Solo Narrative Wargame Campaigns

This video sets out my thoughts on playing solo narrative wargame campaigns. It explains why I enjoy wargaming, and how this steers me toward this approach to playing wargames. It describes how I go about creating a solo wargame campaign, based on "The History of the Harrietenberg and its Environs", and talks briefly about my next such project

[@crapphone7744]

I think creating an entire world in a history for it so you can have a unit of pink clad mustachioed hussars sums up the whole reason for being a soloist perfectly.

[@dartmart9263]

“As soon as you start casting spells … everything collapses “ That’s why I also love Tolkien. Very little in the way of magic warfare on the board

[@CornishCrusade]

Your channel was recommended by The Joy Of Wargaming - I can see why! Fantastic video, looking forward to watching more!

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@dartmart9263]

Also came over from Joy of Wargaming. Just subscribed!

[@stephengilbert8166]

I absolutely loved this. You mirror just about every nuance of solo gaming that I myself adore..., and eloquently put. We also share e-x-a-c-t-l-y the same views on the miniatures and terrain as well :-)

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@totalburnout5424]

An interesting video that I agree with on many points. Makes you want to start a campaign again. 😊

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thank you...and go for it!

[@MrPlafont]

Brilliant. This video is a manifesto for those of us who enjoy solo wargaming without the arts and crafts requirement. And you mentioning "gaming" rules to beat someone else is an excellent insight. Wargaming can be enjoyed for its story and possibilities and you highlight that here! Cheers!

[@jackalkhan5676]

The intro to this video is exactly how I feel about war gaming, I am glad we are kindred spirits!

[@theodenking4611]

Just subscribed and enjoyed this video, will definitely give the rest a watch. My own interest in solo wargaming came when I purchased the Tony Bath book about solo war games campaigns

[@dartmart9263]

This seems like an awesome channel!!!

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thank you!

[@thompsonfamily3616]

Loved this. Been looking for this kind of channel for ages. Great work mate!

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thank you

[@firsnamlasnam673]

Thanks for sharing with us. Great idea to write the history until it lead you to another battle to play. Stokes the imagination.

[@kkelly1138]

This is really great! I just sort of ran across your channel and it is fascinating. This video explains a lot and I find the whole thing very interesting. I feel much the same way and really enjoy what you are doing. I'm looking forward to watching more and will likely try out your rules

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoy it.

[@13thBear]

Your site popped up on my feed and I enjoyed this video and intend to seek out the others. Solo wargaming is an interest of mine and I like what you have stated in this video. I have several other books about solo wargaming and would very much like to pursue wargaming on my own after reviewing more of your videos. I have subbed today. I hope I enjoy your other videos as much as this one.

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thank you. I hope you enjoy your solo wargaming.

[@waynedaly100]

Great vid, I have started a solo Irish civil war campaign, I love playing solo for all the reasons you talked about, subbed

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thank you

[@elizabethmilward8301]

This sounds fascinating, and is encouraging me to try out solo wargaming in an imaginary world of my own design. Not the lack of arts and crafts (I enjoy that part) but the flexibility and being able to make my own lore instead of depending on lore I want to take apart and redo because I don't like it the way it is. Probably use someone else's rule though - I don't have a clue how to write a rule set and no real interest in it.

[@jamesathertonyt]

The great thing about solo wargaming is that you can spend your time on the things that bring you joy, whether that be the crafting, the rule writing, the world building, the story telling, or whatever, and not on the things that don't. Go for it!

[@claymationmaker641]

I love wargaming campaigns, I want to do a medieval version of creating a fictional war in a fictional world.

[@wilkizz]

This monument is a wonderful idea of what is worldbuilding and, for me, how impossible it is to not fall into it. Great job! ❤

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thanks. Glad it resonated with you, and long may the worldbuilding continue.

[@templarorder7453]

I am subscribing I found this very entertaining.

[@MedievalWargamer]

Very interesting ideas! I am trying to create my own campaign as well. Subscribed.

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thanks. I hope the campaign goes well.

[@alestorcrowley]

Great video. Inspired me to try to write some solo wargames Subbed

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thank you

[@timbuktu8069]

A man after my own heart. I keep a battle reports journal. In the beginning it was just notes to make sure my mind didn't wander. Then I tried recreating the histories of battles I read about in history books. Now I single out a single battalion and report the battle from their point of view.

[@jamesathertonyt]

That is an interesting approach, and provides some food for thought.

[@johnscarr70]

Yours is an approach which must have a great deal of resonance with people like myself who like to campaign and battle at a small scale. I partly agree on magic. I'm averse to the approach found in Warhammer, D&D, etc. but the literary appearances such as bodies of water being made to flow faster / slower, or a magician acquiring the strength to kill with only a light touch, as seen in the work of Tolkien and Howard, I feel can lend much to a fantasy campaign. Even well timed heavy rain or a landslip could make a significant difference.

