| Tactical Command http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/ |
|
| playtesting solo rules http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=123&t=1646 |
Page 1 of 2 |
| Author: | uberscooper [ Mon Oct 11, 2004 6:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
Hey -- I'm not going to knock solo play. It's one way to get the rules down pat before you head off to a real game, and BFG is such that it's ideal for picking up your minis if yer stuck at home with no one to play (no extensive terrain and not a ton of models). That being said, I've been trying to draft a set of "common sense" solo rules and didn't know if folks might want to help try them out. Lemme know Matt |
|
| Author: | Cuban Commissar [ Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
I'll be willing to help in about one month after the move. I have imps and space marines. |
|
| Author: | uberscooper [ Tue Oct 12, 2004 1:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
21 views and 1 response. Not a whole lot of interest  Cuban, I'll PM you with my email address so you can contact me whenever you're ready (moving's a pain, Army had me doing it 3 times in two years when I was in Japan -- which won me a lot of points with the wife ). 
|
|
| Author: | chubbybob [ Tue Oct 12, 2004 2:06 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
Why play solo when you can play a friend by PBEM using cyberboard and "distant guns" http://www.angelfire.com/games4/chubbybob/distguns.htm |
|
| Author: | CyberShadow [ Tue Oct 12, 2004 2:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
It is an interesting idea. Could you base it on the Tyranid rules where they have set guides when out of control of the Hivemind? |
|
| Author: | Tas [ Tue Oct 12, 2004 2:30 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
I'm always interested in solo-play ideas and methods |
|
| Author: | uberscooper [ Tue Oct 12, 2004 6:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
Why play solo when you can play a friend by PBEM using cyberboard and "distant guns"? ============ Just another option forl folks if they want it 
|
|
| Author: | uberscooper [ Tue Oct 12, 2004 6:33 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
It is an interesting idea. Could you base it on the Tyranid rules where they have set guides when out of control of the Hivemind? =============== Kinda. It's basically a set of guidelines that try to prevent the human player from forcing the AI into bad decisions, and to add some variance to how the same scenario may be played out, if tried multiple times. For example -- general movement I want to leave alone. You know what you would do if in command of a fleet. If it needs to alter its course to starboard, then do it. Be fair and use common sense. But when do you know if the other side issues "All Ahead Full" or "BFI?" Is it going to loose its torpedoes earlier, when you have tons of time to get out of the way, or will it try to wait until its warheads can reach you in the first Ordnance Phase? How will it utilize its attack craft? For example (and please lemme know if this sounds like junk), I have been developing something like this for attack craft. Note the text is shortened to keep the post reasonable. Each Shooting Phase where the AI has a chance to launch attack craft, roll D6. 1-4 Conservative = Attack Craft launched this Phase will be comprised entirely fighters, used to intercept ordinance. 5 Aggressive = A fraction of the Attack Craft launched this Phase will be kept back to play defense(1/4 or 1/2 rounded up). The remainder will form waves and attack the nearest enemy asset (Escort squadron or Capital Ship). 6 Knock Out Punch = The AI is going all out. All Attack Craft launched this Phase will form waves to attack an enemy ship/squadron based off the following list of priority targets (and then you have the list). There would be modifiers to the roll, like -1 if enemy fleet has more attack craft bays, -2 if enemy fleet has twice as many bays, +1 if AI fleet has more bays, +2 if AI fleet has X2 as many bays, etc. So an AI fleet with drastically fewer attack craft will be more likely to keep them back and use them to intercept bombers/assault boats/torpedoes, while an AI fleet with the advantage is more likely to go on the offensive. The roll would be fairly quick. Just compare fleets at the beginning of the scenario, and from then on you'd know if you were rolling D6-1, D6+1 or whatever. One quick toss decides AI behavior, and it can vary from turn to turn. Does it make sense? |
|
| Author: | uberscooper [ Tue Oct 12, 2004 6:42 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
Using the above example (attack craft), say you're playing an Imperial Fleet and have the AI taking control of a Chaos force lead by a Styx CH. You have a Dictator with 4 bays, the Styx has 6. During each Phase in which the Styx has its bays loaded, you would roll D6 to determine how its attack craft are going to be used. As the Chaos fleet has more bays than you, it will get a +1 modifier and so go on the offensive on a 4+ (50-50 odds). It will dedicate its attack craft to performing stuff like CAP on a 3 or less. I might add a final modifier that provides a +1 if the previous launch was centered around defense. Really, it wouldn't slow things down. If the Chaos fleet had two Devastations against your lone Dictator, it would field 8 bays and so get a +2 modifier. So they would go on the offensive on a 3+ (66% odds) and only stay on the defensive on a "1" or "2." I don't think it's too complicated. I've been working on similar concepts for orders like "All Ahead Full" -- mainly for when the AI may want to ram and when a fleet with short-ranged guns will try to close as quickly as possible. |
|
