Cult Of Games XLBS: Solo Wargaming – Why Aren’t You Playing With Yourself?
June 21, 2026 by crew
For some website features, you will need a FREE account and for some others, you will need to join the Cult of Games.
Or if you have already joined the Cult of Games Log in now
What difference will having a FREE account make?
Setting up a Free account with OnTableTop unlocks a load of additional features and content (see below). You can then get involved with our Tabletop Gaming community, we are very helpful and keen to hear what you have to say. So Join Us Now!
Free Account Includes
- Creating your own project blogs.
- Rating and reviewing games using our innovative system.
- Commenting and ability to upvote.
- Posting in the forums.
- Unlocking of Achivments and collectin hobby xp
- Ability to add places like clubs and stores to our gaming database.
- Follow games, recommend games, use wishlist and mark what games you own.
- You will be able to add friends to your account.
What's the Cult of Games?
Once you have made a free account you can support the community by joing the Cult of Games. Joining the Cult allows you to use even more parts of the site and access to extra content. Check out some of the extra features below.
Cult of Games Membership Includes
- Reduced ads, for a better browsing experience (feature can be turned on or off in your profile).
- Access to The Cult of Games XLBS Sunday Show.
- Extra hobby videos about painting, terrain building etc.
- Exclusive interviews with the best game designers etc.
- Behind the scenes studio VLogs.
- Access to our live stream archives.
- Early access to our event tickets.
- Access to the CoG Greenroom.
- Access to the CoG Chamber of Commerce.
- Access the CoG Bazarr Trading Forum.
- Create and Edit Records for Games, Companies and Professionals.
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
I feel a lot of master debating coming on regarding this.
they certainly mastered something …
I think it’s the baiting they’ve mastered.
My hopes and dreams fulfilled
For Justin this episode could have been an email. I believe that he would have issue with it as there would be gist all over the screen. I’d blame all Ben’s teasing discussion of double fisting and plugs. All this while John sat back watching quietly without interrupting which may speak louder than words.
I tried my best – alas haha
I solo play whenever I can. I’ve tried soloing war games and it’s a great way of learning the rules, but without something to beat (an opponent, an AI, or a challenge set up by a 3rd party, ideally in a campaign format) it loses it’s appeal for me. What I normally solo play is campaign based board games, like Kingdom Death, Aeon Trespass, escape games, Mice and Mystics, etc. I can’t solo non-campaign games more than once. I need something to work towards, and once I’ve learned the rules and done everything once I lose interest. Give me a meaty campaign and a chance to improve my heroes/gear/empire/decks etc and I’m all in.
I have a copy of Rangers of Shadow Deep. I’m really looking forward to catching up (hahaha!!!!) on my painting backlog, and then playing that through solo, one mission at a time, and building and painting everything I need for the next mission. By the time I’m done my friends son should be old enough to take everything off my hands and enjoy it. He’s 9 and can already beat me at games. At the age of 5 I watched him correct a table full of adults on the rules to Carcassone and then beat them all, and I’m pretty sure he was self taught from enjoying the pretty colours and animal noises from the phone app.
Rangers is really good and the story that unfolds across the books is great. I’m sure you’ll have a blast with it when you get to it
I REALLY want to make my solo game of choice Rangers but I just haven’t got around to it. I think I might have an easier time if I stop trying to make it unique and just use my LotR minis and theme it that way.
LotR minis seem perfect for Rangers. Seems like a smart choice.
I’ve been wanting to try Rangers for years. I got the hardback for a good price on ebay last year. Now I just need to catch up on my hobby so I can make this my focus. My dream is to use what I’ve already got painted from other games, and then 3D print all models and terrain I still need. I don’t have a flat bed printer though and I’m avoiding buying resin for my liquid printer because it has a shelf life and I’ll just print a bunch of stuff I’ll regret just to use it up. and then never paint my way through my backlog. I may end up looking in to Print and Glue papercraft buildings. I don’t recall finding much useful for fantasy buildings when I’ve looked online in the past though.
I won a bunch of Stargrave books a few years back. That’s got solo rules and campaigns. That’s also on my list to try after Rangers.
oh my!
@sundancer I heard that in the voice of beloved actor George Takei
Exactly as it was meant to be!
Embrace the chaos
i much prefer gaming in person with a friend, but i have done solo gaming in the past. Ultimately it depends on the game itself and/or what i want to get from the game
For example, Maladum, essentially designed around co-op/solo play, a dungeon crawler against AI adversaries, so will happily sit down, set it up and play it
I recently cracked out Infinity to do some solo gaming, although my main purpose for doing so was to learn the rules so i could demo to a friend, but i did do full 150 point games when i as doing it.
The upcoming Xcom game is also co-op solo, so again will happily be sitting down and playing once i get my hands on it
But some games just arent suited for solo at all, Moonstone for example… as fantastic a game it is and wish i got the chance to play it more, the mechanics at their core are all about bluffing….not sure how you can play that kind of game solo
Yeah, there are just some games that don’t suit solo… thankfully the minis can be used in anything XD Moonstone is definitely one I’d love to get more games in but the bluffing is so fundamental, I can’t think of anyway you could get the same feeling of the game solo
I guess it does depend on a game-by-game basis as a lot won’t be suited, as you say. Hmm – intriguing.
Forza Ferrari! 🏎️
That youtube algorithm was working hard this week @brennon I got that video pushed into my feed too!
