Introduction by Congress of Vienna (CoV) Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter: This article is intended to supplement and serve as a narrative for the game’s now available Solitaire System from GMT.
The genesis of Congress of Vienna’s solitaire system began with the good efforts of Game Designer Frank Esparrago, ably assisted through the talents of Jim Gutt and David Yllanes. To learn more of what they considered and accomplished, access this link for a 2021 InsideGMT article explaining the various versions of CoV, including its Solo game at the time: Congress of Vienna: Designing Its Solitaire Game | Inside GMT blog
This was a great start, but the CoV Team sought a Solitaire Game more player-friendly and easier to grok and use. It was then David Schoellhamer took the project’s reins. Rather than utilize something completely new, Frank recommended with David and Frank subsequently composing a Congress of Vienna Solitaire System using the already successfully established CDG Solo System by Stuka Joe (thanks Joe, what a wonderful approach you devised!).
The CoV Team loved it! They embraced the solo system and Bot edits David created for CoV playtesting. David now resumes this tale…
I began helping Frank Esparrago and Fred Schachter playtest 4-player Congress of Vienna during the Covid Pandemic using its Vassal Module. The 4-player game is superb fun for a gamer like me! It is grand in scale and very immersive with a large decision space and fascinating puzzles to solve in striving for victory. I greatly enjoyed contributing to its evolution.
This included developing the game’s optional Tactical Battle Matrix to resolve the dramatic clash of armies on Congress of Vienna’s European game map. If interested in learning more of this option, here’s a link to a related, nicely illustrated (thanks Rachel!) article with Frank providing historic Napoleonic Wars battle references of how each tactic was employed: A Congress of Vienna Option: Adding Tactical Flavor to Battles (A Tactical Battle Matrix) Part 1 of 2 | Inside GMT blog.
But that only partially fulfilled my enthusiastic desire to further contribute to Congress of Vienna! With time on my hands, I then helped design and playtest its solo game. Some people learn to play games by reading rulebooks, others learn by watching videos, from fellow gamers around a table with a new game before them, or through a combination of various methods. To help those who prefer to learning through “How to Play” videos, I made this video which is not intended to be a full teach, play through, or strategy discussion. It presumes you’ll have some familiarity with CoV’s rules prior to viewing. For that background, I recommend reading the Quick Start rules summary before launching the video.
In the video I demonstrate how to set up the solo card displays, dealing cards, selecting cards, saving Possibly Useable Military Cards (PUMC), transferring the military pile when triggered, and a detailed battle example using the Fog of War procedure. I play part of a Campaign Game’s turn 1 using the noncompetitive solo option where I, the human, make all decisions for both the French and Allies instead of utilizing bots. This allows focus on the game’s solo mechanics.
The GMT CDG Solo System is the foundation of Congress of Vienna’s solo play. Viewers of my video will notice I use as a player aid undeployed military units, CoV’s colored wooden pieces of the appropriate Major Power, to designate which solo display cards are eligible for selection (France – blue, Russia – green, Austria – white, and Britain – red). Should these pieces become unavailable as units get deployed onto the game map, feel free to substitute any other memory aid…. e.g. another game’s unique wooden colored pieces, counters, or even coins. The same principle applies to that white card with a big “X” drawn upon it to serve as a reminder that the PUMC deck has been transferred.
Character and Event cards are arranged on solo playmats available from the CDG Solo System or Congress of Vienna pages available from gmtgames.com.
Have fun giving this solo version of playing Congress of Viena a try!
Concluding Remarks by Congress of Vienna (CoV) Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter: What a fine and remarkable job David did with the system he devised as well as the video he produced for teaching how to play it. Well done indeed! This method of playing Congress of Viennasolitaire results in an entertaining and exciting narrative of potential alternate Napoleonic Wars history as you strive to do your best with the cards available, plus the thrilling (and all too often aggravating) vagaries of dice rolling, to succeed: knowing the story you’re creating can only result in a single Major Power’s triumph. Will Napoleon survive to continue ruling a battered but victorious French empire or shall one of the three Allied Powers rise to dominance?
Previous Congress of Vienna InsideGMT Articles
Author: David Schoellhamer
