First off, this series is being done as a bit of a lark as wargaming has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas so if anyone is offended, please just stop reading now.

On the 1st day of Christmas War Gaming, my true love gave to me…

A Lone Sherman Tank Caught in a Crossfire

Lone Sherman: The Pacific is a solitaire book wargame designed and self-published by Mike Lambo. The game puts the player in charge of a single Sherman Tank and its crew on several Pacific Islands in World War II and tasks the player with navigating the lone tank through very challenging scenarios based on several of the island hopping campaigns including Saipan, Tarawa and . While this game is not a “narrative driven” solitaire game as such, with a little imagination it will provide memorable stories and really keeps you on the edge of your seat as you roll your dice, choose your actions and hope for the best. Some events are randomly generated in the game, but the player always has at least some degree of control over the level of risk they wish to take and how vulnerable they leave their tank to these events. This typically manifests itself in your position on the board, how near you are to enemy units and what condition your tank is currently in and whether you pause your attacks to repair or extinguish fires.

In the game, the player will maneuver their lone Sherman Tank around the board attempting to meet various objectives laid out in the scenario which usually involve destroying enemy units, reaching specific points on the board or getting off the board to move onto the next scenario. If the Sherman Tank is destroyed the scenario ends in a loss. The AI has a pretty simple to follow priority list and will decide how it acts based on a number of D6 dice being rolled and then consulting a table. In this example, the Lone Sherman Tank has found itself immobilized by a direct hit to its rear by the Anti-Tank unit snuggled up in the buildings to the rear and now that the tank cannot move, it is caught in a cross fire from 3 Japanese units. This was not the case when I ended my movement out in the open on the air strip, which offers no cover bonus, as the Anti-Tank units were pointing in a different direction. But, when the AI rolled its dice for each of those Anti-Tank guns, they pivoted and turned toward me to bring fire to bear on my unsuspecting crew. And the fact that both of the Anti-Tank guns are shooting at the rear of the tank, their number needed to hit is much lower as the armor in the rear is worse than the front and the sides.

The Immobilized condition is a tough one and can only be remedied by the player rolling the appropriate action dice to allow them to take a Repair Action. If the dice are unkind, and no Repair actions are rolled, then this will not end well as the tank will continue to take attacks in their rear and ultimately take enough damage to be killed. Notice the small Immobile counter that has been placed in the Immobilised Box found in the upper right hand corner of the map. This condition means that the tank cannot move, turn or reverse. The tank can still fire though but currently that is a difficult task at best. This scenario did not end well for the lone Sherman Tank as I took several hits that caused fires that ultimately spread because I was unable to control them.

I have very much enjoyed my experience with this game and the best part is the price as it is very affordable and can be carried with you to any occasion. There are so many different games in this series to choose from and there is something for every wargamer’s taste including World War I, World War II, Vietnam War, Napoleonic Wars, Medieval battles and even some Sci-Fi settings.

If you want to know more about Lone Sherman: The Pacific, you can check out my video review at the following link:

I also shot a playthrough of a scenario (#B-4 Saipan Landing) and you can watch that at the following link:

If you are interested in Lone Sherman: The Pacific, you can order a copy for $18.99 from Amazon at the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Lone-Sherman-Pacific-Solitaire-Wargame/dp/B0CY4WT5WH

-Grant