I have been playing solo for over a decade. Got a very different approach. The +1 save. I read that somewhere long ago. Tried it. I hate it. It feels grindy. Instead I do hyper narrative games. Asymmetric forces and deployments. Like storming an outpost. Every army has a main objective. And a “o shit! All is lost emergency objective” Most important. 10th edition 40K sucks for narrative and solo play. I don’t have the patience to look at older editions. So this what I do and recommend: Ditch strategems. Ditch CP, tactical objectives, and scoring primary. I would even ditch detachments rules. Play to 6 turns minimum with no upper limit. Objectives are narrative and sequential. Take down coms tower, the breach the gate, then kill the CO… stuff like that.
Hell yeah! I’ve been working on custom Kill Team rules for Horus Heresy. The missions are very much like this. Assassinate a VIP, sabotage an important asset, escape from danger. Feels so good!
I primarily play solo as well. I find that with my limited terrain options, after several games of a specific system, same models vs same models on same terrain, it grows stale for me. And even though I really enjoyed the experience, it’s hard to keep coming back to it. That’s why I love 2 player starters, I get to mix up most of that easily for a while.
When I was in the 40k tourney circuit in 6-7e all I did was solo play every army in existence to test out the plays. Since then I've long grown out of the competitive scene, so nowadays I play mostly OPR or board games with friends, but I still sometimes set up Shadows of Brimstone to play solo. I also play a solo campaign of town/city management with some skirmish battles using chat gpt to generate damn near everything that can be random. When chat gpt says its time to fight, I set up the board, fight it out and feed the results to chat gpt. It's REALLY fun and I'd encourage everyone to try playing like that.
I have been wanting to try it for some time now. Especially with 3D printing and all the great historical minis from companies like Victrix and Perry. I can fill in the fantasy elements with 3D prints.
Solo-gaming is awesome! As long as you have the ability to play both armies authentically, the dice make it random enough that it’s still interesting and fun. I totally have an on-going crusade going between all my armies. Basically for practice and my own head lore. Maybe it’s because I’m an only child so I grew up having fun playing games alone a lot. 🤷♂️
Nailed it on the table side issue...switching to that opposing view while playing against yourself is a must . Ive used solo play mainly to test various AoS and 40k builds over that past 15 years or so but started playing solo AH games back in the 70`s.
I really enjoy playing solo to teach myself the ins and outs of a system before I play with my group. Then I can talk about things that work or don’t work or what we might want to consider changing or ignoring for the health of the game (looking at you, Alpha Strike force org rules).
I usually solo game, which is fine as I do it for an unfolding narrative - as opposed to a real test. I do use those bolt action dice to make my enemies more unpredictable.
There are also losts of amazing solo/co-op games or games that have solo rules and you can apply alot of the basic fuction of these games to bigger games and also try to be objective if you want to play a normal wargame. As far as games I like for solo gaming are The Forbidden Psalm games all warband skirmish solo/co-op games, The Silver Bayonet and also getting into Turnip28 its a smaller sized wargame and just apply some objective play to it :-) OPR also has a their Quest games Fantasy and Star Quest solo/co-op PvE game. Also didnt know you created Brutality I have it on my list to buy this coming year heard great things about it.
Maybe it's because I'm a solo board gamer, but I really prefer some kind of decision tree/behaviour card. An amazing example of this is the enemy AI in Sword & Sorcery by Gremlin Project/Ares Games. I have always wanted to get into miniatures games so I can use my board game components for other things but skirmish/miniature game designers seem to be unaware that we just like solid rules and mostly play 'Left hand vs Right hand (LHvRH) just to learn the rules. That said, I do like the tips you mentioned in this video and have had a blast playing Battlelore 2nd Edition LHvRH with a rule change. There is a currency called 'Lore' which you can spend to play 'Lore Cards' which are special/powerful abilities/attacks. In the solo variant I play, to keep it simpler and quicker, the AI cannot use Lore cards BUT can spend Lore to buy Victory Points. This works well as if you turtle, they'll eventually win (one of the d6 sides is a lore symbol) so you still have to be aggresive-and this leads to more casualties and excitement! Really looking forward to trying Brutality one day (bought the soft cover) once my baby gets old enough for me to have free time 😊
Solo gaming is how I keep my sanity. Be it board game, chess, backgammon or wargaming. It is nice to just have a table available to go roll dice on and see what happens. Playing infinity changed how I solo game. They use volumetric pieces. So I made a whole bunch of wooden pieces put a washer in the bottom for extra weight. Painted one set red the ither set blue. Tossed numbers on the cylinders. Then I just started making them for every system I could think of. Now I have a box of cylinders a box of blocks and in can proxy almost anything from 6mm to 38mm. The nice part is you can test out lists and rules up dates very quickly and really dial in your purchases. The other interesting change I have found in my gaming is I avoid spamming units. Running more than two of any unit is almost unheard of in my gaming. Even if spaming is the optimal option, I don't have fun with it. The other nice part is I can dark horse events because no one knows what I am actually cooking up. Or even What I have in my collection as I run joke armies at gaming nights.