For me solo gaming is often the only way I can manage gaming. Between shift patterns and disability, solo games get rolled out a lot.
I like solo RPGs best because the time played/set up ratio is better for short sessions in the evening. There are so many out now that there’s a different flavour for whatever genre you fancy.
Solo wargaming I enjoy too, either doubled fisted *grin* or with specific solo roles. Most of the time it is a weekend treat for me. I like to plan over the week which one I’ll set up; I don’t have a space where games can remain set up so giving myself time to play out the whole thing is important. A campaign is great but even just working out a cool narrative scenario and setting up a table to match it is great fun.
The chat about not being able to play both factions without bias just always makes me pity those people. Maybe it comes from being a roleplayer/GM before I got into wargaming but the idea that you can’t figure out what each side would do for their own benefit in a scenario just always seems like a lack of imagination. Thankfully there are some great games with solo/AI rules that could give them a great way into this side of the hobby.
In terms of a take it out the box and go game, the standees version of Cyberpunk is fantastic and the solo rules are good. There’s some terrain in the box but I pair it with a set of the cyberpunk terrain from Tenfold Dungeon.
🤣🤣🤣
I am really tempted to get the Cyberpunk Combat Zone game to play “out of the box”. Glad that Welly also appeared in your feed too haha
I often wargame solo and would recommend it to anyone. As others have said it is a great way to learn rules or work through a new scenario before presenting it to an opponent. I even had a solo game in my SCC to test out my new army. I wrote a bat rep if anyone is interested. It went well, I won 🙂
I will deffo check out that battle report!
Now I am not a serious gamer this I admit, I enjoy the the building and painting side of the hobby more, but I do like to get the miniatures on the table and play. So solo gaming lets me do this and I have done it for anumber of years, I like it because of the no time restrictions can be played anytime, no worrying about getting a player. etc etc.The obvious solo rules Rangers Of Shadow Deep I throughly enjoy .I am lucky that I can leave my games set up has I have the space in my loft. And yes Ben I play Bolt Action Solo using a card system AI for the opponent. This way of gaming is what I enjoy and to can get my minis on my table. I play X-wing solo using a template to control the other ship/ships so yes i throughly enjoy solo hobby and solo play…..Or Maybe, it might be because i dont like people…lol.
Oooh – do you have any more info about how you’re playing Bolt Action using that card system? I would be intrigued by that!
I solo gamed Kingdom Death a few years ago, and since then I solo Aeon Trespass. Aeon Trespass takes about 100 hours to play through a cycle (and it has five of those). I can’t imagine there are many gaming groups that could stay together that long. Solo play is the only way.
I think this deffo becomes a thing with some of the bigger campaign-style board games. I also do it for Undaunted actually with its “campaign”
I think Solo Play when new to a game, can be a great way to test games and rulesets, and learn how a game plays and to start formulating tactics.
Also some games are designed to be Solo played and as I’ve had an Interest in Deadloque reawakened have looked to the recently released 1812 Retreat from Moscow a Solo Play mini-campaign game.
For deep immersion in a narrative, solo is the way to do it. People underrate “play” as something for children only, but in that aspect children are wise beyond their years. It’s a valid way to shed life stress, especially for introverts. Personality types and gaming styles would be an interesting topic to discuss. You’d probably need a psychologist on the show for that one though!
I wonder if we can work that out – it’d be great. And yes, I think there’s some wild thing about not encouraging “play” when you’re older.
Hi XLBSers and COGz 👌
Thanks for the golden button. Sector Alex is a good solo game. I like playing solo games co op with a friend but I do play more solo games the older I get. Still playing five parsecs
I’ve also added the game and company to the archive btw so you can tag them on the project now 🙂
Fabulous show guy’s
OMG they’ve descended into a gutter fest of innuendos and smutty comments this week. Ahhh its just like the good old days again…
I try my best – I can sow utter chaos
@56:41 – if that’s the case then maybe we should send Lloyd to Rome?
Really interesting from John about WWII. I’ve no current interest in 3d printing but are more than happy to listen to John going through historical ranges.
On solo wargaming I do have solo rules but I’ve not had the hobby time to use them. I’ve always intended to use rules like 5 Parsecs as a hobby project to get figures from my backlog painted and terrain built to use in multiple games. I think the random generation in some systems would be interesting for this.
I think we need to get an audiobook of John’s WW2 facts.
to answer Ben’s question about whether people put in the the effort in for a Solo game eg around walking dead… he needs to look at this project 😀 https://www.ontabletop.com/project/1803823/
I solo wargame a lot. I’ve been doing it for the last 10 years actually. I’m the person in my gaming group that will actually read the rules, so it helps to run thru the game by myself to get a feel for the rules.
Also, I solo wargame because sometimes my gaming group can’t meeting up on a regular basis. I have been able to play a lot more games by not having to wait.
I recently played a few games of Killteam 2018 (Eldar vs Orks). I really enjoyed it since I was able to tweak strategies and tactics to improve the teams. I do think it is difficult to “play against yourself”. Every time I play I tend to lean towards one team that I want to win. Having one team be the Ai is better and more fun.
At first, I did feel weird “playing with myself” because I didn’t want to feel like a loser who had no friends. But like I said above I have been able to play sooo many games by just playing solo and not being at the mercy of other peoples schedules. I have played all but 2 of my board games (mostly dungeon crawlers). I am really looking forward to playing other games I have on the shelf like Rangers of Shadowdeep and Hametsu designed more for solo gaming. Someday!