Solo play rules

[Oberst Hajj]

Okay, lots of you guys are talking about them, so lets get some ideas down on paper...er internet!

[mosstrooper]

Play solo almost exclusivly , I use the following - Dice for set up = highest dice is aggresor so lowest sets up in centre of table , dice for attacker set up using D8 (number corners and table sides 1-8 ). Dice fo position of sun , see how close you set up by rolling D6s (usely start 600mm away from defender ) if the attacker beats the defender on the dice roll he moves 100mm nearer (has'nt been spotted !) repeat till defender 'sees' attacker ( dice roll can be modified by 'coming out of the sun' and position of attack ie single seaters attacked from rear) then set up attacker . Non player plane (NPP) dices each move for movement options ( you have to use a bit of commons sense here !) ie attacked by my plane head on, choses are 1 2 turn left 3 4 fly straight 5 6 turn left ( if he fly straight ahead you would dice again 1 2 left side slip 3 4 fly straight 5 6 right sideslip ). If it might make sense for the NPP to make one manouver than another alter the dice to benifit this ie 1 turn left 2 fly straight on 3 4 5 6 flyright . NPP dices 3 times at start of each move and picks cards . Having typed this out it looks a bit complecated and slow but having used this system for about 12 month I find I can get through a move quite fast , it about using common sense when dicing for NPP and giving it its best chance , hope these ideas help Cheers Tony

[SHVAK]

1 on 1 Dogfight - solo play:

- Drop the altitude rules; as well, drop any penalties/restrictions for the enemy plane, such as playing 2 steep manouver cards in a row.

- Pick the 3 manouver cards for your plane
- Pick 2 manouver cards for the enemy plane which best counters your planned manouvers
- Pick the third enemy manouver card at random; but don't look at it
- Shuffle all 3 enemy manouver cards
- Play normally

[mosstrooper]

I also limit the number of turns aircraft can remain on the table usualy roll 2 Average dice + 1 D6 per aircraft , to represent the fuel left . I use counter to keep track of each aircraft . When the counters/fuel runs out the plane has to leave the table by a predetermined table edge/corner .

[Oberst Hajj]

You can use these to keep track of altitude and or fuel if you like, they are in the Files section.

[sniperscout]

Heres my initial thoughts (posted previously). I have tried to stick to the KIS (Keep It Simple) approach.

1)To start with I wanted to randomise which plane "flys" first. To do this I give each plane a number. I then use an ordinary set out playing cards. For example assume you have three planes perside. You would number then 1 to 6. Then take playing one to six (i.e ace to six). Shuffle these and then draw a card. Fly the planes in the same order that the cards are drawn. At the end of each turn shuffle the cards and draw again.

2) Randomise missions. Use a dice 6. Each number relates to a different mission type. E.g

Dice Result
1 Dogfight
2 Balloon Busting
3 Trench/AA Gun Strafing
4 Bombing Raid
5 Photographic Reconnaissance
6 Observation Mission

Throw 1D6 for each side. Highest score is the attacker for any of the above scenarios or you could have a rule whereby whichever side won the last sortie is the attacker

[Dathbain]

Wow, I must be really unbiased! I play solo games all week long in prep for our saturday games so I have a really good handle on what my planes capabilities are, as well as trying out new manuevers and different combinations. I only play dogfights solo, but I do nothing special, I put myself in the position of whatever plane I am trying to shoot down. Now I know that sounds like the games would be over right away, but I reality the games take 30 to 40 min on average and even though I always win (hehe) I dont specifically try to counter the other planes movements. Hmm, it sounded pretty simple in my head, seems a bit tougher to convey in words! I basically attempt to play neutral is what Im trying to say. Try it you may suprise yourself!
Col. Hajj, That altimeter is super cool! How do you keep track of fuel though?

[Oberst Hajj]

I don't have or use fuel rules, so I have no clue! If there are some rules some place, even it if it's just a general consensus that planes can fly for X number of turns before running out of fuel, I'm sure I could ask the maker of that set of dials to adjust the number on it for us.

