"New book on solo wargaming arrived (Review)" Topic

"I had been eagerly waiting for the book "Solo Wargaming – A Practioner's Guide" by David Heading to arrive in the post. It arrived a couple of weeks ago and I have been able to find time to quickly read it. So here is my review of the book after a first read through…"

Review here

link

Armand

I always wonder if you can do a solo "game." I have always thought of a game as "a competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement." Note the "two or more." Thanks for showing this as I will buy it as I do all books with "wargaming" in the title. Usually finding something use.

Hi Bob….hope all is well.

Solo gaming still involves skill, chance and a degree of endurance. If the game or scenario sets victory conditions that you have to meet to win, then its competitive… although not the typical head-to-head competition you get in multi-player games. Where solo gaming differs IMO, is that you have a pretty good idea of what your opponent's plans/strategy for each turn are unless you're running a dice-driven decision-making model. But AI opponents will soon overcome that limitation. What you lose in solo gaming is the social aspect of playing with or making new friends. But that's not always an option for some gamers, and solo gaming can be a nice filler between club nights and conventions.

Solo games also give you a chance to become more familiar with the rules, so you know what you are doing.

Grelber

Hi Chris, doing well at 80, how about yourself?

All good points above. I only resist calling it a "game" more like "playing with toy soldiers" "testing/learning wargame rules solo" etc. I like the idea of AI opponents.

Playing with toy soldiers since a kid… wargaming solo much growing up… not the same… but still very interesting…

My solo games took a whole month and I never know how it ended…

Armand

Ordered the book. Hope it helps a bit.

Great idea as we age. I'm becoming much less mobile. 200 miles and back in a day for a game was no big deal 20 years ago, not now. 60 miles is about the limit and that means 3-4 cities.

(smile)

Armand