[Psitticine]

This might be a good time for me to pipe up as well.

I was one of the beta-testers for LnL, but don't live anywhere near any of the others, so I've played it quite a few times solitaire.

The paragraphs are optional components of each scenario, printed on the back of each of the individual scenarios. Some are rather set, in that they have the same effect every time, but most are random to some degree. (i.e. you roll a die, and the results send you off to different paragraphs that might lead to any kind of different effects either for your side or the opposition.)

You can play the scenario a dozen time, have memorized exactly what those branching paragraphs say, but the randomness means you never know what you'll get with them. They add a lot of freshness to replayed scenarios, no matter if you play by yourself or with others, and can change the whole nature of how a scenario is playing out based on what happens. ("The US just got reinforcements from the east! The VC encirclement just turned into a US pincer!") They're rarely unbalancing though, unless one side has really failed to plan for unpredicable events (and that's always dangerous in warfare!)

Those paragraph triggers that are set work rather like traditional VP objectives, but they have more of an effect on the game than just pumping up your endgame VP total; IOW, an optional US objective in one scenario might become to get to the hex to activate a paragraph that describes the discovery of a support weapon lying with the remains of a less-lucky recon team.

I'd rate solitaire play very highly. All tactical and strategy games are going to be more fun with an opponent to outwit, obviously, but the game mechanics make it fun and easy to "role play" both sides.

The hero and leader system gives the sides some real personality to get into to as you play. It's very involving having a hero get born out of brutal battle, see him tear into the enemy, and then fall in glorious battle. (I try to skip the Last step with my own heroes, but, well, you know . . . )

In any case, that gives the sides real flavor, even when playing both by yourself. The dynamic nature of hero creation and the paragraph system means the scenarios never play out the same way. Overall, I'd say it's an exceptionally good, solid system for solo play.

BTW, not having any gamers near you might not be as big a problem with this game as others. There's an Internet client included with the game that lets you go Online and play against other people around the world. A lot of the beta-testers are on it a lot (I would be myself, but I've been too busy lately) and they enjoy helping to get folks started in Online play. (It's just too much fun watching people play and enjoy something you've worked hard on. :-) )

I seem to have rambled on quite a bit here, but I'm still not sure if I've answered your question. Did all that cover it?