uses a card based initiative track system to determine the order that enemy units act to simulate a "human" opponent more realistically.
B-17, Queen of the Skies can be looked at as an example of an unsuccessful solitaire board wargame from the point of view of design.
admiral...The game was designed to make the player experience the suspense, uncertainty and confusion of command in a night surface action.
Given a lack of shared experience with a human opponent who is using and required to understand the same game rules, misinterpretations are more possible.
From A Travel Guide to St. Nazaire: Your Very First Raid by Bob Proctor, Volume 24, Number 4, The General Magazine.
The simulated opponent in SASL was created through tables and charts in a special chapter of the Advanced Squad Leader Rulebook.
Nonetheless, Omega Games has released a new, updated version of Ranger for 2005, along with the two original expansion kits (now merged into one).