How to make the most of playing with yourself.

With circumstances being as they are I've found myself being keen to play games but short one opponent. With the development of many solo games and modules for existing games during and post-lockdown you may think that wouldn't be so much of a problem and that has some truth to it. However try playing tennis without an opponent and you'll better understand my position on the matter. That wall always beats me.

I've played solo games as a co-op experience and possibly had a better time with that than in a proper versus game so it's not an issue with mechanics, definitely just with me.

Having realised I essentially don't like my own company I've been trying to work out what is it that is so different about a living opponent to playing against what is often a series of logic gates and I think I've got it.

Rather obviously it's that people are unpredictable. I can sit my cannons in an unassailable position and know they're safe only for a mad opponent to assail them and have those capricious little cubes of chance betray me and now I have no cannons (true story).

Now this doesn't mean that I want every action to be randomised. If I wanted to watch a load of nonsensical happenings with no bearing on what's going on I'd just put on Prime minister's questions. No, what I'm after is something where I PROBABLY know what they'll do but don't definitely. Just like in a real game!

Previously what I've done is play both sides and do what I think each army would in it's current situation which has been fine for testing out or learning a game but there was no way to surprise myself and so the shine quickly wore off.

What I needed was something that meant I wasn't totally in control of the "enemy" side but that would usually do the sensible thing, or at least what I consider to be the sensible thing.

To do this without having to rely on either full role play or a long flow chart for every action a unit could conceivably take I've come up with a very simple D6 roll with a few potential modifiers;

D6

1 - Take cover/dig in/stay quiet

2 - Make the most of any cover, attack if able.

3 - Move to best position, prioritise cover over attack.

4 - Move to best position, do what seems most advantageous.

5 - Attack over making the most of cover

6 - Attack

In a good position add +1 to the roll.

In a great position add +2 to the roll.

In a bad position subtract -1 from the roll.

In a terrible position subtract -2 from the roll

Aggressive leaders add +1

Timid leaders subtract -1

Now, the idea here is quite straightforward if a little subjective. You look at the situation of the unit whose turn you're about to play and decide how it looks which will help you decide what they're likely to do.

Are they in the open a long way from cover with an approaching competent enemy? That sounds pretty terrible. 

Is it as I just described but they're within one move from cover? That's kinda bad.

Are they in either of those positions but the enemy are nowhere near? Well that's probably a coin toss if they'll want to set up defensively or move into a more aggressive position.

How about if they are in some light cover and the enemy are in similar or maybe less? Sounds good to me!

And if they're in good cover and have the enemy in sight in the open? Well now that's undeniably great!

The specifics of whether you think a unit's position is good, bad or indifferent can be as complex or as simple as you like and if you forget to consider a factor then that's fine too! You can just role play it as the enemy making a mistake. They do that too I'm told. Just also play your turn with a "no take-backs" approach too, it adds to the tension.

Ultimately when you're playing solo it's barely possible to cheat as you're playing for your own entertainment and this is just an aid to that end.

Exactly what actions they/you take will depend on the game you're playing but this can give you a bit of guidance. I also found it important that where the enemy side (or at least specialists within it) has an explicit goal that any result of 4+ can be read as a "get on with it" result. If their engineers need to blow up a bridge they shouldn't be pausing to take pot shots at someone when the day hinges on them getting their job done!

Specific results of 4 are essentially the "role play it" method I mentioned using before having this brainwave and I still think there's space for this result simply because, much like deciding how good or bad their position is, you the player can consider many points of minutiae that a chart just can't.

By adding in the +/-1 for different types of leaders (or units depending on your game) I've found can provide just enough chance for the unpredictable, much as we see in history.

Your model army may refuse to move in the face of the enemy and create your own Stonewall Jackson! They could stand up and take that trench section and become young Rommel. I mean most likely they'll get shot to pieces but that's what makes these exceptions exceptional!

As I mentioned this system works with any game you want it to but I find it particularly good with something like "I ain't been shot mum" from Too fat lardies. As that uses card activation you generally get a good mix of alternate activations from both sides, the blinds system means you don't need to know what you're facing and where on the field they'll be. Plus you can make judgement adjustments on the fire table based on circumstances too.

Anything that mixes up the turn order and especially that will make knowing the enemy disposition harder is great for getting the most out of a solo game.

The chart was written with the expectation that one or both sides are armed with some form of firearm but with a little imagination it could work for a melee game too. It'll just take extrapolating out whats a good position based on relative strength, charge ability, nearby support etc.

And that's it! I imagine this little add-on will make its way into some of my own games but as I hope I've demonstrated here you can use it immediately with any game you fancy, probably with a touch of fiddling, so you can more properly enjoy playing with yourself. 

Here is the original full file I wrote in case you want to save a copy for personal use. If you like it, let me know!

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Interpretations of the results and how they'll apply to the situation, layout and rules being used are for the player to make. As this is for solo play it's not really desirable (or possible) to cheat.

This add on is assuming both sides to be armed with some form of firearm.

It's not possible to account for all possibilities in all available games but this, with a dash of role-playing, plus trying to set up what seems plausible (with a touch of "what would I do here" thinking) should help create a fun bit of wargaming narrative.

Rolling for leader types

If it seems reasonable (or just more fun) for the enemy to have variable levels of aggression then roll a D6 -

1 = timid

6 = aggressive

If it seems fitting a timid force makes the roll at -1 or an aggressive force rolls at +1.

D6

1 - Take cover/dig in/stay quiet

2 - Make the most of any cover, attack if able.

3 - Move to best position, prioritise cover over attack.

4 - Move to best position, do what seems most advantageous.

5 - Attack over making the most of cover

6 - Attack

In a good position add +1 to the roll.

In a great position add +2 to the roll.

In a bad position subtract -1 from the roll.

In a terrible position subtract -2 from the roll

Aggressive leaders add +1

Timid leaders subtract -1

If a result is impossible, for example "Attack" and there is nothing to attack then take actions that are as close as possible. If appropriate consider the result a 4.

Troops with an objective will prioritise completing that on any result of 4+. If they have something that would be vital to perform give them a +1 on their roll.

On a 5 or 6 if melee would be possible then roll one more die and the unit will attempt to close with the enemy on a 4+ (adjusted as for Aggressive or timid leaders).