Stuart Schoenberger would like to correspond with other members of the Solo Wargamers Association. His interests are: AWI, WWII & WWI (both Naval and Aviation), Vietnam, Renaissance, Punic Wars, 7 Years War and Napoleonics.
Michael Bishop I am writing to thank Paul Grace for the marvellous article on National Morale. I am looking at how to restructure my existing solo campaign to work it in. Up to now I have used a system of total occupation and/or very high casualties to gauge the end of the war. However Paul has taken insufficient note of any potential Dunkirk factor/Vietnam syndrome. In the case of the former the effects of a defeat can be nullified by a "We will fight them on the beaches" speech. In the case of the latter bombing Hanoi may be gaining a stated military objective, but the populous are not going to be impressed. The answer in both cases is to hand the job over to that bunch of scallywags known as politicians. If they are incompetent then no amount of success in the field is going to maintain the support of the people. Conversely as long as the leader of the government can maintain public opinion in favour of the war the armies can keep fighting. To gain a positive modifier for military victories or to avoid a negative modifier for military defeats make a successful roll using the current government leader political ability/rating. There should be no automatic success for very high ratings in this test on the principle that you can not fool all of the people all of the time! Thank you for your work in producing Lone Warrior.
Ian Duncan. Received 109 a few days ago. WOW! What a difference a flashy WP can make. Even the smallest typefaces were crystal clear. Lots of good articles and ideas too. I particularly enjoyed Jonathan Aird's article on Solo "Hordes of the Things". Although I haven't played HOTT, I am a great fan of the DBA rules. I usually find that most methods of random troop deployment are pretty unsatisfactory. My Macedonian phalanx will be on the flank behind a wood with the centre held by Cretan archers and Porus' elephants look like they are about to plunge headlong into a marsh. My usual method is to place the heavy infantry in a reasonably sensible (I think!) position near the centre of the deployment area. Dice are then thrown for supporting troops with appropriate modifiers so that, for instance, cavalry tend to be placed on the flanks. Although DBA elements don't have points values, as with HOTT, troops can still be divided by type so I'm sure Jonathan's method of troop distribution could still be used. I'll be trying it out soon. Thanks to Paul Grace for his article "National Morale". I'm thinking of starting a solo DBA campaign soon with five or six opponents. I had been looking for a method to enable the different countries/states to make decisions such as when to go to war and who to attack. My initial plan was to use something like the 'diplomacy matrix' suggested in an article by Mike Elliot many years ago. However, on reading Paul's article, I think maybe a simplified morale gauge (in keeping with DBA philosophy) could provide me with just the thing I need. I'll let you know how I get on.
David Dorey. Keep up the good work and rest assured I shall continue to support the Solo Wargamers Association in 1995.
Michael Nursey: I used to be a member back in 89/90. Many thanks for all your help. Great magazine. Keep up the good work. Could you include a mention of our local show NOW 95.
[Thanks for the article, welcome back and details have been included in UK Shows 95. If any other member wants a show etc advertising in Lone Warrior just let me know.]
Paul Spedding: I have recently purchased a PC and would like to use some computer driven rules to game with my figures on the tabletop. If any member can give me an idea of a set of rules, via Lone Warrior, I would be grateful. I game in Ancients and Renaissance.
[If you can help please let me know and I will pass it on to Paul.]
Douglas Shand, Winnipeg, Canada: It's been a year since I first subscribed to Lone Warrior. I haven't been disappointed. I enjoy your publication and like to see the detail that some gamers put into their simulations, it means they're really into it. That sort of enthusiasm can be at times a nebulous quality for solo gamers, or at least for myself, and its a great inspiration to see others enjoying their hobby as much as I enjoy mine. I recently moved. Arrgh! How did Napoleon get half a million men, a thousand guns and near a million horses to Moscow? I had a hell of a time getting 10 thousand down the street!
[He probably just said to his Marshals, "See you in Moscow!" and went off to tell Josephine her luck was out again. I sympathise with you and hope your guys have now settled into their new billets and are ready for a bit of action. Thanks for the articles.]
Jonathan Aird: Thanks for issue 109 of Lone Warrior, a good read as usual. Enjoyed the PBM section updates and the "country wide morale" article, seems to be a better system than one I used in a PBM a couple of years ago. I'm not sure that the contents of the SWA library needs to be published more than once a year, updates aside, since it does take up a fair bit of room. The presentation of the issue, I should say, was excellent the text especially being very easy on the eye. I suppose there is always a case for a smaller font size in order to squeeze more in, but the right compromise seems to have been struck.
[Thanks for the comments, in that without any fed back I am just working in a vacuum and the full Library will only be published once a year now it has settled down, which was the original plan.]
Graham Empson: Rummaging through all my junk mail and other peoples I discovered:- Strategic Plus Software,28D The Courtyard, High Street, Hampton Hill, Middlesex, TW12 1PD. Tel: 081-977-8088. This company offers 'Strategy, Role-Playing, Wargames, Adventure, stocking all the latest USA releases'. Looking at the sample list I have found a load of SSI computer board games such as Gettysburg, Battle of Antietam so I shall order the latter and see what you get for £ 15.00. I shall order a full catalogue at the same time and will report on service and contents later. Peter Turcan has just released Midway at £ 40.00 which has got a good slagging off in the software press since he has not updated his technology! It basically using the same gaming system as Armada and Dreadnoughts so the techies don't love him! But if your an old fashioned bod like me (and you have patience) then in about six months it will be reduced to £ 20.00 or so and I might just have one. If I keep this up I shall become a war on water merchant and that will never do will it. Still variety is the spice of life. Just as another aside 'Empire Interactive' have released Combat III which contains Campaign ( World War II ), Historyline ( World War I ) and a flight sim Gunship 2000 ( can't have everything ) but all for £ 27.00 which equates to £ 9.00 quid a throw. Now if Campaign is anywhere near as sophisticated as Campaign 2 then its a very good buy.
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