AGEOD Forums

Posted: **Thu Mar 30, 2017 12:20 am**

I’m looking for ideas on how to manage a Wars of Napoleon solitaire game. I believe WON is a magnificent program that's full of great promise. But, I am dissatisfied with Athena’s current play. Presently, I cannot commit to pbem, due to a lack of steady blocks of time. However, I am going to try to squeeze together enough bits and pieces to do a solitaire game.

Hence my question, running 7 nations for 10 years of game time, in weekly turns, is a massive undertaking. Any ideas on how to: minimize the logistics, keep unit handling simple, model historically appropriate behavior, while maximizing the fun?

I’m only on turn 2 and the solitaire game is close to being overwhelming. It was necessary to create check lists and tracking forms just to keep things from getting tangled.

Reading wise, I’m immersed in the English Napoleonic Military History trinity: Swords around a Throne, The Campaigns of Napoleon, and A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars. Hopefully, these books will give me a good feel for the era’s how, where, why, what and when.

Any suggestions, general or specific, would be most welcome!

Posted: **Thu Mar 30, 2017 2:30 am**

Hey Straight Arrow great questions and yes, magnificent game, especially if played historically or historically with some twists. I continue to be impressed with the potential for historical play with this game.

When I am not playing pbem I play all factions against myself. I also do this as I am learning any new game. One great advantage for someone who prefers historical lines of play is that I will not have a player who has mastered alternative, and better, strategies and tactics – a continuing frustration for me in playing American Civil War games. So if you can imagine, I have Solitary games running of WON and PON. My PON game has been running since its release, so long time. And I wish now I knew what I know know, then. That is, when I began. Also, if you can count time, you know I could have finished at least two complete PON game playing a turn a week by now, but I have not.

So I would say, first of all and most importantly, time is not a factor. If it takes you a month to play a single week of game time, so what! But if you have time, I typically play all seven nations of WON in about one and a half hours when not much is happening and three hours when several nations have complicated moves.

I am a spontaneous player, not a planned and crafted player, so even if I forget what my plan was for the Ottomans last turn, it does not matter. I am only looking for their best play this turn. Because this did not work for me in my PON game, I developed a simple Exel chart with goals, objectives and reminders. I would review prior to playing a nation. Because I often wanted to play all eight or seven nations at the same sitting, can't remember off the top of my head if 7 or 8, I put the Excel sheet on email so I could read it on my iPad without exiting my game computer. This allowed me to quickly make changes and record, but also not worry too much about precision but consistency.

I do not think you can, nor want to, minimize logistics and unit handling as this is the heart of the 'fun.' But you want to remember your logistics plans and unit builds, so the chart.

I think your reading list is exceptional and I am borrowing the one text new to me. For me, the best online resource for keeping an orientation to the time line and shifting alliances and such is:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Napoleonic-Wars

Posted: **Thu Mar 30, 2017 3:08 am**

Durk wrote:Hey Straight Arrow great questions and yes, magnificent game, especially if played historically or historically with some twists. I continue to be impressed with the potential for historical play with this game.

When I am not playing pbem I play all factions against myself. I also do this as I am learning any new game. One great advantage for someone who prefers historical lines of play is that I will not have a player who has mastered alternative, and better, strategies and tactics – a continuing frustration for me in playing American Civil War games. So if you can imagine, I have Solitary games running of WON and PON. My PON game has been running since its release, so long time. And I wish now I knew what I know now, then. That is, when I began. Also, if you can count time, you know I could have finished at least two complete PON game playing a turn a week by now, but I have not.

So I would say, first of all and most importantly, time is not a factor. If it takes you a month to play a single week of game time, so what! But if you have time, I typically play all seven nations of WON in about one and a half hours when not much is happening and three hours when several nations have complicated moves.

I am a spontaneous player, not a planned and crafted player, so even if I forget what my plan was for the Ottomans last turn, it does not matter. I am only looking for their best play this turn. Because this did not work for me in my PON game, I developed a simple Exel chart with goals, objectives and reminders. I would review prior to playing a nation. Because I often wanted to play all eight or seven nations at the same sitting, can't remember off the top of my head if 7 or 8, I put the Excel sheet on email so I could read it on my iPad without exiting my game computer. This allowed me to quickly make changes and record, but also not worry too much about precision but consistency.

I do not think you can, nor want to, minimize logistics and unit handling as this is the heart of the 'fun.' But you want to remember your logistics plans and unit builds, so the chart.

I think your reading list is exceptional and I am borrowing the one text new to me. For me, the best online resource for keeping an orientation to the time line and shifting alliances and such is:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Napoleonic-Wars

Posted: **Fri Mar 31, 2017 2:15 pm**

I wonder if there is a mid-point compromise.

Play say France and Britain plus one of Austria or Russia and let the rest go to the AI? That will give you control over the 2 powers that should drive the basic structure of the game and one of France's major European opponents but keep the workload down?

Posted: **Fri Mar 31, 2017 2:41 pm**

I strongly suggest playing 2 player pbem than spending time on solitaire. 4 nations by one player 3 by other. It is not best but it is good practice to gain experience in most troop types and increase campaign knowledge. It doesn't take too much time once OOB shaped. France is quite strong in conquering most nations in the continent. Britain may disembark in Armsterdam by Sir John Moore but it is risky.

Posted: **Sun Apr 02, 2017 3:14 am**

I kind of agree with you Baris. But it is a chore to play so much, and more importantly, the players need a diplomacy protocol. I am working on what that should be as a 'house rule.'

Posted: **Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:02 am**

While Steelwarrior77 and I were doing our AAR game against a French Athena he played GBR and PRU, and I played AUS and RUS. That was pretty manageable.

I might have even played PRU too, but that would have conflicted a bit with RUS as they are not exactly on friendly terms really. But that would have been the limit; a very high limit :crying:

Playing all 4 anti-Franco factions... only if you really, Really, REALLY know the game so well, that you know all the Ins-n-Outs™ of each faction well, or you just don't give a dang.. a darn :blink:

.. a Hoot!! about how some of the faction come out in the game. So you are just using them as satellites for RUS or AUS, or whatever.

Posted: **Tue Aug 07, 2018 4:19 pm**

Heya I may be an idiot but could someone here please post instructions on exactly how to start/play Solitaire game with all factions? thank you in advance!

Posted: **Wed Aug 08, 2018 5:20 pm**

Simply 'hot-seat' the game. Load a running scenario as one faction, issue your orders and save them. Then load the next faction you wish to play, and issue orders for it, etc. etc., until you have issued orders for all the factions you wish to play.

When the turn is executed, and factions without orders will be played by the AI.

If you had previously issued orders for a faction, but have neglected to issue orders for it for the coming turn's execution, when you attempt to execute the turn, the game will tell you that orders have not been issued for all factions, and allows you to either go back to issue orders for that faction(s), or to allow the AI to take-over that faction(s).

Posted: **Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:42 am**

Captain_Orso really hits all the key points for solitaire play. You probably want to play all the major factions, so issue orders for all seven majors, saving after each. When you have made your last save, decide from whose perspective you wish to view the game. Then enter that faction and run the game. After turn one, the game will warn you if you forgot to make the ord for some active faction.
So pick your scenario and have fun. I do love playing all factions.

AGEOD Forums

Solitaire Man

Solitaire Man

Re: Solitaire Man

Re: Solitaire Man

Re: Solitaire Man

Re: Solitaire Man

Re: Solitaire Man

Re: Solitaire Man

Re: Solitaire Man

Re: Solitaire Man

Re: Solitaire Man