Great work on this, Mike. The thing I love most about this solitaire system is that it really evokes the feel and play style we were going for with Undaunted, and it does it with a low rules overhead AI. Very nice!
To give credit where it's due, I only designed the variant. A BGG user (Hath22) generously spent the time to match the game's graphical design, and gave me permission to use that version.
I played this @ .75 Speed, and it helped enormously to understanding the AI's choices, especially regarding Priority Bolster. Super Awesome Variant Mike! I know that David is releasing there own Solo rules with the next expansion, but this is a great option in the meantime. Thoroughly enjoying the game solo mate, cheers!
Feel free to send me an email at onestopcoopshop@gmail.com and I can explain further. Probably won’t do another video until I adapt the rules for North Africa.
Just played two sessions, scenarios 1 & 3. Wonderful job on this. It feels like playing a real opponent. Now I have even greater hope that a variant for North Africa is forthcoming. NO PRESSURE!! lol
Excellent Video and have played a number of games of Undaunted Normandy now with your solo rules. I have just played scenario one over and over to get to grips with the AI rules. Great job. I am thinking of getting Stalingrad the only thing putting me off is there is no solo. Do you ever think you may produce a set of solo rules for Stalingrad? I think you would make many people happy if you ever did. Once again great job.
Hi Mike, Thanks for the great solo version for this game. I noticed in the video you said to order the AI's hand in initiative order (@11:57) with the leaders at the end of the row, but in the rules you posted on BGG state to place them left to right in the order they are drawn from the deck and they are resolved left to right. I am guessing that going in initiative order gives the AI more of a strategic advantage (ie scout before rifleman) compared to a random draw order. Thanks again for the solo version and for the video showing how it all works.
Were you looking at the most recent version (the cards) or at the thread I posted initially? I'm pretty sure the current version of the cards explains it correctly, but I could be wrong! :)
One Stop Co-op Shop the cards linked in the video say the same as you do in the video. I was referring to post on BGG. I printed the cards linked above and they all seem to match the play in the video.
Ah good to hear! I’m going to play North Africa at some point, revise the system to hopefully function with that, and do a full revision at that points, but it should be a while off.
Great work Mike, I look forward to giving this a go soon! As much as playing both sides is fun, it doesn't compare to an AI apponent. I wonder though, after all the COIN games you've been playing lately, maybe you should have done flow chart to describe each AI action!? 😉
I tried your solo rules yesterday and it was great! Played the two first missions (just got the game so still learning) and it took some time to figure out things like movement and bolstering, and I sure made some mistakes but before the end of the second mission things were moving smoothly and I could start thinking not only about rules but also about tactics! I had some problems figuring out what the AI were to do with a PIN objective at times but im sure I just mixed a few things up. Looking forward to go through the rest of the scenarios, I just have to say that this feels like a professional system and not something homebrew! You really aced it with this one! Looking at the playthrough of the official solo expansion, I cant stop to wonder if they took inspiration from your system?
The official rules ARE pretty similar, but I think we probably just came to similar conclusions by coincidence. But thanks for playing, and glad things are starting to go more smoothly!
Great video thanks, although one question. At 21:20 you have hit Scout B, there isn't a card in the AI's hand so you look through discard (all fine so far). You then say that it goes back to the supply - my understanding was when you hit a card it goes out of the game?
You are correct! In my variant, you keep the cards that are removed from the game in the supply, but FACEDOWN. They can't be regained by the AI, but you keep them there because they play a role in how the AI calculates which cards it wants to bolster. It needs to know that it is down to 1 rifleman card, for example, and counting the cards in the supply (or, from another perspective, the cards NOT in the AI's deck) allows for this. Hope that is clear!
Just got the game a week ago and I'm hoping to give this a go! Btw what card sleeves do you use? I think I'll be needing some after a few plays because of the constant shuffling, and your sleeves seem to fit your cards very nice. Thank you!