[@claymationmaker641]

what rule-set do you use for black powder period? I have a couple, I like Black powder because it's simple and the book looks amazing. I'd like to look at your rules to see if I like their mechanics. I love Dungeons and Dragons and this idea would be great in a fantasy world.

[@charleslatora5750]

Agreed. Completely. Magic need not apply to my skirmishes or future full campaigns.

[@maximillianhovar5877]

this is awesome i really want to try this

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thank you. Glad you liked it.

[@maximillianhovar5877]

@@jamesathertonyt i did not only like it i was inspired by it

[@semorepagne9996]

I wouldn't be too self conscious about your minimalism. I wargame skirmishes using crude hand made clay soldiers with toothpick's for weapons based on pennies; and for operational style wargames, I use counters cut of scraps of plastic with Nato symbols penned onto them.

[@reccewargaming9201]

Interesting. I take a similar approach and have recently tried using a boardgame to try and cut down on the paperwork for things like population growth and production, which I like to include but sometimes becomes messy.

[@jamesathertonyt]

I'm glad you found the video interesting, and thanks for letting me know. Using a boardgame to manage some of the background stuff without having to reinvent the wheel is a good idea. Which boardgame did you use?

[@reccewargaming9201]

@@jamesathertonyt It's a roughly Bronze age game, using the map board and counters from 'Civilisation' and the kingdom cards and tokens from 'Through the Ages.' It takes up a table but I find it quicker and easier to keep track of resources and characters when it's more visual and all together. The event cards from 'Ages; help with getting a story going too.

[@jamesathertonyt]

@@reccewargaming9201 Thanks.. That's given me some food for thought.

[@WargameCulture]

@@reccewargaming9201 well, that does sound interesting! Any chance of a video example of your system?

[@reccewargaming9201]

@@WargameCulture Thanks. I've written an article on it and I'm waiting on a response from a wargame magazine so I need to wait on that before doing a video.

[@postindustrial76]

I hope to do this with some ww2 or civil war figures and a copy of one hour wargames

[@tablesaltgames]

You might enjoy Battlespace: ultra modern skirmish game. It’s solo and people say it’s brutal, but fun

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thanks for the recommendation. I will have a look at it.

[@charleslatora5750]

Subbed.

[@bugslayerprime7674]

What if, instead of magic, your tolkienesque world has high technology masked behind a veil or façade of superstition? You could use a knowledge of science, electronics, computing, even quantum physics like string theory and quantum entanglement for some of that "spooky action at a distance". I forget the name of who it was that said it, and I'm probably butchering the quote: "any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic."

[@jamesathertonyt]

You could go down that route for sure, and I think people have. It's not really to my taste, but if it's to yours, go for it!

[@bugslayerprime7674]

​@@jamesathertonyt I have been, actually. :) I'm quite intrigued about your take though, elves and orcs without magic. I've always thought that a defining feature of the elven race was its magic. What makes elves unique in your setting?

[@jamesathertonyt]

@@bugslayerprime7674 In my setting Elves are not a different species. They are a tribe of humans who have a particular forest based, tree worshipping culture. Similarly, Orcs are a tribe of humans who are particularly violent. On the other hand, halflings, dwarves and goblins are all distinct hominid, but non-human, species.

[@bugslayerprime7674]

​@@jamesathertonyt oh that's interesting. How did you see dwarves and hobbits as separate from human? I see them more like mutated genomes of human in my fantasy world, I guess because we have real world dwarfism and pygmy tribes, etc. but see elves as otherworldly.

[@jamesathertonyt]

@@bugslayerprime7674 Yes, something like that, but I see them more as related species, such as for example Neanderthals, rather than mutants.

[@demitrisioannou7730]

Here here

[@ComicBookGuy33]

Would you consider allowing us to download your Rulesets?

[@jamesathertonyt]

If you send an e-mail to the channel e-mail address, I will happily send you a pdf copy of my original ancient, medieval and fantasy rules. I am currently working on a new set of early medieval rules, an age of sail ruleset, and a WW2 ruleset. When I am happy with these, I will probably make videos about them, at which point I will be happy to share them.

[@YOUPIMatin123]

Try pub battle. Simple, low effort, imagination heavy.

[@eirikhaakonson1961]

I find your videos intriguing but would enjoy them more if you were less British. Could you consider addressing this for future videos?

[@jamesathertonyt]

Thank you for your feedback. I will indeed consider it carefully, but I am afraid that my options here may be limited.