Playing Solo

back in the days with Game table Online you could play against AI, aka the artificial intelligence. Now, I have been bussy with mountain climbing the last years so have not catched up the development in that area, but as I remember, the AI was real stupid when it come to strategies, so we had to give him some benefits, like the AI started with more units, and I would also claim that the computer outright cheated on the dice rolling.

So, where am I going with this, man ? Well, making a solitaire game out of A&A Global is a real challenge, and yes we are talking spacewalks here man, its at that level, but I firmly believe it can be done. As Marc mentioned, the classic solitaire games you find at BGG usually are very simple, where you play one part, and the other part are card or dice driven. So basically, you must choose to play either the Allies or the Axis, and the other side must be played either by an AI if you can hook up your pc, or by cards and dice.

To sum it up, some years ago I was totally hooked on the game Diplomacy from PB, man, and I bet you are pretty confused now, right ? But, in Diplomacy you had to wright down an essay on a paper what units you would move, and where to move them. So why not use that mechanic in a solitaire game ? The dice we use got 6 different outcomes, so you just wright down 6 different strategies that the other side could use, then let the dice decide which of them to use. Now, since the beginning moves are pretty common, you can make cards with 6 different openings for the nations you dont control, and use this cards next time you play alone again.

So, to give an example. You play the Axis, and the Allies are controlled by mr. Dice. Of course you can name him what you want, mr Nobody, or mr Invisible etc. I used to call him Willy, so that name is taken, OK ?

Turn 1.
Germany start, and since you control Germany, this is pretty straight forward. You buy what you want and move where you want, and if it comes to combat, I strongly recommend you to use a cup or dicetower when mr. Dice is supposed to be rolling. If you dont posses that, use your left hand.

Now Russia goes, and since you are not supposed to control Russia, you need to wright down on a paper 6 different purchases, with 6 different strategies, and then roll a dice to see which is chosen, and then your arm must be helpful and give Russia a hand. I cant stress this enough, but if you are righthanded, you should use your left hand when moving the Russian units. For the Russian purchases, I suggest nr 1 is all infantry, nr 2 is one artillery, the rest inf, nr 3 can be a Tank, an Art and the rest inf, then nr 4 is a Fighter, the rest inf, and by now I figure you got the picture. For the strategies, I recommend the all inf buy goes together with a defensive strategy, while the more offensive units buy, the more aggressive strategy. You get the picture.

Next is Japan, and you control it so its straight forward.

Then its USA, and again you need pen and paper. Make the first 3 choices be KGF with rational purchases, and the next 3 should be KJF with heavy naval buys.

Then you go on, you control the Axis, and mr Dice control the Allies, now what do you think about that, can it work ?

edit, oh I forgot, since mr Dice is at a great disadvantage, he need some extra NO income, and I would even let him reroll the dice some times. But you figure this out, man

more edits, if you dont love to wright an essay every turn, just use the terms from Diplomacy.
A is Army, F is Fleet. Bel is Belorussia and Len is Leningrad
If you want all your units in Belorussia to go to Leningrad, you wrote A Bel > Len
If you just want two Inf to go, you wrote 2 Inf Bel > Len
If you want the Tank to continue to Archangelsk, you wrote 1 Tank Bel > Len > Arc

I guess you figure it out, man

Maybe - if you’re patient - a turn-by-day (power by day) game can make it less biased.

I used to play chess alone (by years), and the best way was play a move soon as I awake - after a full day and a good sleep it’s easier dont focus (remember) on your ‘other side’ strategy.
With A&A can work great.

