How to Solo Wargame: Getting Started

What do you need to play solo wargames for the first time? I've discussed the rules and mechanics of solo wargaming before, but this week, I wanted to examine the practicalities of setting up and playing a game solo.

 

Bosworth Test Game: Test of Resolve

The Crown of England was up for grabs this week, and the outcome was dramatic and very exciting. I had a week off work for the Christmas break so I was determined to take a day out for a solo game of Test of Resolve, the Wars of the Roses ruleset. I have been building the armies of Henry Tudor and Richard III for Bosworth for a little over a year and while I have played a few small test games I have yet to fight the battle. I have a plan (and the figures) for the whole battle, but my table in the Operations Room is just 3ft by 5ft so I would have to select a portion of the map and play part of the battle only. As it was the two formations that were excluded in this setup didn't play a part in the actual battle so leaving them out didn't have an impact on this game. When I play this with a larger table there are rules for their inclusion, but that's a challenge for another day.

The order of battle for this game included Richard III, Brackenbury and Norfolk for the Yorkists and Henry Tudor, Oxford, De Chande and William Stanley for the Lancastrians. For the purposes of this game, the French under De Chande would not be free to move until Turn 2 while William Stanley could only move if a 'Show your Colours' card was revealed from Turn 2 onwards, and a test passed.

(Y) Richard III - 9 Battle Points

(Y) Brackenbury - 20 Battle Points

(Y) Norfolk - 24 Battle Points

(L) Henry Tudor - 6 Battle Points

(L) Oxford - 25 Battle Points

(L) De Chande - 14 Battle Points

(L) William Stanley - 15 Battle Points

These rules use a deck of special cards (the game deck) to drive the action. This consists of cards which determine which side is active and what actions they can take, such as Move & Melee, Fire or Ending the Turn. I decided to remove the Missile Supply cards from the deck for the first turn only, partly because I didn't like the idea that one side of the other could have to test for missiles before anything had happened, and party to speed along the first turn. These cards would be put in the discard pile ready to be reshuffled into a new game deck for turn two. Similarly a Yorkist "Event" Card and Lancastrian "Show Your Colours" card would also go into the discard pile for inclusion in the deck in turn two.

 

The game starts with the Yorkist Archers moving forward into long-range. The Melee troops remain stationary for now, waiting for this initial missile duel to conclude before advancing.

Oxford sends his missile troops forward to get into close range. He has two handgun units at either end of the line, but they need to be within 5" to have the range and these press further forward. Meanwhile, DeChande and his French troops remain in their starting positions and (offscreen to the right) William Stanley has yet to reveal his allegiance.

Norfolk and Brackenbury push their Billmen and Men at Arms forward behind the archers. This in turn prompts Oxford to do the same, although his men must cross a small stream which will limit their movement slightly. However, all of this is just posturing, the Archers have not finished their deadly exchanges yet. A handful of units have had their resolve reduced by missile fire but the most significant impact has come from Henry's Canon on a slight hill behind his line (offscreen to the left). Despite long odds (needing 11+ on a D12), they have hit one of Norfolk's Archer companies twice, severely weakening them.

Henry and his Mounted Knights move to position themselves on the right of Oxford's Line, but the marshy ground to their front limits room for manoeuvre.

De Chande leads his French and Scots across the stream and begins to advance on Norfolk's troops ahead of them. The Crossbowmen have a similar range to the archers but had started out of range of the enemy so this move brings them into the action if a Fire card comes out of the Game Deck.

Brackenbury has lost two Archer companies and the third had to fall back behind its haven company, so he decides to advance his Billmen. In response, Oxford moves his melee troops forward and on the next Movement card will begin withdrawing his archers behind their haven companies. Archers do get a chance to withdraw if approached by enemy melee troops but there is always a chance that they don't withdraw fast enough and Oxford wants to keep his line in good order.

Oxford successfully pulls back his Archers and then form-up as light melee troops behind their Haven companies. One more Move card, for either side, and the bloodshed will begin.

This overhead show shows the advancing French under DeChande and Oxford's Battle move forward ready for the desperate struggle to begin. William Stanley has yet to show his colours so at this point the Lancastrians are outnumbered. Even if Stanley does pick sides, the marsh will limit his movement on the right.

From turn two, the Yorkist Event card was included in the Play Deck, and it would shape the outcome of the battle. The Yorkist Event was "Mind the Gap". The King sees a gap open in the Lancastrian line and has to choose whether to act on it or not. If not, the card goes back into the deck for the next turn, but if it is acted upon the King needs to roll 8 or more on a D12.