Not a game designer but I also heavily house rule board games as needed. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve talked to someone about a game and they say “ I don’t play that game cos X rule ruins it for me” and look at me like I’ve three heads when I suggest that they just don’t use that rule or change it to do Y instead. Why waste a game you’ve spent money on because a couple of rules ruin the game for you? It’s your game, play it the way you want. On solo wargaming I have done it a few times but mostly to learn rules before trying to do an intro game for someone. But given my severely depleted personal time it might be worth giving it a go, because it’s probably my only chance of getting a wargame in the next year to be honest
I mostly solo played board & card games, but I eventually made it over to wargames. They’re really fun and a lot more practical when your closest store/group is 50 minutes away.
A good one! 👍🏻 I'm by Your side. Solo gaming is great for testing rules or just having fun. Some rules - or scenarios - are better in solo play, but at the end everything goes.
I play boardgames almost ezckusively solo. But wargaming I play socially. I am open to playing solo tabletop wargames, but would probably restrict myself to wargames that have been designed to play solo....like Deth Wizards, or Rangers of Shadowdeep, or whatever it's called, or Core Space. Games like 40k or AOS, or Bolt Action....I just don't see these being games that would be fun solo. I like to play solo games that are designed to be be played solo. There are even some RPGs designed to be played solo.
I find it hard to get out of one army mindset and switch to the other when solo gaming. Apart from the dice rolls there is little surprise or unpredictability to the game regarding strategy and that makes yhe experience a little hollow.
I feel like if i ever get the big table and can set it up, I would do it and stream it to people? Doe for me, solo play is "how much of a smackdown can I do before it illegal" 😂
Love solo play. Obviously its not as good as playing with a real person, but its great for me since its hard to schedule a game around my schedule. I usually try to get at least 1 solo game in before playing someone in real life if its a wargame I havnt played or I'm playing a new army/team. Most the people I play IRL are pick up games at the game store, so I'm playing people I'm not necessarily friends with outside of the game store. The way I see it, if I'm going to ask someone to spend a few hours with playing a wargame, I should at least be familiar with the rules of my army/team. Solo play is also great because like you said, I can play a few rounds and walk away and come back to it later. This is great in my situation because I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home. So if work is slow, or I'm taking a little break I'll walk over to my game table and play a few rounds. Having a dry erase board is key for this IMO, helps keep track of what battle tactics or strategy plays(kill team thing) are active and what the score is, who's turn it is ect.
I started solo wargaming in 2020. I've been an RPG games master since I was 12 so running both sides is easy for me. I prefer games where one side outnumbers to other.
Ive never played miniatures war games solo but I find solo pandemic very rewarding but mostly because my board gaming group are not as taken with it as i am.
I play 40k solo, on Dakka i found a random D6 logic tree based on the four main unit types, They will mainly do what the are supposed to do but can do ''other'' actions sometimes. I play 1700 pts vs AI of 2000 pts. This system was a life saver as i don't want to play other gamers now.
Yeah, I have also added more points to the AI opponents list. But for some reason when I was recording I didn't think to say that. But good point though!
I love solo gaming. These days it’s most of the gaming I get to do actually. But I like playing huge APOC games in the garage and can leave it set up for weeks. I just play a little bit every other night or so. No different from a video game. Just be unbiased. Play some atmosphere music too and have a drink. It’s great!
I am almost exclusively solo wargamer (due to circumstances) and I love its pros too! For me there is no other choice tbh in the corner of the world I am in (ok need to try harder with online gaming). That said, no solo experience with miniatures so far.