[WilliamBarkerVC]

The guy I play solo games with cheats like a bugger. I won't play him again! He always looks at my card, and moves my plane when I am not looking. I hate him!

[Gauntlet]

Here is my very basic Solo campaign game – Any ideas to improve this will be gratefully received.

1.No altitude rules. No explosions.

2.Dice roll to decide who spots who first…1-2 = Allies spot Germans first…3-4 = Germans spot Allies first…5/6 = Simultaneous sighting.

3.Let’s assume the Germans spot the British first – The British planes have to head from the end of the board towards the centre, playing straight manoeuvres only. The Germans start to one side of the board at their end. This gives them a slight distance advantage to begin with. At this stage the Germans are trying to gain a position to jump the British planes while they are still unsighted. In all the moves I make I try to remain unbiased and make the best moves possible.

4.There is no 3 card rule. Manoeuvres are made one at a time, then any combat is resolved. The Germans move first, the British second. At the start this continues until either the Germans fire upon the British or one of the British reaches the centre of the board, at which time the British have spotted the Germans and can instigate combat themselves.

5.Combat is decided at the end of each set of manoeuvres (i.e. both the Germans and British have moved once). All combat rules are then as per normal apart from the fact that each aircraft can suffer only one gun jam during the course of a game.

6.Once the first combat phase has been resolved the last side to make their manoeuvres then move again. This ensures that each side has the advantage every other turn of moving last before combat. i.e after manoeuvre 4 (the Germans moved last) the Germans fire at the British. The British return fire if possible. The Germans then move again followed by the British. After any further combat is resolved it is now the British who move first…and so on.

7.I’ve started a campaign to see how this pans out. I’ve selected 2 Jastas and 2 RFC Squadrons in the St Quentin/Cambrai area. Each has 4 Flights of 3 planes (Jasta 5 has DVa’s and D3’s - Jasta 37 has DR1’s and Pfalz’s – 54 Squadron has Camels and Pups – 85 Squadron has Spads and Pups). I’ve worked out some patrol routes for each of them and then determine where, if anywhere, a fight takes place. Each squadron sends up a flight at dawn/midday/twilight if there are enough serviceable planes. If the German and British routes meet at any stage that’s where they have a dogfight.

8.To date I’ve completed one day – 20 November 1917…

9.At dawn A Flight of Jasta 5 (2 x DVa’s and 1x D3) met A Flight of 54 Sq (2 x Camels and 1 x Pup) at Banteux…The British lost a Pup but the two Camels shot down all 3 Germans. Also at Dawn A Flight of Jasta 37 (2 x DR1’s and 1 x Pfalz) shot down all 3 British planes of A Flight 85 Sq (2 x Spads and 1 x Pup) at Ronssoy.

10.At midday B Flight of Jasta 5 (2 x DVa’s and 1 x D3) met B Flight of 54 Sq (2 x Camels and 1 Pup) at Lesdins – This time the DVa’s shot down a Camel each. The Pup then brought down one of the DVa’s. Both B Flights of Jasta 37 and 85 Sq met no opposition on the patrols.

11.At twilight C Flight of Jasta 5 (1 x DVa and 2 x D3) met C Flight of 85 Sq (1 x Camel and 2 x Pups) at Beavois-En-Cambresis. Only one Pup was shot down. Meanwhile C Flight of Jasta 37 (1 x DR1 and 2 x Pfalz) met C Flight of 54 Sq (1 x Camel and 2 x Pups) at Banteux. The Germans brought down a Camel and a Pup for no loss.

12.In summary, all the dogfights panned out differently…The British sighted the Germans first on 3 occasions, the Germans sighted the British first only once. In the 5 dogfights to date the Germans have lost 6 planes, the British have lost 7. If a plane goes down in flames the pilot dies. For any other downed planes a dice roll of 1-4 shows the pilot as killed while a roll of 5-6 sees him survive. Most British survivors will be captured behind the lines. I can’t think of a way of making this last ruling fairer as most combats were fought on the German side of the lines.

