Assault on Vimy Ridge: A Solitaire Wargame

The Battle of Vimy Ridge, April 9th to April 12th, 1917, was part of the Battle of Arras in north-eastern France and took place during World War One. It was the first time that the four Divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together as one and is arguably Canada’s most celebrated military victory. The Ridge itself was a crucial strategic location and previous attempts by the British and French to take it had failed. New tactics for assaulting trenches were employed, where enemy units were pinned and suppressed with machine gun fire and other weapons before infantry ran in with bayonets to finish the job. Soldiers were given more flexibility to make decisions ‘on the fly’ supported by non-commissioned officers as the battle developed or in situations where officers had been lost to enemy fire. In addition, troops were allocated specific roles, for example as specialist grenade throwers. In addition, the Canadian forces were advancing behind a rolling barrage of artillery fire which caused German soldiers to run for cover into underground chambers to avoid annihilation. This helped the Canadians to enter the trenches before the enemy could recover and reinforce. The Ridge was taken, and the battle was over in four days.

In the game, the Player will take control of a Sergeant who finds himself as the highest ranking soldier amongst a selection of various units, representing small groups of remaining men in rifle squads, grenade squads and machine gun teams, seeking to achieve various Objectives. The exploits of each of the four Divisions of the Canadian Corps is represented by three connected mission maps, giving twelve mission maps in total. The game should be played as four distinct campaigns consisting of the three mission maps for each Division.

The aim of this book is to present a clear, accessible, and quick to learn game, so that players can get into the action quickly. It does not claim to be entirely realistic, but the game mechanics do represent the historical characteristics of the assault as set out above. Each of the 12 mission maps should provide plenty of replayability due to the random set up of the initial forces and the outcome of the many action points in the game.

This book is a solitaire wargame. You play the game, and the enemy is controlled by the game book (or the Artificial Intelligence or ‘AI’). You will probably need around a dozen or so standard six-sided dice, although this will vary a little depending on what exactly happens in the game, and the number of dice needed can easily be reduced simply by rolling fewer dice several times as required.