OO Solo Board Gamers Guild

[Fardaza]

I wish I could just hole up in a cabin and play some board games.

That's basically what I'm doing right now! My wife is out of the country for another month. I've got Sleeping Gods on the table right now and am getting ready to go for another couple hours here in a bit.

Not that I don’t love my family but you are living the dream!

It's a mixed bag. I miss her and want her here, but it's nice to just play and not follow orders.

[YellowKing]

I played through about 2/3 of an act last night in Hoplomachus: Victorum. It's good, it's real good.

I confess I was a bit apprehensive about the "open world" aspect of just being able to choose events in any order. However, after a few in-game weeks the strategy starts to become clearer - making sure you have opportunities to work on, carefully managing when to "sport" and when you're strong enough to engage in a death match, and perhaps most importantly, knowing when to spectate and take a break.

I never played Hoplo:Origins, so this is the first time I had played Hoplo in small arenas. And now I know why people loved that iteration. The smaller maps definitely force you to really focus on tactical play, with no room to just run away and kite opponents. And the bonus "features" of each arena are *fantastic*. For example, one arena has weapons lying around you can pick up, another has a chariot racing in a circle you can hop on and off, and another has two wild beasts roaming around to get in your way. All the features make arenas play VERY differently, and they also play into your strategic choices. For instance, you may not want to play certain types of events like Capture the Flag in a crowded beast arena with little room to run.

Victorum is a commitment - a full game of all four Acts is probably going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-25 matches. But damn is it fun. Between the different arenas, constantly changing draw bag of opponents, and special rules and lineup restrictions on every single match, no fight ever plays out the same. It's also very challenging - even just 7 in-game weeks into Act 1 and I've already had my Hero die once (you can burn blessings to rez your Hero and avoid losing the game, but they're limited in number and provide benefits for your boss battles).

Anyway, great game. I watched both the official Chip Theory Games tutorial and the Ricky Royal playthroughs on YouTube, which will certainly get you to the point you can play the game no problem with just the occasional rulebook reference for special situations.

[baelthazar]

I should get my giant box of all the things Hoplomachus tomorrow (if the weather allows).

Yes, I even got the prestige health, the leather foldable dice tower, and the alloy dice. I'm a child.

[YellowKing]

I sprung for the upgraded draw pouch, premium player mat, and premium health chips. The draw bag is nice because it has a flat bottom and sits up nicely. The premium health chips I almost consider a mandatory upgrade.

The premium player mat I was a tad disappointed in. It's very small, and while it's nice that it takes the place of the paper pad, I almost think it's easier to track everything on the paper pad.

[Fishbelly]

The premium player mat I was a tad disappointed in. It's very small, and while it's nice that it takes the place of the paper pad, I almost think it's easier to track everything on the paper pad.

Agreed. I was very disappointed in the neoprene player tracker. It seems quite shoddy compared to all the other components. I'm using it--because I'm cheap and stubborn--but I'm tempted to switch to the paper pad.

Wish I'd ordered the premium chip bag instead.

[YellowKing]

I wound up restarting my campaign just shy of my first Primus fight. I realized I had completely screwed up by fighting 3 or 4 battles on the wrong map.

I wouldn't call the game fiddly, but there can be a lot of statuses going on at once. The arena rules, the rules specific to the event card you're doing, and your hero's prowess cards are all in effect simultaneously, and unless you're very diligent about going through them all at the start you can easily miss something.

I've had to train myself to slow down and step through every phase of combat from the top down, no matter how much I think I've "got it."

I've also had to really slow down when checking enemy targets. The rules for "marking" and "targeting" (which determine how an enemy is going to move) are VERY important and easy to screw up (even Ricky Royal screwed it up in the first part of his Victorum playthrough, but corrected it in the second).

I'll put it here just as an emphasis - enemies only mark targets that they can reach. So an enemy will go through the priority list - can I reach Priority #1? If not, can I reach Priority #2? If not can I reach Priority #3? Only if it can't reach anything on the priority list does it move closer to a target it can't attack/interact with, and then it will start the whole priority list over, moving towards Priority #1, if available.

It's a really elegant system once you wrap your head around it, but boy did I screw it up for a bit until I got the hang of it.

After futzing around with the "premium" player mat tonight I finally just switched to the paper. I figure there's probably zero chance of me ever playing enough campaigns to run out, and if I ever sell the game I'll always have the premium mat I can throw in to make up for the loss of a slightly depleted player pad.

[hepcat]

Thanks for the pro tip. I’m sure I’d have screwed that up once I get back from holiday vacation and start playing in earnest. I’ve just gone through the set up so far.

