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Man-to-Man wargames are wargames in which units generally represent single individuals or weapons systems, and are rated not only on weaponry but may also be rated on such facets as morale, perception, skill-at-arms, etc. The games are designed so that a knowledge of military tactics, especially at the small unit (squad) level, will facilitate good gameplay. Man-to-man wargames offer an extreme challenge to the designer, as fewer variables or characteristics inherent in the units being simulated are directly quantifiable. Modern commercial board wargaming stayed away from man-to-man subjects for many years, though once the initial attempts were made to address the subject, it has evolved into a popular topic among wargamers.

Man-to-man wargames have been a popular pastime for PC and console gamers, though "true" man-to-man combat simulators are much more rare than action-adventure oriented first person shooters which can probably be excluded from the topic of man-to-man wargames.

Modeling conflict at this scale provides unique challenges to the game designer, who must find a way to quantify variables such as human behaviour at an individual level; games at higher (grand strategic, strategic, operational or tactical) levels can arguably have their variables more easily quantified.

Many early designs for man-to-man games had cumbersome pre-plotting of moves, others used a system of multiple maps and umpires to try and create "fog of war" or uncertainty for players.

Board Games

Below is a list of man-to-man wargames in the order in which they were introduced.

Sniper!: (SPI, 1973)
Patrol: (SPI, 1973)
City Fight: (SPI, 1979)
Trenchfoot: (Game Designers' Workshop, 1981)
Cry Havoc: (Eurogames, 1981)
Close Assault: (Yaquinto, 1983)
Ambush!: (Victory Games, 1983)
Move Out (Ambush! module) (Victory Games, 1984)
Purple Heart (Ambush! module) (Victory Games, 1985)
Silver Star (Ambush! module) (Victory Games, 1987)
Firepower: (Avalon Hill, 1984)
Sniper! (2nd Edition): (TSR, Inc., 1986)
Battle Cry: (3W, 1986)
Battle Hymn: (Victory Games, 1986)
Leatherneck: (Battle Hymn module)(Victory Games, 1988)
Platoon: (Avalon Hill, 1986)
Soldiers: (West End, 1987)
Hetzer: (TSR, Inc., 1988)
Special Forces: (TSR, Inc., 1988)
Iron Cross (Strategy & Tactics Magazine, 1990)
Shell Shock (Victory Games, 1990)
Lock 'N Load: Forgotten Heroes Vietnam (Shrapnel, 2003)
Lock 'N Load: ANZAC Attack (Shrapnel, 2004) (expansion for Lock 'N Load: Forgotten Heroes Vietnam)
Lock 'N Load: Band of Heroes (Shrapnel, 2005)(expansion for Lock 'N Load: Forgotten Heroes Vietnam)

Some of these games represent further development of earlier titles; for example Firepower was a modern version of Close Assault which had been set in World War Two, designed by the same developer. The second edition of Sniper! was a redesign of the earlier game of the same name.

Ambush! was an innovative solitaire game based on a system of paragraph readings and a sleeve-and-card system that revealed data about the game environment as the player navigated his soldiers over the map. Set in the European Theatre of Operations in WW II, it spawned three sequels as well as a second series of games set in the Pacific (Battle Hymn) as well as a two player version (Shell Shock). Ambush! and all its successors were, however, self-admittedly more oriented on action-adventure than a true simulation of WW II combat.

Firepower was arguably the most realistic man-to-man treatment, with an attendant increase in complexity (there were, for example, arrow counters to indicate which side of a tree a soldier might be lying behind).

• Up Front (Avalon Hill) was a man-to-man game, however, it was not technically a "board game" because there was no mapboard in play; the game was driven by playing cards and dice, with individual soldiers represented by cards laid on a playing surface.

Computer Games

True "Man-to-Man" games on the computer are rare, unless one counts First Person Shooters (FPS). Most FPS games are not realistic simulations, such as Medal of Honor or Call of Duty, mainly due to the maze-like environment, scripted storyline, and unrealistic casualty assessment. The limited focus of these games tend to highlight individual action-adventure rather than realistic analysis of combat at the individual level.

More realistic man-to-man games for the computer are known as Tactical shooters; an example is Operation Flashpoint. OFP and its sequels allow the player to give limited tactical commands to an entire squad of men while still engaged in a first person perspective, and in online play several dozen players could take on individual personas in various small-unit missions. Fatal and non-fatal wounds to the player's character were realistically implemented. However, while storylines were still heavily scripted for solo play, this actually increased the level of realism in the simulation.

Third person man-to-man games have not been successfully translated to the computer in any large numbers.

Tactical games such as the Close Combat series were not true man-to-man games as the player could not control individual soldiers; only group commands were possible.

Notable examples of third person Man-to-Man games on the computer include:

• Sniper - a computer version of the boardgame, found on Compuserve.
• Avalon Hill's Squad Leader (Microprose, 2000) - based on Soldiers at War, Jagged Alliance, and X-Com, this was a man-to-man game with true fidelity to man-to-man board wargaming, being turn based. It was not well received commercially or critically.
• Silent Storm
• GI Combat (Freedom Games, 2002)
• Eric Young's Squad Assault (Matrix Games, 2003) - a rework of the unsuccessful GI Combat by the same developer.

VASSAL only

This game might be considered either a computer game or a board game depending on how it is utilized. The game is designed as a standard mapboard and dice game, with counters and character cards, but is sold only online for play in "VASSAL" (an online java-based software that allows for virtual boardgame play) or as a .pdf download for self-printing of the physical components, for play as a regular boardgame.

• Special Forces (Dan Verssen Games, 2005) - a unique "VASSAL" only cardgame also available

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