That is a fair question. Most wargamers, like other gamers, are seeking in a social activity, If stuck without an opponent, they may try solo wargaming and quickly give up on it. Let me suggest that their expectations are wrong and they are doing it wrong.
Solo wargaming is like playing Solitaire with cards. It’s habit forming but it’s not social. It can be relaxing, but it has its moments of suspense. If your benchmark is Solitaire, then you might have different expectations for solo wargaming.
Even so, some uncertainty must be built into your method of play. In Solitaire, the player does not know which cards are buried or where they are buried. The outcome of the game depends on something hidden.
Uncertainty, suspense and random luck can be designed into solo wargaming also. Use a deck of chance cards, or distribute units randomly, or leave the arrival of reinforcements to chance. You will never know in advance how the game will turn out.
If after finishing a solo game you realize you might like to try that again, then you have found enjoyment in solo wargaming. You can play the same scenario repeatedly. Then you can move the terrain around and it will play out differently. Then you can try a new scenario, or you can tinker with the rules; change the hit scoring or the movement of forces or whatever. If you find yourself thinking about another game sometime during the day, then you are a natural at this.
Hello Brother Jim,
ReplyDeleteI have been solo wargaming for about 3 years now. I am retired. I stumbled on this hobby and really enjoy it. I wargame in ancient, Napoleonic, and ACW periods. I have looked at and tried many rulesets, finally settling on a few favorites. Among these are the Neil Thomas rules. Some folks say they are too simplistic. I say great. I tried some rulesets with so many charts and tables I lost track of who moved next. It was not fun. I find that Neil's rules for Napoleonic era brigade-level battles are just right. I sometimes use them for ACW too.
Anyway, the reason I'm writing is because I occasionally poke around the internet looking for blogs or websites to help me get ideas. And I hit yours and realized you seem to have an approach to the hobby that fits mine to a degree. Two aspects of solo play have been challenging to me, and I haven't yet found approaches to use, so I keep looking. I was wondering if you had some ideas. First is chance, or random events, during the course of battle. Second is the beginning of the battle, specifically deployment or entering the battlefield. I'd like to get some randomness to that part of the battle, but stuff I've tried doesn't quite seem to be useful. So, I'd appreciate your thoughts on these two subjects.
Thanks,
Dale the Wargamer (or just plain old Dale is fine)
Dale,
ReplyDeleteIn general, random events can be introduced using event cards. See my other post on cards. You can make your own. Some of those cards could say reinforcements arrive. Some could specify which side of the field they enter from. If your system involves using just some of the cards from a shuffled deck, you will not know in advance whether reinforcements will arrive or from which direction. More specifically on deployment, sometimes I set the enemy up in a defensive position. But I really like random deployment of forces at the beginning of a battle. Mentally divide your field into nine squares. The top six are north and the bottom six are south. Notice three squares in the middle belong to both north and south; they are disputed territory. Pick up one enemy unit. Roll one d6. Place the unit in the corresponding square. If you rolled a one, it goes into the northwest corner. A six places the unit in the center row, east side. Repeat until all enemy units have been placed. Then do the same with friendly units, except you number your squares from west to east starting from the southwest corner. This system may result in some enemy units and some friendlies starting the game in the same square. If so, run or fight.