"New (but reluctant) Solo Wargamer" Topic

My club is suffering from members who have to work for a living and our weekly meetings are now nearer monthly. Consequently, I'm looking at solo games as a means of filling in the gaps.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a system that will avoid frustration resulting from either favouring one side or randomising the activities of one side without making them totally uncoordinated?

I have Don Featherstone's book and have located the Lone Warrior site but the former is fairly ancient and the latter will require searching a bit more thoroughly than I have so far.

Cheers,
Mike

Colonial Adventures from THW has a system for solo wargaming.

link

Martin

Any of the Piquet rules?

Piquet will give a great solo game. If Horse and Musket is your thing try Field of Battle if Ancients Pulse of Battle is due in June or there abouts.

There are other options too.

Almost any of the Two Hour Wargames systems provide for solo play versus a reasonably 'smart' chart-driven opponent.

-Will

World of Warcraft on the computer. It just kind of sucks you in and is cheaper in the long run. A year later you realize there is a half inch of dust on the hobby bench…

I have wargamed solo for over 30 years with very many common rule sets. There is no need to add specifically "solo" additional rules. They all work fine just as they are. I tried randomising the activities of one side manuy yaers ago, but the resulting games always felt contrived and unrealistic.

Piquet

piquetwargames.com

And a site that gives more info on how they work, with a solo ACW AAR.

link

Are you anywhere near to the border with Hertfordshire?

When I solo game, I always try to operate in the best interest of both sides, i.e. I make moves that will benefit the side whose figures I am moving and then do the same when I switch over to the other side.

I don't play solo games any more and never have done miniatures solo. But I used to play board games solo back in the day. I made sure to get up and move to the other side of the table when switching sides. Once or twice I noticed mistakes made by the other side – me. And this was well before I needed bifocals.

The only good thing about Solo Wargaming is that it is one type of solitary vice that doesn't make you go blind – depending on the scale you are using of course.

Almost all my rule sets are solo, and can be downloaded from our club website at: link

Almost all my rule sets are solo, and can be downloaded from our club website at: link

Thanks for sharing, herkybird.

The Lardies rules are quite good for randomizing moves and events as they are a card driven system. I've used TWAT for that purpose and am sure Sharps Practice would work just as well.
Dan

Lots of good suggestions in the Solo header of TMP.

I recommend a bit of reading.

Also, lots of good wars, theaters, and scenarios where the coordination, or lack thereof, was rampant, e.g. WWII naval and air battles, Argentine air attacks on the Falklands, etc.

Just set up some random encounter tables, and entry and exit points, and have at it. You get to choose your mission plan, formation(s), routes, forces, etc., and then get to be surprised about how well or poorly those stack up against the enemy, just like in a real war.

Download the free Chain reaction and Swordplay rules. Perfect for solo and the reaction System, PEFs, etc. give you a game controlled opponent without having to flip cards or make decisions for them.

link

If you like them there's a wide variety of periods to choose from including some unit based games.