Although both sides had not yet begun a general melee, I decided that Richard III would take the chance to end the battle decisively. Unsure of the allegiance of the Stanleys, and keen to assert his authority as the rightful king of England, Richard orders his knights to charge through the Lancastrian line. Richard was many things but he was not a coward and even his enemies acknowledged the bravery of the King following the battle of Bosworth.

Richard's command successfully rolls to act on the order (rolling a 12 on a d12!) and moves in a straight line, ignoring terrain, distance and intervening troops, to be placed in frontal contact with Henry's command. A round of melee is then immediately fought and the King's command gains several important bonuses in this initial round of combat. The charge gets a +1 for Shock (a charge bonus) and another +1 for a supporting company. Meanwhile, Henry suffered a -2 surprise modifier as the attack came out of the blue.

Modifiers alone do not win a Melee but then Richard rolled an 11 and Henry a three. After modifiers that was a difference of 10+ resulting in the loss of three Resolve Points on Henry's company. Despite this Henry passes his resolve test and remains in position.

Now I deviated from the rules slightly as I decided that the initial impact had been so great that I ought to conduct a second round of Melee immediately. No supporting units could join the fight quickly enough to give any advantage to Henry so rather than unnecessarily drag the game out I opted to fight on (I'll give more thought to this rule change before my next game). This time Henry would not have the Suprise Penalty and Richard would not get the Shock bonus...but it made little difference with the King winning again and Henry's company rolling a 1!

This prompted a commander's fate test and once again I rolled a 1 meaning Henry was cut down and his ill-fated attempt on the Crown on England was brought to an ignominious end on the field of Bosworth.

Long Live King Richard III!

What have I learned from this game and what will I do differently next time?

Well for a start I have learned that by manipulating the Play Deck it's possible to speed play along quite effectively. I decided to hold back the Missile Supply cards until turn two and this has two effects. It makes the initial deck slightly smaller, putting more emphasis on movement and firing. However, it also means that some Missile companies remain longer than they otherwise would and this stretches out the archery duel at the beginning of the battle. I'll have to give this some more thought going forward. 

I'm also inclined to keep my change to melee in the game, ie if there are nearby supporting companies that would change the outcome of the second round of melee, then have that second round immediately to speed the game along. Again I'll have to give this some careful thought but given the size of the armies I am fielding, I think any small changes that increase the speed of the game could be a good thing. 

I may also make a few small changes to the map for the battle to accommodate the size of the Battles. For instance, I think the Marsh is too big and effectively divides the battlefield in a way that I'm not sure the real marsh did on the historical battlefield. 

So I have a few things to think about and some changes to consider following what was a very enjoyable and exciting little game. 

Battle of Tikit Oasis: A TMWWBK Battle Report

A Battle Report of a solo game of The Men Who Would be Kings. This is a fictional encounter between the Foreign Legion and Berbers somewhere in Algeria c 1900-1905 using the 'Take the High Road' scenario. The Legion has sent out a company of men to deal with a small oasis which they suspect is being used as a base by Berber raiders. Whether that is true or not will only be discovered after the shooting stops. 

I took a few pictures while playing the game and thought I would share them below.

Warning: SPOILER ALERT 😁

The Berber positions are all being treated as soft cover (you'll have to watch the video to find out why) but nonetheless they look well dug in and prepared for the attack.

Closeup of the Oasis

Captain Renoir is a hardy veteran and leads his men from the front

Pushing up to the wall of the buildings in the oasis

If you haven't seen the video yet...look away now. 

The French Foreign Legion storm the walls of the oasis buildings and force their way inside. 

Operation Caravan Quick Strike AAR

The LRDG raid on the Italian Airfield at Barce in September 1942 is a classic adventure story of endurance, bravery and brazen daring. This night attack followed a drive of 1850km across vast tracts of inhospitable desert.  The LRDG showed that targets hundreds of miles behind the front lines were vulnerable and nowhere was safe from attack by their "Ghost Patrols".

I first ran this game as a Demo at Broadside in 2017, but of course, running the game meant I didn't get to play it! So I decided I would recreate the scenario and play it as a solo game in my Operations Room. Having made the decision I promptly realised that the rules I used for the demo game were no longer suitable, so I wrote a quick set of simple rules for solo play. They still need a bit of polishing but they worked well, gave me an enjoyable game that replicated the difficulty of this scenario for both sides. 

The original version of this game was a Demo at the Broadside show in 2017.

To fit it on my smaller tale for this solo version I had to twist and squeeze the map a bit to ensure that all the essential elements were present.

As the game progresses smoke rises from more and more targets.

Ultimately the LRDG were there to destroy aircraft and infrastructure on the Italian Airfield, and in this, they succeeded spectacularly. 