[Smoove_B]

I've been floundering on what to play solo, so last weekend I set up the 7th Continent and started to work my way through the second curse ("The Bloody Hunt"). I'm taking it easier than my last few times playing; I've not only added card 777 but have also included the special "Learning from Your Mistakes" cards (5) for Prodigy mode, making things a bit easier as well. About the only thing left is to use the optional "Immortal" mode, but I think I'll just try it like this and see how that goes. With all that said, I am also playing as Anjika Patel and wow, what a difference her character is- her special cards for the action deck are quite helpful. I saw her listed as a fantastic option for a solo expedition, so I figured I'd try; so far it's been working out great.

Anyway, I hadn't played in a while and I forgot how enjoyable it is to just slow-roll through the adventure. And of course, as soon as I set it up, 3 different solo KS were delivered within 5 days of one another (Victorum, Starforged and Dark Venture: Battle of the Ancients); when it rains it pours. Regardless, if you have taken out the 7th Continent in a while, add the KS extras and have at it!

[YellowKing]

I took an extended break from Victorum over the holidays, but got back to it this weekend.

On my second campaign I've taken down two Primuses and have made it to Act 3. Still having a great time with it, but man it can be tough. Especially when you get into the later acts and the game starts adding opponents on top of what you normally have to fight. It's also a game that seriously punishes not thinking things through. I've made some really bonehead mistakes that cost me dearly because I too unnecessary risks or depended too much on chancy dice rolls.

That said, one thing I really like about the game is how easy it is to play a match or two, set it aside, then come back to it. While the length of the campaign is a valid criticism, the ease of bouncing in and out of it to me makes it not a big deal (provided you have the space).

I'm torn because as much as I'm enjoying it, I really want to get Imperium Classics and Sentinels of the Multiverse to the table as well.

[Fishbelly]

I took an extended break from Victorum over the holidays, but got back to it this weekend.

On my second campaign I've taken down two Primuses and have made it to Act 3. Still having a great time with it, but man it can be tough. Especially when you get into the later acts and the game starts adding opponents on top of what you normall have to fight. It's also a game that seriously punishes not thinking things through. I've made some really bonehead mistakes that cost me dearly because I too unnecessary risks or depended too much on chancy dice rolls.

That said, one thing I really like about the game is how easy it is to play a match or two, set it aside, then come back to it. While the length of the campaign is a valid criticism, the ease of bouncing in and out of it to me makes it not a big deal (provided you have the space).

I've taken this slowly, as my holiday break was over and I had to go back to work. But Hoplo Victorum is definitely a game you can play a turn or two, then put down until later. Luckily, I have a game table and just toss the cover on between sessions.

The campaign is indeed long, though play speeds up significantly once you begin to understand the flow. At first you have to learn the rules for each new area and their units, and that takes time to absorb. I can now play an Act in one sitting, where Act I took me 3 different sessions to get through.

Overall, I'm really enjoying the game and think it's a fantastic update to the old Hoplo system. I had the original game, but for solo-only play it was a bit lackluster. I'm so glad CTG returned for an updated solo-only version.

[YellowKing]

I finally finished my first campaign in Victorum. A humiliating loss against the Primus at the end of Act III. I really thought I could pull it off, but only had one blessing left and my Hero got absolutely hammered.

It really is a fantastic game, and it's actually so good I kind of regret going all in and getting Hoplomachus: Remastered as well. I don't really see myself playing a lot of the latter, though I guess it's still nice to have for group play.

I'm putting it up for now just because I have to get through some games I've bought over the past couple of months still in the shrink. But it will definitely be hitting the table again for a retry at some point in the near future.

[baelthazar]

It really is a fantastic game, and it's actually so good I kind of regret going all in and getting Hoplomachus: Remastered as well. I don't really see myself playing a lot of the latter, though I guess it's still nice to have for group play.

I thought that too, but the book mentions that there are rules online for incorporating the Remastered stuff into Victorum. That is intriguing to me.

[YellowKing]

Messed around with Imperium: Legends solo last night. It was just a learning game so I didn't finish it, but do plan on starting over and giving it another go tonight.

I think I've finally wrapped my head around the rules after some minor missteps, though I can tell this game rewards repeated play since you have to learn each civilization's best strategy. In my first game I was just taking actions without really understanding *why* I was taking them.

I then watched Colin's (One Stop Co-op Shop) video and he talked about trying to get through his Nations deck. Then everything kind of clicked for me. You want your deck as slim as possible so that you're having to reshuffle it more often, which means you're getting through your Nations deck faster, which drives the end of game. Total light bulb moment. That's when the game went from "arbitrarily taking actions for points" to "this is a deck management game."