Hope you enjoy the variant! As for Memoir 44, I don't know! I haven't played that in years. But looking through BGG, I found the following thread discussing a variant that is apparently pretty popular: boardgamegeek.com/thread/170902/solo-m44
This is brilliant. Many thanks for your work on this. I played last night and it works very well. I'm impressed. I had to go back to the video a couple of times to clarify on objectives and on bolstering because your delivery is sooooo fast. But hey, that's why we have a pause button lol. One quick question - what is the purpose of out of play cards being turned face down. It's still the same amount of cards in the supply from which to bolster. Is it a priority issue? Can't wait for the NA update :)
In the core rules, once a card is damaged, it is out of the game. So eventually all the cards for a given unit might run out if they get shot too much. In my first iteration, I had the player counting how many cards were IN the AI deck of each type, but that felt too cumbersome. So instead I achieved the same thing by counting how many cards were OUT of the deck. So honestly, the reason you count supply and damage cards is just a workaround to find out how many cards are in the deck. If a Rifleman has 3 cards in supply/damage, they must have 2 cards in their deck. If that makes sense at all :)
Thanks for the solo variant! I just bought the game today after months of looking at on my wishlist. Do you know which sleeves those are? My standard size are a bit too tall and have an excess overhang above the cards, slightly annoying.
Thank you so much for this solo variant. I have a question about how many card the A.I. gets. I am talking about the BGG thread you started in regards to your variant and the option to give 4 cards to A.I. if they gain initiative and only 3 cards when they don't. What is your opinion on that. Cheers and thanks once again for your hard work.
Having just played the official Solo Rules included with Undaunted: Reinforcements, can definitely see similarities here, with some of the more intricate edges smoothed off (e.g. bolster simpler, decision trees a little deeper with opposition difficulty etc). Did your design help contribute to the official solo rules?
I played 7 scenarios in a row in Mike's Solo mode. I played 4 games with the Americans and 3 with the Germans. the Germans won them all, both with the AI and with me. Perhaps an adjustment should be made with the Germans starting with 2 points. Another interesting fact is that in Solo mode there were almost no attacks. first because then the game simply becomes a race. the Germans only need 4 moves to control piece 13B. Americans in a normal strategy will spend 10 moves to gather 5 points. In this way, Germans and Americans rush madly after piece 13B. If the German is the first to dominate (it's possible to do this without shooting) it's over. If the Americans manage to dominate first. You'll have to quickly run to the other tile with a value of 2. However, the Germans are already in a good position to run there as well. and even if the Americans master it first. They still have to earn 1 more point. Certainly the introductory scenario, and perhaps others, would need tweaking, as well as others likely to become more balanced.
Maybe there's a way to abstract the AI so managing AI turn is faster? I've only played once, so I don't know how feasible that is. But maybe there's still a turning of cards for initiative and fog of war, but otherwise, AI just moves optimal units for overall objective. For example, if the objective is control points, then scout and control actions, path of least resistance. AI get's three actions, they are all optimal. Two actions are unit activations, and the third is a bolster, or inspire. The AI still draws an initiative card, and three more cards, removing an activation for each fog of war. So the specific card drawn doesn't matter, unless its fog of war. Then the AI takes optimal action. Just set AI to always bolster to two.
That’s certainly a way you could go with it. You’d achieve much simpler and more straightforward play, but at the cost of the AI doing pretty much the same thing each game :) I prefer in most of my solo designs to try to emulate the multiplayer experience as much s possible. That won’t appeal to everyone!
Hello, nice solo version even if it took me some time to understand it ! 6:04 Are you sure that the recon action lets you put a "fog of war" card back in your supply? In the Italian version of the game you should remove the card from the game.....Maybe because Italy is sunnier than Normandy :-)
@@OneStopCoopShop I finally got it on the table playing the first 3 scenarios. It works really well, even though I few times played the rules wrong when it comes to having the objective or pin goal. So I would recommend to create two decks so that you can't do anything wrong. Maybe you should also add a basic rule that if non of the options is relevant, that the unit would always attack resp. suppress
@@andrethannhauser6302 good call. I wanted to keep printing to 1 page, which is why I combined the pin and objective stuff, but I see how that could be confusing. I wasn't as clear on your final suggestion. Are you saying take away the attack instructions on the AI card, and make it just a universal rule that they attack if they can't do anything else?
@@OneStopCoopShop I mean e.g. the Gunner card isnt clear when the target defence is 10+ the gunner cant move, it seems that he would do nothing. Btw I have just marked the key words objective goal and pin goal in different colours. That already helps
@@andrethannhauser6302 Ah, you're right. Good call on the gunner. Next time I do a pass on this (probably whenever I try to add North Africa support) I'll fix that.
