On Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 10:59 AM, Bob Stewart <rstewart@...>wrote:

> [...] we can get a whole lot more out of the time we spend doing Solo
> Wargaming, if we improve
> on how we generate the tactile feel of the surroundings themselves.


Good stuff as always, Bob. Most of my solo gaming tends to be WWII loosely
based on historical battles (Kursk, Normandy, Stalingrad). I think a lot of
what you've suggested can be applied. Even though I know what happened, my
characters don't. They have to go through the darkness before the dawn (or
from triumph to disaster), and I can see flavor like this being added at the
end of each scene (encounter). Thinking of a Stalingrad game: The battle has
raged for days. They've survived another firefight, but more friends have
been lost, more horrors have been seen and every corner turned now holds a
threat. Food and water are scarce, and booby traps abound. All looks
hopeless (cards reveal more darkness: enemy observers seen marking
artillery, enemy movement picking up, armor clanking from their lines).
While I know who wins in the end, my figures don't. And even if their side
ultimately triumphs, who's to say they'll live to tell about it, intact or
otherwise?

It would be great to tie this in with a weighting factor to determine when
pivotal events happen. Have a gradual, cumulative build up (good or bad)
between encounters until 'something' turns the tide (to not good or not
bad). Mythic's Chaos Factor, or a variant can probably provide this
statefulness between encounters. A Doom Factor perhaps? I'm thinking it
almost has to be independent of the encounter outcome to achieve the effect
I want. My band of characters can't singlehandedly change history, but they
may or may not survive or achieve glory.

- Bob (a different Bob)

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