lemansir | 18 Mar 2014 5:34 p.m. PST |
One area that I have always thought was a weak point in solo wargames is creating a tactically realistic deployment of the programmed forces! Once the game gets going, there are a lot of great ideas and suggestions on this site and in books on solo wargaming on moving, commands, combat, etc. What I have done so far is the following. 1. Deploy the commanded-side 2. Make a unit card for each programmed unit plus a few dummy cards. 3. I have a chart with various command deployments (similar to the deployment options found in Piquet). I roll for a deployment. 4. Each command has number and troop-type options which I use as a guide for laying out the unit cards. So, what would members' suggest for ways to deploy programmed armies and generate initial orders? Thanks for all advice or suggestions |
evilgong | 18 Mar 2014 8:18 p.m. PST |
Why not just ask people here, describe the forces, terrain and enemy and see what responses you get, play out the most common reply. Regards David F Brown |
Extra Crispy | 18 Mar 2014 8:30 p.m. PST |
I have always thought it would be possible to do some great "semi-solo" gaming. It would go like this: Draw a picture of the map and describe the units. Your opponent describes the initial plan and deployment in an attachment you open AFTER you deploy. Now, instead of your opponent making every move you just ask for periodic updates to the plan. Again you draw a map, give an update on forces etc and he makes the new plan. |
etotheipi | 18 Mar 2014 10:18 p.m. PST |
I use a number of different methods, but the almost all are members of the same archetype as your describe: Use structured options; randomize among them. There may be dimensions of the deployment that can be randomized independently or "semi-independently". You might also allow full or partial deployment of the commanded side to represent some degree of intelligence on the part of the commanded side. It also is really very situationally dependent, so it's hard to answer with more specificity. A common approach to this for me is to allow a set of playing cards to represent sub units of the deploying force, including some null units (deception or uncertainty) and do structured randomization of them (or just pure shuffling). Place some of the cards on the board in appropriate locations, and progressively reveal them as the commanded side is deployed. Wow. In the absence of specifics as to what you are looking for, that sounds almost unusably high-level and abstract. |
Shaun Travers | 19 Mar 2014 3:49 a.m. PST |
Rally Round the King (THW Fantasy and Ancient rules) has some deployment options – depneding on the type of army you roll for a tactic (there are about 6 all up) such as Attack centre or Feigned flight. This then gives you broad deployment placement such as 60% in centre, 20% on each flank and a small description on the tactic to assist on what troops go where. This helps a bit. Solo DBA – DBAS – has the opposition choosing the best deployment edge depending on the terrain, split the army into tactical groups and then roll for each to see where deployed (left, centre, right, reserve I seem to remember). The roll is modified by the type of units in the tactical group and the terrain. There are also some tips on how to place the tactical groups (e.g. don't place Knights with bag going directly in front). I actually do not think there there are great solo engines out there to assist during play. There are some that help a lot, but do not drive the non-player side. For a good disucssion on this, see Dale Hurtt's Solo Battles blog that has some great discussion on mechanisms for playing games solo, these two two in particular on non-player actions during play: link link |
OSchmidt | 19 Mar 2014 7:11 a.m. PST |
When I did Solo gaming what I did was decide the battle, forces etc. and write up a battle report turn by turn BEFORE the battle was fought, telling what happened. (Oh by the way, you can only do this with a word processor) then I would fight the battle along the path mentioned till at some point a variance was found with the account. Then I would go back and rewrite the tale from that point. For example if the 443rd Volksturm SS Old Guard Milia Mess Kit repair battalion got into a fierce fire fight and threw back the 293rd Guards Tank impi, but on the table top the dice did not come out that way, I would modify the story from there. Then go to the next salient point. Lot of writing and rewriting but it worked. You can never use cards and dice to replace a human opponent, and you can't push with a string. I found the only thing that worked was changing the narrative. |
lemansir | 19 Mar 2014 8:04 a.m. PST |
Some Excellent ideas! THANK YOU everyone! I've been sitting on this "gold mine" of solo wargame talent for years, read the posts 4 or 5 times a month, but it never occurred to me until the other day to post the question to the group on how to handle deployment until the other day, duh! However, it has certainly worth the wait. I'm going to give each method a try. At some point, once I've worked with the "pure" methods suggested here, I'll start experimenting with combining methods. With all of this in mind I'm going to continue this thread as something of an ideas-bank for solo deployment methods. Thanks again everyone! |
emckinney | 19 Mar 2014 9:16 a.m. PST |
"Why not just ask people here, describe the forces, terrain and enemy and see what responses you get, play out the most common reply." Hipshot on BGG has played a number of games this way, even asking for voting on both sides. Sort of an umpired mass-PBEM game! |
MichaelCollinsHimself | 13 Aug 2014 10:53 p.m. PST |
May I suggest my solo rules for Napoleonics? They`re at: link If you`re gaming other periods, they could be adapted or give you some ideas? Anyhow, the rules are intended to provide a more gradual unfolding of the enemy`s plans… so that you may not be able to react immediately to all the non-player`s deployments. |
thehawk | 14 Aug 2014 5:35 a.m. PST |
MCH, is your publication a download? |
Thomas Nissvik | 14 Aug 2014 5:36 a.m. PST |
That is a lovely idea! Make a map, describe the forces and situation, then start a thread here and we can all go to town thinking up difficult situations for you! I have been dreaming of running a game me-vs-internet where I post on a forum or my blog and then make the move first suggested by the readers. |
MichaelCollinsHimself | 14 Aug 2014 6:49 a.m. PST |
Hi hawk, Yes, it`s a pdf download. |
MichaelCollinsHimself | 14 Aug 2014 6:55 a.m. PST |
Thomas, Hopefully the solo module will create the situations for you. You can limit the forces involved however much you like to, or you can keep to a given scenario historical, or otherwise. |
Joe Legan | 14 Aug 2014 2:26 p.m. PST |
The Too Fat Lardies "Platoon Forward" provides realistic deployment of the enemy forces on blinds. You roll to see what the blind is after spotting. That said, odds are infantry will be up front with support weapons on the sides or back. Furthermore, it is scaled somewhat to your forces so odds are the game will be balanced. Truth in lending I am the author. Cheers Joe |
Thomas Nissvik | 15 Aug 2014 3:35 a.m. PST |
I am not Joe and I fully support his statement about Platoon Forward. Can be bought here: link |
M C MonkeyDew | 15 Aug 2014 11:18 a.m. PST |
To some extent the period and size of force you need to deploy will have some bearing on the answers. For example Michael Collins' rules are fantastic for larger Napoleonic engagements, while mine are crafted for deploying battalions when the forces engaged are about a division in strength. As Joe Legan's are oriented towards WWII, others will have systems for other periods, scales, and genres. Bob |
MichaelCollinsHimself | 18 Aug 2014 8:02 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the kind remark Bob! In the Solo Module`s "Non-Player`s Battle Plans": the game level can be variable. It does not take much to alter the scale of the game by changing a division to a brigade, or calling a brigade, a regiment and/or a regiment a battalion. In a division-level game for instance, or if one side only has a divisional-sized force the deployment may be quite straight-forward anyhow. It may be only so much as a single line and not much of a reserve at all. More, normal divisional arrays are outlined in the rules (I have the same information in my Napoloenic rules). The solo module also has some instances and options for where the force is overlapped or outnumbered, or without cavalry. |