I was a little overwhelmed with the idea of needing to purchase all three games (because, let's be honest, if I get reinforcements I'd have to get South Africa), but with your solo variant I'm feeling more confident so I went ahead and made the purchase :) If I like it enough I'll grab the others later
@@OneStopCoopShop Appreciate all you do on here! I've gotten back into Mage Knight (a daunting - pun intended here - task that's kept it boxed for a year and a half) and I'm playing Etherfields, now that's it's arrived, while watching Bairnt for reference. If we can convince you to do some more 5 Parsecs from Home, I'll be at peace in life ;)
Yeah, sorry about that! This was the first major solo variant I did and I didn't explain things nearly enough in retrospect. The core idea is that the number on the bolster card is the total the automa wants to have of each card type OUT of its deck, adding supply and damaged cards together. So for example it prefers to have 1 scout card OUT of its deck, which by extension means it wants to have at least 2 scout cards IN its deck. I had to do the awkward counting of supply and damage cards because I didn't want players to have to remember how many cards were in the automa's deck. So, building on that idea, the automa will prefer to bolster the card type that is furthest above that preferred number, breaking ties by which type is higher on the list. Example - Squad Leader A is bolstering in an objective scenario. In the supply + damage combined piles there are 3 Machine Gunner A cards, 2 Scout A cards, and 3 Riflemen A cards. This means all 3 card types are +1 above where the automa wants them to be (they'd like 1 more of each type in their deck). Since all 3 are tied, they look at the highest priority, which is the machine gunner. So for their first bolster they will add a MG card. Now MG cards are at +0, right where the automa wants them. So for the next bolster they have to break the tie between Rifleman A and Scout A's +1. Scouts are higher in priority, so they will bolster 1 scout card for their second bolster. Now, with all that craziness said, let me explain PRIORITY bolsters. What this means is that the SUM TOTAL of card types that can be bolstered by the drawn card is at least 2 higher than the sum preference. For example, in our previous example, because card types Squad Leader A could bolster add up to a sum of +3 (+1 from each of the three types), bolstering is a priority for that squad leader, and they will prefer to do it over all other actions except their first priority, inspiring a riflemen unit to control an objective. I hope that makes a bit more sense, and sorry it's so complex! The new solo rules in the Reinforcements expansion are much more simplified (though in my opinion also a bit too dumb, but you can't have it both ways I guess)!
@@OneStopCoopShop Thank you very much, I am bouncing between the very simple of the official solo and the Kafkeano of your Solo. It is a joke, I know that you are only more challenging but I have a hard time understanding it, I have to translate your English into Spanish and it is almost impossible to understand it.
@@OneStopCoopShop Please post this explanation in your bgg thread when you can, so that everyone can read it. It strikes me that there are so few comments.
Is there any other way to download the files of the cards from somewhere other than bgg?(I dont want to create an account on bgg but I can't download it without bgg asking me to create an account)
Great solo version. At first I was afraid the cards were going to be overwhelming, but it seems like a streamlined set of instructions. It seems like it would work with North Africa too, as long as vehicles are added as priority options.
It's on my list to figure out a way to adapt this system to Stalingrad. Unfortunately, with GenCon recently throwing 50 review games at me and our next designed game going on crowdfunding in a couple months, my list is really long... :)
This is great work, the only issue with this system is the AI is hugely predictable and will effect player strategy. It almost needs a dice roll to add some spontaneity into how the AI should act, otherwise when you take your turn you will always know exactly how the AI will act on their turn.
Not sure what you mean. The massive variance in card draw makes the AI do very different things each time it plays. At least in my experience (and I’m guessing for most others, since this variant has been out there a while and I’ve never heard this complaint before)
My friend has a copy, but I haven't played yet. I'm happy to try my hand at solo for that once I do. I guess vehicles are the biggest new addition I'd have to figure out?
I think it’ll vary person to person. For me, reinforcements is a bit easier to run (and it supports North Africa), but i much prefer how my AI handles some things, such as bolstering
Even though I read the rules and watched your video, I still don't fully understand the rules. Actually, I really want to play this. I will try a little more.
Not yet! I don't own that one, but will look into it. One player tried it out with NA, and it KIND OF worked? They had to fudge what vehicles do, and the AI of course wasn't so smart :)
@@OneStopCoopShop I see. Well here's to hoping. But I (and a great many of us) thank you for this variant. A lack of a solo variant that wasn't some version of playing 2-handed is what has kept me from the game. But no more!
I have no knowledge of whether the designers of the official solo rules were aware of my ruleset or ever tried it. I think there are many similarities, but I also think it’s entirely possible that we just happened to think along similar lines
It WAS, but I've been so busy with some of our designs (we have at least one game coming out this year, hopefully two) that I haven't gotten around to it. And now that the official Turczi solo mode is coming soon (and I've seen some of it. It looks good!) I'm not sure I'll ever get to it :(
@@erikjordheim6201 yes! I think it's called "reinforcements", and it'll include official solo for every scenario in both North Africa and Normandy, as well as other new content I believe.
