Greetings friends,
I’m newbie at AA. I have AA 1940 Pacific and AA 1940 Europe both at 2nd Edition.
I usually play wargames solo. Even for some games I have developed my own solo rules and variant to generate a partial AI. In fact, I have designed a solo variant for Napoleonic 20 system (available only in Spanish language), and a solo expansion pack called Alone in the Storm for War Storm Series (a medium-hard tactical wargame) both published under Draco Ideas trademark.
I always dreamed with a strategic wargame playable in solitaire. It is very dificult but as far as I have read until now, I think as the AA system rules complexity are not so high, it could be possible to find a way to play solo with a partial AI.
I have a few ideas I would like to share with expert gamers in order to develope this solo system in such way it could be compatible with all games series.
Are there experienced gamers interested in cooperate to develop an Axis & Allies Solo variant?
I would like to share with you my first ideas in order to see it could be fine.
Thanks!!
Post away.
@jmkinki
Howdy jmkinki! I hope you find AxisandAllies.org to be a useful and friendly place. And I am looking forward to reading your solitaire rules for A&A.
-Midnight_Reaper
Thank you for your kind words.
I hope you like it. Anyway I would like to develope the complete scheme for the AI, before to show it. And I will need help from veteran players to determine which can be the betters strategies for each nation.
Thanks!
I’d be very interested in a solitaire rule set. Can’t wait to read up on them.
@jmkinki You can also play TripleA versus the AI opponent for a solo experience. Obviously different then a true solitaire type version but might have more variation and fun.
I’d be interested in this also–seeing as how I play a lot of solo games myself.
Greetings friends,
Thank you for your interest! I hope it worth it.
I’m still at an early stage. I’m trying to define general rules for Combat movement. I’m sure I will need your support to define the specific objectives for each nation.
I’ll have a look to TripleA too.
Thank you!
I’ll keep you informed about this.
Hi friends!
I’m advacing at a good rythm. However I need some help for experienced gamers.
I need you suggest to me for each nation in the game (preferred for Europe 1940 or Pacific 1940 that are the games I could test before share rules) a list of objectives separated inthis way:
My rules depends on the assignation of Objective territories. Obviously I’m not interested in know all territories that an AI nation should conquer to win. The list of objectives should contain only the key territories due to its situation, or its production.
For example for US or URSS at 1940 Europe, in the fourth set of 4 territories should be: Rome and Berlin together other special interest territory.
In a summarize way, I need a list of 16 territories (4 groups of 4) with special importance per nation, to be conquered by that nation to win the game.
Could anybody help me with this?
Thanks!!
Hi JM,
I have a few books on wargame design, which is a topic that’s interested me over the years (though I’ve never had the time to actually design a full game, and which I’ll probably never have the time to do until I’m retired), and solo wargaming is one aspect of this topic which has always intrigued me because it poses such a difficult technical challenge. Game designers have come up with different ways to tackle that challenge, with varying degrees of success; I’ve never come across any solo-game system that I’ve found completely satisfactory, though I’ve sometimes come across some clever mechanisms that can be used in such games. I noticed your thread on your A&A solo-gaming project and I look forward to reading more about it.
I don’t have the A&A gaming expertise you’ve requested (I’m more of an A&A sculpt collector than anything else), so unfortunately I can’t provide the help you’re looking for, but there’s something I’m wondering about. It sounds as if you have an existing AI-based solo gaming system that you’ve already used with other games, and now you’re developing an A&A variant which uses this existing system. If, however, I understand correctly (which perhaps I’m not) your most recent post about the 4-territory objectives, it sounds as if you’re adapting A&A to fit your AI-based solo system, rather than adapting your AI-based solo system to fit A&A. That’s a perfectly valid approach, but one potential consequence is that the result might be a game that is conceptually and functionally quite different from A&A. To use a chess analogy: converting a full-sized table-top chess game to a portable pocket version (by, for instance, using a little magnetized board in a folding case, and round checkers-type magnetized tokens with chess piece pictures printed on them) doesn’t alter the nature of the game in any way, but converting it into a three-dimensional chess set produces a radically different game with very different strategies. But I may simply be misunderstanding the concept behind your project, which is one reason I look forward to learning more about it.
