Playing COIN series games multi-handed solo

By Joe Dewhurst

All four games in The British Way COIN multipack are only two-player and relatively short, so we hope that finding a partner to play with won’t be too difficult. However, we understand that many COIN players enjoy playing solo, and indeed this is probably how Stephen and I have spent the most time playing the other games in the series (both during testing and purely for personal enjoyment). Furthermore, and unlike previous COIN series games, The British Way does not come with a dedicated solitaire system, and so we have decided to provide some additional guidance for multi-handed solo play.

Playing a game ‘multi-handed solo’ simply means controlling all sides to the best of your ability, which can be somewhat tricky for a CDG with hidden hands (although even here the CDG Solo System provides a solution), but is very easy in COIN series games with no hidden information. The COIN series sequence of play also provides you with a limited set of options each turn, especially in The British Way where you have only two Factions and one Event card to consider, which makes these games especially well-suited to multi-handed solo play. You can just flip over the new Event each turn, check which Faction is first eligible, and then evaluate the current board state to determine what move they should take.

How should you go about determining what move to take? Here there are a couple of possible approaches to multi-handed solo. You can treat each turn as a pure optimisation puzzle, aiming to figure out the best possible move for each Faction once their turn comes around, akin to somebody playing both sides in a game of chess. This can be a good way to improve your own strategy and understanding of the game, and is often how we both play while we are testing the games. However, you can sometimes get stuck in a rut while doing this, either missing potentially interesting or powerful strategies, or simply getting bored of repetitively competing against your own playstyle.

Another approach is to play more narratively, assigning each Faction a distinct personality at the beginning of the game, which will then guide your decisions during play. This can be an interesting way to explore alternative historical possibilities, but it can also help improve your play by creating tactical situations that you might otherwise not have considered, or by presenting you with a particular challenge (somewhat similar to the predetermined puzzles that chess players use to improve their skill). I often play this way during testing in order to check whether a particular alternative strategy is viable (we don’t want there to be only a single way to play each Faction), and also during ‘leisure’ games to provide some additional variety.

For example, I might decide that in today’s multi-handed solo game of Fire in the Lake,the US are going to pursue an aggressive strategy of deploying a lot of Troops to the map, ARVN are going to aim to cooperate closely with the US, VC are going to use a lot of Attacks and Ambushes to clear COIN Control in preparation for Agitation, and NVA are going to take a ‘slow and steady’ approach to their advance into the South. Some of these strategic approaches might not be strictly optimal, and they are only loose guidelines that I will adapt on the fly, but they provide some structure that both simplifies my choices each turn and will generate an interesting overall narrative. Furthermore, if one of these more unusual strategies turns out to be very successful, then perhaps I will try it out in my next multiplayer game!

This general approach can also work for The British Way, but because the pack does not come with a dedicated solitaire system we have decided to go one step further and provide you with some suggested ‘Faction Personas’ that can help facilitate two-handed solo play. Each Faction Persona comes with two conditions that you need to try and fulfil during play, in order to satisfy whatever personal, political, or strategic approach has been assigned to you. In combination with the Pre-War Options tables these Faction Personas should provide a large amount of variation for your two-handed solo games, and can even be used during two-player games if one or both players want an additional challenge!

In the rest of this article Stephen presents the general rules for using Faction Personas, along with two Personas for each Faction in The British Way. We’ve also provided a downloadable version of the Faction Personas, for you to print off for easy reference during play. This initial set of Faction Personas is still somewhat experimental, so let us know what you think, and if this experiment is successful we will do something similar for The Guerrilla Generation.

Using Faction Personas in The British Way

By Stephen Rangazas

Faction Personas offer an additional method for judging outcomes in The British Way. They can be used both when playing two-handed solo and in two-player opposed games (if desired, as an additional challenge for just one player). The goal of the Personas is to evaluate players not only on whether they win, but also on how they go about achieving victory. Often key personalities on each side altered the way a Faction would approach a conflict, even at times proving detrimental to ultimate victory.

To encourage players to explore this aspect of a conflict, they can assign one of two possible Personas to either or both of the Factions in each game (after implementing any result from the Pre-War Options Tables). Then, each Faction using a Persona will track ‘Persona Points’, to allow evaluation at the end of the game on how well they pursued their Personas’ favored approach to the conflict (each Faction gains Persona Points according to the conditions listed below). Keep track of Persona Points by using Exit/Scuttle markers on the numbered edge track (Exit for British, Scuttle for Insurgent). At the end of the game, each Faction is graded on how well they fulfilled their Persona’s conditions:

Persona Outcome

• 4+ Persona Points: Approach Followed (Achieved)
• 0-3 Persona Points: Approach Blocked (Failed)

If only one Faction is using a Persona, then determine the Overall Outcome of the game by comparing their Persona Outcome with the Final Victory result. Persona Outcomes amplify or attenuate Final Victory:

Overall Outcome for Persona Faction

• Victory for Persona Faction + Approach Followed: Major Victory
• Victory for Persona Faction + Approach Blocked: Minor Victory
• Defeat for Persona Faction + Approach Followed: Minor Defeat
• Defeat for Persona Faction + Approach Blocked: Major Defeat

If both Factions are using Personas, then simply attenuate or amplify their outcomes separately, depending on the result of the game and whether or not they achieved or failed their Persona Outcome. For instance, if both Factions failed to achieve their Persona Outcomes, then the winner of the game achieves a Minor Victory while the loser faces a Major Defeat.

