I finally managed to play a game of Space Weirdos in solo mode! Let me tell you how it went, what ideas I have in mind for leveling up characters, designing a campaign, and what I honestly think about it.
As a short and much needed intermezzo from crafting BATTLETECH terrain, I set up a small Science-Fiction board and rolled up an opposing 75-point alien warband for Space Weirdos. I played in 2 short evening sessions, while the baby was sleeping, pretty much my only hobby time I’ve left at the moment …
It’s an easy job, the representative of “Geotactyc Inc.” said. Max Power, the veteran space cowboy, and his crew were appointed to investigate the ruins of Facility 58, an abandoned mining town on “Porus 2”, a remote corner of the Sirius sector. Good cash in exchange for an easy job. Once dropped off at the facility, Ra felt something was not right. It surely wasn’t the lack of human activity. But, maybe, the way things were left. As if the miners, at the time, were dropping everything and fled from something. But from what?
Setup a solo game of Space Weirdos
I wanted to experience a maximum of immersion during this lonely game. Hence, I used my DIY 2×2 Sci-Fi board, repaired my Deadzone terrain, mounted some ambient lights, and played a couple of adequate Warhammer 40k soundtracks. To capture the action, I shot everything on my Lumix GX80, equipped with a 25mm 1.7 AF lens.
I played the good guys, my trusty space cowboys under their leader Max Power, I designed, 3D-printed, and painted specifically for Space Weirdos.
Above, the good guys from left to right: Max Power, the leader, Bubble Gum, Ra and Zort, the sniper.
I quickly created a list of bad guys using the Space Weirdos Warband Builder. I used my One Page Rules Grimdark Future Firefight Alien Hives miniatures.
Above, the bad guys from left to right: 2 alien swarms, 1 alien queen (leader) and 3 aliens (mooks).
I decided to go for a basic “Kill ’em All” scenario and deployed both forces on opposite corners, to compensate for the small playing area. It worked very well.
Round 1
Let’s exterminate some alien scum!
As a first activation in this solo game of Space Weirdos, Zort, the good guys’ sniper successfully teleports himself to a better (“camping”) spot on the central building. Having a line of sight to an alien mook, he uses his 3rd action to shoot at it, bringing it “down”.
Next, Ra and Bubble Gum, the good guys’ close range experts carefully advance towards enemy lines, being careful to always stay behind cover.
Max Power, the good guy’s leader, uses 2 moves to bring himself to a better position to shoot at an approaching alien swarm, but with a penalty due to his 2 moves, his shot misses.
One of the alien mooks moves twice towards Zort, who then spends a command token on “Overwatch” and triples the alien’s defense roll! It goes “down” “staggered”.
The alien queen, the bad guys’ leader, rolls “Cloud” on its D20 reaction table, creating “psychic noise” and removing 1 command point from the good guys, leaving them with none this turn.
Round 2
Ra and Bubble Gum close in, each hiding behind corners.
Max Power moves twice behind cover, shoots with penalty at an approaching alien mook, but fails to hit.
2 alien mooks attack Max Power and unfortunately take him out of action. First Blood!
The alien queen uses her “Mind Control” on Zort but has a reverse effect. I can thus move her into line of sight and at the right shooting distance for Zort‘s sniper rifle.
Now, for Zort‘s turn! He aims twice at the alien queen, now exactly in his rifles’s scope, and shoots her down and staggered, but not dead yet. As his 3rd action, he moves to a new position.
Round 3
Since my warband’s leader Max Power is out of action, the aliens go first this round. Not good!
The alien queen removes her staggered condition, one alien stands up, and an alien swarm charges Ra with 2 melee attacks! She spends a command point to upgrade one die type (form D8 to D10) on her defense roll. She blocks successfully. However, the swarm keeps attacking. This time, it triples Ra‘s defense roll, taking her out of action! Second blood! It’s looking very grim now for my good guys …
Next, one alien mook rolls “blitz” (a 20 on a D20) on its reaction table and relentlessly charges Zort! He then spends the last command point on “overwatch” shooting, a kind of target movement interruption, to shoot at it. He succeeds, and the alien runs for cover. Well done, Zort!
