Like most solo wargamers I have accumulated various mechanisms which enable me to play both sides without invoking an attack of schizophrenia. I wargame mostly in the American Civil War period playing solo, from choice. I follow the "I'll do it my way" philosophy which permits me to build armies, formulate strategies, and operate tactics as dictated by my conceptions, right or wrong, based on my research.
The objective has always been to introduce unpredictability or "fog of war," whilst keeping the mechanisms as simple as possible. The mechanisms described here offer unpredictability and should slot into your existing control systems without too much difficulty. I make no claims to the original ideas behind the mechanisms but offer a sincere thank you to the "ideas men". These are basic outlines, not comprehensive rules, the degree of sophistication is, as always, dependent on the individual.
Troop Categories and Ratings
When compiling your army lists, it is all too easy to give the favored side the advantage (cries of "I never would"). To offset this I have built a set of tables which detail the category and rating of units. In simple terms each unit is given a category and rating based on the roll of two dice. The examples below show tables for infantry and cavalry.
| INFANTRY / CAVALRY TABLE (use 2D6) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Roll | Category | Rating |
| 12 | regular | veteran |
| 2,5,9 | regular | experienced |
| 3,7 | regular | green |
| 11 | militia | veteran |
| 4,8 | militia | experienced |
| 6,10 | militia | green |
Obviously if the rules you use have more categories and/or ratings you will need to modify the tables.
My own tables are set up to operate by year of the war, army and theater of operations, showing the average unit strength. Building these tables, with the degree of sophistication you want, is really down to the amount of effort you are prepared to expend to satisfy your requirements.
Force Allocation
When the terrain has been laid out, you know what type of battle is to be fought, the next step is to build the opposing armies. Now in an ideal world you could list two armies with perfectly balanced forces and fight your ideal battle. Since, as history has hopefully taught us, the world is far from ideal, I use the following mechanism to introduce some unpredictability to both sides.
Take each army list in turn and write each unit identity on to a blank card. (I use old card index blanks cut in half) to build up two decks. Now count each deck, add say 25% of blanks to each deck, and give each in turn a good shuffle. Now deal out each deck, face down, back to the original strength (this is where I refer back to the lists again because I have forgotten the numbers). You now have two armies whose composition is uncertain. You can choose which army to fight with, or, if you had decided beforehand, pick up the appropriate deck.
As an example here are two simple force lists.
Union Division
-
1st Brigade: 4 veteran regiments
2nd Brigade: 5 experienced regiments
3rd Brigade: 4 experienced regiments
Artillery: 3 Field batteries
Cavalry: 1 veteran squadron and 1 green squadron
Total: 20 units
Confederate Division
-
1st Brigade: 3 veteran regiments and 2 green regts.
2nd Brigade: 2 experienced regts. and 1 green regt.
3rd Brigade: 3 veteran regts. and 1 experienced regt.
4th Brigade: 3 experienced regts.
Artillery: 3 field batteries
Cavalry: 2 experienced regts.
Total: 20 units
Union Division
-
1st Brigade: 3 veteran regiments
2nd Brigade: 5 experienced regiments
3rd Brigade: 4 experienced regiments
Artillery: 1 Field battery
Total: 13 units
Confederate Division
-
1st Brigade: 2 veteran regiments and 2 green regts.
2nd Brigade: 2 experienced regts. and 1 green regt.
3rd Brigade: 3 veteran regts. and 1 experienced regt.
4th Brigade: 2 experienced regts.
Artillery: 3 field batteries
Cavalry: 1 experienced regts.
Total: 17 units
As you can see the Union force is slightly deficient in artillery and cavalry to say the least! Don't forget it can be made worse (or better) by increasing (or decreasing) the blanks. It all depends on how far your nerves will stretch. When you get to 50% and all the blanks are dealt back out it can get pretty nerve racking.
Orders and Deployment
Now that you have your army what are your orders and what is your deployment to be? A favored mechanism of mine involves another deck of cards (still index cards but not cut in half) upon which are written orders and deployment percentages. Which set of deployment figures are used is decided by a die roll. Shuffle the cards and deal yourself the top one. Now you know your overall orders. Roll a 1D6 and your deployment is decided. You can now place your units.
I assign characteristics to all unit commanders (even me sometimes) using "Simple Solo Mechanisms" from our very own SWA Beginners Pack.
When you have sorted yourself out you can repeat the process for the enemy. Below are a few samples from my own deck which cover attack and defend orders. The range and complexity of the orders and the deployment is as always à ÃsolelyÄ Ä up to you..
SAMPLE ORDER AND DEPLOYMENT
1. Form defensive line. Await enemy assault.
Use artillery for counter battery and support.
Cavalry guard both flanks.
Counterattack upon opportunity.
| Roll | Left% | Center% | Right% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | 40 | 30 |
| 2 | 40 | 30 | 30 |
| 3 | 30 | 30 | 40 |
| 4 | 35 | 30 | 35 |
| 5 | 35 | 35 | 30 |
| 6 | 30 | 35 | 35 |
2. Form defensive line. Entrench where possible.
Hold position at all hazard.
Cavalry as mobile reserve.
| Roll | Left% | Center% | Right% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,2 | 35 | 30 | 35 |
| 3,4 | 35 | 35 | 30 |
| 5,6 | 30 | 35 | 35 |
3. Form attack line.
General advance to follow bombardment.
Cavalry guard both flanks.
| Roll | Left% | Center% | Right% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | 40 | 30 |
| 2 | 40 | 30 | 30 |
| 3 | 30 | 30 | 40 |
| 4 | 35 | 30 | 35 |
| 5 | 30 | 35 | 35 |
| 6 | 35 | 35 | 30 |
4. Form attack line.
Left and center advance with artillery support.
Right to advance and protect flank.
Cavalry exploits breakthrough.
| Roll | Left% | Center% | Right% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,2 | 40 | 40 | 20 |
| 3,4 | 35 | 35 | 30 |
| 5,6 | 30 | 30 | 40 |
5. Form attack line.
Left will attack after artillery bombardment.
Cavalry advance to protect flank.
Right and center will advance in support.
Artillery to support.
| Roll | Left% | Center% | Right% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,2 | 40 | 40 | 20 |
| 3,4 | 35 | 35 | 30 |
| 5,6 | 30 | 30 | 40 |
6. Form attack line.
Left & right advance with artillery support.
Center to hold.
Cavalry retained as support.
| Roll | Left% | Center% | Right% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.2 | 40 | 20 | 40 |
| 3,4 | 35 | 30 | 35 |
| 5,6 | 45 | 10 | 45 |
7. Form defensive line. Artillery as defensive
support. Right and center counterattack.
Cavalry guard both flanks. Counterattack upon opportunity.
| Roll | Left% | Center% | Right% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 45 | 30 |
| 2 | 30 | 35 | 35 |
| 3 | 30 | 30 | 40 |
| 4 | 30 | 40 | 30 |
| 5 | 40 | 30 | 30 |
| 6 | 25 | 30 | 45 |
You can of course use only the orders and achieve deployment by another mechanism or vice versa. I have just discovered in a back issue (Lone Warrior 58) an article by John Crawford, "Scribble, scribble, scribble." This describes the use of playing cards to operate orders and deployment. If you do not have a copy, Kenn may still have a few in stock, or maybe Operation Archive could retype.
Hopefully these jottings may stimulate some thoughts, or even better, some articles. I am sure there is a wealth of talent out there with far better mechanisms, so how about sharing them with the rest of us.
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