Solo and cooperative play have been big themes for wargames the last few years. I myself have tried my hand at them as well. Much of this is spurred on by the Pandemic, however there are other societal and cultural factors that are leading to the rise of Solo-gaming. These reasons go well beyond the scope of this blog, or this writer's ability and knowledge. However, there is something I am a bit of a Pro-am (Professional Amateur) and that something is wargame design!
I have previously written some articles on the topic of solo-wargaming scenarios and deployment. You may recall that my hypothesis is that a good solo-wargame needs to do two fundamental things to be successful:
1. Create "Surprise"
2. Force the player to make decisions
2. Force the player to make decisions
All wargames need to force players to make decisions, to me that is the integral way to generate "fun" in a wargame. However, the unique element is that a solo-wargame must also generate "surprise" for a player. The game can not recreate what a human would do, but it can do the two things I outlined above. 
Types of AI
Most of the games we build will not be run by a computer system for us, so the term AI is a bit much. However, it is a good short hand to sub into the conversation. In this case, it is short hand for what are the player's opponents going to do?
There are a variety of methods and ways to generate AI interactions, and I will highlight a few of them below:
ICUIAttackU
The name pretty much says what it is on the tin. The bad guys in the game get LOS on you, and they will move forward and attack you in close combat. This is the most basic type of AI, and is very popular in games with limited missile weapons for the bad guys, and/or feral opposition.
The classic example is Zombie games.
Random Actions
In this situation, the enemy units are subject to random actions. This could be a table or chart that is resolved via a RNG like a dice roll, card draw, etc. It has the most "surprise" factors as no one really knows what the enemy is going to do ever, and they can do incredibly illogical things.
For example, the enemy model activates and the solo-player rolls a d6. They get a 4 and consult a chart of actions. On a 4, the enemy moves to the closest cover.
If/Then Flow Charts
The enemies are given a flow chart of criteria and responses to the criteria. These are often designed to be simple for ease of use with key decision points leading to actions.
For example, is there an enemy in melee? Y, attack. N, does the model have a missile weapon? Y, attack target in range; N-is there an enemy in LOS? Y, move towards them. N, move to center of the board.
Action Radius
Enemies have an action radius, or distance around them that when an enemy model is within it, will trigger certain actions.
For example, a enemy model in Base-to-base triggers a melee attack, within 12 MU triggers a shooting attack, and within 24 MU triggers a move to cover. If no one is within these range bands, the model moves towards the opposite board edge 6 MU.
Pre-Programmed
The enemy units always do a certain thing, at a certain time in a pre-programmed way within the game.
For Example, Unit 1 on turn 1 will always move towards the built-up area. On turn 2, it will fortify the area. Turn 3, Unit 1 will call an artillery to strike to grid X3.
Nodes
Similar to Action Radius, except key actions are triggered when the enemy unit is within X of a certain location.
For example, if they are within movement distance of cover, they will always move into it. If they are within X distance of the objective, they will always move towards it. If they are within Y distance of a building, they will hide inside it. If they are in a green grid square, they will fire on anyone in a yellow grid square.
Combination
Some combination of the options above. You might random activation with Nodes, or pre-programmed that is over-ridden by If/Then at a key point or pre-programmed time period.
For Example, when a model activates you randomly roll for its Mode, and the Mode then links to a series of If/Then sequences thematically ties to the Mode. For example, a unit of tanks activates and the Mode rolled up is cautious. This leads to if then statements focused on shoot and scoot, go hull down, avoid LOS of the enemy, etc.
Of course, these are just a broad overview of options for simple AIs in a game. There are probably others, and types I did not cover.
The Role of the AI
So, what exactly is a good AI system supposed to do in a solo-wargame? Many folks want a good AI to simulate another player of the game to play against. Sadly, no mechanic that a wargame designer makes will be able to do that. Computer programmers are still struggling to do that with much more processing power than dice and cards! So we all ready know something that a good, table top wargame AI will not do!
Here are the requirements a good AI needs to have:
1. Quick to execute
2. Ease of implementation
3. Realistic enough
4. Give the player tough decisions
Quick to Execute
Since this is a solo-play experience, the more time spent determining outcomes for the AI, the less time you are spending actually interacting with the challenges the game is presenting for you. You do not want determining the AI to take longer than it takes you as the player to make a move for yourself. Then you are spending more time operating the controls of the game, than playing the game.
Ease of Implementation
This aligns closely with "Quick to Execute". We want the determination of outcome to be simple, with the fewer steps the better. The more steps in the process the more likely it is that the player will make a mistake in the process. In addition, more complex steps lead to more potential confusion in determining the outcome of the AI's turn. It should not be much harder to operate the AI, than to operate your own pieces.
Realistic Enough
Here, we want the fiction of the game to match the fiction created by the game. In other words, if a soldier has a gun, they should occasionally shoot the gun. Of course, the AI should not be 100% predictable as that would be boring. However, it needs to operate "realistic enough" that the actions of an AI do not take you out of the game. Therefore, soldiers with guns should shoot them when they can, but that does not mean they will always shoot 100% of the time. The action is realistic enough, with an element capable of generating surprise.
Give the Player Tough Decisions
Ultimately, the purpose of the game is to force the player to make tough decisions. If they know the AI is capable of doing X, Y, and Z the player will then have to decide how they are going to counter X, Y, and Z when they happen. There should be times when a player must decide between X, Y or Z's counter, and that is when you start to get meaningful decisions.
If a player knows that the enemy will always advance, and they have no other options; the counter is easy. Stand back and shoot them as they come. However, what do you do if the enemy doesn't always advance? What if they shoot back, take cover, flank you, or simply wait for you to come out? Now, the AI is creating a space where the player needs to decide how they are going to counter the AI's actions
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, the AI mechanics are not the be all and end all of a good solo-play experience. There are a number of factors that can combine to make solo-play more fun. Any great solo-play game is more than the sum of its parts, but ultimately all the parts have to work together to create surprise and force player decisions. The AI of the enemy needs to also work with the scenario, deployment methods, and other friction placed on the player.
An AI alone does not make a game "solo-play". It requires a design ethos focused on creating the right experience. However, how the bad guys go about being bad is a key part of the puzzle. As always, choose the best mechanic that creates the situations the game is addressing.
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Thanks for another interesting look at game design ideas.
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