''Ambush!'' is a
man-to-man wargame
A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...
developed by
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company ...
. It was released under Avalon's
Victory Games label and was developed by Eric Lee Smith and John Butterfield. It has been out of print since Avalon Hill was disbanded in 1998.
''Ambush!'' was innovative when it was released in 1983 since it was exclusively designed for single player play. Up to that point, wargames generally required at least two players. This was necessary since a player always had to play and control the opponent. ''Ambush!'' solved this problem by having the game scenario itself control the opponent. It accomplished this via tables, charts and a "paragraph book" which the player referred to see how the opponent was reacting.
Having the scenario dictate the actions of the opponent had another advantage: perfectly hiding the enemy. In all previous board based wargames,
chits or markers had to be placed on the board representing enemy units. Some chits contained question marks or otherwise hid what was actually on the space, but the opposing player knew where likely areas for the enemy were. With ''Ambush!'', the enemy had no markers on the board at all until they became visible (usually by attacking the player).
One drawback of ''Ambush!'s'' design was that it was difficult for players to create their own scenarios. Since each scenario had its own complex set of charts and tables, each cross-referenced to sections in the paragraph book, creating a scenario for the game from scratch could be a daunting undertaking. Players, then, were usually required to purchase Avalon Hill's expansion modules in order to play additional scenarios.
''Ambush!'' could also be played with more than one player, with players playing in different squads or controlling different soldiers.
Expansions
''Ambush!'' spawned several expansion modules:
*
Move Out (1984)
*
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
(1985)
*
Silver Star (1987)
There was also a Japanese theatre version of ''Ambush!'' called ''Battle Hymn'', which had one expansion module called ''Leatherneck''.
Additionally, a solitaire game based on ''Ambush!'' called ''
Open Fire!'' was released by
Victory Games which put the player in command of US tanks in WW II. It was less successful and had a less elegant design.
There was, finally, a two-player version of ''Ambush!'' called ''Shell Shock'' released in 1990.
Computer versions
There have been a number of literal translations of ''Ambush!'' to the computer, including a
cyberbox module as well as at least one version for the
VASSAL
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
game engine.
Reception
In 1984, ''Ambush!'' won the
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...
for ''Best 20th Century Boardgame of 1983''.
Reviews
* ''
Casus Belli'' #22 (Oct 1984)
Legacy
While not the first boxed
solitaire board wargame to be produced (Avalon Hill's ''
B-17, Queen of the Skies'' had preceded it in 1983), ''Ambush!'' was probably the most successful. While the additional modules are testament to this successful design, the concept also appears to have been validated by ''Ambush!'', as a fair number of other purpose-designed solitaire games (as opposed to two player games that "could" be played solitaire) followed it shortly after. These include:
* ''
Tokyo Express
The Tokyo Express was the name given by Allied forces to the use of Imperial Japanese Navy ships at night to deliver personnel, supplies, and equipment to Japanese forces operating in and around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the ...
'' (Victory Games, 1988)
* ''Open Fire'' (Victory Games, 1988)
* ''
London's Burning'' (Avalon Hill, 1995) - a solitaire game of the Battle of Britain
* ''
Solitaire Advanced Squad Leader'' (Avalon Hill, 1995)
Notes
External links
* {{bgg, 1608
Victory Games
World War II board wargames
Origins Award winners
Man-to-man wargames
Single-player games
Tactical wargames
Wargames introduced in the 1980s