At any rate, I think I'm going to enjoy it. Has it captivated me enough yet for me to desire multiple replays to learn the various civ strategies? Remains to be seen, I think I'd have to get a couple of wins under my belt. But I'm going to leave it on the table and give it a fair shot over the next couple of weeks.

[Edit] And...finished my first full game. I played on the easiest difficulty using an easy civ against an easy civ and it was....easy (assuming I played everything right). Finished with a score of 63 to 36. On the easiest difficulty the automa is only taking 3-4 actions vs 4-5 on standard, which over the course of the game I imagine could easily net another 15-20 points on card acquisitions alone.

Once you get in the flow the automa is really easy to run, and while looking its actions up in a table was a bit cumbersome at first, you start to learn what it will do for any given symbol and things speed up considerably.

[Skinypupy]

I think Dwellings of Eldervale has taken over the top spot on my solo game list from Middara.

Dwellings is a absolutely sublime solo experience that plays as smoothly and more interesting than anything else I’ve played. I was a little skeptical coming in (worker placement isn’t generally my favorite), but it has enough additional strategy around resource gathering and dice chucking combat to make it very solid fun.

A truly awesome game.

[baelthazar]

The ghosts are also absolutely brutal. My only caveat is that playing Eldervale solo will not necessarily prepare you for playing against other people. Magic and the unpredictable nature of humans adds a new dimension.

[Skinypupy]

The ghosts are also absolutely brutal. My only caveat is that playing Eldervale solo will not necessarily prepare you for playing against other people. Magic and the unpredictable nature of humans adds a new dimension.

They certainly are, destroyed a number of my very well-planned strategies last night. It was a little anticlimactic spending 90 minutes on a tense, strategic battle, getting to final scoring, and...ending up tied.

It's taken a few games to come to grips with just how much scoring happens at the end of the game. In the last two games I've played, I thought I was quite comfortably ahead until the AI started adding up all their Adventure cards (multiplied by the element tracks). They came roaring back at that point to make it extremely close.

Eager to play this with others, not sure if/when I'll ever get that chance though. It feels a little too complicated for the kids, and I'm not sure it's something that my once-a-month gaming group would enjoy either.

[hepcat]

Got Chronicles of Drunagor back on my table tonight. I will win scenario 3, as god is my witness!

[YellowKing]

I bought SLEEPING GODS during the Miniature Market sale and I know many of you here have played it. Oh boy, I'm so torn on this game at the moment.

The biggest problem is I've found it incredibly difficult to learn. I think I've *finally* got a grasp of it after watching Rodney's Watch It Played video, reading the rulebook twice, and watching a spoilery video of a Game Night session. I've seen glimmers of why a lot of people love the game, but it's been somewhat negated by being overwhelmed trying to manage 9 crew members solo.

Any organization or strategy tips from those who have played it solo? I got a bit discouraged on my first session today after nearly wiping out my entire crew in a single combat.

[AWS260]

Messed around with Imperium: Legends solo last night. It was just a learning game so I didn't finish it, but do plan on starting over and giving it another go tonight.

I tried the solo bot of Imperium for the first time last night. It's a wee bit fiddly because you have to constantly refer to an action table during the bot's turn, but pretty easy to run overall.

I got absolutely wrecked, with my Minoans coming in far behind the Egyptian bot. I thought I was doing OK, but the bot just hoovers up cards like there's no tomorrow. Plenty of room to improve!

[baelthazar]

I bought SLEEPING GODS during the Miniature Market sale and I know many of you here have played it. Oh boy, I'm so torn on this game at the moment.

The biggest problem is I've found it incredibly difficult to learn. I think I've *finally* got a grasp of it after watching Rodney's Watch It Played video, reading the rulebook twice, and watching a spoilery video of a Game Night session. I've seen glimmers of why a lot of people love the game, but it's been somewhat negated by being overwhelmed trying to manage 9 crew members solo.

Any organization or strategy tips from those who have played it solo? I got a bit discouraged on my first session today after nearly wiping out my entire crew in a single combat.

I keep thinking about buying it but then I keep talking myself out of it. I like the idea and it certainly got a lot of buzz, but when I dug deeper into the the reviews they all read similar to your comments - hard to manage, a bit overly mechanical for what it is, and not as fun solo. I'm curious to see if your opinion changes as you learn it more, since you and I have similar gaming tastes.

