''Patton's Best'' is a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

solitaire

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 ...

. It was designed by

Bruce Shelley Bruce Campbell Shelley is a board and video game designer. He is primarily associated as the co-designer of the video games ''Railroad Tycoon'' and ''Civilization'' with Sid Meier, and later the '' Age of Empires'' series. Shelley had worked with ...

and published 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' ...

in 1987. The game puts the player in command of an

M4 Sherman } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the Military history of the United States during World War II, United States and Allies of World War II, Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman prove ...

tank belonging to

George Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

's 4th Armoured Division in Northern Europe. The game is played on an abstract map which portraits hypotethical territory in Normandy, several tables and a depiction of the tank, on which the player puts cardboard counters to indicate the actions performed by each member of the crew, the kind of ammunition currently loaded in the main gun, the current state of hatches, turret and gun orientation, and other information. A game is played in turns, each one corresponding to 15 minutes of real time: when random die rolls indicate that combat occurs the action switches to combat rounds, during which the player directs the actions of each crew member (driver, assistant driver, gunner, loader and commander himself) moving the tank and firing its weapons, while the randomly determined enemy reacts with actions determined by random die rolls influenced by what the player does. The player wins by earning ''victory points'' by knocking out enemy units and capturing enemy territory, and preventing the enemy doing so. After a game is over the player has a chance to improve his tank, switching to a later or improved model, and to improve the skills of his crew. The game is quite detailed in terms of single-tank warfare simulation, including rules for machine guns, smoke deployment, target acquisition, enemy spotting, crew casualties.

Reviews

*''

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...

'' #43 (Feb 1988)

References

External links

* {{Avalon Hill Avalon Hill games Board games introduced in 1987 World War II board wargames