"Solo Dice" Topic

Are there any dice that would account for unit decisions on the other or both sides of a solo miniatures wargame?

And if not, and they had to be designed, what would be the best legends/orders for each side?

Doesnt have to be d6, they could be 12 sided, 20 sided…whatever.

I suppose you could use command and colours dice to role for unit activation. The hit symbols work well either way to see if an enemy unit in sighting range or reaction range could do more than just fire. Increase the number of dice rolled for better command abilities or troop qualty.

Hi RittervonBek.

Thank you for the suggestion but to clarify, I was not thinking about activating a unit but rather more a random way to decide what the unit does.

For example, assuming every unit get's its turn to move/function, how to keep it random as to what it does? Does it charge, does it stand and fire? Does it fall back or Charge only if charged?

Depending on the scale of the game:

1-Route
2-Fall Back
3-Dig In
4-Stand fast
5-Advance
6-Charge
Along with modifiers for current status and morale and maybe commander's leadership:
Fresh troops (+0), Green troops (-2), Good Leader (+1)

That's probably too wild a swing from turn to turn, so a 2d6 or 3d6 bell curve may be a better way.

Decide on three possible options: Most likely, a bit less likely, and a least likely option. Use a D6. 1-3 = unit does the most likely option. 4 or 5 = the less likely option is taken. 6 = the least likely option is taken.

Huh… I don't have an answer for you, but I could envision having three dice – red, yellow, and green – with each having a different mix of reactions on it. As the enemy unit suffers casualties or other setbacks, their reaction dice would shift from green to yellow to red. The dice would have reaction possibilities like such:

Green
Attack
Attack
Attack
Attack
Hold
Hold

Yellow
Attack
Attack
Hold
Hold
Hold
Withdraw

Red
Attack
Hold
Hold
Withdraw
Withdraw
Surrender

Any game turn in which the unit doesn't suffer casualties, etc., would shift its reaction die one step back towards Green, so it would take two turns for a unit with a Red die to recover to Green status.

The results could be defined like such:

Attack: If in range, unit fires on unit that poses greatest threat. If not in range, unit moves to contact and fires if able.

Hold: Unit stays put and will fire if attacked.

Withdraw: Unit moves away from enemy to its maximum extent.

Surrender: Unit is unable to continue combat operations and is removed from play.

You could play around with the mix of results and what they mean, of course.

You might also try rolling 2d6:
2-5 (28%) orders are to become more timid (dig in, fall back as desired)
6-9 (44%) same orders as last turn
10-12 (28%) orders are to become more aggressive (fire/charge as desired)

Getting more specific means deciding on the type of game (skirmish or battalion action) simply because the choices change. You also run the risk of Platoon A 'attack right' which is where Platoon B is.

You could also try some yes/no questions before the action starts:

Is this unit aggressive? (roll die to decide)
Is this unit well led? (roll die to decide)
Is this unit well supplied (roll die to decide)

Rationale being that aggressive, well led and well supplied units will want to attack while timid, poorly led and poorly supplied units will try to sit still or withdraw.

Chessex sells D6 with arrows on each side to decide which way the unit will move.
Grelber

The major problem with this is units don't act randomly. You're much better off with a sensible chart and an ordinary die.

Otherwise you have entrenched units randomly charging the enemy, artillery randomly moving off.

I'd hardly think it would be much of a game if your opponent is making random actions while you are not. Even if both sides were random it would be pretty pointless to me.

I am thinking about making my own.

A "random" system will only give a tactically challenging result if the game is either designed around responding to random occurrences anyway, or if the randomization is heavily constrained by an "artificial intelligence," that is, a system of game mechanics that makes the opposing force behave in tactically appropriate ways, and restricts the solo player from "metagaming" the opposing force's movements in unrealistic or absurdly disadvantageous ways.
So, what is needed is a decision tree for the enemy that is rigidly set by game conditions and randomized only within specific conditional or situational parameters, if at all. That requires a bit more than a chart and some dice.
Sometimes the best approach to solo gaming is just to use your best effort for each side. Random moves are rarely satisfying.

I use a system from the rules Huzzah which give a random method of rating commanders from different nations. There is more likelihood of French commanders being better than Austrian for example. I set orders for commanders at the start of the battle and where new tactical situations arise l apply a percentage chance of a commander taking this opportunity with a bias based on his rating. It works quite well and covers that point in solo battles where once you've spotted a tactical opportunity it is difficult not consider it from both sides meaning it's difficult to surprise yourself!
I also discovered a 6 sided die that had 6 variants of grumpy to smiley faces and have used this to determine at the start of a battle or campaign strategic move the "mood" of a general as another variable to decision making so generals can make mistakes or be inspired . To further apply the fog of war l have 50 random events for strategic moves all taken from reading on napoleonic wars some of which impact on the battlefield.

Scudbusters from Wessex Games has a very good enemy reaction chart…
link

I think if someone had produced such a process that was worth using we would already know of it.
If anything is should be a floating decision table with the 1d6 to give some variability within the range of the situation. Factors would be the orders and the condition of the unit. IE a unit beat-up would have commanders making more erratic decisions from charging to withdrawing- similar to the maneuver table in FnF for the "disordered" unit.

Good luck
or find players to play with
…understand these days that presents a problem… see the same challenges.

I highly recommend brainstorming with Buck Surdu.
Something useful could come from that!

i have thought of this before and came with the same idea as coopman