End of Empire Campaign

The Personas can also be used in End of Empire Campaign games with a few additional rules. Roll a die to determine the starting British Persona in each conflict. Then, when the British player chooses their Colonial Policy, change the British Persona accordingly: Stand Firm shifts British to the Persona marked Stand Firm, Stay the Course keeps the current Persona, and Concessions shifts them to the Persona marked Concessions. Any Persona Points gained by the British are retained if a switch in Persona occurs, but any additional Persona Points may only be gained from the goals of their new Persona (which they will keep for the rest of that game). The Insurgent Player simply selects their Persona at the start of each game (after rolling on the Pre-War Options Table, if desired). When determining Prestige gained or lost from a conflict use the Final Victory result as usual, but modified as follows:

Campaign Game Outcome

• If the Insurgent Faction fails to achieve their Persona Outcome, a Surrender result is changed to a Scuttle.
• If the British Faction fails to achieve their Persona Outcome, an Influence result is changed to an Exit.

Design Note

The best way to think about Persona Outcomes is that you are now playing as a smaller “faction” within a COIN Faction. Political actors often value how they approach a conflict alongside whether they achieve victory. One common reason is bureaucratic or organizational interests, where an internal faction cares deeply about preserving their approach for either budgetary or doctrinal reasons. Alternatively, Persona Outcomes might matter for normative reasons relating to how an actor is perceived in the long run. Even if a political actor ultimately loses a conflict, the side conducting themselves with a more ethical approach will likely have a more favorable legacy. In addition, forcing an opponent to deviate from their preferred approach is often evidence of effective resistance, even if it is not enough to win. To achieve a major victory, players must now win the conflict and follow their Persona’s preferred approach. While the main goal of this variant is exploration and to encourage players to think about how they win, players trying to play as competitively (or cruelly) as possible should try to maximize their victory (achieve a Major Victory while ensuring the opponent gets a Major Defeat). Alternatively, even a player falling behind can attenuate their opponent’s win and their own defeat by focusing on Persona Outcomes.

Faction Personas for The British Way

Two Personas are available for each Faction. The Personas are labeled with thematic names that roughly correspond to historical approaches taken during each conflict, as described in the ‘background’ sections. Each Persona has two conditions that grant Persona Points, one granting Points immediately during the regular course of play and the other granting Points during each Political Will Phase. Any condition that requires a specific Operation or Special Activity will grant a maximum of one Persona Point during the turn that it is carried out.

Palestine

Irgun Personas

1. United Resistance Movement:
   1. Irgun gain a Persona Point for each Sabotage Operation in Coastal Districts with a modified result of 6+.
   1. Irgun gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase that the Haganah Track is greater than 2.
2. Menachem Begin:
   1. Irgun gain a Persona Point for each Propagandize Special Activity that reduces Political Will.
   1. Irgun gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if at least one City contains 2+ Terror markers.

Background: The first option represents Irgun maintaining its cooperation with the United Resistance Movement that includes the more moderate Haganah organization. Haganah highly prioritized sabotage operations in coastal areas to assist illegal immigration into Palestine. In contrast, the second option represents Irgun’s leader, Menachem Begin, who viewed the British as the primary enemy and was willing to conduct high profile terror operations and atrocity propaganda against thm, even at the cost of alienating the Haganah.

British Personas

1. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery (Stand Firm):
   1. British gain a Persona Point for each Mass Detention Special Activity. 
   1. British gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if all three Cities have Curfews.
2. General Alan Cunningham (Concessions):
   1. British gain a Persona Point for each Restore Special Activity in a City.
   1. British gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase that the Haganah Track is less than 2.

Background: Sir Alan Cunningham served as High Commissioner of Palestine during the conflict and favored a more moderate approach to combating the Jewish insurgent groups, including negotiating with Haganah. In contrast, his superior Bernard Montgomery often advocated for a harsher approach, including the more draconian measures of martial law and mass detention. Montgomery had served in Palestine during the earlier Arab Revolt (1936-1939), where harsher measures eventually prevailed.