| Author: | Cuban Commissar [ Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:30 am ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
Like I said I'll be back online after the move. So I can certainly look into it. It's looks promising. |
|
| Author: | Tas [ Fri Oct 15, 2004 5:31 am ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
Sounds very interesting. ?The same IA mechanism could be applied to Epic, especially for less complex armies, like 'nids |
|
| Author: | CyberShadow [ Fri Oct 15, 2004 12:32 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
I think that you need to be clear what the purpose if these rules will be. As far as I can tell, there are two types of people that play solo rules - those who want an interesting game (even if they get beaten by a commander that doesnt even exist), and those who want the enjoyment of winning a game. The problem is that the first group will usually play both sides of a battle without worrying about specific rules for solo play, and the second will pervert any solo rules so that they win. In addition, any game which is not grid based in some way is more difficult to develop solo rules for. A game such as Piquet would provide a good basis. If you are not familiar, this is a historical game. Each company/battalion/squadron/cruiser/whatever could be given specific orders (advance to this reference and hold the feature), and random cards are used to determine who moves first, what events happen to the troops beyong control and whether some dont move at all. Solo rules are also a good opportunity to add a lot of the details that would usually slow the game down, such as random events and 'third party' creatures. |
|
| Author: | uberscooper [ Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
If folks pervert them once they're in hand, there's nothing I can do. But it's a good point. What I want is to provide a way for the AI fleet you're fighting against to act according to its abilities (IE, a fleet facing an opponent with a serious range advantage is going to try to close as quickly as possible, while a fleet with long range firepower will not be as eager to close the gap). I want to provide a guideline to how ordinance could be used. For example, if the AI fleet lacks your ability to churn out attack craft by a wide margin, it's more likely to use its assets to prevent assault boat and bomber strikes. If it has the edge over you, it's more likely to go on the offensive. And a priority list of targets is there so its tactics might have some cohesion. The temptation is there in Solo play to MAKE the other side fall into your cunning plan. And I don't see the fun in that. The last touches will be some deployment guidelines (To keep the AI fleet in one piece, I think it's preferable if its cruisers are squadroned, not just the escorts). And I am trying to come up with some random events (reinforcements for the AI, changes to the table, etc...) that could be triggered at certain points in the game. |
|
| Author: | vanvlak [ Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:57 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
Hi uberscooper, the way I see it (if I'm understanding you correctly) there's two ways to promote the ability of the opposing fleet. Method 1 would require an action/reaction chart for each fleet, and is impractical. Method 2 is to create a small set of fleet attributes (e.g. firepower, range, speed, manoeuverability, armour, ordinance etc.) and assigning a weight to each of these, with a fleet good in e.g. firepower having a high weight (or score) for this category, whilst one with a low firepower would have a low weight. From the weight table of a fleet you would then be able to assign it a specific behaviour based on its qualities. This can be as complex or simple as you wish - you can have: - few or lots of attributes - a small or large range of weight values - weight values varying for each fleet according to its composition (these could be calculated from the ship specifications, and then normalized to permit compatible scores to be assigned. - a wide variety of action/reaction charts, or a limited range depending on e.g. combinations of speed and firepower, or armour and firepower, etc. For a more intelligent opponent, you could even base the choice of action/reaction tables on a comparison of the opponent fleets' attributes. remember Occam's razor, though - simplest is best! Cheers. 
|
|
| Author: | uberscooper [ Fri Oct 15, 2004 3:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | playtesting solo rules |
Hey there -- The idea is to have a quick way to compare the AI fleet's capabilities to your own and use that to help formulate its decisions (although there is some randomness thrown in). For example, there's a guideline for when an AI fleet may attempt to use "All Ahead Full" to close the gap between its battle line and yours. The idea is that the AI will be far more likely to charge in if you have a longer reach with your weaponry. The baseline odds are 4+. That number then goes up or down depending on the differences in: attack craft bays, torpedo tubes, gun range, whether or not the opposition is packing something like a Nova Cannon, etc. There are a handful of modifiers to look at, but you only have to do it once, before the game starts, to determine the target number you'll be rolling against as the game progresses. An Ork fleet facing an Imperial force is almost guaranteed to start the game issuing "All Ahead Full." A Chaos fleet facing the same opponent may be less inclined. Similarly, there are guidelines to compare the no# of fighter bays the AI and you are packing. From there, a random roll determines what it's approach will be from Turn to Turn. |
|
| Page 1 of 2 | All times are UTC [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|