Please watch the video and if you enjoyed it please 'like' and of course subscribe to my YouTube Channel Miniature Adventures. 

Tank Duel at Breville

Today I thought I would share a very short video battle report that follows from the game I posted on my channel on Friday. I recycled the same terrain for a very quick game of What a Tanker!

The game was pretty short, but good fun none-the-less. 

The Road to Breville: A 30 Minute Battle Report

Last weekend, I used my newly enlarged games table for the first time and played a solo game of Chain of Command. The battle is set on D-Day, east of the Orne River and Canal near the landing ground of the 8th Airborne Brigade. While the action is fictitious the landscape is as close as I could get it for the location. I used Scenario 6 in the rulebook, attacking an Objective, with the Germans defending a critical crossroads. 

As before, I am trying to keep these video battle reports to about 30 minutes (give or take), so I didn't film every dice roll except for a few critical ones towards the end of the game. There are plenty of great Chain of Command games played in their entirety on youtube, which is great if you have a couple of hours to spare. However, I wanted to offer something a little more 'bite sized' without the spectacle of watching me fumble my lines, flicking back and forth through the rule book while muttering to myself. I hope you enjoy this shorter format and of course if you do please hit the like and subscribe buttons. 

Rorke's Drift Part 2

Last week I posted the first of a three-part series on my recreation of the battle at Rorke's Drift in 1879 using my 6m Anglo-Zulu War collection and The Men Who Would Be Kings. I discussed the history, the terrain options I went with and the house rules I adopted to make this ruleset work with my figures for this particular engagement. This week the battle gets underway and I finally see if the changes I introduced work as intended, or whether they unbalance the rules. Will the British hold the mission station again, or will the Zulu's overrun the tiny collection of buildings at Rorke's Drift in a spectacular overturning of history?

The video is a little over 30 minutes long, and the concluding part of the game will be posted next Friday. In the meantime here are a few 'teaser' pictures to whet your appetite. 

The first Zulu's to arrive approach the Hospital

The battle for the Hospital turns into bitter hand to hand fighting.

The Zulu's begin to lap around the site looking for a weak point.

British casualties are light, but with every man down their ability to defend the barricades is diminished. 

More Zulu Regiments move around towards the front of the Mission Station.

Solo Wargaming

This week The Quarantined Wargamer discusses the benefits of Solo Wargaming. This is a video I have been meaning to do for a while, and while I only briefly discuss Solo techniques this article is more my attempt to advocate for Solo Play to those wargamers that maybe haven't given it a try yet. 

I've done a lot more Solo games in the last twelve months (unsurprisingly) and I really do think it has bigger benefits than just as something to do until the club reopens. 

Solo Wargaming - To the Strongest!

Regular readers will be aware that I have been playing more solo games recently and its a trend that will likely continue. I'm still attending games at Posties Shed-o-War but I only average about one game a month, especially during the summer when other events and holidays reduce availability to join the lads for a battle. The young Padawan can occasionally be arm-twisted into joining me for a game of To the Strongest! at home, but if I want to play with my 'little men' more often, solo play is the best way forward. This long overdue article discusses how I achieve realistic games using these wonderful rules. You may have a different approach and as always comments and suggestions are very welcome.

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I have played quite a few games solo now and have slowly been developing a method for 'automating' one side so I can play against an opponent that still has the ability to surprise me, or at the very least put up a stiff fight. The rules for TtS! already introduce a certain amount of friction and no commander can say with certainty what he will be able to achieve in any given turn. Careful management of activations and positioning of generals can help, but the dreaded Ace (or 1 if, like me, you use dice), can't be argued with! But this still leaves a lot of room for additional mechanisms to make playing an opposing army unpredictable.

I have used the following ideas in most of the solo games I have played so far, and there is always room for new ideas, although I have no desire to make them too complicated or too random...I want to play a challenging opponent, not a schizophrenic machine that makes completely random, unfathomable or stupid moves.

Make life hard for yourself

All my games start by writing up an Order of Battle for both sides. I try to do this in a fair way, without giving any side a significant weakness or advantage. However, I have slowly come around to the idea that the 'enemy' needs to have a points advantage to counteract any unconscious bias I may have during the game. It also means that whatever army I play I have to play well to win. Victory is more likely to be genuine and not the result of bias in decision making. How much of an advantage is a matter of debate but through a bit of trial and error, I have settled on between 5-10% extra points for the enemy army. This equates to one or maybe two more units in the field than they would normally have in a straight fight, so a reasonably significant advantage.

Randomly select and place terrain.
To the Strongest! does include rules for removal and movement of terrain after it has been placed. This effectively randomises the position of terrain making its final configuration random-ish. However, I also like to replay actual battles so sometimes the terrain and deployment are determined by the scenario. 

