New Column? Ray Letkiewicz, Memphis. If I could make a suggestion at this 'take off' stage: since it seems that you will be handling the editing of the US version, it might be interesting to add a "wants/disposal" column where current solo gamers could exchange gaming 'stuff'. Another idea would be a column which would cater specifically to "doing it my way" where people could submit SHORT solo techniques or ideas. Just some ideas here since I know that as the magazine 'matures' there will be changes, and that is good. ANYWAYS...looking forward to receiving LW for the coming year. Okay my North American soloists; what are your thoughts on Ray's two ideas? Rich Congratulations Jim Zyllca, Milwaukee. Congratulations on another fine issue of Lone Warrior. Being rather new to solo gaming I find the journal both interesting and invaluable in regards to settinp up your own solo battles and campaigns. Most ot my systems are borrowed from other gamers but when I do develop my own I would be glad to share them with others for their critique! I look forward to future issues. Thanks for the encouragement, Rich Obstacle Crossing Michael Gray. I received LW 111, last week and found your piece on the "Siege of Osaka' most interesting. I was wondering what game mechanics you use for getting over fortified held posiffons, I only mention this as I have been doing some work on this very subject in the last week or so. Wargamers appear to give scant regard to troops crossing obstacles. In most rules troops divide their moving speed in half, regardless of how high it might be or its breadth. Fortifications are constructed to keep an enemy out, and to break up their formations. To have a line of troops crossing in a nice straight line at half their normal speed, without so much as a single figure unable to climb the fortification is hardly realistic. A formation of troops attacking a defended position is almost certain to receive casualties not only from fire, but from trying to get over the defences. You can class a fortification as anything that will hold up an advance, from a purpose built earthworks to a line of bushes. It will depend on the type of obstacle, its degree of difficulty. For example, a six might be required to scale a high embankment, when a narrow ditch, a score of two or more, would be enough. The way I have developed this so far is if any obstacle is being defended by a force of troops then a normal dice is thrown for each figure making the attack, once they come into contact with the obstacle. You can have chances of being able to cross a quite high percentage. I found it quite surprising that even with a score of one on the dice to mean failure will prevent quite a few figures being unable to cross in the first move. Once the first line of figures have crossed and have engaged the enemy (hopefully holding their bridgehead), the rest of the figures previously prevented from crossing, may throw again so they can join in the melee. If a second throw is necessary, there is still a good chance of not all the figures moving into contact. There are two more factors to be taken into consideration. Light troops are generally more agile than line infantry and should have an additional point added to their dice score. Also when any troops are charging they will gain some impetus from the speed of their assault, and this will give then an extra bit ot spring when traversing even the most difficult objective. To sum up, if the two above factors are to be included even the most simple obstacle will require a score of four or more to be crossed. As you know, I wargame in the FIW and much of it takes place in heavily wooded country. When a unit of rangers encounter an Indian war-party With a line of bushes, its more then lightly to take two to three moves, with the formation being broken up in the first assault. This is more fun and closer to reality, After all, have you ever tried walking through a hedge, it can be dfflicult. I hope all goes well with the Lone Warrior . I liked Kevin White's naval rules and thought there were some good reviews this month. Getting over fortified held positions would deserve an article onto itself but I used the Siege rulea by Tabletop Games and considerably more attackers than defenders! Attacking any sort of fortification to me is more of a skirmish game than a unit vs unit one, as you will have read in the Sisge of Osaka. Recently read an account of the First Siege of Bristol in the ECW where an attempt to use wagons to fill the ditches failed because the ditches were too deep and wide, plus the commanding officer fell in the ditch was rendered unconscious and had to be carried from the field. End of assault! Anyone got any rules for that type of occurrence?! Born Again Solo Wargamer John Bennett - My word! You certainly know how to touch the spot and get an old chap's wargaming juices flowing! I have to confess that over the past few years I haven't had much time or inclination for wargaming, but then LW 111 thundered through my letterbox and soon afterwards I found myself scrabbling about in the loft in search of my aged Minifigs. Now I'm hoping to qualify in the Guinness Book of Records as the first-ever born- again solo wargamer. This latest issue is stylish and superb: far better than anything I could have dreamed of way back in the days when I used to bang out the copy on an old typewriter and send it off to George Heath, who would then trundle it out on an even older duplicator. I was pleased to note that many of the names I recall from those early years are still