Do You Do It . . . Alone? Solitaire Poll

[Brian W]

When I first got into wargame in high school, I had no friends interested in playing and solitaired everything I bought (inc. SL through GI). Played some in college, but it was a lot easier to find opponants for card games, so most of my time was spent playing cards. I only bought back into ASL because there was a local group in philidelphia and I knew I would have ftf players (before VASL). Haven't looked back yet. I tried SASL when it came out. I think it is a neat system, but after about two turns of it, I put it away and sold it. I tried it again when VASL went to 3.0, but still not worth it for me.

It does seem that a great portion of wargamers play games solitaire, but I just don't enjoy it.

 

[Pitman]

Can someone fix the spelling of this thread?

 

[mkirschenbaum]

Mark, I am not able to edit the title of the thread and didn't want to bug Andrew with a request for a second change after he had already accommodated a first. If he wants to correct it I'd be grateful.

 

[Reepicheep]

No problems to fix - not bugging at all.

 

[John Bark]

rarely...

only play it because PBeM opponents are slow or non-existent.

or i just want to roll and roll and roll and roll some dice.

main reason for not playing it, is the amount of dice rolls!!!!!

 

[Corporal Kindel]

Are you differentiating between SASL and playing regular scenarios solitaire, or are you lumping both these methods together in the polls?

 

[Legion]

I engage mostly in online affairs with others... But when it comes to doing it alone i have been know to whip it all out of the box on occassion - mostly when i am bored.

At the moment i am trying to corrupt another to the world of ASL and i find that the best way is to do it solitaire, but side-by-side, that way i can watch and give suggestions on how to do it better.
:strokin:

 

[Psycho]

Err um shouldn't it be POLL or am I missing something? :devil: :whist:

Depends on which pole/poll you are talking about. Paul did not start this poll. It is Paul's pole that makes me uneasy. Curious, but uneasy. :whist:

 

[David Goldman]

Thought I'd wade in on this one. A long time ago, when I was first developing some skills as an ASL player (some would say I still need work) I would regularly solitaire set ups and the first few moves. Probably one or two times a week.

Now I have to quickly look at and sort through dozens of scenarios each year to choose for the ASL OPEN scenarios to include. I am always looking for fresh new scenarios that aren't unbalanced. Judging from what gets played and how the balance turns out, I'm good at selecting interesting new scenarios that people want to play. I am less good at finding interesting new scenarios that are balanced. The issue from lack of balance is that I simply don't have the time to carefully set up and analyze on multiple theories how a scenario should play. I used to do that solo.

So I answered kiss your sister in the poll. Does anyone care how scenarios are selected for the OPEN?

David Goldman

 

[Digit]

I vastly prefer FtF, but real life often gets in the way, even with VASL. On my current deployment, I've been playing SASL - currently in Feb 1943(Kasserine) with my US infantry SASLCG. I find I enjoy the SASL rules, even all the extra dice rolling/chart looking. But I miss the intelligent opponent, and I don't feel SASL makes you a better player - rather, it essentially keeps you stagnant as you don't get "punished" for either rulebook or tactical errors.

The good news is one of my fellow Corps of Engineers employees over here is an old SL player, and I suckered him (by printing out the Guards Counterattack scenario card) into giving ASL a try. The SK is on order and should be here next week.

I haven't tried PBeM yet - I'm a little intimidated by the MPh/DFF logfile issues, but I think I may try it since it will probably be the best way for me to improve my tactical skills.

 

[thunderdrake]

Picked the set-up/play test option and find that actually laying down the counters and trying out a few moves is a great help to improving play. After being away from ASL for a while it makes a big difference if you have actually played/set up a scenario before. Since, I always seem to end up a squad short, one hex too far away, or a phase late, having an idea of the flow of a scenario seems to help. Just wish I had more time and space to leave games lying around set up. Prefer FtF play but only have one or two chances a month.

 

[R.S. Barker]

I just recieved the SASL system a few weeks back, and am looking forward to its system, if only so I can engage in long campaigns - like Band of Brothers, etc. Having VASL will certainly make a SASL game easier, so I don't have to worry about setting up a board and have counters all over the place.

Solitaire has been, and always will be a huge part of my Ambush!/ASL experience.

 

[MissionDirector]

I'm with you, R.S.Barker! The beauty of settling down to a long haul campaign with a bunch of counters who will be characters with histories by the end...

And using VASL for SASL is the genius stroke, even if it does sound like a Dr Seuss rhyme. No need to slide it under the bed or worry that the child / cat will get curious and rearrange that probing recon... plus I can easily play a little at home, save to disc or email it to myself, and then pick up during my lunch break at work, save it & resume when back at home etc.

Also there are some great SASL and GSASL websites out there, for people who like to swap rules and campaigns, or even play solitaire together. A good GSASL web-based campaign is worth its weight in gold, like those great B-17 Queen of the Skies websites where loads of people get together to fly solo missions together as a squadron.

SASL always seems to make huge sense in a hobby where it is difficult to find ftf opponents, I guess MMP must have a business reason for letting SASL go out of print, but it's a shame I tell you.

 

[Oliver]

Curious about people's solo habits. When I played Squad Leader and co. back in the day it was almost exclusively solotaire since all my friends wanted was D&D and Car Wars. Now I play a lot of my ASL F2F, but I still have some good solotaire experiences too. I guess that makes me Happily Married.

That was my experience, too. Solitaire is a good way to learn the basic rules, at your own pace. To play well, though, you do need a wide range of opponents.