French and Indian War Solitaire, the sister game to War of 1812 Solitaire, allows the player to command the French or British side in the war that decides the fate of North America. The game introduces some new concepts to the series. In the French and Indian War, regional militia and Indians play a large role. Indians affect attacks in regions depending on what side they allied with. Alliances change during the game. Each region has militia that are weak unless they have a conventional army present. Each side has a limited number of armies that provide a major boost to the militia in the region. Choosing where to place your few conventional armies are major decisions each year. The game also allows players to play either side, French or British.
- Compact and portable design
- Quick to learn and play
- Offers two different perspectives (French or British)
- Easy-to-understand rulebook with graphics and examples
- Can be a challenging climb to victory
- Difficulty in maintaining Native American alliances
- Dice rolls can lead to significant setbacks
- The French and Indian War
- 1755
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Point Allowance — Players determine how many action points they have at the start of play and then conduct their actions.
- AI Opponent — The AI player aid allows for one side for the French and one side for the British.
- Area Control — Controlling regions on the map and influencing Native American tribes.
- Dice Rolling — Used for combat resolution and influencing Native American tribes.
- Double-sided counters — Counters are double-sided, indicating modifiers that apply when a side is in a weakened or enhanced state.
- point-to-point movement — You're going to be playing along points in various areas on the map.
- Variable turn structure — The game goes back and forth going through the 20 turns, with a variable number of turns usually three or four per year.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- It's a tough climb here. I just played a practice round and I lost an automatic victory to the British in I think the 17th or the 18th turn.
- So, the basically the game goes back and forth going through the 20 turns.
- As the French, as the human player, you win the war immediately if at the end of any turn, you control three of the four cities or four flag cities of your opponent.
- But, as with many of these travel solitaire games, there can be a tall climb to victory.
- The British seem to constantly steal it and that creates all kinds of problems.
References (from this video)
- Interesting decisions, especially regarding army movement and strategy.
- Challenging but the victory point conditions are achievable.
- The game feels balanced from the French perspective.
- A satisfying win after multiple attempts in the series.
- Heavily reliant on luck due to dice rolls.
- Some powerful British turns can be challenging to overcome.
- French and Indian War
- Winter of 1758, second half of the war
- Europe at War 1941
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Point Allowance — Players have a limited number of action points per turn, requiring them to make strategic choices about how to best utilize their actions.
- alliance management — The game involves managing alliances with Native American tribes, whose allegiance can shift and impact gameplay.
- Area Control — Players vie for control over different regions and 'flag towns' which are crucial for victory points and strategic positioning.
- Dice Rolling — Dice rolls are used to determine the success or failure of attacks and other game events, often with modifiers based on game state or unit strength.
- Naval Control — Control of the seas is a factor that impacts defensive performance and can provide strategic advantages.
- Victory Point Condition — The game is won by achieving a certain margin of victory points over the opponent, rather than solely through military conquest.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm just thrilled about I'm going to double check the points here and just to make sure.
- Yes. So, I was one point off. The British have three uh fortified towns. So, but it's it's 9 to three, which is a sixpoint difference.
- It feels really good. So, some impressions on gameplay of French and Indian War here. I was thinking this was impossibly hard until I realized that the victory point condition for winning isn't that impossible.
- It's nice to win one, too.
- You do need uh, luck. That easily could have gone a number of different ways depending upon the last British die roll.