Dice for sides to deploy
If the game is a fictional rather than a historical scenario, then it is possible to ensure any unconscious bias in the setup of terrain can be eliminated by randomising which side each army sets up on. Pick a side of the table and roll to see which Army will be deployed there. Alternatively, flip a coin to decide. 

Deployment of Commands. 
To the Strongest divides armies into multiple commands, usually three but more could be used for really big armies. Where these are positioned relative to each other (and the army opposite them) is an important decision for the player. Deployment can also dictate strategy, so a strong cavalry command opposite a weak one could prompt an attack. I usually set up my army then deploy the enemy 

Dice for the location of the senior general.

The Senior commander's location can have a significant impact on the behaviour of a command, especially if he is a Brilliant General or Great Leader.

• 1-3 Right Flank
• 4-7 Centre
• 8-10 Left Flank

One VERY aggressive Roman! 

The aggression of each command

This something I have tried to do with all my Solo games. Each command may act differently, with one being aggressive and charging, while the others are more defensive. This makes playing the enemy army quite challenging, trying where possible to follow this instruction and turn it into a strategy with a chance to win.

For each command, roll a D10 (or pick a card) and consult the list below:

• 1-2 Defensive - Units within the command are not free to move until the enemy is within charge distance. 
• 3-5 Timid - Units within the command are free to move but will not initiate any melee until at least one unit of the command is engaged by the enemy. 
• 6-8 Cautious - Units within the command must advance towards the enemy but are free to decide whether to engage in melee.  
• 9-10 Aggressive - All units must advance and engage the enemy where possible, with ranged weapons or in melee.

Strategum Cards
The use of Strategum cards can also add an element of surprise to a game. Of the twelve Strategumss, two are used immediately after deployment but before the game commences. Four others delay the arrival or movement of units, again introducing a random element into the game that the Living player can't predict either in his own forces or the enemies. 

Chance Cards

A new idea that I am working on (still being developed) is the use of chance cards to inject subtle effects on the behaviour of enemy units. These tend to be little effects that may provide a local advantage or disadvantage to a single unit. 

• Each turn I roll to see if a chance card comes into play (1-5 = Yes, 6-10 = No).
• I then roll to decide which command will be affected (1-3 Right Flank,  4-7 Centre, 8-10 Left Flank)
• Then I decide which unit gets the Chance Card by rolling a 1d10 counting from left to right until I reach the number rolled. If the number rolled is higher than the number of units then I re-roll. I only count (and by extension apply the card to) the front unit if there are shared boxes or multiple rows of friendly units. 

The nominated unit then pulls a chance card or in my case, I re-use the Startegum chits. The result can be a bit unpredictable and may be an advantage or disadvantage depending on timing. Any chance cards that are not used (by choice, or lack of opportunity) are lost at the end of the turn.

• Hearts: Blood Red Fury - The nominated unit is inspired by its commander to fight harder. If the unit chooses to charge an enemy (this turn only) it will get a one-off bonus attack dice. 
• Clubs: Shaken but unbowed - The unit must fall back at least one box with its next activation. It may reactivate in the same turn (cards/dice permitting) to move forward again if it wishes. 
• Diamonds: Tough as Nails - If the nominated unit has to make a save roll, it gets a one-time bonus of +1 to its saving roll
• Spades: Going nowhere - This unit is stubbornly holding its ground. The unit is allowed to make a Rally activation even if it is in the ZOC of an enemy unit. 

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No doubt more ideas could be developed even further, but what I don't want is to make these additional 'rules' a distraction from the excellent ruleset Simon has produced. The solo games I have played so far using these techniques have produced challenging experiences and sometimes unexpected outcomes. For me playing Solo will never be as much fun as playing against a living opponent, but at least this way I can get a game in, learn the rules and justify the hundreds of hours I spent painting my miniatures! 

Battle of Secutium River

Tuesday was my day off and I decided to make the most of the free time to play a solo game with my Punic War forces. I have recently been reorganising my Carthaginian army and during the painting challenge, I added several Gaul and Iberian units to the collection so it was high time these were played with. I also recently bought a new gridded game mat from DeepCut Studios and this was an excellent opportunity to christen it in battle.

