solitaire play??

[Shad]

Hey all

I was wondering how this game plays solitaire, as I was thinking about trading for PG:Semper Fi Guadalcanal on BGG...

Are there any organized methods used for solo play?

Oh yeah, BTW, this would be my FIRST try at the PG series...

Thanks for any comments...it looks like this is the place to ask

Bill

Hi Bill, welcome aboard.

First off, almost all of our players primarily play PG solitaire.

Currently, the PG-HQ database has 3,824 solo plays versus only 394 head-to-head plays. That means we can safely assume ~90% of PG is played solo. In other words, you'd not be the odd-man-out in terms of play style!

In terms of satisfaction, apart from the elementary conclusion that if that many people play it it must be good we can look at the ratings versus play type:

Average overall rating for solo play: 3.32
Average overall rating for h-to-h play: 3.22

These numbers might surprise some folks around here. I wouldn't place too much weight on them. H-to-H play being slightly lower-rated overall is likely due to a few factors:

• our most prolific head-to-head player is a real curmudgeon when it comes to handing out ratings
  
• scenario competitive balance is a top concern when head-to-head, but less important when solo
  
• solo plays are more likely to be what you want (vs. what we want) so you're already starting from a higher rating just in the selection process
  
• there are far fewer ratings so the average has less certainty
  

Regarding Guadalcanal in particular, there are three ways you can go:

1. Ignore the hidden rules and solo as you would any other PG game
   
2. Ignore the hidden rules and beef up the Japanese OOB a little to compensate for the lack of surprise
   
3. Apply one of the solo hidden rules house rules that PG players have developed over the years
   

...which is a GREAT time to pimp my own version of #3, which I also happen to think is the best , please check out this thread: How to Solo with Hidden Units and Still Surprise Yourself

Hope that all helps!

EDIT TO ADD - as some people have already touched on above, Guadalcanal - due to the prolific jungle and super-motivated Japanese units - plays somewhat differently (slower, more grind-y) than almost every other PG game. If your primary motivation is Pacific Theater, starting here is fine. If your primary motivation is trying PG, you may find other games (Elsenborn or Desert Rats in particular) more to your liking and easier to get into.