Very cool! I don't know much about solo play (it's not really up my alley) but I suspected that all the mechanisms intended to build a backdrop for a group would also work great for solo. This is the first report I've heard of actual solo play (outside of me rolling countless simulated wars to test the numbers).
I suspect that with solo, it would be more interesting if you made two different characters (or more) and played both each season. That would create a broader sense of the different experiences in the war, rather than just seeing one person's story. It's a tapestry game.
Also, I think you skipped naming neighbor nations. When a nation looks for Foreign Aid, they contact a neighbor, not a front.
Originally that Fate result did just say "you kill someone" but that wasn't right, because the Fate roll doesn't decide what you do, it just tells you what danger you are in. The Fate roll can't tell the cobbler he has to murder someone, but it can say someone is attacking, and if they don't kill them first, they may suffer for it. For some characters it will be a big moral dilemma, for others it just shows they got their hands dirty -- it's up to the player.
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Thanks for this! I gave it a spin as a solo player. Here is my actual play https://open.substack.com/pub/kindofold/p/this-means-war-solo-playtest?r=6ggs3z&....
Very cool! I don't know much about solo play (it's not really up my alley) but I suspected that all the mechanisms intended to build a backdrop for a group would also work great for solo. This is the first report I've heard of actual solo play (outside of me rolling countless simulated wars to test the numbers).
I suspect that with solo, it would be more interesting if you made two different characters (or more) and played both each season. That would create a broader sense of the different experiences in the war, rather than just seeing one person's story. It's a tapestry game.
Also, I think you skipped naming neighbor nations. When a nation looks for Foreign Aid, they contact a neighbor, not a front.
Originally that Fate result did just say "you kill someone" but that wasn't right, because the Fate roll doesn't decide what you do, it just tells you what danger you are in. The Fate roll can't tell the cobbler he has to murder someone, but it can say someone is attacking, and if they don't kill them first, they may suffer for it. For some characters it will be a big moral dilemma, for others it just shows they got their hands dirty -- it's up to the player.
Keep us posted if you play more!
Also, because you had a Diplomacy win, that would trigger a check for Peace. Your war could have ended after season 1 (unlikely, but still…)