I keep trying to sit down and play Forbidden Psalm solo. Roll up some random warbands, round up some of my favourite monster miniatures, some scatter terrain and run a few skirmishes to tell a little story, themed as a bunch of Necromunda style gangs struggling to survive on a wartorn planet beset by aliens and demons. But even for normal wargaming, I keep getting stuck on the prep stage of building my models, and nothing gets painted, and I never play a game because I only want to be playing with fully painted models and terrain. My plan with Forbidden Psalm is to keep it as an easier goal to achieve, with less models, so I can roll some dice sooner, but progress is still agonisingly slow for me. I'm an island of calm in the midst of the distracting chaos of life.
I don't know who makes them, but I got them off of amazon. They are large Funko Pop display cases. I buy the large size, they used to be somewhere around $50 a case and now I think they're like $80 a case since covid. I don't know why
During Covid I played a handful of 40K games with the OPR solo system and it worked okay. Scratched that itch a little bit but ultimately I don't really enjoy it. I find it too easy to defeat the NPC opponent and I miss the social interactions with the opponent. I'm sure it works if you are the sort of person who can get behind solo play but it wasn't for me.
This reminds me to a guy i know who doesnt have any siblings, as a kid he used to play monopoly against imaginary players who played bad on purpose and would let him win. hehe I respect solo players, but when you are alone and you have time for hobbying is time to build and paint, and do cool conversions. Playing is fun with other people XD (in my humble opinion)
I've tried playing solo a few times, but always felt pointless, why am I doing it? It's only good when testing my own game designs, or if there's practice needed
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I hate playing solo because my opponent is a big fat cheater who re-rolls his dice when no one is looking.
😄😄😄
I have been playing solo for over a decade. Got a very different approach.
The +1 save. I read that somewhere long ago. Tried it. I hate it. It feels grindy.
Instead I do hyper narrative games. Asymmetric forces and deployments. Like storming an outpost. Every army has a main objective. And a “o shit! All is lost emergency objective”
Most important. 10th edition 40K sucks for narrative and solo play. I don’t have the patience to look at older editions. So this what I do and recommend:
Ditch strategems. Ditch CP, tactical objectives, and scoring primary. I would even ditch detachments rules. Play to 6 turns minimum with no upper limit. Objectives are narrative and sequential. Take down coms tower, the breach the gate, then kill the CO… stuff like that.
@@erupendragon7376 this is brilliant
Hell yeah! I’ve been working on custom Kill Team rules for Horus Heresy. The missions are very much like this. Assassinate a VIP, sabotage an important asset, escape from danger. Feels so good!
I primarily play solo as well. I find that with my limited terrain options, after several games of a specific system, same models vs same models on same terrain, it grows stale for me. And even though I really enjoyed the experience, it’s hard to keep coming back to it. That’s why I love 2 player starters, I get to mix up most of that easily for a while.
When I was in the 40k tourney circuit in 6-7e all I did was solo play every army in existence to test out the plays. Since then I've long grown out of the competitive scene, so nowadays I play mostly OPR or board games with friends, but I still sometimes set up Shadows of Brimstone to play solo. I also play a solo campaign of town/city management with some skirmish battles using chat gpt to generate damn near everything that can be random. When chat gpt says its time to fight, I set up the board, fight it out and feed the results to chat gpt. It's REALLY fun and I'd encourage everyone to try playing like that.
I have played several game systems solo, some have published solo rules and others not. All were enjoyable.
I've done solo a couple times. Wanted to get a feel for "my" army. Also to get an idea what meta would do. Will try your +1 save idea at some point.
I solo all the time and I do play both ends of the table it just makes sense
I have been wanting to try it for some time now. Especially with 3D printing and all the great historical minis from companies like Victrix and Perry. I can fill in the fantasy elements with 3D prints.
Solo-gaming is awesome!
As long as you have the ability to play both armies authentically, the dice make it random enough that it’s still interesting and fun.
I totally have an on-going crusade going between all my armies. Basically for practice and my own head lore.
Maybe it’s because I’m an only child so I grew up having fun playing games alone a lot. 🤷♂️
Nailed it on the table side issue...switching to that opposing view while playing against yourself is a must . Ive used solo play mainly to test various AoS and 40k builds over that past 15 years or so but started playing solo AH games back in the 70`s.
I really enjoy playing solo to teach myself the ins and outs of a system before I play with my group. Then I can talk about things that work or don’t work or what we might want to consider changing or ignoring for the health of the game (looking at you, Alpha Strike force org rules).
