"Hail Caesar and Black Powder for solo play?" Topic

Anyone using Hail Caesar and/or Black Powder for solo gaming?

How do they play solo?

I have not. I suspect they would work well since you hae the element of chance in the command control aspect.

Yes, I'd imagine this would make them very suitable for solo play.

Played a couple of black powder games solo. Works very well.

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Solo Black Powder Scenario and AAR

Yes it sounds rather sad but I have resorted to playing Black Powder several times on my ownsome. At least I'm guaranteed some intelligent conversation and I don't have to contend with rules lawyers!

As has been said above, they do work very well. Do consider also refering to the blunder table on a roll of 10 or 11 also, as that tends to throw in extra wrinkles.

Also a piece of card printed with the opposing sides flags so you can keep track of which sides turn it is if you are coming and going from the game – thinking for two commanders can require frequent cups of tea!

I also recommend setting the attacking player a limited number of turns before it is game over – this forces things along somewhat….

Also it you are of a certain age using two sets of dice of each sides colour can help with figuring where in a sequence you are when it comes to melee…

When i bought BP i got two armies out and had a quick run through by myself to test the mechanics. I am not a solo player usually, but at the time remember thinking that the way the dice govern your movement made it quite good fun, even though i was all alone.

Pat

And at the end of the game, toss a coin to find out which side you were on.

On dice colour, I often try to match them to the game. I have red and white for WOTR, blue and grey for ACW, blue and black for FPW and so on.

The system works very well for solo play, calling the orders out loud gets some funny looks sometimes but they all think I'm nuts anyway!.

I've played several solo games of BP and one of HC to learn the rules and develop scenarios. In addition, at least one BP game was played with 'automated' responses for one side to provide a cooperative game.

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A few counters or cards can be written up to change up your opponent's orders as well. The Hail Caeser/Black powder system is pure boiler plate. It runs like a watch. Very good for solo play but of course, better with a friendly opponent. I cannot recommend these rule too highly.

…And I've read/played A LOT of rules!!!!

Is it just me, but do you find that playing solo gives you a completely different perspective on things? I mean, how many of us during a two/mulitiple player game actually wander round the other side of the table and look at things from our opponenents line of sight and try to get into their train of thought? Very few I suspect, and yet it can make your own dispositions and theirs suddenly look very different and can alter how you plan your attack/defence strategy. Just a thought. With regard to BP for solo gaming I haven't had chance yet but intend using it as it looks pretty ideal really without too much tinkering.

A very under used trick for getting the big picture of the battle. First tried it when playing HOTT and I could not be bothered to move the terrain nor swap seats once board edges were picked. Suddenly the game was very different.

Perspective of the board can be VERY revealing. A favorite opponent of mine was loath to move around the table because he felt it gave him an unfair perspective. When I sat in his chair while he was on my side of the table, overseeing a flanking move, I realized his wisdom.
I seemed to think I knew what he had to do and vise versa.

I game solitaire almost exclusively, and HC works just fine for that. However, the emphasis on player interaction actually has me considering the prospect of group play more often!