With these rules solo works perfectly! And the new upcoming Reinforcements expansion has an official solo variant. So I guess this IS a solo game after all :-)
The game itself doesn`t go in my brain. I had the impression it was quite simple seeing the rating on BGG but it is not and seems to have unnecessary steps and fillers and not streamlined. Will probably sell as soon as postman delivers
Do you mean the game itself, or my unofficial solo variant? I think the core game is very streamlined, personally, but my solo rules add a bunch on to it to make the AI function in an intelligent way,
@@OneStopCoopShop No I meant the game itself, not your solo variant. Might just need to give it a try when it arrives. Was planning to play a skirmish game with my 11yrs old and ordered this and Wildlands. Now not so sure if this is appropriate. As always love your videos and your quick reviews!
@@njco78 definitely give it a go. I think it's VERY accessible, especially if you start with scenario 1 (which has only 2 types of units on the board, scouts and riflemen). As long as they understand how to scout and capture control points, they should be good to go. My 8 year-old has played it.
Great work - I got this game just as lockdown hit, so I have no-one to play against & am looking for a good AI opponent. I'll be giving this a go soon. Unfortunately, I had to give up on following the rules from the video as it was all so fast that I got a headache trying to keep up & take them in 😂 I'm sure I'll be fine with the printed info though 😁
Great work on this, Mike. The thing I love most about this solitaire system is that it really evokes the feel and play style we were going for with Undaunted, and it does it with a low rules overhead AI. Very nice!
Thanks so much, David. Wonderful job by you and Trevor designing this gem of a game.
David, this game is amazing. Every play hints at more depth I hadn't seen. I'm currently playing two campaigns with two different friends, love it.
@@mylor1066 Thanks so much!
Can't believe how much better the AI plays than me !! Great piece of work Mike, can't thank you enough for sharing.
Love it! You even got the font the same! Good work on design and those sweet touches tile card size etc.
To give credit where it's due, I only designed the variant. A BGG user (Hath22) generously spent the time to match the game's graphical design, and gave me permission to use that version.
Brilliant! This made me want this game even more now! Thx for sharing.
Happy to hear it!
Thanks Mike for creating this. Cant wait to try it.
I played this @ .75 Speed, and it helped enormously to understanding the AI's choices, especially regarding Priority Bolster. Super Awesome Variant Mike! I know that David is releasing there own Solo rules with the next expansion, but this is a great option in the meantime. Thoroughly enjoying the game solo mate, cheers!
Awesome! I'm really glad you like the variant. I'm very excited to see the official one as well :)
Outstanding. Many thanks.
Would love to see another one of these videos! Getting a copy later this month but I'm struggling to wrap my head around bolster priority for the AI.
Feel free to send me an email at onestopcoopshop@gmail.com and I can explain further.
Probably won’t do another video until I adapt the rules for North Africa.
Nice Mike!! I wish I could’ve helped play test this! Great job!
@Tom D it's still a living work, so if you eventually play and have feedback, feel free to share :)
Just played two sessions, scenarios 1 & 3. Wonderful job on this. It feels like playing a real opponent. Now I have even greater hope that a variant for North Africa is forthcoming. NO PRESSURE!! lol
Once I borrow it from my friend, I will try to make it happen.
Excellent Video and have played a number of games of Undaunted Normandy now with your solo rules. I have just played scenario one over and over to get to grips with the AI rules. Great job. I am thinking of getting Stalingrad the only thing putting me off is there is no solo. Do you ever think you may produce a set of solo rules for Stalingrad? I think you would make many people happy if you ever did. Once again great job.
I’m actually going to try as my next project. No promises that it will WORK though… we will see 😅😅😅
Can a unit cross the canal hex on any tile, or do they have to cross on the bridge tile?
Hi Mike, Thanks for the great solo version for this game. I noticed in the video you said to order the AI's hand in initiative order (@11:57) with the leaders at the end of the row, but in the rules you posted on BGG state to place them left to right in the order they are drawn from the deck and they are resolved left to right. I am guessing that going in initiative order gives the AI more of a strategic advantage (ie scout before rifleman) compared to a random draw order.
Thanks again for the solo version and for the video showing how it all works.
