"Paper and pencil solo wargame?" Topic

Has anyone played, or heard of, a solo game that does not require any materials other than the game itself (rules, charts/tables) and a pencil or pen? I know of "paragraph based" and "programmed adventure" games (like in Armchair General or John Antal's books) which have a feel and flavor all of their own, but I am looking at something more deterministic, more structured, along the lines of Dave Kershaw's Vietnam Solitaire, but even more Spartan in it's material requiremements.

I am looking for something I could play solo in a meeting, on the plane, in the car, sitting at the terminal in the airport, etc. without requiring a table for a playing surface, any setup of boards or maps or playing pieces, or drawing attention throwing dice or flipping coins (a random number table, indexed off of the turn number or some other variable, could be used instead of dicing).

Of course, there are abstract games/puzzles like Sudoku and crossword puzzles, and perhaps similar mechanisms could be used for a military or political themed solo game. I realize the potential for an accurate or realistic conflict simulation is limited by the constraints, but something that would maintain my interest (because of the theme)and possibly even be instructive would be very great.

Any ideas?

that does not require any materials other than the game itself

I meant to say:

that does not require any materials other than the instructions for how to play and forms for the game itself

Panzerschreck #11 has a Sink The Tirpitz game that is played on a piece of paper with a pencil that is very good. Panzerschrek is a gaming magazine that usually has 2-3 games in each issue and many of them are solitaire. The components aren't GMT or Clash of Arms quality, but for an hour or two they are tremendous fun. The Reichstag: Fall of Berlin game and the final attack on Constantinople are great solitaire games that can be finished in under an hour.
link

We have a few copie of Solo Games book. It has a dozen or so (most historical) solo games that can be played on a small area.

All our inventory is packed for Cold Wars. Drop me an email Ill set a copy aside. jwirth4702@aol.com

Jay -- do you have a description of the book? Link or post here?

I've just recently run across a role-playing mechanism that can be played solo, it appears to have a good deal of promise. It's called Mythic mythic.wordpr.com
and is an inexpensive download in .pdf form. There is also a dedicated Yahoo Group link It requires dice, in addition to pencil and paper(s), but many calculators include a random number generator. Ideal, I would think, for looking very "busy"! Note – I am not connectedin any way with this product, other than having recently purchased a copy for my own use.

"I am looking for something I could play solo in a meeting, on the plane, in the car, sitting at the terminal in the airport, etc."

I use the random # button on a scientific calculator in those situations – multiply the result by 6 (if you're using a d6) and it'll give you a number between 0 and 5 (0 = 6), just ignore anything after the decimal point. It's a bit long-winded if you have lots of dice rolls to make, but it beats drawing strange looks from people by rolling an actual dice.

cami1420 -- Are you referring to the Mythic RPG or the Mythic Game Master Emulator?

GuruDave --- I got the whole package, at that it only cost a bit less than $9, the GM Emulator is a subset of the whole that implements play of RPG-type games, solo or in a group, without an umpire or game master.

Warp Spawn games link has a huge variety of games, historical and otherwise, that are relatively low "overhead". Most of the games added in the past few years have been card games like "Magic", but with themes varying from ancient Sumer to Star Wars. However, there are some older games on the site that are "board" games played on simple paper maps. It appears that the owner of the site really likes card games because he never seems to create any of the board games anymore.

Regardless, some really good examples of games you might be interested in are: Chinese Warlords (1920's China), Doubloons & Dragoons (Renaissance trade & conquest), Rockets & Rayguns (a series of Flash Gordon-themed games spanning skirmish up to strategic scales). There are also a few games with a true solo mechanism, I think one is a fantasy quest, one is a WW2 squad patrol games, one is a WW2 naval convoy game, and one is a modern air strike game.

You could spend days checking out all the games on the site!

JQ

I used to play a game on graph paper asa a kid. each player would draw a coastline on one side, and ,ark in three objective squares. Each player also got a carrier, battleship, destroyer – done just like Battleships – and some fighters. These were placed at objectives. Each player took it in turn to advance his craft toward the enemy, and then 'shoot'. The 'shoot' was the unique mechanism – we placed our pencils on the paper point down, holding it by one finger on the other end, then press down, trying to make the pencil 'skitter' across the paper. if the pencil mark reached the target it was damaged, destroyed or whatever.

It was great fun, except when the pencil skittered up into the opponent's face by 'accident'

Pat

JQ -- Great site! Thanks for link.

Say hello to Hadji for me.

Just for fun, I tried my hand at creating a "paper dice" or random number generator using only paper and pencil, useful for playing solitaire games needing dice (in this case a 1d6) without drawing attention in public (or at "work" :)

The results are also used as an index to the next result, and multiple tables are used to prevent "looking ahead" to the next result.

PDF link

I don't claim any mathematical elegance or precision, this is just my attempt at something simple. I get the feeling it may still be possible to get stuck in a repeating loop, but the loop is likely to be long enough so that it won't be noticeable to the person with average memory skills.

>>Jay -- do you have a description of the book? Link or >>post here?

Everything is boxed up for Cold Wars. The Book is called Solo Wargames. We have a dozen or so copies. I will set one aside when we pack up after the show.

Email me a reminder jwirth4702@aol.com

Jay -- thanks! Will do!

You may also want to consider the Joe Dever Lone Wolf series of paragraph books. They require a pen and pencil and some random elements but I believe there is a small chart in the back that takes the place of die.

A standard wooden pencil has six sides. Write a number on each side and give it a little roll across your papers. Everyone will just think you are setting your pencil down and the numbers are too small to notice by the average person.

We used to play a swat game on graph paper /pencils in high school. (at lunch or in library) The guys had so many squares of movement radius and could throw grenades. (i.e within 3 sqaures, etc) Shooting was accomplished by putting the tip on the paper, your finger on the eraser and pushing down so he tip flew out in the direction you wanted. If the thin pencil line drawn actually hit the target it was a kill. (We did this with space ship graph paper games too)

There was much high drama in this gaming. Then we graduated to using sun flower seeds as space ships, each of which could move one pencil length. To fire you flicked the seed with a finger at the other guys ship(seed) for kills.

Los

Hi

Flying Buffalo who did "tunnels and trolls" designed by Ken StAndre did a whole series of solo dungeons of some real clever approaches that don't require you need more than the game and ability to read while laughing.

Rocky

I think "En Garde" might suite some of your requirements, but cannot recall its suitability for solitaire play.