The Fields of Normandy: A Solitaire Wargame

An excellent wargaming book, compact and portable, there is no set up or any chance of accidentally knocking the counters off the table.The rules are straightforward and easy to pick up, the missions gradually increase in complexity which helps with the learning process.There are fifteen missions to complete and it is a nice touch that Mike has included a blank game page in the back to allow you to create your own scenarios.I don't like writing in books so I use a piece of plastic laminate over the map and a dry wipe marker, so each mission can be played multiple times if you want.Overall this is an great addition to anyone's wargame library, and is an excellent travel game, it has a small footprint and you play it on your knee while sat on the sofa, no need to take over the dining table, which is a plus as far as I'm concerned.Worth every penny.

Supply the dice, a pencil and a sense of fun for many hours of enjoyment.

minimalistic but fun puzzle.Perfect to stash in your backpack and hit the road.

I've only played the first few introductory missions, but I love how simple and stylized the rules are while giving me interesting choices every turn. These are more like solving puzzles than playing a full game, and this is wonderful for those times you want something fun to do without all the setup or lengthy gameplay. (Reminiscent of the chess puzzles in the newspaper.) Everything you need is on the 2 pages, the missions become increasingly complex, and you could easily make up your own missions using bits from other games. Great value for the price. Definitely looking forward to more game books from Mike Lambo. If I can give some constructive suggestions, they would be to add some flair to the book, such as public domain artwork and battle trivia. (For example, check out Waterloo Solitaire.) Sure, we can easily find these things online and we all read The Longest Day etc. but it would transform a very good game book into an excellent one.

This game’s design goal was to make a fun, quick, portable, accessible wargame, and I’d say it succeeds. You can get playing within minutes of cracking open the book, and you can play it by writing in the book. (If you don’t want to do that, there are of course other options; see the attached photo showing the game being played with components from the Memoir ‘44 game. You can also photocopy, use tokens on the page, etc.) You will need to provide your own six-sided dice and a pencil to play; everything else is contained in the book.The game is quite simple and abstracted, and not a tight simulation of actual warfare (as the designer freely admits in the game’s introduction), so it may not satisfy someone looking for an extremely realistic experience. But as a historical diversion that is quick to pick up and play with some decisions and some luck, it works great.The missions are short and tight. You roll dice for each of your units to generate two command options and choose the one you want them to perform, so play proceeds very quickly. On the enemy turn, their rules are exceedingly simple so you won’t find yourself bogged down in running the opponent’s AI. Combat resolution is simple and straightforward. It’s not detailed or nuanced, but there is enough variation to make strategic decisions off of. And each mission is under a turn limit so no game will drag on; you play a lot of little short games in a session, not one long game.The book includes 15 replayable missions which ramp up from tutorial in difficulty, plus a template to create your own. The rules are clear and concise.If the game has a weakness, it’s that the graphic design is a little plain; a good graphic designer and artist could do some wonders for this format. But the simplicity of the presentation does make for an exceedingly clear and legible structure, so it still works and did not bother me, even if it feels a little “homebrew”. All text is nice and large.In short, a nice little pick-up-and-play diversion. It’s not a gritty, realistic simulation, but it’s not trying to be that. Instead, it’s a game that even wargame novices could dip their toes into without much of a time or monetary commitment, so I’d say it definitely succeeds at what it was designed to do.Glad I picked it up.