"what is solo wargaming?" Topic

please? i have read of solo RPGing with a GM and a player plus npcs, but then (unless i am misreading) i read of games played literally by yourself.
can i have some kind of an explanation? does it lend itslef only to to RPGs or also to "proper" wargames on big boards as well?
please? anyone?

"please? i have read of solo RPGing with a GM and a player plus npcs, but then (unless i am misreading) i read of games played literally by yourself. can i have some kind of an explanation?"

Solo wargaming is a wargame where a single player plays both sides. Extra rules can be used to remove some of the "god-like ability to know what the other side is doing" but personally, I have never found the need in over 30 years of solo gaming.

Some rules lend themselves to solo pay better than others. The best (IMHO) are those where the turn sequence is randomised by unit.

"does it lend itslef only to to RPGs or also to "proper" wargames on big boards as well?"
Yup, been playing "proper" wargames solo for years (although I've never played what you describe as a solo RPG).

As always I'll await to be corrected.

Solo wargaming is the same as normal multiplayer wargaming in appearance except it is just you and your mini's (no GM or referee). Just the job if you don't have anyone interested in playing (like me) for whatever reason.

The player would usually control one side and the opposition would have a series of programmed or automatic responses so that the game wasn't just one person playing both sides. How these opposition mechanics are set up would seem to be the key.

I only play Two Hour Wargames games solo, and the system there is great for soloplay. They basically work on individuals automatically reacting on some manner to an event (eg another figure coming into view, being fired upon, etc). The reaction is determined on a dice rolled test, so there is no certainty in the outcome (eg fire, run away, do nothing).

twohourwargames.com

Someone else will have to expand on the other ways to play solo (random cards, etc)

"with a GM and a player "

I'm not sure I'd consider that solo. After all, there are two people there. Solo is genuinely just you, because sometimes that's all you've got. A solo RPG would be you as the GM and a bunch of NPCs -- period.

"How these opposition mechanics are set up would seem to be the key."

I suppose they are legion. I use a method in IGO/UGO games where the second side to move writes to sets of orders (very brief -- you are writing them to yourself after all), first side moves, second side picks which orders to use randomly.

I have also heard of solo RPG's where the game is set up in book form. On the first page you make a selection from several options and then go to the page number that matches your selection. You keep going thru the book making selections until you are killed or win. I think the more common solo RPG has one game master and one player. The solo part comes from there not being a party of players.

Vince.

"I think the more common solo RPG has one game master and one player. The solo part comes from there not being a party of players."

Depends whether solo means "one player" or "one participant".

What I find fascinating about solo games is the mechanisms used to create "artificial intelligence" on the part of the opponent. I am thinking here of "one-sided" solo games in which the player is one player and the "rules" are the opponent. This is opposed to the "two-sided" solo game in which the player alternates taking the roles of the commander of the two opposing sides.

A really good example of a "one-sided" solo game is Dave Kershaw's Vietnam Solitaire that can be found on
wargamedownloads.com

It can make hair grow on your palms.

If you dont stop it, you'll go blind.

Living in Yeovil!

Tally Ho!

There is also the "multi-player solo" games if that isn't a contadiction of terms. A number of players take one side and the enemy are controled by the rules. Pony Wars would be an example this. It can be played by one player or a group, who play a US cavalry troop each. The Indians (Native American freedom fighter?)are controled by the rules and come on table when certain criterial are met.

There are also games where a GM controls the enemy and several players are all on the other side. This differs from a conventional two sided game in that the GM has a scenario and runs the game for the entertainment of the players in a similar manner to a RPG.

As an aside, there used to be "more" solo wargames (and even species of solo rpgs, believe it or not). However (speaking as a long observer of the genre) I note that computers have largely stamped out the market for such products. Why labor over trying to play both sides fairly, when you can pit yourself against the comp's AI, many seem to feel.

You may wish to check out "The Lone Warrior," a hard-copy and online journal of solo wargaming, for ideas, products, and even entire self-contained scenarios with rules. Regardez:

link

Good hunting,

Major Kong

well suppose it was a conventional wargamer with a big 6x4 board, and i was alternating between the two commanders, how would i simulate the fact that id ont know what is going on. i think subconciously that is always an issue even if you are just trying to forget the fact that you do not what he is doing and try to just use the information at hand.

Beer.

Check out the solo wargaming podcast: link

A thread about solo wargaming and so far only two schoolboy jokes about playing with yourself, snigger snigger. That's an improvement!

Pattons Best: That was a gr8 solo wargame. (avalon hill i beleive)

"Mythic" is a relatively newly published product that includes rules/mechanisms for simulating the functions of a GameMaster in an RPG context. As such, it can conceivably be used to run a solo RPG. The full Mythic rule set also includes a basic RPG process, as well as suggestions for translating any other set of RPG rules for use with Mythic mechanisms. There is also a Yahoo Group regarding the rules.

One option for solo play is a recreation. Your moves are based on what really happened and the results are based on the game. I did this a few years ago with Gettysburg and enjoyed the game quite a bit. BTW the results were about the same. The most fun was the first day's action with troops flowing onto the battlefield. I ended the action after the set up for Pickets charge on the third day. I did not need to replay it to see that the results would be the same.

Vince.