Malaya

MCP Personas

1. MNLA:
   1. MCP gain a Persona Point for each Attack Operation (including with Ambush) that removes any British Troops.
   1. MCP gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if there are four or more Guerrillas in at least one space.
2. Min Yuen:
   1. MCP gain a Persona Point for each Intimidate Special Activity.
   1. MCP gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if there are at least three MCP Bases in Malaya.

Background: The two Personas for the MCP Faction represent a more military approach (the Malayan National Liberation Army, or MLNA) or a more political one (their civilian branch, the Min Yuen). At the start of the conflict, the MCP hoped to copy the success of Mao’s CCP and quickly build up their military forces and liberated areas in the countryside. However, British pressure forced them to disperse their forces and focus more on their civilian support network, known as the Min Yuen, which carried out most of their political acts at the local level.

British Personas

1. High Commissioner Henry Gurney (Stand Firm):
   1. British gain a Persona Point for each Assault Operation that removes three or more Guerrillas in one space.
   1. British gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if British Control at least six Provinces.
2. High Commissioner Gerald Templer (Concessions):
   1. British gain a Persona Point for each Resettle Special Activity.
   1. British gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if Police present in at least four Provinces.

Background: The Gurney Persona represents the early conduct of the British, who largely focused on military operations to force the large formations of MCP to disperse and deny them liberated areas. Eventually, the British shifted to a more population-centric counterinsurgency strategy that relied heavily on a massive expansion of local police forces, which became optimized during Templer’s period of command.

Kenya

Mau Mau Personas

1. Kenya Land and Freedom Army:
   1. Mau Mau gain a Persona Point for each Terror Operation (including with Raid) that removes at least two Police.
   1. Mau Mau gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if Mau Mau Control at least three Reserve Provinces.
2. Passive Wing:
   1. Mau Mau gain a Persona Point for each Rally Operation in Nairobi.
   1. Mau Mau gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if the majority of Populated Non-Reserve spaces have Terror markers.

Background: As with the MCP Personas above, the two options for the Mau Mau represent a more military or political approach to the conflict. The Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA) operated from the mountain jungles of Kenya and contested British presence in the Kikuyu reserves, but were eventually contained to the jungles until their surrender or capture. The Passive Wing, the Mau Mau’s civilian support network, represents a more political approach that focused on continuing pressure in Nairobi, while terrorizing white settlers and Kikuyu loyalists outside of the reserves.

British Personas

1. Governor Evelyn Baring (Stand Firm):
   1. British gain a Persona Point for every 2 Reserve Population Relocated.
   1. British gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if more Population is Loyal than Resistant.
2. General George Erskine (Concessions):
   1. British gain a Persona Point for each Air Strike Special Activity.
   1. British gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase that British Control both Mountain Jungles.

Background: Governor Baring, often under pressure from white settlers, oversaw the high levels of repression by the colonial government during the emergency, including the use of villagization to control the Kikuyu population. Baring also rewarded Kikuyu loyalism by providing land to those who cooperated with colonial rule, often taken from those who had been relocated. In contrast, General Erskine, who commanded the British Army forces in Kenya, distrusted the white settlers and their demands. Erskine tried to mitigate the level of abuses against civilians by the security forces and focused on the military fight against the KLFA in the mountain jungles.

Cyprus (recommended for use with the Advanced Cyprus Variant)

EOKA Personas

1. Georgios Grivas:
   1. EOKA gain a Persona Point for each Ambush Operation that removes any Police.
   1. EOKA gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if there is an Arms Cache in both Mountain Spaces.
2. Makarios III:
   1. EOKA gain a Persona Point for each Propagandize Special Activity using a Sabotage marker.
   1. EOKA gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if International Opinion is greater than 2.

Background: Grivas, the commander of EOKA, preferred a strategy of guerrilla warfare out of the mountains, alongside the sabotage campaign by EOKA cells in the urban areas of Cyprus. Makarios III, the archbishop of Cyprus and political face of the movement, preferred to focus more on pressuring the British through other means, being well aware of the importance of international pressure on Britain from Greece, Turkey, and the rest of the United Nations.

British Personas

1. Governor John Harding (Stand Firm):
   1. British gain a Persona Point for each Assault Operation that removes an Arms Cache.
   1. British gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if there are three or more Curfews on the map.
2. Governor Hugh Foot (Concessions):
   1. British gain a Persona Point for each Diplomacy Special Activity that shifts the International Opinion Track.
   1. British gain a Persona Point each Political Will Phase if there are four or more Cells in Prison.

Background: Governor Harding approached the conflict with heavy-handed measures, including the deportation of Makarios III, extensive use of curfews, and major army operations into the mountains of Cyprus. When Governor Foot took over, the approach shifted to the more selective application of force, through the use of police intelligence gathering and diplomacy with Greece and Turkey to mitigate international pressure for a full British withdrawal.

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