on the 'payroll': for example, Chris Constable, David Barnes, Godfrey Bailey, Steve Foster - and of course your own good self. One of my castles-in-the-air back then was to get a US section going, so it was areas, too, to find the North American edition now underway - especially as Marvin Scott is the representative. (I always enjoyed Marvin's good-humoured letters and articles - I knew that boy would go farl) I still occasionally get queries about 'Gussie' and every now and then I take a peek to see if it's still there. It is; frozen in time like something out of Hans Andersen! I could restart it at a moment's notice but as yet the moment hasn't come. I always intended to transpose the whole works into a computer but I was overtaken by events. I realised Gussie was completely outclassed some time ago when I spotted a programme called, I think, 'Civilisation', which appeared to cover everything, and more, than Gussie ever did. Even it's manuals and how-to-do-it tomes are considerably bulkier and more self- important than my own long-running series of articles in the early Lone Warrior. Actually, ComputerGussie was held up for a very silly reason: not being a computer buff I couldn't find a way of getting random numbers on the simple software I use. However that's neither here nor there; I don't want to bore you with my problems! I send my warmest congratulations to you and everyone concerned with the continued success of the Association, and hope in the not-too-distant future to contribute something to Lone Warrior. (PS: While I was in my loft I came across two large boxes containing the masters of LW No's 2- 58. If these are of any use to you you're welcome to have them perhaps someone could pick them up as postage would be prohibitive?) [John, really good to hear from you and thanks for your kind comments. It is the technology that we use today that gives us the edge over the earlier editions of Lone Warrior but the contents are to my mind what gives the Solo Wargamers Association such a unique place in the wargaming world. From you bashing those keys (it wasn't an Imperial on loan from the War Museum by any chance was it?) and George whirling away on the handle of his Gestener duplictor, the Association is where it is today, for which we all owe the pair of you a big thanks. Again Civilisation is brought to my attention, first by Ron Harsum of STC, then Graham Empson and now yourself so I took the plunge and you are lucky to be getting this edition! The game is extremely addictive and I have been working on an aide memoir in order to get into spacer Richard Barbuto is doing a sterling job with the North American edition and the membership over there has nearly trebled since he started. I feel I should list in this edition the countries that Lone Warrior goes to, just to give you an idea of what you Born Again Soloists are responsible for! If Gussie ever makes it onto disk and what a job that will be, there must be quite a few members who have not been introduced, so perhaps we could think along those lines. Don' be a "Back Boilrr" member and get articles to me asap. Kenn Love Computer Section David Southall - Reference The Computer Section in Lone Warrior. This is just a note to say that I enjoyed Graham Empson's column in LW. It is about time that the Association recognised the great changes that wargaming is undergoing because of computers. I feel there are three main areas which will affect the solo gamer more and more over the coming months and years. 1. Computer Assisted Rules.These enable a gamer to concentrate on strategy and tactics rather than the minutiae of game mechanics. I was always limited when solo gaming because of the tedious repetition of multiple fire combats for each side in a battle. I have a low boredom threshold for unnecessary tasks. Consequently I fought battles with only a few units per side. I tried a set of computer rules and the size and depth of my games increased. With the campaign assistance programs now available, divisional and corps confrontations are perfectly possible. In no particular order I recommend the rules by: English Computer Wargames; Eagle Software (who have a great Napoleonic Campaign system which can, among other things, fight and give casualty returns for combats that the gamer does not feel like setting up on the table); and, Computer Strategies of Bronte Australia (see ads in the Wargames press) who promptly send out orders and have excellent after sales service. 2. Board Wargamers. For theae there is the 'Aide-De-Camp' program which allows board games to be entered and played on screen. Thus games can be fought without having problems such as counters being disturbed/moved while line of sights are checked. Game tums can be saved to disk and sent through the post or by modem to another gamer. Game companies are producing modules for this system so that the gamer does not even have to emer the details him/herself. If the gamer does not like the counters for a particular oame he/she can redesign them. 3. Internet. From the few news groups I have seen on the Usenet I have been impressed with the standard of discussion of miniature and board game related topics. American rules companies have their own pages. on which they 'publish' rules clarifications and additions. I have printed off a full set of rules for using the GZG Full Thrust science fiction rules in the Star Trek universe. Perhaps one day the SWA could have its own page with a continuously updated virtual Lone Warrior. You could post your query about the battle of Belmont and