13.As there are no miniatures yet for Pups or Pfalz’s, I’ve used artistic licence in using Snipes and D7’s to represent them but have changed the manoeuvre decks/damage etc to more suitable stats.

14.I’ve worked out a chart to ensure that the same Flights don’t keep meeting in battle…each Flight gets a rest day every 4 days (the British D Flights start at dawn on day 2 while A take a rest but the German A Flights are up for a 2nd day).

15.Clearly with so many planes being lost on day one, replacement planes and pilots will need to be found. It may be that some Flights may go up short-handed or not at all. I’ll also begin to introduce escort duties for 2 seater missions etc.

16.I’ll be keeping stats for each airman…how many missions flown…kills (of course)…bursts fired…damage points inflicted and damage points received. These could then be used with additional Ace rules and to determine the most aggressive/gung-ho airmen in the case of bursts fired etc.

17.In keeping with the role playing nature of the game I’m using names derived from those of real flyers, I’m just switching their first names around. At present I’m using the names of lesser known airmen but if the campaign continues as it’s started out, with much loss of life, I could end up with Ernst von Richthofen and Manfred Udet being called up before long!!!

18.P.S – I’ve posted some pictures from the dogfight between Jasta 37(C) and 54 Squadron (C) here -

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/album.php?albumid=48

[Davot]

The guy I play solo games with cheats like a bugger. I won't play him again! He always looks at my card, and moves my plane when I am not looking. I hate him!

Oh my word, Grant! That was an out-loud-all-by-myself laugh when I read your comment.

[Charlie3]

Wow, I must be really unbiased! I play solo games all week long in prep for our saturday games so I have a really good handle on what my planes capabilities are, as well as trying out new manuevers and different combinations. I only play dogfights solo, but I do nothing special, I put myself in the position of whatever plane I am trying to shoot down... I basically attempt to play neutral is what Im trying to say. Try it you may suprise yourself!

I do nearly the same thing however I roll a die at the begining of each game turn to deturmine which plane I choose cards for first.
Roll 1 die
-No tactical advantage 1-3 Allied plane, 4-6, German plane.
-Allied plane being tailed 1-4 Allied plane, 5-6 German plane.
-German plane being tailed 1-2, Allied plane 3-6 German plane.
This gives me a chance to randomly let each plane have an advantage and balance things out. (so the other player doesn't cheat)

I have found that balloon busting, recon flights, and bouncing a flight of bombers are the best solo games because the enemy doesn't need to be moved (bombers can sit in the middle of the table and not move) I just need to keep track of the number of game turns it takes to complete the mission or die to figure out how well I did.

[Charlie3]

I also use a random location generator that I just posted in the files area. It breaks up the starting location monotiny.

[IRM]

I've started using Charlie3's location generator for all my random encounter type games. Very good idea there mate

I posted up a WIP solo campaign over at FFG, I'll submit the finished one here in a few weeks(my PC went belly-up, so I'll have to reconstruct all the revisions I was doing once I replace it. Grrr !). The campaign part is really just a random mission generator with up to 3 missions per week and aircraft used based on the month and year. Since I generally play solo, I track the progress of an entire squadron rather than individual pilots with ace abilities added for every 5 kills (faster in special circumstances). There's a system in place to track pilot injuries and crashes/forced landings based on Pour Le Merite's card system he uses for his campaign (over at FFG).

The solo gaming bits: First off, fighter sweeps/random encounter type missions (other types are based on the ones in the rulebooks) generate pairs of enemies for every pair of yours (random chances of fighters/2-seaters/escorted 2-seaters) with a random selection of plane quality and a chance for each to have an ace pilot with random ace skill(s).

Player aircraft always plot their moves before non-player. Keeps me honestI use dice to pick targets and manoeuvres for enemy aircraft if there's a choice to be made (usually just pick the most likely based on the situation) pretty much like mosstrooper does, but alter the rolls based on the plane's capabilities (e.g. Camels will favour right turns, Spads will favour overdives to shake off tails) or for priority targets (e.g. aircraft tailing friendlies, recon planes trying to escape after photographing a target etc.).

