Solo wargaming?

[LeadAsbestos]

I have only played one Two Hour Wargames...the gladiator one (I believe it's that company) Red Sand, Blue Sky.  It was one of the worst games I've ever played, and as such I've never bothered even glancing at their other titles.

 

This. Made me sell off my gladiator collection. Move em together, roll dice, look at a chart, repeat,.knock a guy down, game over. Weeeee ......

[SteveBurt]

You should have kept your gladiators, then you could have used them for Jugula, which is excellent, although more of a deck building game with added gladiators than a gladiator game. But very thematic, and lots of hard choices at all times; many gladiator games turn into 'run into combat and hack away'. Jugula doesn't.

If you are interested in Solo games, then 'Programmed Wargames Scenarios' (Charles Grant) should be on your 'to buy' list.
Lots of Solo games in there with built in unpredictable plans for the enemy.

[Redmao]

I really enjoy THW games. Most often than not, the story writes itself.

I played a game of ATZ where a lonely survivor came upon a small camp made out of two tents and a lonely jeep.
I used their Risk & Reward deck and I flipped a card for each of the tents and one for the vehicle to see if I could find something useful.
I found keys in one of the tent, so my survivor got the jeep to continue his journey.

[sundayhero]

I also bought the ATZ cards, and atz is one of my favorite game, solo and coop. ATZ is a must have for sure.




But I'm still interested by the other ideas people gave us on this topic, I didn't know some of the books.

[sonicReducer]

I think any ruleset with random activations should work fairly well for solo. I play Chain of Command solo, using Platoon Forward to randomly generate the opposing force that starts under blinds. It works well enough for me.

I'm currently considering starting some Pulp Alley solo - they've just brought out a solo deck

[shepard88]

I am also avid solo player, mainly FoF.

Regarding THW, guess it is not the worst game, but I tried play THW Nuts! and honestly couldn't go through that game. Agree on that it is highly praised game and also it is game dedicated for solo play, so should be highly recommended game for all solitary gamers, but I got lost in starting something beyond quick example in rulebook...
Maybe it is good game but difficult to start.

I have only played one Two Hour Wargames...the gladiator one (I believe it's that company) Red Sand, Blue Sky.  It was one of the worst games I've ever played, and as such I've never bothered even glancing at their other titles.

 

[Storm Wolf]

The THW I agree I want to love it and use it, by all of the dice gods I have tried but for ages now I have been trying to add the random quirks of THW with mechanics I inow well (W40K 3rd ed for my sins) the random stuff is good but the war gamey bit less so

[sundayhero]

You should start easy, and try for free chain reaction or swordplay 2015,  or the new 2D6system (even simplier, and also free). Personaly I have NUTS, and I plan to adapt some chain reaction 2015 mechanics inside.

I also discussed with some french players wich appreciated the western thw game too.

ATZ is also pretty easy to catch (that's probably why it also has been made as a classic boardgame). The new nuts big battle game is also pretty easy, for what I readed so far (I bought it yesterday, I didn't print it already). You can have a look on the official blog :

http://2hourblog.blogspot.fr

On latest releases (at least the ones I purchased), we can see a real effort of making things easier, each page (or new rule/concept) have a reminder, and/or examples and schemes to explain. I've got a few older thw games, the improvement is really noticeable.

[FifteensAway]

"I have only played one Two Hour Wargames...the gladiator one (I believe it's that company) Red Sand, Blue Sky.  It was one of the worst games I've ever played, and as such I've never bothered even glancing at their other titles."

Now, Elbows, don't hold back on your feelings, just tell us what you really think!   

Actually, I'd like to know why you thought the system was so bad?  Truly.  I've hemmed and hawed over their rules but when I read about them, well, I get nervous about allowing any of my treasure out of its chest.  Wise?

[nheastvan]

March was the 40th anniversary of the Solo Wargamers Association.  They've published a journal (which is now primarily web delivered) since the 90s.

Sample articles
http://lonewarriorswa.com/sample-articles

Blog
http://lonewarriorswa.com/blog

As for THW's gladiator game, I found it very different from their other titles.  Anyone wondering what their normal games are like should go check out the free rules.  They are complete games.

[Elbows]

"I have only played one Two Hour Wargames...the gladiator one (I believe it's that company) Red Sand, Blue Sky.  It was one of the worst games I've ever played, and as such I've never bothered even glancing at their other titles."

Now, Elbows, don't hold back on your feelings, just tell us what you really think!   

Actually, I'd like to know why you thought the system was so bad?  Truly.  I've hemmed and hawed over their rules but when I read about them, well, I get nervous about allowing any of my treasure out of its chest.  Wise?

I don't remember much of the specifics (it was maybe 3 years ago), but it was a really boring rinse-repeat game which didn't really flow at all with the actual way gladiator combat worked.  Now I'm sure I'm also biased as I've been playing Furt's amazing Blood on the Sands (best gladiator game I've played) so that probably didn't help.  But it was boring, and exceptionally repetitive. 

[airbornegrove26]

I just tried Donnybrook as a solo game and absolutely loved it! Well worth a look.

http://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/shop/product-520.html

I'm using it for fantasy none the less. Check it out.

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=93155.0

http://givemlead.blogspot.com/2016/08/up-smoking-river-donnybrook-comic.html