possibly receive replies from ACW enthusiasts anywhere in the world. The result of the above three could be the end of solo wargaming as we know it. However, I think the possibilities are very exciting. I know Graham has written in reply but must say, yet again, that it is the members who fill the peges of Lone Warrior and it is up to them what is made available to be published. It there is not enough of your favourite period be it Napoleonics, Ancients, Fantasy, Board or Computer games why not do a short article or even write a letter like David and possibly promote a reaponse. I would love a set of computer driven rules because having tried some in the past I know how much more time there is available to play rather than read pages of rules. Services Chris Harris - Ian Hinds (99, Birchovar Way, Ailestree, Derby DE22 2QH Telephone: 01332559025) runs a number of services, including buying, selling, swapping and part-exchanging secondhand figures (mostly but not all painted). He has a range of figures of various scales, periods and manufacturers at prices ranging from 5p for ACW 6mm to œ1-75 for Napoleonic French Cavalry. In addition to this, he deals in books and games. A new product advertised on a price list is Flags for Wargamers. - part of the range of Potsdam. These are 25mm and 15mm scale battle colours. Those advertised in full are eighteenth century, French and British regiments, cavalry and infantry, but Hanover, Prussia, Russia and Spain in this period are also covered, as well as American Civil War. The level of visual detail is minute and beautiful, even at 15mm (I cannot vouch for accuracy, but it seems unlikely that any designer devoting so much energy to such precise detail would waste his time doing it wrong). They retail for 45p each, which seems expensive, but lan argues "Why pay a good deal more in total for a sheet of cheap flags, most of which you will never use anyway? (and what is the point of lots of regiments all flying the same colours). Probably worth getting hold of the price list, if nothing more. F&I War Mike Buttle: Mike Gray asked after the Land of the Rising Sun book asking for information on how much food is to be found in a given area. He wanted the information for a French and (Mohican) Indian Wars scenario for calculating foraging. At the time he asked for the book it wee on loan to yourself so I sent Michael details from the C&S Mediaeval rules the Land of the Rising Sun being a abridged form thereof with Japanese terminology replacing Medieval. Mike seemed happy with the material. Those readers who describe in LW their solo wargames do not describe how and why the army fought in the wargame operated in the way it did. What mechanisms were used to operate it. I guess it's time I myself played a solo game and describe what methods I used to manoeuvre the opposing side. Though I wonder if soloists use any method all. In his book Wargames, Donald Featherstone simply suggested rolling a dice each turn for each unit see if it moves, stands still or moves double each its speed! Or to dice for each unit at the start of the game to see which flank it starts the game on. He wrote rather more on the soloist playing a campaign to determine the opposing armies but then only suggesting that (a) you get another person to write the orders for the opposing army (b) have chance cards to determine whether the opposing army is on the offensive, defensive or is withdrawing the player writing movement instructions for each card. With the exception of having another person write the orders, the above methods do leave the player controlling the actions of the opposing army and I suspect that is what most soloists do do. Meanwhile I'll see what I can come up with for a solo game report that also describes how the actions of both armies were determined. Good to hear of the Solo Wargamers Association Library in action and in doing so bringing together two very keen members. Treachery Dean Badham-Spalding. Kenn, I hope I am not too late to help with your quest for a set of rules to cover Treachery on the Battle field. These rules were written to cover the Saxons and Bavarians at Leipzig: Shaky/Disgrunded/Allied Troops. If morale or position (including losses) of troops looks ominous for a regiment, the unit may desert/surrender or go over to the enemy. A marker is placed to show the unit is considering its position, the next round the commander of the unit (whether officer or NCO) and the unit roll a D10 against each other, the higher winning. 1. If the unit wins they desert, surrender or go over to the enemy. 2. If the commander wins he holds the unit and begins again next round. Should he win again, the unit is back under control but disordered. 3. An allied unit can intercept the unit to stop it deserting or surround it and capture it and march them off as traitors. Side rolls as above but with a + 1 modifier. 4. If the unit and commander tie, they roll again next round. Please feel free to amend or use any of the above ideas. I added parts and omitted parts to get the above set working and I think they work quite well. Dean, Thanks for the above, which looks simple and I will have to see how they work on the table. Obviously, one must have a suspicion that a unit is not all that it cracks up to be prior to the game beginning or with a run of bad throws (of which I am quite proficient) all your troops could desert and your general figure would be left there by himself! Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #112 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com