Local interest in the game tapered off before I could really get my son involved.  Now that he's 9, and we're starting to be able to play more games together, I really want to get him into Monpoc.  He took a liking to the Planet Eaters, so I've managed to get him the four standard monsters, and keep an eye out for Vorgax when I head over to the LGS.  But thinking about how to introduce him to the game, while not overwhelming him with all of the different abilities present, but at the same time giving him a compelling, fun game experience that makes him want to play again, has been a bit daunting.

Until I remembered the solo variation presented in one of the Strategy Guides. 

Essentially, the variant pits one side of only units against a single monster form.  The player takes the units, and attempts to stop the monster before it destroys too much of the city, using a programmed AI to run the monster.  There's no Unit-Monster pool flow, so the player gets 10A to start every turn, and otherwise plays the game following all the normal rules.

I thought we could start out by taking active roles for both sides.  I'd let him run his monster however he wanted, while I'd follow the AI rules when I take my monster turn.  It seems like a good way to split the rules load, while avoiding breaking the game down into simpler component parts that might not be fun to play.