Greetings Solo Gamers! It is always a little difficult to write an editorial (other than the routine obligatory request for more articles and artwork). There are so few solo activities. I mean, I can't exactly report on happenings at the last convention can I? Well that isn't precisely true is it? There are a multitude of solo activities; they just don't get reported to me so that I can broadcast them to the solo community at large. And if you are like me, you enjoy learning of the solo exertions of others even if you aren't particularly enamored of the rules or period. I, for one, thoroughly delight in reading wargame reports from any period. I have a visceral feeling that the number of soloists is growing rather than shrinking. I suspect that if more gainers had the space, that they would set up a scenario and fight it out solo. Hopefully, this is happening because it bodes well for the Solo Wargamers Association and for Lone Warrior. The good news about the "graying" of the hobby is that as more people reach retirement age, the more time they have to finally paint the mounds of lead and pewter and plastic accumulated over the decades. For example, I've had two recent conversations with long-time wargamers who tell me that they will soon start gaming solo as it is becoming less satisfying to devote a day to setting up a mega-battle, fighting it to a conclusion, and putting everything back in their boxes to return home. If you want that mega game, set it up carefully on your game table, play when you have the time, and leave it up for weeks if necessary. See Russ Lockwood's article on a similar arrangement. I have written before on the wondrous inspiration a wargamer can draw from a movie. Gamers my age who grew up on the Davy Crockett phenomenon certainly saw The Alamo with Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton. What a remarkable, illuminating, and historically pretty darn good work! The uniforms, tactics, weaponry are all there. The story was plausible (the mark of good historical fiction.) I certainly enjoyed tying in the story of the siege of the Alamo with the entire campaign which ended at San Jacinto. Anyway, I'm just about convinced that it is time to brush off the solo Alamo rules I developed a few years ago and add some bells and whistles and try them out once again. Take The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The battle scenes are awesome in the traditional sense of the word (inspiring awe). Who hasn't dreamt of building a mega-castle and them running a massive siege? Between the movie and the Gainers Workshopİ figures, it is now very possible (and very expensive). Speaking of which, Gainers Workshop has it all figured out. Their house magazine, White Dwarf, not only sells the figures, it sells the hobby. Page after page of wondrously painted figures and conversions and buildings and other scenery. A wargamer would have to have ice in his veins not to be stirred to action while flipping through those pages. [As an aside, I'd love to achieve the same effect with Lone Warrior.] Their magazine publishes rules and scenarios and guides to painting and scenery construction. It emphasizes the visual attraction of miniatures and appeals to that part of the brain which harbors notions of fantasy. Now, I am an historical gamer and my figures represent the Napoleonic Wars, the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the American Civil War. But I thoroughly enjoy painting fantasy figures for my sons: knights, orcs and giant rodents predominating. Instead of being constrained by historically accurate colors, I can experiment with bold color combinations and skin and fur tones.  I also dabble in wargaming scenarios from the Lost Regiment series of books by William Forstchen. I use Warhammer orcs for the giant Valdenians, the human-eating Mongollike species. The human armies in rebellion :are represented by ACW union and confederates and Boxer Rebellion Russians. This war is of epic proportions (corps sized battles are frequent enough for simulation) but I focus on smaller engagements at 1:20 scale. A 500 person human regiment is about 25 figures. My current project is a Merki (one of the Valdenian hordes) surprise attack on a railroad bridge under construction. The bridge is protected by an earthwork with 4 six-pound guns. Defending the bridging site is a labor battalion made up of mixed companies of Russians and Romans under the engineering direction of a Yankee. If the Merki destroy the bridge, the supply line to an outlying gunpowder factory is cut at a particularly precarious time in the campaign. The humans are armed with springfields while these Merki are cavalrymen armed with scimitar and bow. A full report will follow eventually. There is just so much to do. I was painting 1815 Prussians for over a year (and am now pretty much sated). Now I have three regiments primed and ready for my attention: 22mm confederates, 28mm confederates, and 28mm US riflemen (1815). My 22mm ACW figures are mounted 2 or 3 to a stand. Ten stands represent a regiment. I use these for straight ACW battles. The 28mm confederates (painted in butternut) represent Roman forces of the Lost Regiment scenarios. These are mounted singly on wood squares of 20mm sides. Finally, the US Riflemen support my War of 1812 battles. These are also mounted singly with magnetic tape on the bases. This allows me to group them on steel movement stands - a company of 5-7 figures to a stand. Clearly, I have my work cut out for me. I'm toying with an ACW scenario for development. I had great fun with Bull Run awhile back. Now, I'm slowly thinking my way through Shiloh. I want to automate the confederate attack which would proceed at irregular speed on a discontinuous front. As regiments get mixed up, speed and efficiency drop. Meanwhile, union regiments are alerted and assemble at varying speeds. The sooner a regiment can form up, the more likely it is to survive initial contact. Combat takes place at short range in rolling, wooded terrain. Some regiments will coalesce and hang on while others will withdraw fighting, trying to avoid being outflanked. Maybe I can run two scenarios, one with a sober Grant and one without. Anyway, if this scenario grows beyond a concept, I'll keep you posted. What I know I will need are more confederates. And while painting and gaming, I need to capture the history so I can prepare a readable (potentially enjoyable) battle report for you, my readers. And here is where I make yet another editor's plea for articles from you, the readers of Lone Warrior. I know you are soloing out there. Our readership on Magweb alone is nothing short of phenomenal. Now, won't you consider writing a report of some of your activities for the other readers? Don't worry about grammar; I fix the obvious and the obscure error alike. And I can turn hand-drawn maps and diagrams into simple graphics as well. I really would like more submissions into ancient, medieval and World War periods. Science fiction and fantasy are always welcome. I have come to understand that there is considerable cross over among the three primary genres: historic, fantasy, and .sci-fi. Also, our readers enjoy learning of the methodologies you are using to bring life to the non-player forces. Whether you consider your methods worthy of publication, I can assure you that someone reading them will think "I wish I had thought of that." This journal depends on the readers to keep it full of commendable, useful, enjoyable material. As we pass into the eleventh year of publication of the North American edition of Lone Warrior, let's ensure we are around to celebrate our 20th anniversary as well! Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior # 149 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2005 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com