I also use a simple morale rule for enemy planes. Basically, if a plane goes to half damage the pilot has to check to see if he loses his nerve. If he succeeds then he doesn't need to check again if he takes hits. As it stands, it's a 6 on a D6 to run, +1 each for pilot wounds, engine damage, on fire and for being outnumbered, -1 per ace ability or superior numbers.

I've kept this pretty general since I'm planning on adding in proper tables for most of this stuff, such as random manoeuvres based on deck letter and additional aircraft stats for some unofficial planes I have models for plus fully written-up missions rather than "pick the closest in the book". Watch this space.

[Bigman]

I also just try to play as fairly as poss without special rules. I find I just lose track of any special rules if I try them I also find it takes 30 + mins to play and I also fin d that the side I think I will favour often loses

[Greywolf]

I'd like to try my hand at doing some solo missions but some of the stuff you talk about seems complicated and requires rolling dice.

I enjoy WoW due to the non-dice action. is there any basic solo missons that anyone would reccomend me to try and then see how it goes.

Cheers
GW

[IRM]

Not as complicated as you might think. Dice rolls are only used rarely outside of mission generation, and then only if there's no clear choice of manoeuvre or target. Usually it's pretty obvious what's most likely, and even then I only roll for an overall move and pick the cards based on the exact situation. Completely random movement doesn't really work and anything more complicated really slows the game down. That said, eventually I'm planning to move to a diceless system using cards for non-player aircraft that are fired on or and/or tailed.

The only official random missions I know of are 2 in the Burning Drachens rules, neither feature enemy aircraft however.

[mosstrooper]

Like the idea of morale for non-player aircraft , will have to give it a try .

[IRM]

I've posted up the solo campaign beta rules over at "files". It's pretty much complete, other than the full rules for non-player planes. Just need to get those out of my head and onto paper in some comprehensible (to other people)form

I'd welcome any comments or suggestions on them.

[Greywolf]

I've posted up the solo campaign beta rules over at "files". It's pretty much complete, other than the full rules for non-player planes. Just need to get those out of my head and onto paper in some comprehensible (to other people)form

I'd welcome any comments or suggestions on them.

Went looking for it couldn't find it....

what was the mission called.

Cheers
GW

[sniperscout]

I could not find the solo rules either.

[IRM]

They're in the House Rules section, under "Solo Campaign Rules". It looks like the file is waiting to be checked by the moderator before it's becomes available.

BTW, I swapped the version I posted for an updated one today, which includes the details for my proposed Evasive Manoeuvres cards. I'll leave it to more artistic types to actually make their own if they like the system.

[Oberst Hajj]

I've just approved the Solo rules.

[Greywolf]

I've posted up the solo campaign beta rules over at "files". It's pretty much complete, other than the full rules for non-player planes. Just need to get those out of my head and onto paper in some comprehensible (to other people)form

I'd welcome any comments or suggestions on them.

found it will have a look at it and see what its like.

Cheers
GW

[IRM]

Good, I'll be interested in any feedback.

Something I noticed (other than the odd typo) is that I didn't make clear that the Evasive Manoeuvre rules are only triggered by an aircraft which can trace a line through it's FRONT arc to the enemy's rear half. Something to correct in the next version, and I'll probably add simple card designs too.

[StormforceX]

I also like the advantaged/disadvantaged system. Tailed planes must pick their cards first, then planes both tailing and tailed, then neither tailed or tailing and finally, planes tailing. If two or more are in the same situation then the lowest plane chooses first. If they are at the same altitude then dice to see who gets first pick.
Other than this all normal rules apply.

[IRM]

I've got my PC up and running again, so I've removed the original file and submitted the revised PDF with card decks added.

[Oberst Hajj]

I've approved the new file, but I moved it to the Campaign section... since it is rules for a campaign after all.

[IRM]

Thanks, last revision I promise !

I stuck it in House Rules since I thought the campaign section was more for your Knights Of The Sky files, but stick mine there if you like

[Hamburger]

I just do strafing and bombing or interceptions, I enjoy those until the beloved Friday Nights!!!