Solo and Two Players

Ambush! is a solitaire game by design; the rulebook also suggests a cooperative two-player split and a semi-competitive variant.

Ambush! is built for one player: the paragraph system runs the Germans, so there is no solo mode to add and nothing to adapt (rulebook p. 3). Every rule on this guide is the solo game.

Two or more players

The rulebook’s suggested way to play with a friend (p. 3):

1. Split the squad into two groups of four soldiers; each player gets at least one commander.
2. Divide the equipment as evenly as you can.
3. Play as usual, cooperatively, each controlling his half-squad.

Two optional twists from the same page: limit table talk to moments when each player has a soldier, ideally his commander, within two hexes of the other’s; and keep each half-squad’s VPs separately to compare at the end. The same ideas extend to three or more players.

Replay value

Each mission can be played only once, because afterwards you know its plot and surprises (p. 3). A campaign with the same squad through all eight missions is the designers’ recommended way to play (p. 28); see Game End and Scoring.