[Smoove_B]

I wish I could convince you to think otherwise, but sadly I think I'm finally coming around to Sleeping Gods not being for me. It has most of the ingredients I should love - especially the open world exploration - but the game mechanics are way too dense and juggling 9 characters (for me) is a nightmare. I've tried at least half a dozen times to move beyond the the tutorial mission, but it always turns into a slog for me and the idea of sitting down to try and manage all the *stuff* is too much. It's a weird game in that I cannot imagine playing it with other people (because of the mechanics) but at the same time I also can't imagine playing it alone (because it's unwieldy). It feels like it could be a perfect video game, but as something that takes up an insane amount of table space? Sadly I don't think it's for me anymore. This also makes the pending delivery of Distant Skies awkward. I actually just had Sleeping Gods set up a few weeks ago and after making it through the first few turns, I did something else and never went back. It sat for like 2 weeks on my gaming table untouched.

While not perfect by any means, I wanted this game to be more like the 7th Continent. I am hoping when the next iteration of that series arrives it will be the answer.

[YellowKing]

I'm going to give it one last go tonight with a bit better organization. My new game mats came in so I'll have more room to stretch things out on my table. I'm also going to add crew member info to my whiteboard so I can at a glance see what abilities they have in plain English without having to look up every symbol. This may also help me group them in broad categories to help learn them (these are my folks that are good at combat, this guy's a healer, etc.)

I actually quite like some of the mechanics, but the sprawl of the game is getting in my way. I feel like i owe it one more chance after reducing that sprawl as much as possible.

[YellowKing]

Here's the layout I settled on. The game is still a ridiculous table hog due to the crew cards.



Still, it's nice and organized and I think I can make this work since I can leave it up for as long as I need to.

By the way, I got those black card mats for $12.99 a 2-pack on Amazon. Link Budget game mats. Terrific bargain - for $25 I've got the greater portion of my entire table covered, and unlike buying one large $60 mat I've now got four individual mats I can use for group game nights. They're thin but seem to be great quality for the price.

[AWS260]

I just played Land and Freedom, about fighting fascists in the Spanish Civil War. It's primarily a semi-cooperative game for up to 3 people, but I didn't have anyone to play with so I took the solo mode for a spin.

Half the game is pushing back against increasingly powerful attacks from the Spanish fascists, backed by their German and Italian allies. The other half is a political tug-of-war between the three anti-fascist factions: Moderates, Communists, and Anarchists. The Moderates and Communists are vying for control of the government, while the Anarchists just want to collectivize the land and bring liberty to everyone. Groovy, man.

In today's game, the anti-fascists never found out which of them was more powerful, because they collectively failed to stop the fascists from taking over, kicking off four decades of terror under Francisco Franco. I get the impression that achieving victory over the fascists is really difficult - which makes sense, given the historical result.

[Fardaza]

Here's the layout I settled on. The game is still a ridiculous table hog due to the crew cards.



Still, it's nice and organized and I think I can make this work since I can leave it up for as long as I need to.

That looks like a pretty good setup. However, you'll need a lot more space for items you find or buy. The four starting cards you have in the upper left will expand to around 20+ cards. I use a standard card table with four crew cards on each side of the map book, and the captain's card above the book next to the ship board. I then have all my item cards, fate (?) cards, and quest cards on a 18" x 36" side table.

Yes, it is a table hog!

I played through 2 or 3 complete campaigns, enjoying it thoroughly. It will hit the table again at some point in the future!

Playing tips that work for me: (Can't remember all the correct names of some cards as I type this. All of this is from memory of about 2 months ago.)
1- Buy or acquire decent weapons for as many characters as you can, as soon as you can.

2- Use your high damage attackers first, and try to cover up the monster's hearts that do damage back to you.

3- Or...Use your high attack ratings first, and soak up the damage from any counter attacks. Then use the high damage attackers.

4- Use your best damage dealers twice during each combat if possible.

5- Focus on one enemy at a time. Take it out so that it doesn't contribute to the end of round phase where all enemies attack. Some free overflow to the neighboring enemy is an excellent way to hit high defense monsters.

5- Assign bad effects to characters that are not your best attackers.

6- Pay for cards that will give the older lady character and the sea captain move bonuses. This will come in very handy in the last half of the game. Also, you can move without assigning fatigue to anyone. You may not go as far, but it's fine if you just want to go to the next zone.

7- Pay for cards only in the first half of each game phase (3 runs through the cards). They're generally not worth buying if you can only use them once or twice.

8- Don't always pick the "fight" choice when interacting.

9- Get lots of grain, meat, etc. for your recipes. Heal using them if possible. Then pay for healing at a port.

10- Always write down where you get a quest word and where you turn it in. Also mark places that only hurt you.

There are plenty of good tips to be found in the forums and files on bgg. I use one of the files that enlarges one or two map pages to normal printing size paper. Gives plenty of room for notes.

Table hog...yes. Fun exploration and sense of foreboding and unknown...yes. Worth the table space...yes! I hope your experience turns out as good as mine.