Hey all, hope everyone is doing great. So just wondering if Battlelore is solo friendly. I googled it and did find a solo variant, but I believe it was for 1st edition. It mentioned something about when it's the "A.I."'s turn you drew 2 command cards and played them both? I also see there's these lore cards. Again, just getting to know the game. Also, if you do solo Battlelore, is it challenging? I'm going to assume the challenge would be to play good strategy to outwit a A.I. playing 2 command cards to my 1, if I have that sort of right. Thanks in advance

Not so sure of the AI thing, but certainly if you're able to abstract a little from the game frenzy and are honest, you can solo the two parts without too many problems (if you can solo Chess, you can also solo Battlelore).

Hi Julia, thanks for getting back to me. I stumbled across these solo rules. What do you think of these from a Battlelore player as yourself. Since you know the game, would this be a good solo variant? Thanks again! > http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1090367/avas-solo-rules-work... also, I guess (I may be wrong, so forgive me) the challenge in soloing Battlelore would be maybe this breakdown for difficulty:

EASY: Drafting armies: 50 point less army than yours.

Command cards: A.I. plays just one as yourself

Lore tokens: gain the same amount as you

NORMAL: Drafting armies: evenly matched points.

Command Cards: The "A.I." (for lack of a better term) would get to play 2 instead of 1.

Lore tokens: The A.I. would gain 1 addtional 1 each time 1 is awarded

HARD: Drafting Armies: The A.I. would gain 50-75 points more for drafting their army.

Command cards: The "A.I." would play 3 instead of 2

Lore tokens: The A.I. would gain 2 addtional each time there awarded

EXPERT: Drafting armies: The A.I. would gain 100 points more for drafting their army.

Command Cards: The A.I. would play 4 instead of 3

Lore tokens: The A.I. would gain 3 addtional each time there awarded

Again, Im just watching some vids now trying to learn what I can. And in regards to the A.I. attacking, I guess what you could do is say there are 2 or 3 targets logically available. Maybe assign the targets to a D6, (target 1, 1-2, target 2, 3-4, target 3, 5-6). Again, forgive me for my "nOObishness" for Battlelore. And thank you in advance for your help!

It's quite difficult to tell without trying it: the dummy actions could become too a weak option, or too a punitive one. I think some options could be:

a) instead of mustering, use the predetermined armies coming with the game: they should be pretty balanced. A good option could be using predetermined armies for both sides, so that you don't get an advantage by knowing the Scenario.

b) you could consider the option given for the "introductory game", where lore can be spent for buying VP (but you keep the option to use it also for effect tokens removal) so that you don't play with the lore deck (this is the trickiest when soloing because it could impact greatly the game)

c) I think you can easily organize a Play By Forum at BGG so that actually you'll have a real opponent, it's just a matter of findng the proper time to play

In any case, the best advice I can give you is: play the game as it is. Play both sides, look at the cards, attack in the heaviest way possible and defend at your best. Maybe some games could be required, but as soon as you enter the idea that every game will end up with you both victorious and defeated, you'll focus on strategy and your choices won't be skewed by the idea "hey, I'm rooting for the Daqan)

(it's just my way to look at that. In the years, I soloed WizWar, Descent 1st edition, Twilight imperium - playing 4 factions at the same time - and I always had a great time: the engine of this games is so good that even if the "surprise" factor is not relevant when playing all sides, the results are good)

In any case, the best advice I can give you is: play the game as it is. Play both sides, look at the cards, attack in the heaviest way possible and defend at your best. Maybe some games could be required, but as soon as you enter the idea that every game will end up with you both victorious and defeated, you'll focus on strategy and your choices won't be skewed by the idea "hey, I'm rooting for the Daqan)

I have played 2 games against my wife (1 was the starter) and 6 or 7 games against myself. I think the best way to play solo is to do as Julia mentioned above. However, there isn't much longevity to this game without an opponent. For $80, I'd pass on it unless you can get play-by-forum partners or get some local gamers. The only reason I'm hanging onto my copy is because I'd like to paint the figures eventually.

Hey guys, THANK YOU for your time and insight with Battlelore. I'm going to spend tonight watching some vids and learning the game. I'll probably take the plunge and buy it. I'm pretty creative in coming up with solo variants that pit you against some sort of A.I. to challenge yourself with. I've heard nothing but great things about Battlelore, I'm looking forward to it! Thanks again, happy gaming!

My pleasure helping Hope you can enjoy the game as much as we all do

Yes, it definitely is a great game. Good luck with your solo variants and be sure to post what you come with!

I'm still hoping this game will get some kind of game-night support, because it seems like the kind of game that would do well with it. Maybe after they release some more factions ...

Hey all, thank you again for all your info! Very nice crowd here! And yes, Budgernaut, I could just see the potential for more factions/untis for Battlelore., it screams EXPANSIONS!!!

I have been working on (for years) a game of my own called "Dungeon Crusade". It's aimed at the solo gamer, but adapts very well with 2-4. The A.I. system works VERY well for what I came up with, and is quite challenging. I was on kickstarter last year, not knowing ANYTHING about the kickstarter, but learned very much what to expect, whats expected from me, and what others want. I launched my game WAY,WAY, WAY to early. For the last 8 months, I have been working on Dungeon Crusade, and just needed a break, get recalibrated in a sense. So I have been playing other games.

I recently bought Descent, and I am REALLY enjoying that. I'm putting the finishing touches on a solo variant and I'm going to upload it on board game geek for others to check out to get there response and input. I'm also going to do a short demo video on YouTube for it. It seems there's a lot of people who want to buy Descent, but seem to ask if you can solo it

When I upload the solo variant for Descent I'll shoot you a link for you guys to check out. Again, pleasure hearing from you guys...talk to you soon.

Good luck with the Dungeon Crusade project (and all the others) then

Hey all, I hope everyone is doing great. I wanted to share with you my Descent solo variant that I am right now uploading on YouTube. The intro is here >>>

I notice there were alot of people like me, that wanted to take the plunge and get Descent, and this easy variant/mod let's you play Descent with everything the overlord would use. I'm still perfecting a few things as I learn more about the game, but this game session came out honestly pretty good using this method. When the videos are done I'll put them in a playlist.

Have a great day all...talk to you soon!

As someone who's played BL 1st Ed exclusively solo, I would say: yes. Very much solo friendly.

The game's engine comes from drawing Command Cards, which give you a degree of unpredictability. Especially if you don't look at the replacement command card draw.

Mechanically, 2nd Ed doesn't differ that much from 1st Ed. A lot has been streamlined. The "colours" part of C&C has been done away with... but 2nd Ed seems to be a very very well done boardgame fantasy skirmish game. If I hadn't invested so much into 1st Ed expansions, I'd be tempted to pick this one up for myself.

So... enjoy! :-)

Gen con revealed a battlelore 2nd edition app is on the way, I'm going to get that for my solo fix and use the board game for multiplayer.