Introduction by Hitler’s Reich Co-Designer Fred Schachter: An admonition of my fellow Hitler’s Reich design partner Mark McLaughlin and myself, for every GMT game we’ve worked or are working on, is to encourage players to feel free to modify a game if it enhances their enjoyment of it. Our refrain of “Hey, it’s your game!” has been consistent over the years.

When Hitler’s Reich fan Robert Baynosa introduced himself to me with his suggestion to modify Vez Arponin’s solitaire version of Hitler’s Reich; his ideas to modify Vez’s creation, which so many have enjoyed puzzling out and being entertained by, seemed too good to keep just to ourselves. Hence, it is here shared with InsideGMT’s audience. Give it a whirl if you’re so inclined!

Incidentally, some knowledge of how the Hitler’s Reich game system works, as background for fully appreciating Robert’s presentation, is available at: GMT Games – Hitler’s Reich .

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A Different Kind of Game!

As a hybrid wargamer, that is, I enjoy playing both Wargames and Eurogames; GMT’s Hitler’s Reich struck me as a good way of introducing my Eurogamer friends to the wonderful world of wargames. Oh to be sure, as many others found as their first impression of this Card Conquest Series game, I balked at the number of dice rolls and the seeming randomness of the game’s Conflict cards (modeled on a regular deck of playing cards… complete with four suits!).

However, as I played more and more, I soon realized how these “luck” elements were mitigated by smart Event card play, the ability to influence one’s hand size, and Conflict resolution effects – for these constitute the core of this clever game design. I have since learned to love the different Hitler’s Reich game mechanics and how they mesh together to give one a novel experience.

Also of particular interest to me was the way players had to fight, not only for areas of the map board, but for the various Event cards themselves. I’ve experienced games where players purchase, bid, or automatically acquire cards, but I’ve never played a game where you actually fight for the cards like fighting for board control – that felt unique. Another interesting Hitler’s Reich game mechanic was the direct attack on an opponent’s hand size. I’m sure that design mechanic has been used before, but I personally have not played a game where a player can directly affect his own and/or his opponent’s hand size.

My gaming friends and I have had great fun experiencing Hitler’s Reich as a two-player game. We heartily recommend it. 

The Hitler’s Reich Solo Experience

But that version of the game is not all it offers! I have delved more heavily into solo gaming since the start of the pandemic, and I’ve recently tried Hitler’s Reich with its AI Axis Bot designed by Vez Arponin. The flowchart can look intimidating at first, but after two or three rounds one can easily get into the flow of things. Using the Bot becomes very easy and intuitive once one gets the hang of it. It was interesting how the flowchart went through the decision trees, and how it incorporates all the possible actions of a human player at seemingly opportune moments. The Bot is well constructed and could even be a framework for helping guide a new Hitler’s Reich Axis player to make decisions.

As good as the Bot is, there was one thing that bothered me – it would always play a single Event card no matter what… not the combinations a “live” player could do: e.g. no “schwerpunkt” by the Axis Bot such as the potent six Event card combination of Tiger Tanks, Stukas, Waffen SS, Reserves, Rommel, and Maximum Effort to capture Moscow. This was evidently done to make sure the Bot does not run out of cards to play for the many conflicts of a given game. But from my experience, human players will tend to play 2 or more cards to secure particularly strategic objectives. In such cases, the Bot would be at a disadvantage.

A Solo Variation

With the single Event card play conundrum, I decided to give the Axis AI Bot a slight tweak.

• In situations where the player plays two Event cards (i.e., a situation where the player really wants to win!) and the Bot has a Conflict card of 11+ (instead of 9+ on Step 4 in the Card Selection flowchart); and has more than one playable Event card, roll a 1d6. On a result of 4-6, the AI plays a second, randomly selected Conflict Event card from his hand of Event cards.

• When a player plays 3 Event cards (he really, really wants to win!) and the Bot has a Conflict card of 11+ (instead of 9+ on Step 4 in the Card Selection flowchart); and has 3 or more playable cards, the Bot automatically plays a second randomly selected second Event card. Roll a 1d6, on a roll of 4-6 it plays a third, randomized Event card from its hand of available Event cards.

• I have never seen an instance where a player plays 4 or more Event cards for a single Conflict resolution (despite the preceding example), and if some do, I think that occurrence is quite rare, so I didn’t include any particular rule on that, but if it happens, just follow the steps for player playing 3 cards.

Why am I choosing this variant over the game’s standard Bot which prioritizes having available cards to play? As mentioned above, the side who plays the most cards is usually at a significant advantage (to win). Winning a Conflict in this game has great benefits: One, it affords the winner the leverage of retaining his W/L Event cards while the loser must discard those cards and fight to regain their use again! I feel retaining Event cards, even if they get ‘exhausted’ after use, is a superior strategy to having a large pool of cards to play in all situations but likely losing them via lost disadvantaged battles. Second, if you win and are the active side, you get one extra Bonus action. Again, another prime reason to not go into a conflict disadvantaged.

Concluding Remarks

I have tried this Hitler’s Reich variant and it gives me a more satisfying solo experience. I have a tendency (as I believe most players do) to hoard Event cards and use two or more for strategically important plays. This variant has made the AI a much tougher opponent during my games.

One may argue that such a variant will lead to the AI going thru its Event hand more rapidly; and it might be stuck acquiring new cards in its ensuing actions. My experience is the opposite; since it has a greater chance of winning, it has a greater chance of retaining its Event cards for use during later turns and won’t need to acquire new cards as much.

Of course, no flowchart nor amount of tweaking will cover all situations, especially in a game like Hitler’s Reich where there are many, interconnected actions and decisions to be made. As one of my other game manuals put it, it is sometimes beneficial to override the AI’s choice when it seems obviously to the detriment of the Bot. But sometimes, it is equally interesting to see the Bot take a nonlinear approach and this could provide new insights into this fascinating game.

But as mentioned by Fred in his preamble to this article, however way you play Hitler’s Reich, be it opposed, solo or any variant thereof, I hope you enjoy the experience. It is indeed, in the end, our game.

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