Were you looking at the most recent version (the cards) or at the thread I posted initially? I'm pretty sure the current version of the cards explains it correctly, but I could be wrong! :)
One Stop Co-op Shop the cards linked in the video say the same as you do in the video. I was referring to post on BGG. I printed the cards linked above and they all seem to match the play in the video.
Ah good to hear! I’m going to play North Africa at some point, revise the system to hopefully function with that, and do a full revision at that points, but it should be a while off.
Great work Mike, I look forward to giving this a go soon! As much as playing both sides is fun, it doesn't compare to an AI apponent. I wonder though, after all the COIN games you've been playing lately, maybe you should have done flow chart to describe each AI action!? 😉
I did! It's just a really basic one, each on a card.
See, I learned from Gandhi ;)
@@OneStopCoopShop ah yes, I forgot about the new system/aids with Gandhi, sweeeet!
I tried your solo rules yesterday and it was great! Played the two first missions (just got the game so still learning) and it took some time to figure out things like movement and bolstering, and I sure made some mistakes but before the end of the second mission things were moving smoothly and I could start thinking not only about rules but also about tactics!
I had some problems figuring out what the AI were to do with a PIN objective at times but im sure I just mixed a few things up.
Looking forward to go through the rest of the scenarios, I just have to say that this feels like a professional system and not something homebrew! You really aced it with this one!
Looking at the playthrough of the official solo expansion, I cant stop to wonder if they took inspiration from your system?
The official rules ARE pretty similar, but I think we probably just came to similar conclusions by coincidence.
But thanks for playing, and glad things are starting to go more smoothly!
Great video thanks, although one question. At 21:20 you have hit Scout B, there isn't a card in the AI's hand so you look through discard (all fine so far). You then say that it goes back to the supply - my understanding was when you hit a card it goes out of the game?
You are correct! In my variant, you keep the cards that are removed from the game in the supply, but FACEDOWN. They can't be regained by the AI, but you keep them there because they play a role in how the AI calculates which cards it wants to bolster. It needs to know that it is down to 1 rifleman card, for example, and counting the cards in the supply (or, from another perspective, the cards NOT in the AI's deck) allows for this.
Hope that is clear!
Just got the game a week ago and I'm hoping to give this a go!
Btw what card sleeves do you use? I think I'll be needing some after a few plays because of the constant shuffling, and your sleeves seem to fit your cards very nice. Thank you!
I believe these were KMC sleeves, the perfect fit ones they sell on Amazon
That's really impressive Mike. Thank you for this variant. I will give it a try. Is there a way to solo Memoir 44?
Hope you enjoy the variant!
As for Memoir 44, I don't know! I haven't played that in years. But looking through BGG, I found the following thread discussing a variant that is apparently pretty popular:
boardgamegeek.com/thread/170902/solo-m44
This is brilliant. Many thanks for your work on this. I played last night and it works very well. I'm impressed.
I had to go back to the video a couple of times to clarify on objectives and on bolstering because your delivery is sooooo fast. But hey, that's why we have a pause button lol.
One quick question - what is the purpose of out of play cards being turned face down. It's still the same amount of cards in the supply from which to bolster. Is it a priority issue?
Can't wait for the NA update :)
In the core rules, once a card is damaged, it is out of the game. So eventually all the cards for a given unit might run out if they get shot too much.
In my first iteration, I had the player counting how many cards were IN the AI deck of each type, but that felt too cumbersome. So instead I achieved the same thing by counting how many cards were OUT of the deck.
So honestly, the reason you count supply and damage cards is just a workaround to find out how many cards are in the deck. If a Rifleman has 3 cards in supply/damage, they must have 2 cards in their deck.
If that makes sense at all :)
@@OneStopCoopShop Got you. Superb. And thanks for the quick response!
Thanks for the solo variant! I just bought the game today after months of looking at on my wishlist. Do you know which sleeves those are? My standard size are a bit too tall and have an excess overhang above the cards, slightly annoying.
Um... KMC perfect fit maybe? I bought them a while back :)
Thank you so much for this solo variant. I have a question about how many card the A.I. gets. I am talking about the BGG thread you started in regards to your variant and the option to give 4 cards to A.I. if they gain initiative and only 3 cards when they don't. What is your opinion on that. Cheers and thanks once again for your hard work.
Personally I still play the rules as I wrote them, but feel free to adjust if you find the AI too tough or too easy.
Finallyyyyy thanks
Got it finished as quickly as I could for you :)
@@OneStopCoopShop thanks mate,
much appreciated!!! And as always, nice and clear videos, top notch!
