Hi guys,

I was just wondering what are the options for Star Wars Armada solo play? Are there any helper apps or anything for this? Tried googling it but only found threads of people that don't really like doing this....

Cheers

Very good practice. Super time consuming. Easily 4 hours set up play tear down.

If you have a tourney coming up you should do this the night before.

Ultimately it is a longer game. But it also has some perks. I try to walk away between setting both teams dials to help me forget the other sides selections.

you can write a list of "if than statements" to program the other side with some random dice roll charts.
I have a nice one for WWII and zombie games that is hard to beat if you don't cheat. just take some time and write a program for yourself once you do you will forever be adding to it.

example: is there a target ship in range yes shoot at them NO are there other targets yes fire at them NO move closer in a way to make it a good target while not making a target of your self.

you will have a page full in no time.

A great way to do this is Vassal. You can download it at http://www.vassalengine.org/

Vassal is really helpful for testing out movements, strategies, etc.

I have a set up in my garage that I can leave up most of the time. I go out there every few days and try to move some ships around.

Stasy and Blerg are correct in stating that it takes longer as you're making decisions on both sides and trying to calculate/estimate/anticipate 2 lists of contingencies. You can't really surprise yourself but you'd be surprised how easy it is to have an honest game against yourself. The key considerations are in Fleet Build, Objective Selection, Deployment, and Best-Choice Selection/Honesty.

And you must let go your ego. Only a true zen master may play and defeat his greatest opponent. Himself.

Fleet Build:

> Create 2 fleets, each with a specific strategy in mind (TRC corvette storm / Demo Rdrx4 / 2 ISD Rhymerball, initiative bid, etc).

> Don't consider the other fleet you're building against. Make the most TRUE choice of what is best for this fleet.

> The exception: If you want to intentionally practice to counter another strategy (i.e. Rhymerball and Screed/Demo/Initiative).

Objective Selection:

> Select Objectives thats are tailored towards your fleet strategy.

> You must make your selections according to what Objectives give each the most advantage.

> You cannot select objectives that would intentionally provide a disadvantage vs your other fleet.

> The exception: If you want to intentionally practice to counter another strategy (i.e. Rhymerball and Screed/Demo/Initiative).

Deployment:

> Several ways to do this but you must commit to one method and then not deviate from it.

> To simulate the random tournament experience: Formulate a strategy / plan and FOLLOW THAT PLAN with BOTH fleets (as two opponents deployed blindly).

> To intentionally practice vs a specific strategy/list: Formulate a strategy / plan and FOLLOW THAT PLAN with ONE fleet. Then make the best decision versus that fleet with the other.

Best-Choice Selection:

> You must make decisions for what would be the BEST choice for fleet / ship / squadron AT THAT MOMENT AND IN THE FUTURE.

> You must pretend your opponent is a ruthless S-O-B whose only goal in life is to grief you. He will show you no mercy and make no mistakes.

> Because movement in this game is limited, once a fleet is deployed there are only a certain, limited number of variables (Engine Tech Demo withstanding). Knowing this means it is almost always possible to select a "best" move/attack for a game piece. You MUST take that move. This leads to the final point...

Remove Your Ego:

> Be HONEST.

> Do not try to preserve your favorite ship or squadron.

> Do not make decisions you know a rational opponent would never intentionally make.

> Don't be afraid if your ideas fail as this will lead to dishonest decisions and effect what might have been the "real" outcome (what is real after all? Am I? Are you?).

In Conclusion:

If you follow these rules its possible to play against yourself and even have fun. I love putting together lists that I think are great and running them versus other "great" lists of mine. Then I run them versus actually great lists put together by other people to see if my lists and ideas are really that "great" after all. Its a great way to explore what's possible, what's probable, and what the games pieces and cards really can do.

Alt Ways to Solo Play:

1. Make a bunch of lists and assign each one a variable (number, letter, etc.). Then draw / roll / random number generate to select 2 random lists to duel.

2. Create specific scenarios w/ limits to achieve (similar to Take the Station).

Something I've found that works well, if your not doing tourney practice, is to give each ship's "captain" a random trait of aggressive, cautious, and neutral. So when activating a cautious ship, the action you take is forced to be a safer option. This doesn't mean never engage, but if your presented with driving head long in or skirting the edge of engagement that ship would skirt the edge.

Aggressive will obviously take the higher risk reward choice.

Neutral basically takes the best option for the fleet.

Hi, I am having a great solo game at the moment, an Imperial convoy ambushed by Rebels. I just assess each ships situation/mission fairly when assigning commands and as Indomitable suggests above, it is good to use traits: so for the Imperial escorts I have them driven by determination to protect the convoy and crush the rebel scrum, plus fear of failure in the eyes of their superiors if not seeing acting aggressively enough, whereas for the resource-starved Rebels Alliance there is balance between mission-success and force-preservation. If it helps to balance it out, you could always vary each turn the order in which you assign ship orders.

A good scenario is probably the best ingredient for a solitarie game, as the story can drive the commands you issue. Give it a try and have fun. The dice are sure to add a random element anyway (as I just discovered when the Rebel's perfectly-placed, 'hyperspace assaulting' ship rolled 4 misses out of 5 :-)

As an aside, my current scenario is an Imperial convoy (4 transports) escorted by a pair of Nebulan-B frigates and TIE squadrons, ambushed by a Rebel taskforce made up of a Corellian corvette, an Old Republic light cruiser, a Calamari frigate and an armed freighter (YT-2400), with A-wing and Y-wing fighter squadrons. Just add Star Wars music...