Donald Featherstone's Skirmish Wargaming (1962) - Revised edition (2008)
Solo Skirmish Wargame, A Few Suggestions,by Mark J. Hone UK
This article is from the Wargamer's Newletter 188 and is reproduced with the editor's permission. I have not been able to locate Mark J. Hone for his permissin.As a solo wargamer, I found that the "Old West Skirmish" rules, so often mentioned in these pages, while generally excellent, did not quite meet my requirements. We soloists (a strange breed) are in the main more interested in the events of a battle rather than formulating plans to defeat an opponent and flatter our egos. I therefore devised the following adaption, both to remove the more competitive elements of the rules and take control of individual men out of the hands of the commander and at the same time to modify some of the game mechanics of the original rules which I was slightly unhappy with. In this connection I do not, in any way, wish to deride the efforts of the authors of this particular set, whose rules however provided me with many hours of solo wargaming enjoyment. To follow the adaption, a knowledge of this particular set of rules or its stablemates is useful, but I hope that my suggestions might be applicable to other sets as well.
1) GAME-MOVE SEQUENCE
The fundamental change. Each game-move (called 'Phase' in the 'gun-fight' rules) is further sub-divided into six segments, each lasting around one second. This does lengthen the time set down for the phase, but not unduly I feel.
For each side involved in the skirmish a set of counters or small cards is prepared. When a force numbers less than five men, seven counters are necessary, bearing the numbers 1-6. The seventh is marked '0'.
When 5-10 men comprise a force, 14 counters, two for each number 1-6 and two marked '0' are used.
During each game-move, a man can do one of the following -- fire, aim, move, make an action (draw a gun, climb a wall, etc), fire-and-move, react, be involved in melee or be indisposed due to a wound. At the beginning of each game-move it is decided what each man is to do. Often, this is practically decided by circumstances or the general orders of the group, but dice if necessary. (Often it is pure chance what a man does at any given time). The figure representing the solo-player himself, be he leader of the group or the native porter does as the player wishes.
Counters or cards are placed face-down and shuffled. They are then distributed one to each figure. The number on the counter indicates in which of the six segments of the move the figure will fire or begin to move.
Any figure with a counter marked '0' will do nothing that move whether firing, moving, making an action or whatever. This attempts to represent those annoying little things that happen to us all. We sneeze, fumble with objects, struggle with a door which refuses to open or simply freeze with indecision. In your account of the battle afterwards you can invent the cause of the trouble.
Whether you issue a counter to the personal figure is a matter of choice. Personally I write down a number 1-6 for my figure before distributing the counters for the other figures.
Play proceeds in the move segment by segment. At the end, counters are gathered up and the process repeated for the next move.
2) MOVEMENT
This is changed slightly to suit the segment system.
Man on foot.
Run (maximum): 6 yards per game-move.
Walk (maximum): 3 yards per game-move
Crawl (maximum): 1.5 yards per game-move
This means that in each segment of the move, a man running will travel 1 yard, a man walking 1/2 yard and a man crawling 1/4 yard.
When move-firing there is a 70% chance each segment that the mover fires. His movement in that particular segment is halved.
When starting to move a specific destination should be nominated. After starting to move a figure will continue to move towards this destination each segment until he reaches it, regardless of the numbers on counters he receives in subsequent game-moves (unless it is an '0' of course).
EXAMPLE -- Bert, who is behind a wall, decides to move to a barrel 6 yards away. In his first move he receives a counter marked '4'. In segment 4 of the move he duly moves off. (Note: In the segment he leaves or arrives at cover, Bert counts as an appearing/disappearing target). He then moves 1 yard in each of segments 4-6. At the end of the move he is 3 yards away from the barrel. All being well, in move 2, Bert will continue to move 1 yard in each of segments 1-3 until he reaches the barrel. If he gets an '0' though, he has second thoughts and freezes in his tracks.... oh dear. He disregards any other number he receives.
3) ACTIONS
These are judged as normal in whole game-moves independent of segments, and are only influenced by counters marked 'O'.
4) AIMING
This is changed in that aiming bonuses are awarded per half-move of aiming rather than each whole move as in the original rules. An addition of 10% to the hit-chance is made for every half-move aiming up to the stated maximum. Thus, anyone firing on segment 4, 5 or 6 of a move automatically gets a 10% bonus.
5) FIRING
The use of the segments does go some way to eliminating simultaneous fire, but where figures firing at each other are doing so in the same segment, a straight dice throw decides who does so first. If this throw is the same, they do fire simultaneously (on occasions men have shot each other).
6) MELEE: As normal, the first round is calculated on the segment the men clash. In subsequent moves, the segment in which blows are struck is the average between the numbers on the mens' counters. You can give the man with the higher number a slight bonus addition. A man with an '0' will count as unarmed.
7) REACTION:
This is as normal. Like actions it is calculated for the whole move and individual segments are not taken into account.
8) WOUNDS:
These take effect in the segment of the game-move in which they are received, but recovery times, for convenience, are calculated in whole moves, irrespective of segments.
9) The rest of the rules are as written.