Downloaded, printed, ready to be tested.
Let me know how it goes!
Will do!
Having just played the official Solo Rules included with Undaunted: Reinforcements, can definitely see similarities here, with some of the more intricate edges smoothed off (e.g. bolster simpler, decision trees a little deeper with opposition difficulty etc). Did your design help contribute to the official solo rules?
Well, not officially, as in no one ever talked to me about it :)
But could they have looked at mine as they made their own? Maybe!
I played 7 scenarios in a row in Mike's Solo mode. I played 4 games with the Americans and 3 with the Germans. the Germans won them all, both with the AI and with me. Perhaps an adjustment should be made with the Germans starting with 2 points. Another interesting fact is that in Solo mode there were almost no attacks. first because then the game simply becomes a race. the Germans only need 4 moves to control piece 13B. Americans in a normal strategy will spend 10 moves to gather 5 points. In this way, Germans and Americans rush madly after piece 13B. If the German is the first to dominate (it's possible to do this without shooting) it's over. If the Americans manage to dominate first. You'll have to quickly run to the other tile with a value of 2. However, the Germans are already in a good position to run there as well. and even if the Americans master it first. They still have to earn 1 more point. Certainly the introductory scenario, and perhaps others, would need tweaking, as well as others likely to become more balanced.
Maybe there's a way to abstract the AI so managing AI turn is faster? I've only played once, so I don't know how feasible that is. But maybe there's still a turning of cards for initiative and fog of war, but otherwise, AI just moves optimal units for overall objective. For example, if the objective is control points, then scout and control actions, path of least resistance. AI get's three actions, they are all optimal. Two actions are unit activations, and the third is a bolster, or inspire. The AI still draws an initiative card, and three more cards, removing an activation for each fog of war. So the specific card drawn doesn't matter, unless its fog of war. Then the AI takes optimal action. Just set AI to always bolster to two.
That’s certainly a way you could go with it. You’d achieve much simpler and more straightforward play, but at the cost of the AI doing pretty much the same thing each game :)
I prefer in most of my solo designs to try to emulate the multiplayer experience as much s possible. That won’t appeal to everyone!
oh nice time to see if i was using it right
Feel free to tell me whether my rules writing is wholly unclear ;)
Hello, nice solo version even if it took me some time to understand it ! 6:04 Are you sure that the recon action lets you put a "fog of war" card back in your supply? In the Italian version of the game you should remove the card from the game.....Maybe because Italy is sunnier than Normandy :-)
You are correct, though I'm not sure it makes too much difference unless a battle lasts a long time ;)
Great rules. Now I'm motivated to get the game back on the table.
If you do, let me know how it goes!
@@OneStopCoopShop I finally got it on the table playing the first 3 scenarios.
It works really well, even though I few times played the rules wrong when it comes to having the objective or pin goal.
So I would recommend to create two decks so that you can't do anything wrong.
Maybe you should also add a basic rule that if non of the options is relevant, that the unit would always attack resp. suppress
@@andrethannhauser6302 good call. I wanted to keep printing to 1 page, which is why I combined the pin and objective stuff, but I see how that could be confusing.
I wasn't as clear on your final suggestion. Are you saying take away the attack instructions on the AI card, and make it just a universal rule that they attack if they can't do anything else?
@@OneStopCoopShop I mean e.g. the Gunner card isnt clear when the target defence is 10+ the gunner cant move, it seems that he would do nothing.
Btw I have just marked the key words objective goal and pin goal in different colours. That already helps
@@andrethannhauser6302 Ah, you're right. Good call on the gunner. Next time I do a pass on this (probably whenever I try to add North Africa support) I'll fix that.
I was a little overwhelmed with the idea of needing to purchase all three games (because, let's be honest, if I get reinforcements I'd have to get South Africa), but with your solo variant I'm feeling more confident so I went ahead and made the purchase :)
If I like it enough I'll grab the others later
Nice! Yeah, even if you go with the official solo later, this is a fun way to start ;)
@@OneStopCoopShop Appreciate all you do on here! I've gotten back into Mage Knight (a daunting - pun intended here - task that's kept it boxed for a year and a half) and I'm playing Etherfields, now that's it's arrived, while watching Bairnt for reference. If we can convince you to do some more 5 Parsecs from Home, I'll be at peace in life ;)
@@kylemoore7746 hahaha, tons of great ones in there. I think Colin said he might do more 5 Parsecs, but it's been a bit...