I play with myself all the time its very satisfying... Seriously solo gaming has many pluses and I enjoy it.
Never tried solo play before. Might give it a go, as I it is really difficult for me to get games of Oldhammer in with friends.
I usually solo game, which is fine as I do it for an unfolding narrative - as opposed to a real test.
I do use those bolt action dice to make my enemies more unpredictable.
I have a lot of solo rules
been playing solo wargames and rpgs for 50 years... its my favourite way to play :-)
Tried it, loved it, it is great to try out things then surprise your friends once you are comfortable with your new units :)
There are also losts of amazing solo/co-op games or games that have solo rules and you can apply alot of the basic fuction of these games to bigger games and also try to be objective if you want to play a normal wargame. As far as games I like for solo gaming are The Forbidden Psalm games all warband skirmish solo/co-op games, The Silver Bayonet and also getting into Turnip28 its a smaller sized wargame and just apply some objective play to it :-) OPR also has a their Quest games Fantasy and Star Quest solo/co-op PvE game. Also didnt know you created Brutality I have it on my list to buy this coming year heard great things about it.
I am one of those that needed an AI flow chart. I feel very seen. I'll have to try this out. Thank you!
❤️
Maybe it's because I'm a solo board gamer, but I really prefer some kind of decision tree/behaviour card. An amazing example of this is the enemy AI in Sword & Sorcery by Gremlin Project/Ares Games.
I have always wanted to get into miniatures games so I can use my board game components for other things but skirmish/miniature game designers seem to be unaware that we just like solid rules and mostly play 'Left hand vs Right hand (LHvRH) just to learn the rules.
That said, I do like the tips you mentioned in this video and have had a blast playing Battlelore 2nd Edition LHvRH with a rule change. There is a currency called 'Lore' which you can spend to play 'Lore Cards' which are special/powerful abilities/attacks. In the solo variant I play, to keep it simpler and quicker, the AI cannot use Lore cards BUT can spend Lore to buy Victory Points. This works well as if you turtle, they'll eventually win (one of the d6 sides is a lore symbol) so you still have to be aggresive-and this leads to more casualties and excitement!
Really looking forward to trying Brutality one day (bought the soft cover) once my baby gets old enough for me to have free time 😊
Solo and co op are the best
Solo gaming is how I keep my sanity.
Be it board game, chess, backgammon or wargaming.
It is nice to just have a table available to go roll dice on and see what happens.
Playing infinity changed how I solo game. They use volumetric pieces. So I made a whole bunch of wooden pieces put a washer in the bottom for extra weight. Painted one set red the ither set blue. Tossed numbers on the cylinders. Then I just started making them for every system I could think of. Now I have a box of cylinders a box of blocks and in can proxy almost anything from 6mm to 38mm.
The nice part is you can test out lists and rules up dates very quickly and really dial in your purchases.
The other interesting change I have found in my gaming is I avoid spamming units. Running more than two of any unit is almost unheard of in my gaming. Even if spaming is the optimal option, I don't have fun with it.
The other nice part is I can dark horse events because no one knows what I am actually cooking up. Or even What I have in my collection as I run joke armies at gaming nights.
I think i try solo gaming . Sounds like a cool idea to kill boredom and get into the systems .
Not a game designer but I also heavily house rule board games as needed. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve talked to someone about a game and they say “ I don’t play that game cos X rule ruins it for me” and look at me like I’ve three heads when I suggest that they just don’t use that rule or change it to do Y instead. Why waste a game you’ve spent money on because a couple of rules ruin the game for you? It’s your game, play it the way you want.
On solo wargaming I have done it a few times but mostly to learn rules before trying to do an intro game for someone. But given my severely depleted personal time it might be worth giving it a go, because it’s probably my only chance of getting a wargame in the next year to be honest
I mostly solo played board & card games, but I eventually made it over to wargames. They’re really fun and a lot more practical when your closest store/group is 50 minutes away.
A good one! 👍🏻 I'm by Your side. Solo gaming is great for testing rules or just having fun. Some rules - or scenarios - are better in solo play, but at the end everything goes.
I play boardgames almost ezckusively solo. But wargaming I play socially. I am open to playing solo tabletop wargames, but would probably restrict myself to wargames that have been designed to play solo....like Deth Wizards, or Rangers of Shadowdeep, or whatever it's called, or Core Space. Games like 40k or AOS, or Bolt Action....I just don't see these being games that would be fun solo. I like to play solo games that are designed to be be played solo. There are even some RPGs designed to be played solo.
