One of the most pervasive myths about the CWB game series is that it is somehow impossible to play solitaire. I feel most of this is due to misconceptions of how the command system works and what its purpose is. This article will examine both of these aspects as well as look at how players can use the command system to enhance solitaire play and make it a more enjoyable experience.

The greatest misconception surrounding the command systems of both the CWB and TCS is that they are somehow related to the misbegotten folly we all knew and hated-plotting. Old fashioned plotting was ill-suited for the solitaire player for two reasons-neither of which are applicable to our game series-that it was too much work and that its purpose was limited intelligence. Plotting all those movement hexes for all those units was a pain in the neck even for one side-for both it was a real nightmare. Add to that the fact that the whole point of this exercise was to make a sort of simultaneous movement possible since each side predetermined its movements without the knowledge of the enemy player's plans-impossible solitaire, mind you-the whole thing collapsed in the solitaire setting.

That brings me to the CWB. In terms of work load, there is no comparison. A CWB order covering an entire corps of around 13 counters can be little more than a sentence or two and can last up wards of 10 turns-some orders can last the entire game. The player need not deal with all the sub units nor does he need to reissue orders each turn or even every few turns. A competent player can count as a rule of thumb on one new order every other turn at most on average. Naturally, there will be periods of frantic activity and others of slowness, but as an overall measure, that is about right.

The second point is a more philosophical one which players can refuse to believe simply by not examining the issue. That is that the CWB command system simply doesn't exist for limited intelligence purposes. It is there as a filter between the players and the game world. I look at it as operating the game by remote control. You make your plans and the game units "do their best" with it when they get around to it.The most common solitaire question I hear is, "But how can I get around the fact that I know the enemy's plans?" The answer is, essentially, you don't have to. More on that in a minute.

The big things in a CWB game-those that matter--ue unknown to the player, even in the solitaire setting. These include, but are not limited to, knowledge regarding the interaction of competing plans with regards to space and timing. In other words, you might full well know that two opposing forces might collide along their routes of advance, but you do not know where, when, or even if this collision will occur for sure. Events may conspire to allow one side to slip through before the other gets up. Even if the expected collision does occur, you can't be sure what other forces on the map might be up to, or how they might interact with the plans above. AH of this complex interaction presupposes looking at two forces with roughly opposite plans both in objective, time, and space. Rarely is it that "simple". Usually a player will have several interrelated plans (each operating on its own schedule-regardless of what the player thinks) which will interact in unexpected ways both with themselves (I could hold this dang hill, if so and so shows up ... ) and with the enemy (who, of course, is operating with a similar set of complex interrelationships himself, even if he be you). The number of possible interactions produced both between same-side forces and those of the enemy increases geometrically in the game's world, as opposed to the overly 'simplistic' look at the two like-minded forces above.

The result of all this is a complete inability to predict what will happen, both between your own forces and that of the enemy. Sure, your troops will "follow" your plan (sort of), but the exact sequencing of events and how those events will interrelate is difficult, if not impossible, to predict. Add to this a player's natural second guessing of his own decisions ("I ordered those guys over there, but I really need them over here...') and you have a battle which will play itself for you (with your orders). The battle will then tell you Its story-the crowning achievement of a division when it showed up in the nick of time, the "Sticky Combs Bridge-of-Tears", the despicable General who sat on his rear and failed to hear repeated calls for help just a short distance away, the corps who-just as they were about to take the objective so bloodily fought over--decided they had lost and pulled back. And, as a solitaire player, you can sit back and laugh at the follies, and cheer for the glory, because regardless of how it turns out-you win. You had the fun and learned something about how hard it was to control an ACW army in the field and make it do your bidding.

So. if you are willing to let the game follow your orders and tell you its story, how do you go about doing this and what do you do about the fact that you know the enemy's plans? First off, don't worry about knowing the enemy's plans. Given the complexity of the interactions above, if you follow one simple rule every thing will be fine. That rule is: Whenever you write an order, ask yourself, "Am I writing this order because of what I know about the enemy's plans or because of what this side knows about the battle?" If the answer is yes, throw the order away. If not, no problem just send it. Unless you go out of your way to spoil your own fun, that will be enough to allow you to fully enjoy the game solitaire. At that point you will be able to fully experience the CWB solitaire and you will quickly see what we mean when we say the command system enhances (not detracts from) the solitaire experience. In the usual wargame, solitaire play involves generating one stalemate after another to deal with. Here you get to watch the full panoply of war before your eyes-and, on the microlevel, you'll be helpless to move the battle toward stalemate.

A word is needed about following orders. We all tend to be a little, shall we say,flexible about order interpretation in face-to-face CWB games. In a solitaire game, you an afford to go full tilt into literal order interpretations. Not only do you not have to worry about the other side being as rigorous about orders as you are, but you are also completely privy to the original intended meaning of all the orders you sent. Therefore, if a division has been given orders to leave a hill and report somewhere else-when the expected relief is late, and an enemy force is threatening the hill-you can have the division march away. In a face-to-face contest, you might be tempted to let the division dawdle, or do some "thought up at the last minute" screening function with one of its brigades. In the solitaire game, you can be free to allow the units on the map to be a stupid as they want to be. If the division commander fails in his initiative attempt to stay and fight, he can just march off and leave a gap. For the solitaire player, the resulting catastrophe just makes the game more interesting. While in most games, solitaire play requires forcing one side to be stupid for a turn or two to make things interesting, the CWB command system does this for you-provided you follow the one rule above and aren't afraid to set the forces in motion.

I will close on this last point. Play both sides as free wills, where both sides want to win. If you have both sides try to win and perform the best maneuvers you can think of given their situationsyou will be rewarded with the show of your gaming life and become one of those who are annoyed and confused by those who claim the game can't be played solitaire. Give it a try, you'll see for yourself!