I always liked playing solo too. Just more relaxing and quiet time and able to think more clearly whether testing some stuff or not. Only thing I can think of is maybe have a piece buy chart for each country, So you’d have to research a bunch of games on triple A and such and make a piece buy chart list from 1-12 and what u roll is what u can only buy. If not enough money than can only get what you think u need. Then a chart list for moves each turn ? I just don’t see it happening.
Maybe u could play it like d day. Where u have your buy list or reinforcement charts and use the cards in away we’re you can do stuff and cannot.
Roll dice and let that dictate some stuff and add tech, NAs and another type of event cards. I just see so much play testing to see if u can get close to a good game.
I’m all ears on it though.
@SS-GEN Let’s start with Germany. Obviously France and Normandy are important. Berlin, Warsaw, leningrad London. Stalingrad Paris, Moscow and Cairo are all very crucial for winning the game. Also some extra money from the Russian territories, such as the vc ones plus Caucasus. The middle east provides loads of extra cash for Germany. Norway and Denmark are very important as they control access to the Baltic sea.
@DessertFox599 said in Axis & Allies: Solitaire variant:
@SS-GEN Let’s start with Germany. Obviously France and Normandy are important. Berlin, Warsaw, leningrad London. Stalingrad Paris, Moscow and Cairo are all very crucial for winning the game. Also some extra money from the Russian territories, such as the vc ones plus Caucasus. The middle east provides loads of extra cash for Germany. Norway and Denmark are very important as they control access to the Baltic sea.
Never said this wasn’t important. So are you trying to say something else ?
These are all territories the ai should prioritize. In what order? Well the vc should be most important. Probably nos next such Caucasus, Iraq, etc. And finally probably Norway, Denmark, and normandy.
OK. I reread the posts. I was going by setting up the whole game and go from there with same victory conditions.
Might be best for now is to do it with 41 or 42 game. My thought for a solitare game is different.
I think most of what I said could apply to 41 or 42 cause the southern territories I believe in those games are worth quite a few dollars. Leningrad is important cause it has a ic there and also forces Russia to divide his army in two otherwise he will get flanked. France still needs to be held cause that’s worth a lot also and gives the allies a base of operations on the European continent. Norway and Denmark hasn’t changed cause the still control access to the Baltic sea and gives the allies access to supplying the Russia via Norway Finland with planes and ground troops. The only thing that has changed is Egypt is way less important as that’s not a vc and doesn’t grant Germany extra income.
@CWO-Marc said in Axis & Allies: Solitaire variant:
Hi JM,
I have a few books on wargame design, which is a topic that’s interested me over the years (though I’ve never had the time to actually design a full game, and which I’ll probably never have the time to do until I’m retired), and solo wargaming is one aspect of this topic which has always intrigued me because it poses such a difficult technical challenge. Game designers have come up with different ways to tackle that challenge, with varying degrees of success; I’ve never come across any solo-game system that I’ve found completely satisfactory, though I’ve sometimes come across some clever mechanisms that can be used in such games. I noticed your thread on your A&A solo-gaming project and I look forward to reading more about it.
I don’t have the A&A gaming expertise you’ve requested (I’m more of an A&A sculpt collector than anything else), so unfortunately I can’t provide the help you’re looking for, but there’s something I’m wondering about. It sounds as if you have an existing AI-based solo gaming system that you’ve already used with other games, and now you’re developing an A&A variant which uses this existing system. If, however, I understand correctly (which perhaps I’m not) your most recent post about the 4-territory objectives, it sounds as if you’re adapting A&A to fit your AI-based solo system, rather than adapting your AI-based solo system to fit A&A. That’s a perfectly valid approach, but one potential consequence is that the result might be a game that is conceptually and functionally quite different from A&A. To use a chess analogy: converting a full-sized table-top chess game to a portable pocket version (by, for instance, using a little magnetized board in a folding case, and round checkers-type magnetized tokens with chess piece pictures printed on them) doesn’t alter the nature of the game in any way, but converting it into a three-dimensional chess set produces a radically different game with very different strategies. But I may simply be misunderstanding the concept behind your project, which is one reason I look forward to learning more about it.