I could never understand how the bolster works. There is no way to make it easier or obvious?
Yeah, sorry about that! This was the first major solo variant I did and I didn't explain things nearly enough in retrospect.
The core idea is that the number on the bolster card is the total the automa wants to have of each card type OUT of its deck, adding supply and damaged cards together. So for example it prefers to have 1 scout card OUT of its deck, which by extension means it wants to have at least 2 scout cards IN its deck. I had to do the awkward counting of supply and damage cards because I didn't want players to have to remember how many cards were in the automa's deck.
So, building on that idea, the automa will prefer to bolster the card type that is furthest above that preferred number, breaking ties by which type is higher on the list.
Example - Squad Leader A is bolstering in an objective scenario. In the supply + damage combined piles there are 3 Machine Gunner A cards, 2 Scout A cards, and 3 Riflemen A cards.
This means all 3 card types are +1 above where the automa wants them to be (they'd like 1 more of each type in their deck). Since all 3 are tied, they look at the highest priority, which is the machine gunner. So for their first bolster they will add a MG card.
Now MG cards are at +0, right where the automa wants them. So for the next bolster they have to break the tie between Rifleman A and Scout A's +1. Scouts are higher in priority, so they will bolster 1 scout card for their second bolster.
Now, with all that craziness said, let me explain PRIORITY bolsters. What this means is that the SUM TOTAL of card types that can be bolstered by the drawn card is at least 2 higher than the sum preference. For example, in our previous example, because card types Squad Leader A could bolster add up to a sum of +3 (+1 from each of the three types), bolstering is a priority for that squad leader, and they will prefer to do it over all other actions except their first priority, inspiring a riflemen unit to control an objective.
I hope that makes a bit more sense, and sorry it's so complex! The new solo rules in the Reinforcements expansion are much more simplified (though in my opinion also a bit too dumb, but you can't have it both ways I guess)!
@@OneStopCoopShop Thank you very much, I am bouncing between the very simple of the official solo and the Kafkeano of your Solo. It is a joke, I know that you are only more challenging but I have a hard time understanding it, I have to translate your English into Spanish and it is almost impossible to understand it.
@@OneStopCoopShop Please post this explanation in your bgg thread when you can, so that everyone can read it. It strikes me that there are so few comments.
@@Ale-xt2hw good idea!
Is there a link to your Bot system anywhere? On BGG?
Yeah, it’s on BGG. Here is the link:
boardgamegeek.com/filepage/206471/solo-ai-cards-v10-one-stop-co-op-shop
Is there any other way to download the files of the cards from somewhere other than bgg?(I dont want to create an account on bgg but I can't download it without bgg asking me to create an account)
Try this - drive.google.com/file/d/1KPbiC_dVtm8zyqYcbgFcypZ-0bTpFGzt/view?usp=drivesdk
Mike, you did an excellent job with this! Are you planning to do the same for North Africa?
I’m waiting for the official solo expansion which is coming out this year. If it’s not fun, then yes :)
Glad you are enjoying this!
Thanks so much!!!!!! Can we abuse now and ask for a solo variant on UNMATCHED? :) Greetings from Portugal!
I haven’t played that yet, but I’ve heard it’s fun. Maybe I’ll borrow my friend’s copy...
Great solo version. At first I was afraid the cards were going to be overwhelming, but it seems like a streamlined set of instructions.
It seems like it would work with North Africa too, as long as vehicles are added as priority options.
Once I play NA, I plan to adapt it.
@@OneStopCoopShop Hey, Mike! Any chance you've gotten around to playing and working on the NA AI adjustments?
@@copelandwoodruff9810 I have it in my online shopping cart. So hopefully soon!
I just bought Stalingrad and wanna try this system. Did you ever make one with the tanks in it? And whats your opinion on using it on Stalingrad?
It's on my list to figure out a way to adapt this system to Stalingrad. Unfortunately, with GenCon recently throwing 50 review games at me and our next designed game going on crowdfunding in a couple months, my list is really long... :)
This is great work, the only issue with this system is the AI is hugely predictable and will effect player strategy. It almost needs a dice roll to add some spontaneity into how the AI should act, otherwise when you take your turn you will always know exactly how the AI will act on their turn.
Not sure what you mean. The massive variance in card draw makes the AI do very different things each time it plays. At least in my experience (and I’m guessing for most others, since this variant has been out there a while and I’ve never heard this complaint before)
So now you have to adapt this system to UNA too :D
My friend has a copy, but I haven't played yet. I'm happy to try my hand at solo for that once I do. I guess vehicles are the biggest new addition I'd have to figure out?