The Setup

This game is a fictional battle set on the banks of the Secutium River somewhere in northern Italy. Both armies came in at 200 points apiece so this was going to be a relatively large game and more importantly it was going to be played solo. To add a certain level of 'automation' to my non-existent opponent controlling the Romans I decided to randomise the deployment of the cavalry command so it could have been on either the left or right flank. I also diced to determine the level of 'aggression' the Roman army would show in their actions. Would they be cautious and stand on the defensive; move forward timidly or press forward in a full-throated attack? After that, it felt like most of the Roman actions would be determined by the circumstances on the ground; ie who was attacking them, who was the priority target for missiles etc. Whenever it felt like there was a split decision I rolled dice to pick an action but for most of the game, the Romans were reacting to the Carthaginian plan. 

As before I have used 10 sided dice rather than cards to determine activation, partly because I prefer dice but also because at this scale there just isn't space on the games table for playing cards.

Order of Battle
Carthaginian Army c/o Hannibal Barca
1st Command
    General Senior/Brilliant
    3x Punic Cavalry (1 with Hero Attached)
    1x Punic Cavalry (Veteran)
2nd Command
    General
    4x African Spearmen (3 with Attached Hero's)
    2x Iberian Scutarii (Veteran)
    2x African Elephants
    2x African Skirmishers
    Camp
3rd Command
    General
    3x Gauls (with attached Hero's)
    2x Gauls (Veteran)

Roman Army c/o Claudius Marcellus 
1st Command
    General  Senior/Brilliant
    2x Equites Romani
    2x Equites Latini
    1x Equites Extraordinarii
2nd Command
    General
    3x Velites
    3x Hastati/Principes (1 with Hero Attached)
    3x Triarii
    1x Ballistarii
3rd Command
    General
    2x Velites
    3x Hastati/Principes
    3x Triarii


The Action

Initial deployment. Both cavalry commands face off against each other with woods restricting their movement somewhat. The Carthaginians have weighted their right flank with their veteran Gaulish allies and in the centre, the elephants prepare to advance. The Romans are deployed in their deep formation with a screen of Velites out front. 

The triple line of the Roman maniples with light infantry out front. The line exchange rules make the Hestati/Principes a tough egg to crack. 

The Punic cavalry moves forwards. On paper, they are outclassed by the Roman cavalry but both the Carthaginians and the Romans have attached their senior generals here. 

An early setback for the Carthaginians as the first unit to test in the centre command rolls a one and can make no further actions this turn. 

The third command, the Gauls, have better dice and begin to advance. I deliberately advance slowly to give the elephants time to cross the field to the Roman lines. 

The Romans open their moves by sending the Velites forward to throw their Javelins at my troops. A perfect set of dice allows these two units to cross the field and deliver a volley of pointy sticks at my troops. Thankfully my saving rolls are good and I don't take any disordered markers at this early stage of the game. 

The Cavalry of both sides slam into each other and melee back and forth for most of the battle. Disordered units have a red token on them but I'll get a chance to attempt a Rally in my turn. 

In the centre, all the light infantry are busy exchanging Javelins but with a relatively light outcome. One unit of Gauls is disordered but thankfully little else. The Velites should have withdrawn at this point but failed to do so and several were destroyed ceding victory points to the Carthaginians. 

Now the Carthaginian Elephants slam into the Roman lines. Despite getting an extra attack dice in the first turn of melee they fail to break the maniples. However, some of the Hestati have had to fall back and exchange with the Principes behind them, prompting a hail of Pilum at the Elephants.  

Pressure on the centre continues but good Rally checks save the Roman line on several occasions. 

My African Spearmen now approach ready to exploit any break in the Roman lines...maybe a little too close to those elephants? 

Oh dear. One of the Elephant units is destroyed, but not before rampaging back through one of the veteran Spearmen units disordering it.

A bitter blow but also a lesson to be learned!

The Cavalry clash is heating up. One of the Punic Cavalry units has broken through and hit the Equites behind. The roman unit is destroyed and the commander, the attached general is killed! The victory points are stacking up on the Carthaginian side, but so are disordered markers.

The Gauls are now in contact with the Roman lines and have destroyed one of the Hastati/Principes units. When the Romans have "Gone to the Triarii" things are looking bleak. 

Meanwhile, the victorious Punic cavalry has turned around and hit the remaining Romans units in the rear. Lucky Rally checks have kept the remaining Punic Cavalry in the fight and now the Roman Equities are feeling the pressure. 

The Gauls sweep aside another Hastati/Principes and the Roman flank starts to turn as the last Roman victory medals are won by the Carthaginians. The Roman Army withdraws from the field defeated. 

Analysis

Despite playing solo I was able to get this whole game completed in about 2 hours. I set up the night before to save a little time but the rules play fast and I was comfortably able to complete the game and get everything back in their storage units by lunchtime. I need to recheck some of the rules before I play again because I'm sure I got a couple of things wrong. I really need to play more often and I'm determined to do just that over coming months.