Greetings Mark,
Thank you for your answer. I’m pleased for your interest to have a look to the solo rules I’m preparing. However there is a lot of work to do before to have something that works fine. In fact I would prefer to wait for have a tested version before upload it. Anyway if some of you are interested in see a draft and unfinished version in order to see more or less how I’m designing the rules, I haven’t inconveniences.
I’m a solitaire wargamer so I have some experience in play solo games. Furthermore I have designed solo rules for some games for my personal use in Spanish language for example: Twilight Struggle, Memoir’44, Battle Cry, Commands & Colors Ancients. Even I have designed solo expansion packs published by the Spanish publisher Draco Ideas:
For A&A I’m not trying to adapt rules for other games, I’m trying to do a new set of solo rules specifically. Obviously, I have some ideas about how a solo game should works that I’m trying to apply as the same as for other designs. For example I consider that for an AI is required to define an ofensive and defensive attitude, and according to that attitude the AI side should act or react.
So for A&A I’m trying to associate an attitude for each AI nation depending to its current income. According to that attitude the AI nation shall order new units, define its objectives and move/attack.
@SS-GEN said in Axis & Allies: Solitaire variant:
I always liked playing solo too. Just more relaxing and quiet time and able to think more clearly whether testing some stuff or not. Only thing I can think of is maybe have a piece buy chart for each country, So you’d have to research a bunch of games on triple A and such and make a piece buy chart list from 1-12 and what u roll is what u can only buy. If not enough money than can only get what you think u need. Then a chart list for moves each turn ? I just don’t see it happening.
Maybe u could play it like d day. Where u have your buy list or reinforcement charts and use the cards in away we’re you can do stuff and cannot.
Roll dice and let that dictate some stuff and add tech, NAs and another type of event cards. I just see so much play testing to see if u can get close to a good game.
I’m all ears on it though.
Greetings SS-GEN,
As you said, I have in mind 2-3 tables to define which units shall buy each nation depending on its objectives and its income. This part is almost completed although I have to test it!!
Basically at each turn an AI nation, shall have 2 active objectives. And the AI shall buy units, move, and attack in order to reach these objectives. These objectives may be special interesting territories if the AI nation is expanding their frontiers, or even their own starting controlled territories that has been conquered by enemy units. There are rules to change objectives, and for replacement them.
So, in this case the AI shall conduct their movements in order to attack an objective, or defend a given territory. I haven’t defined the special rules for AI nation combat movement or non-combat movement, but it shall be focussed in these concepts.
In any case, I’m a fan of the use of dice rolls in order to make in a certain way the AI nation management unpredictable.
@DessertFox599 said in Axis & Allies: Solitaire variant:
@SS-GEN Let’s start with Germany. Obviously France and Normandy are important. Berlin, Warsaw, leningrad London. Stalingrad Paris, Moscow and Cairo are all very crucial for winning the game. Also some extra money from the Russian territories, such as the vc ones plus Caucasus. The middle east provides loads of extra cash for Germany. Norway and Denmark are very important as they control access to the Baltic sea.
Thank you for your help!
The main idea is to have 4 level of objectives. At first AI shall try the attack 2 of the 4 objectives of level 1. As soon as AI is capturing objectives, it shall pass to level 2, objectives.
According to your suggestion I have included these ones for Germany:
How do I want to this work?
You start with 2 objectives of level 1 active (for example Paris and Yugoslavia). Once you conquer one of them, for example Paris, you randomly choose one new level 1 objective (Leningrad or Wester Ukraine) or the level 2 objective associated to the conquered ones (Normandy/Burdeaux).
In such way the main idea is each AI nation may have 4 lines of expansion to different zones of the mapboard.
What do you think about this? Do you like it?
More suggestions for other countries?
Thanks!!
Oh that should work although I don’t think the ai should try some stupid like try and invade America. Even inexperienced players will be able to defend that attack and it would waste a ton of resources unless America for one reason or another is out of position and can’t build like 20+ guys and planes.you know what I mean?
