Solo Over the Hills and Far Away

I was browsing the Solo Wargaming Facebook group recently and spotted a post by Ian D. Denyer. He is experimenting with using elements from a Jim Wallman ruleset solo here. That reminded me of Wallman's Over the Hills and Far Away, which I've always wanted to try.

A few generations removed. There are many versions
of the classic song; my favorite is by Connie Dover.

Since I won't have a chance to run it with my own group anytime soon, maybe ever, I'm going to try to run it solo. It's more role-playing game than wargame, so this is tricky, but the "character-building" aspect is one of the things I've always loved about RPGs. There will probably be more focus on the regiment and combat than on the social stuff ... unless commenters want to chime in and make suggestions for the other non-player-character colonels! I feel as though the social element of the game might even work best over play-by-post or play-by-email; only the battles need to be at the table.

There are similarities to Glory:1861 here, though that is less social and delves deeper into the specifics of the regiment's size and training, in ways that Over the Hills glosses over. Over the Hills leans more towards the RPG side of things, while Glory:1861 leans towards the wargame side. Of course this means I should be doing Glory:1861 too (which I intend) and that it would probably be a better solo subject. But we've already seen how much of a hobby butterfly I am. I've effectively promised to try For Whom the Dice Rolls (Spanish Civil War) and Test of Resolve (War of the Roses). Next week then... Toy soldiers, being lead, pewter or bright plastic, are perhaps best suited to the "Ooh, shiny!" meme.

So to start:

• Colonels are already "persons of note;" in this era, they couldn't otherwise have the influence to be colonels in the first place. So my Colonel is Sir John Stanley, of Bordeaux Hall in the County of Cornwall.
• Roll for age - 20+D20: 30. Middling.
• Roll for married status, 5+ on D6: 4. He's a bachelor.
• Roll for political status, 5+ on D6: 3. He's no MP, yet!
• Political party - I could choose, but I'll toss for it - 1-3 Whig, 4-6 Tory. 1, so he's a Whig.

• He starts with a fortune of 1000+(d6x100) pounds. I rolled a 4, so £1,400 in the bank. I can spend up to 1,000 on "Political Influence Points" at 10 pounds a PIP. The catch being that these are mostly used against your fellow players, and I haven't any. I'd choose an average amount, but I don't know what that would be; I'll roll D100 for it. I rolled 52, so I spend £520, leaving me with 880 to spend on ... stuff, and I have 52 PIP. That seems an awful lot, given that there is little to spend PIP on other than screwing over your fellow Colonels, trying to become an MP and getting married. Since I am neither of the latter two, those will probably be my goals for the campaign beyond just going to exotic places and killing people. It costs a surprising lot to build and train a regiment, though, and my fortune has been reduced by more than a third to get this far. Of course, I don't have to be one of those conscientious colonels...

• Not being able to bid on my regiment number against other players, I'll just dice for it at D20+2: 8. I command the 8th Regiment of Foot, the Wessex Regiment. Just to give myself other regiments to compete against (and use in battle), I'll roll for three more: 16th, 12th, and 4th. Well, the commander of the 4th is senior to me.

My men are paid at the rate of 10 pounds per company per month. My colonel gets 20 pounds a month for his own expenses.

Unless I spend PIP or gain lots of glory overseas, I can't have a Royal regiment, so blue is out for a facing. I'll take white. A full ten companies is represented in-game by four bases:

Took a couple tries; at 18mm scale it's really easy to miss if figures
are facing the wrong way! But they really are beautiful up close.

My brand new regiment begins with the following statistics:

• Drill - 1
• Musketry - 1
• Effectiveness - 1

It is difficult to improve these, but easy for them to get worse, so training (especially drill) is essential. Players must spend turns (months) training a unit in order for it to not deteriorate, and may roll a 6 on a d6 to improve by one point. If the Colonel focuses on one aspect, that aspect may roll a 5+ to improve. Of course, this also costs money (for powder, etc), and at some point Sir John will have to spend turns transacting business in London.

I'll start with six months to test the training mechanism. This will give me £1000 to work with. As for other "social" activities... I'll randomize, like so:

D6 roll: 4. The fourth month will feature a social event. Choosing between generic socializing, ball, racing, or wedding, I toss a D4: 2. Second option, there's a ball. D3: 1, it is given by the Colonel of the 4th Regiment. I shall have to attend.

• January, 174-: Train in Drill and Musketry (Effectiveness ie Maneuvres costs a lot!), with Colonel Stanley focusing on Drill. Cost: £30. Both rolls failed.
• February, 174-: Train Drill and Musketry, with Colonel Stanley focusing on Musketry. Cost: £30. Both rolls failed.
• March, 174-: Train all three attributes, with Colonel Stanley focusing on Effectiveness. Cost: £80. All three rolls failed! That's me out £140, but at least Sir John is keeping his lads in shape. He will, however, visit the nearest gaming den to obtain new dice.
• April, 174-: I shall attend, of course, as I must ingratiate myself with my potential brigade commander (let's call him Sir Quartus Smith-Masterson). The other two will attend on rolls of 4+. The colonel of the 16th attends, that of the 12th is on his own affairs. At least I rolled higher than a three this time! Smith-Masterson, of course, spends £10 on his ball - the next must cost more, to upstage him. Because the colonel of the 12th is the only one not attending, he loses 10 PIP. I have no idea how many he has to start with, but we'll factor that in later.
• Remember, I am looking to find a wife. The lady most obviously available would be Sir Quartus' daughter, Quartina, and I'd like to be "in" with my senior in the service. Let's roll her stats:
• Influence: 1. He must have lots of children.
• Dowry: 6x100 - £600. Tempting. Given the other stats, her parents must be desperate to marry her off.
• Housekeeping: 1. This is how many pounds per month she saves through good management. She must not have learned her sums.
• Star Quality: 2. A multiplier to the PIP earned from any ball she hosts. Speaking of which, I imagine her mother is hosting tonight: 6! A stunning, vivacious lady (surprising, given how many kids she's had) who gains Sir Quartus 30 PIP! I only get five for attending... plus six for Lady Smith-Masterson.
• Given her daughter's low influence, I can give up four PIP to roll on the rightmost column of the chart. With a 2, she is Mildly Interested. We'll see what happens at the next ball...

I entered "18th century rich young lady"
into an art algorithm, and this is what I got.
It's fun to play with, but not always accurate.

• May, 174-: Supervising my regiment in Drill and Musketry once more (very enthusiastic soldier, I am), and focusing on Drill: 4 and 4. <sigh>
• June, 174-: One more go, this time looking over the shoulders of the musketeers and rolling yet another die: 6! And 4. Up to 2 in Drill.

Oh, but I spent one month NOT drilling, so must roll to not have my troops forget what they've learned. And... a one!

After the first six months, my regiment has not improved beyond the start and I have spent two hundred pounds on them. This soldiering lark is expensive! I am at least up to 63 PIP.

Next time, maybe I'll try a small expedition against rebels or rioters.