Another alien mook attacks Bubble Gum, but misses her with its deadly claws.
Only now can I activate the good guys, with only 2 figures left and no more command points. Looking very grim!
Bubble Gum attacks and “staggers” the alien mook.
Zort aims once at the alien queen and doubles her defense roll. She goes “down” “staggered”.
Then he shoots at another alien mook which also immediately goes “down” “staggered”. Zort is managing the whole combat as it seems.
Round 4
Another alien mook attacks Bubble Gum and “staggers” her! As if it isn’t already bad enough, an alien swarm charges her, but Zort spends a command point to “overwatch” shoot at it. It goes, you guessed it, “down” “staggered”! Thus, he saves Bubble Gum‘s life from the swarms’ vicious tentacles! Good job, Zort!
At the end of round 4 I rolled a 6 on a D6, ending the game with a clear victory for the aliens!
Outcome
The aliens took Max Power (21 points) and Ra (15 points) out of action, resulting in 36 points.
My good guys, although having immobilized most aliens, didn’t take anything out of action and thus getting 0 points! Very disappointing …
Mistakes were made. I completely forgot Zort‘s Stealth suit and sometimes forgot to consider movement modifiers.
The star of the show, however, was clearly Zort, the good guys’ sniper. If I would not have forgotten his stealth suit… But anyway, he deserves some XP. More on that later.
My warband was also lacking some fire power. I might equip Bubble Gum with a pistol for the next game.
Instead of getting the precious intel our crew had hoped for, they were ambushed by a predatory swarm of alien creatures.
Campaign
So, I was pondering about ways to link scenarios to a small or large narrative campaign. I admittedly stole concepts from various old school RPGs and from Frostgrave.
Experience
After each game, one surviving figure gains +1DT* to Defense, Firepower, Prowess, or Willpower to 1 figure only. You choose. Up to a maximum of 2D12.
I choose to upgrade Zort’s Willpower by 1 Die type.
Survivors
Check for survivors on a D20. I’ll refer to a D20 table similar to the one in the Frostgrave rulebook.
| D20 | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1-5 | Dead! |
| 6-10 | Permanent injury (-1DT): Roll a D4: 1: Fire Power; 2: Defense; 3: Prowess; 4: Willpower. May participate or not. If not, then create a new weirdo up to the same points value as the injured character. |
| 11-15 | Temporary injury (-1DT): as above, but only for the next game. May participate or not. If not, then create a new weirdo up to the same points value as the injured character. |
| 16-20 | Fully recovered! |
Consequently, I rolled for Max Power a 7 on the D20 and a 2 on a D4: Permanent -1DT on all Defense rolls. Ra fully recovered with 19 on the D20!
Items
In the future, I’ll design a specific D20 list of items and weapons for this purpose.
But for now, Bubble Gum receives a pistol.
Narrative
I tend to use the Books of Random Tables Science-Fiction by Matt Davids, which you can buy cheaply on amazon or as PDF on Drive-thru RPG. For scenario inspiration, I’ll refer to my trusty copy of John Lambshead’s Sci-Fi Skirmish Scenarios book.
I’ll try to keep the campaign aspect of solo Space Weirdos as simple as possible. I don’t enjoy too much bookkeeping. Let’s see how that goes…
Verdict
Lots of polyhedral dice were thrown. Lots of aliens went “down” “staggered” and I lost the game. But, I can honestly say that I very much enjoyed this solo game of Space Weirdos. And that means something, knowing that I’m generally not the biggest fan of solo gaming. My advice: give it a go! You might enjoy it.
Next up: a solo game of Sword Weirdos? Or the next mission for Max Power and his crew?
Let me know in the comments.
*+-1DT: Die Type (for ex from D10 to D12 or from D10 to D8)