I find it hard to get out of one army mindset and switch to the other when solo gaming. Apart from the dice rolls there is little surprise or unpredictability to the game regarding strategy and that makes yhe experience a little hollow.
I have definitely played more Kill Team "solo" than I have done with my friends
What's kill team Solo like Playing is it fun?
I feel like if i ever get the big table and can set it up, I would do it and stream it to people?
Doe for me, solo play is "how much of a smackdown can I do before it illegal" 😂
Love solo play. Obviously its not as good as playing with a real person, but its great for me since its hard to schedule a game around my schedule. I usually try to get at least 1 solo game in before playing someone in real life if its a wargame I havnt played or I'm playing a new army/team. Most the people I play IRL are pick up games at the game store, so I'm playing people I'm not necessarily friends with outside of the game store. The way I see it, if I'm going to ask someone to spend a few hours with playing a wargame, I should at least be familiar with the rules of my army/team.
Solo play is also great because like you said, I can play a few rounds and walk away and come back to it later. This is great in my situation because I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home. So if work is slow, or I'm taking a little break I'll walk over to my game table and play a few rounds. Having a dry erase board is key for this IMO, helps keep track of what battle tactics or strategy plays(kill team thing) are active and what the score is, who's turn it is ect.
Only way Play anymore. I love it.
I started solo wargaming in 2020. I've been an RPG games master since I was 12 so running both sides is easy for me. I prefer games where one side outnumbers to other.
Ive never played miniatures war games solo but I find solo pandemic very rewarding but mostly because my board gaming group are not as taken with it as i am.
I play 40k solo, on Dakka i found a random D6 logic tree based on the four main unit types, They will mainly do what the are supposed to do but can do ''other'' actions sometimes. I play 1700 pts vs AI of 2000 pts. This system was a life saver as i don't want to play other gamers now.
Yeah, I have also added more points to the AI opponents list. But for some reason when I was recording I didn't think to say that. But good point though!
I love solo gaming. These days it’s most of the gaming I get to do actually. But I like playing huge APOC games in the garage and can leave it set up for weeks. I just play a little bit every other night or so. No different from a video game. Just be unbiased. Play some atmosphere music too and have a drink. It’s great!
I am almost exclusively solo wargamer (due to circumstances) and I love its pros too! For me there is no other choice tbh in the corner of the world I am in (ok need to try harder with online gaming). That said, no solo experience with miniatures so far.
I keep trying to sit down and play Forbidden Psalm solo. Roll up some random warbands, round up some of my favourite monster miniatures, some scatter terrain and run a few skirmishes to tell a little story, themed as a bunch of Necromunda style gangs struggling to survive on a wartorn planet beset by aliens and demons. But even for normal wargaming, I keep getting stuck on the prep stage of building my models, and nothing gets painted, and I never play a game because I only want to be playing with fully painted models and terrain. My plan with Forbidden Psalm is to keep it as an easier goal to achieve, with less models, so I can roll some dice sooner, but progress is still agonisingly slow for me. I'm an island of calm in the midst of the distracting chaos of life.
I read this as solo gaming is shellfish.
Why not Zoidberg?
Who makes those acrylic shelves on your wall?
I don't know who makes them, but I got them off of amazon. They are large Funko Pop display cases. I buy the large size, they used to be somewhere around $50 a case and now I think they're like $80 a case since covid. I don't know why
During Covid I played a handful of 40K games with the OPR solo system and it worked okay. Scratched that itch a little bit but ultimately I don't really enjoy it. I find it too easy to defeat the NPC opponent and I miss the social interactions with the opponent. I'm sure it works if you are the sort of person who can get behind solo play but it wasn't for me.
This reminds me to a guy i know who doesnt have any siblings, as a kid he used to play monopoly against imaginary players who played bad on purpose and would let him win.
hehe I respect solo players, but when you are alone and you have time for hobbying is time to build and paint, and do cool conversions. Playing is fun with other people XD (in my humble opinion)
I've tried playing solo a few times, but always felt pointless, why am I doing it?
It's only good when testing my own game designs, or if there's practice needed
yes, I tried solo gaming. In private life. Not fun =\
It's not for everybody. Luckily this hobby supports all different types of interests.
I bet more people would play that game. But is expensive as hell. So most people run away. including me LOL