(and it’s a nice mind exercise)

It’s also a great cure for sleep when you get hold of a problem and can’t let it go and you’re up til 4AM furiously scribbling notes about contingencies and running battle calculations…

Marsh

I have played many times this way for years. Regardless of who’s turn it is I assume the role for that nation and and do my best to succeed as that player. I don’t see knowing what my opponent is going to do as any sort of problem at all because I play the game the same way when there are other players there. Before making a move I consider every possible move that my opponent can make and I make my move accordingly. Whether it’s an offensive move or defensive I consider all options and I’m rarely ever surprised with my opponents move. I think the reason I’ve gotten so adept at that is because of all the games that I’ve played solo and I’ve spent so much time at the table planning the moves for the other nations both friend and foe. The key to playing this way is to have a place to play where you won’t be in anybody else’s way. That way you can play one move or one turn or hours at a time without having to clean up the game so it doesn’t get disturbed. You just pick it up where you left off the last time you played.

The good news is I have won every game I’ve ever played this way. The bad news is that I have lost them all.

I have nothing but time on my hands right now because I’m recovering from major surgery so I’ve spent the last couple of weeks setting up a game room with a table large enough to fit a G40 board. I purchased AA1914 a few weeks ago to relieve my boredom so I went online to try and find out more about the strategy for the game and that’s how I found you crazy addicts hell bent on global domination. You’ve all inspired me to upgrade my games with pimped out maps and playing aids and that has given me something to do for the next few months until I can get back to work. I have my game set up now and I play a turn or 2 per day in between reading the forums and searching for more industrial complexes online. I’m also thinking of getting some zeppelins for my 1914 game to see if I can even the odds a bit on that one.

Maybe I have too much time on my hands right now if I can spend hours thinking about tiny zeppelins. :roll:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AXIS-ALLIES-Replacement-Parts-Chips-Dice-Industrial-Complex-Anti-Aircraft-Guns-/272373950835?hash=item3f6ac0a973:g:DSoAAOSwi0RX1u~E

Simple fix for playing solo is just wait a couple days between turns. That way you won’t remember what the hell your other self was thinking, oh wait that might just be me because I’m over 50  :?

I’ve done it a few times (I thought I was the only one who’s that pathetic, it’s nice to see I’m not alone  :-)).

I honestly don’t think I gained anything from doing it. No matter how hard you to try to distance yourself from yourself you always know what you’re planning.  Only a flesh-and-blood opponent can truly test your strategies.

Bite the bullet, get on Triple A, and play online. That’s my advice.

@StuckTojo:

I’ve done it a few times (I thought I was the only one who’s that pathetic, it’s nice to see I’m not alone  :-)).

I honestly don’t think I gained anything from doing it. No matter how hard you to try to distance yourself from yourself you always know what you’re planning.  Only a flesh-and-blood opponent can truly test your strategies.

Bite the bullet, get on Triple A, and play online. That’s my advice.

Agree here. Never the same against opponents. But worth it doing a couple of turns to see how certain buys and moves will work for start of game. Also helpful if game is new to you and you need to get to know set up, countries. and rules.

The AI is so bad on TripleA that it is only usable for first time players who are learning about the game.  I would love if the new AI methodologies for AlphaGo was applied to master Axis and Allies.  I wonder how much time it would take to become great at this game.  That would be a good use of Google’s coding time.

A bit off topic, but is there a way to make the simultaneous army movement of Diplomacy feasible and balanced for Axis & Allies?  I liked the system of blindly planning where your armies and fleets would head.

@Arthur:

The AI is so bad on TripleA that it is only usable for first time players who are learning about the game.

I think the AI is mediocre for 1942 but it is awful for the political aspects in G40.

Let me start by stating that I have the utmost respect for the programmer who created the AI. Doing something like that in a game like A&A looks like  a pioneering effort to me.

Having said that, it can’t be denied that the AI has serious flaws in its game. It does a somewhat decent job on land, but it’s no good at all at sea. In an utterly silly effort, I once played the Allies against it in G40, giving it a bid of 3,000 (and buying some useful stuff for it too, because it’s no good at spending a bid itself). It took forever and was basically a big waste of time, but I won that game.

I second that. Programming an AI, especially for sea, is far more challenging than for land. There are far more dynamics to consider, and the mobility and number of combinations of units would be considerably higher.

Marsh

I’ve played Italy and let the AI take over all other nations. The Axis won despite Japan getting crushed.  :-D.

