I am not for one moment suggesting that SOLO gaming is better than face to face bombat, for the whole idea of a game is to pit wits against another. There are, however, times when SOLO gaming is very useful and some of these are listed below.

1. When you live where opponents are far and few between (PBM--Well that can take a long time, and if you are not in this category you don't know what it is like to wait for moves).

2. To test out a set of new rules or variants - some opponents can get cheesed-off going through this process they want to play a straight forward, well thought-out game.

3. To play out a long campaign type game or re-enact some battle in history -where it is not convenient to have an opponent come over every time you have a few spare minutes.

While I have been fortunate to enlist a few opponents occasionally for a game or so, I have been forced to play a lot of SOLO. When I first started the hobby, I asked around for help in this direction, most suggestions were vague, Indicating Use of chance cards, etc. I have experimented with many ideas of my own and have invented, built and tested several devices for playing solo.

My main complaint about those solo rules I have heard about is that you sit as a referee or God between the two armies and merely follow a set of stiff fules while you are supposed to remain, strictly neutral. (Harder than you think). Now for the Door chap who has no opponent, this is a darn poor substitute. He wishes to command one of the armies, but how do we maneuvre the other side without cheating and making a mockery of the whole business?

I have recently developed a method which requires no fancy gadgets and works well, keeping the outcome in suspense as in a game between live opponents.

First: decide by chance whether the battle will he fought across the table top or down its length.

Second: Place three horsemen along each starting edge, one for the centre and one on each wing. I dice to decide on which turn they start off. Dice for each of the 6 scouts. I start first turn, 2- start on second turn, etc. Move the scouts toward the opposite side of the board at light cavalry rate (I use 16'' and allow they to see 30" around them)

Third: At the end of each turn dice to see what happens to each.

1- reroll: (1, 2, 3- killed by enemy; 4, 5, 6- captured)
2, 3, 4, 5: nothing-move next turn.
6: observes enemy.

Fourth: A scout who is captured or returning after spotting continues to move at normal pace toward enemy or own HQ. Once there he reports or is interrogated. I dice once to decide how many facts will he revealed and then again to see which facts are learned.

For example:
1- details of the terrain.
2- number of infantry on that wing or centre
3- number of cavalry
4- number of Horse Artillery
5- number of Field Artillery
6- number of reserves. (You can adjust to suit your own situation).

As terrain details are learned or observed. they are added to the bare terrain table top. I start with the first 30" of terrain from my end as this we can see. (Use back centre as point of H.Q.s where scouts must report unless CO has moved somewhere else).

Now you may be wondering what good does it do to have scouts for the enemy, well if they learn something I an not supposed to know my troops must continue to carry out orders even if they walk into ambush (give enemy a bonus--like a first round of fire).

Fifth: I lay my plans based on what I know and write out orders for them first then I write out several (all the) sensible possibilities for the enemy (can have a few crazy ones if you like--since blunders certainly occur in war) and assign probabilities for each. Then move your own men and dice to decide which choice of action the enemy will take. The orders must then be strictly followed out.

Sixth: The procedure is repeated for the next turn until the outcome is settled.

I realize that no definite numbers or ratios are provided but this is a general method not a set of rules. You can use your own set of rules and it will still work out.