@@OneStopCoopShop yep, there are some new actions too and the control rule you already know
@@OneStopCoopShop Please do :)
Please do have a go with solo rules for north africa also!
@@nathanielpayne2681 I'm going to! I got busy with one of our designs we are pitching to publishers, but hope to come back to this soon.
3 years later, how does this compare to the Reinforcements AI engine?
I think it’ll vary person to person. For me, reinforcements is a bit easier to run (and it supports North Africa), but i much prefer how my AI handles some things, such as bolstering
Do you think you will try to make a solo for undaunted stalingrad?
Remains to be seen. My friend has a copy, but I haven’t played yet. But I’m excited to give it a try regardless
Even though I read the rules and watched your video, I still don't fully understand the rules. Actually, I really want to play this. I will try a little more.
Good luck!
At 20.30 why did you award your mg an immediate turn when he was spawned?
Check the rules on page 11, placing combat counters.
When you play a card for a unit not on the board, you place the unit AND perform an action
How wonderful! Does the system work for Undaunted: North Africa?? [please say 'yes']
Not yet! I don't own that one, but will look into it.
One player tried it out with NA, and it KIND OF worked? They had to fudge what vehicles do, and the AI of course wasn't so smart :)
@@OneStopCoopShop I see. Well here's to hoping. But I (and a great many of us) thank you for this variant. A lack of a solo variant that wasn't some version of playing 2-handed is what has kept me from the game. But no more!
So did this basically become the solo rules of Reinforcements? It looks similar
I have no knowledge of whether the designers of the official solo rules were aware of my ruleset or ever tried it. I think there are many similarities, but I also think it’s entirely possible that we just happened to think along similar lines
@One Stop Co-op Shop at a glance I may prefer yours anyways :P. Just got Normandy yesterday so this may be first way I play it.
I think mine is smarter in many ways, but clunkier to run. Best of luck!!
Any chance that Undaunted: North Africa is also going to get your special AI treatment? :)
It WAS, but I've been so busy with some of our designs (we have at least one game coming out this year, hopefully two) that I haven't gotten around to it. And now that the official Turczi solo mode is coming soon (and I've seen some of it. It looks good!) I'm not sure I'll ever get to it :(
@@OneStopCoopShop Official solo mode!? Well, I am glad you bad news comes with so much good news as well!
@@erikjordheim6201 yes! I think it's called "reinforcements", and it'll include official solo for every scenario in both North Africa and Normandy, as well as other new content I believe.
I had it then gave it away, great game but sadly just not a solo game at all
You didn’t wait long enough ;)
With these rules solo works perfectly! And the new upcoming Reinforcements expansion has an official solo variant. So I guess this IS a solo game after all :-)
The game itself doesn`t go in my brain. I had the impression it was quite simple seeing the rating on BGG but it is not and seems to have unnecessary steps and fillers and not streamlined. Will probably sell as soon as postman delivers
Do you mean the game itself, or my unofficial solo variant? I think the core game is very streamlined, personally, but my solo rules add a bunch on to it to make the AI function in an intelligent way,
@@OneStopCoopShop No I meant the game itself, not your solo variant. Might just need to give it a try when it arrives. Was planning to play a skirmish game with my 11yrs old and ordered this and Wildlands. Now not so sure if this is appropriate. As always love your videos and your quick reviews!
@@njco78 definitely give it a go. I think it's VERY accessible, especially if you start with scenario 1 (which has only 2 types of units on the board, scouts and riflemen). As long as they understand how to scout and capture control points, they should be good to go. My 8 year-old has played it.
@@OneStopCoopShop Thank you I will try it out tomorrow and then try Wildlands alos. Let's hope I can get him entertained (me included) :)
Way too complicated ai system for my taste, rather play 2 handed so to speak..I like the initiative to make this though! :)
I've been covering a lot of COIN games recently, so this one seemed relatively straightforward and streamlined. Lol :)
@@OneStopCoopShop Ahh, Im a total noob on that kind of games haha, but I love Undaunted since its deckbuilding :D
Great work - I got this game just as lockdown hit, so I have no-one to play against & am looking for a good AI opponent. I'll be giving this a go soon.
Unfortunately, I had to give up on following the rules from the video as it was all so fast that I got a headache trying to keep up & take them in 😂
I'm sure I'll be fine with the printed info though 😁