@Herr:

Let me start by stating that I have the utmost respect for the programmer who created the AI. Doing something like that in a game like A&A looks like  a pioneering effort to me.

Having said that, it can’t be denied that the AI has serious flaws in its game. It does a somewhat decent job on land, but it’s no good at all at sea. In an utterly silly effort, I once played the Allies against it in G40, giving it a bid of 3,000 (and buying some useful stuff for it too, because it’s no good at spending a bid itself). It took forever and was basically a big waste of time, but I won that game.

Sounds reasonable. 1942 doesn’t have the same sea emphasis as G40, at least when I’m playing.

I have played Axis & Allies Global 1940 and other deviations of the G40 setup several times.  I find playing solo quite fun!  The first couple times I played solo I found myself allowing one side to defeat the other.  What I do now is play the side of my preference just a little bit better than the other and I have found that it works quite well.

I did this, do this, and will always do it occasionally.    Now seriously I am really well-known for this.  As a five-year -old it was said that I spent 2 hours playing checkers solo…several days in a row: in my early years this was almost an obsession.  I hatted playing with others because they didn’t play what I wanted.  So I literally played almost every game possible I wanted to solo.  The craziest thing I ever did was a litteral 4 player reversi (yes I made a reversi game for four players) tournament.  I was a little nuts back then, but it gave me a gift of being extremely unbiased.  Anyway when I first got 1941 back in 2012, I played solo for about a year (with occasional games with others).  It really helped me get a hang of the rules and form strategies.  So how do I do things like gin rummy for four players by myself being unbiased?  Very simple:
Look at the game and say to yourself, “what are ky options and ky opponents options?”  Even if I know that I am hitting Spain next round, with Germany I think, “Would my opponents optimal and most likely move depending upon the situation of the board be Spain? If so I need to counter it.”  Yeah so kinda weird but great fun.  I do this whenever I have no one else, want to try soemthing out, and sometimes just for a playtest.

Are you truly unbiased?  If not forget it.  I know it is very difficult for people to think this way but it is actually a simple process: analyze the situation and decide what is most likely.

I have never completed a solo game but i do set it up now and then to test out opening moves outside the “normal” ones for a couple turns, trying to react to the oddball moves as effectively as possible to see how they play out over a few rounds

When I do this (generally to game test balance) I really don’t have a long range plan, as the other nations would immediately know it and spoil it. I just go from nation to nation and say “What can I do with this nation right now in this situation?” “What is the opposition giving me that I can exploit?” and do that.

@guymyer

I see this is an older topic, but I found it interesting and timely (see Covid-19). Yes, I often play solo. Quick background, I have been playing A&A for over 30 years, so I am very experienced. As you get older it is often more difficult to get the band together for a game - and I am too old to get into online gaming.

After tiring of trying to get games together I started playing solo out of desparation I suppose. With that said, I quite enjoy it now - after getting over the initial weird feeling of playing an interactive board game by yourself. But as others have noted, from an analytical perspective it is not actually that difficult. Is it perfect no, but neither are your friends who come over and drink your beer, complain about bad rolls, and blame historical inacuracies for their loses…but I digress.

One must simply act in the best interest of the nation they are playing. For example, let’s say the Allies could threaten Germany’s capitol this turn, but you plan to attack on the next turn, Germany must protect the capitol as necessary to negate the threat - stay honest. I personally find the rolls, or more to the point the bizzare rolls, are the key to fun solo games. There always seems to be a handful of Yatzee rolls of ones that throw a huge monkey wrench into the best laid plans - just like real life.

It would be cool to have a specifically designed solo A&A game, but again as others have noted, building in the AI to handle all the variables associated with these games is extrememly difficult.

Anyway, hopefully there will be new games/puzzles to solve in the future: 1914 second edition, North Africa, Kursk…

@san-diego-gamer yea more fun against people but I been playing solo so long,it seems normal to me lol

I always brought my own beer :)