"how would i simulate the fact that id ont know what is going on"

I like swordlord's suggestion! Seriously though that's what all these "solo adaptations " are supposed to achieve. I have tried many over the years, but at the end of the day none of them seemed to work for me. I always came back to playing both sides and adopting a "detached" view of the game. Rather than trying to "win" as each player looking at the tactical situation and deciding what the commander on the ground would probably do and doing that – even though sometimes "knowing" what the other player was planning this was fraught with peril.

Here's an example (set in WWII). Imagine I have an AT gun emplaced in the edge of a wood covering a road. The enemy have a couple of tanks moving down the road. Now I "know" the AT gun is there but, let's be honest the guys in the tanks DON'T so it would hardly be right for them to do anything but advance down the road. See?

Solo wargaming is what you do when you like minis but have no friends who are as unhip as you. ;)

Now onto a different subject. Snorbens is a great name. Not the sort of name you want if you plan to be a gangster or rock star mind….BUT it is the sort of name that implies that the j19 will be filled out correctly and faxed to the suppliers in a timely fashion.

Solo gaming is brilliant. I have my 6' by 10' table up all the time with my figures on it. I play my own system which uses cards for units so I never know who will move next.

Of course I would rather play with a partner but that is not always possible or even acceptable.

All the best

Craig

"Solo wargaming is what you do when you like minis but have no friends who are as unhip as you. ;)"

With the knees shot and the pancreas folded it's unhip or nothin'.

"Snorbens is a great name"

Thanks, but what is a j19?

Solo wargaming is like …

Its fun but not something you want to admit to doing.

"If you dont stop it, you'll go blind."

I stopped once my glasses got really thick.

I used to play solo board games and found walking to the other side of the table before starting to play the other side made a big difference. I once switched sides and discovered a blunder made by the side I'd just left and kicked butt. But if you don't have the same kind a ADD I do it might not work…

It's called living in a small village and having no inclination at all to travel to a big town. I enjoy soloing, but also playing ftf when I can.

All "serious" requests for information on solo wargaming should be refered to the solowargaming yahoo group. There are some serious mechanical improvements being studied and discussed at this time. Especially check out the extensive files availiable for free. What more could you ask….except for someone to play against.

Respectfully,
Ray Gaer
soldiersintime.com

Solo gaming works for me because I see the game as a story unfolding before me. I can influence events where I want to to make the story more interesting. Historical accounts are always full of daring gambits that fail, blunders that unwittingly lead to victory, and lots of moments where people just sit around confused. Strangely enough, so are my games.

Gamers are by nature a competitive group, and fairly legalistic. Solo gamers need to completely throw out those traits. No one is watching, just play the game any way you want. You don't have to feel guilty if you roll a 1 and declare "Nah, that didn't happen. Reroll!" You can always replay a scenario and make different decisions to see how that affects the outcome.

That is why I don't spend any time on creating "automated opponent" rules. Why strait-jacket yourself?

JQ

It's true that some very good computer games have largely replaced solo gaming, but these days they're all real-time which is far too frantic – not at all like a nice relaxed wargame. Also you probably have those beautifully painted minis you want to see lined up on the table.
It's almost impossible to play two sides without taking sides, so you need a way of randomising the other sides actions that still makes them act intelligently.
Maybe the best solution, assuming you don't live in Spitzbergen, is to contact another player in your area by using a site like this one.

After a while every top rated computer game I have played ends up with the same result, that being the artificial intelligence becomes predictable thus more easily defeated over time.

My solo miniature wargames are never, ever, predictable. They may take more time than say a real-time computer wargame, but in the end the are much more satisfying even more so than playing against live opponents.

For me solo miniatures wargaming allows me to take any set of my favorite published rules for a particular historical period and tweak more dimension, depth, and realism into how they play.

By introducing new variables and concepts to the game without affecting how the core mechanics of the original rules were originally conceived to work, I can take any set of rules ever written, attach my own set of home-brewed additions and adaptations to them, and make the original game more tactically challenging and engrossing.

In a solo wargame I can take my sweet time playing out a turn, I can add more layers of realism to the game which makes the game more interesting than the standard alternating turn game vs. human opponents.

A solo player is free to borrow concepts and mechanics they like from other rules systems which work very well, graft them into to their favorite core set of rules, without objections or whines of disdain from other players, then experiment and tinker with them to their heart's content, indulging in whatever degree of complexity or added detail they wish.

To my knowledge there has never ever been the "perfect" set of miniature wargaming rules published that suited nor satisfied the masses of those who have played them without criticism or scrutiny.

A solo player solves that problem by improvisation, borrowing, and cannibalizing those bits and pieces which transform the standard and mundane "I go' you go" boring style of head to head play into and epic story.

My solo games are never about winning with a particular side, rather, they involve watching the chaos of war unfold. They tell a tale about the struggle for nations to survive and the people caught up in each swelling scene of every game I play.

If you truly wish to know what solo wargaming is and can be join this yahoo group forum.

link

The look in the files section for these two articles by Bob Stewart.

Modern Solo Wargaming Practice Chapt 1

link

and

How to play Solo 101 Chapt 2

link

To my knowledge there has never been a more valuable contribution to the Solo Miniature Wargaming Hobby offered online for free.