From the back of the box:
Ambush! is the solitaire game of combat, adventure, and heroism in World War Two France. Using a ground-breaking development of the programmed paragraph solitaire system, Ambush! gives the player control of an American squad, faced with a variety of missions against an ever-changing, hidden German foe. The variable events, innumerable tactical options, and wealth of unexpected occurrences make Ambush! a solitaire gaming experience unlike any that has gone before. The easily learned rules are specially designed to get the player into the action within minutes. The player selects and arms his squad, providing each soldier with command and initiative ratings, perception, weapons skill, driving skill, and movement capability. After selecting one of the eight missions provided, the player sends his squad into a mission map to conduct operations called for in the mission. Soldiers move freely, as far as the player wishes, checking for events each time they move...until the sequenced action rounds are triggered by the whine of German bullets!
I played this a lot with Duncan in the mid-nineties. But apart from a couple of games with Kieron and one with David, it hasn't come out much in the last twenty-five years. In that time, I've collected all the expansions, so was keen to kick-start it again when there was an opportunity.
David and I dusted off our (decade-old?) Squad Record from Mission 1: Bloody St Mick and set up for Mission 2: Advance to Chasoul.
Our squad had to check out all the buildings in a village. We approached from the west and decided to swing round and approach the village from the south. Privates Greggs and Harris stepped out of the woods and surprised a sniper in a small building. Harris instantly bought it but Greggs rushed in and assaulted the German who promptly surrendered. A Pyrrhic victory as Greggs had to spend the rest of the game very honourably escorting the captured prisoner.
Further round the village, after spotting and disarming a boobytrap in another building, Sergeant Barraclough spotted a second sniper, and sprayed the distant building with his sub-machine gun, taking out the enemy with a lucky shot. Shortly afterwards, Private Dawson surprised three Germans in the woods and a big scrap ensued, with Barraclough capturing the officer.
Suddenly, a Messerschmitt ME109 flew overhead strafing the village but fortunately missing the squad. It returned again later and Captain Abernathy raised his Browning Automatic Rifle, took aim and against all the odds, penetrated the fuselage and downed the fighter.
With all the Germans dispatched and the village cleared, a reinforcement Jeep with a handy Medium Machine Gun unexpectedly arrived. Private Johnson put up with all the insults when he finally arrived at the railway station where the squad and their two prisoners had gathered. After a moment to remember Harris' sacrifice, Dawson started to brew up.
The squad gained 19 points for the buildings explored, 1 point for the appearance of the ME109 and 7 points for the various Germans killed or captured, for a total of 27 points. They lost 2 points for the regrettable death of Private Harris and so just managed to achieve the victory condition of 25 points. With their chests (and stats) suitably swelled, they set off - next stop Belgium.
