December 5, 2024

Data Diving Into the 2024 Solo & Solitaire Wargaming & Historical Gaming Survey

Brant Guillory, 25 September 2024

Last week, we gave you the final results of our 2024 solo/solitaire wargame survey.  This week, we’re doing a deeper dive into the numbers, to look as some preferences for solo gaming, and the biggest risers and crash-&-burn victims, as well as the games that are new on the list this year

Keep in mind that as we look at the optional questions from the end of the survey, they were all optional.  Total values may not equal the total number of respondents to the overall survey, and they may even vary from question to question.

We asked folks how much of their gaming was solo, across several different types of games.  One thing we were curious about was whether or not folks were able to play other kinds of games with other people, but maybe lacked for wargame opponents specifically.  It seems as though our respondents aren’t ones that play a ton of other kinds of games.

click images to enlarge

 

We were also curious if there’s a correlation between how long someone has been playing, and how much of their wargaming is on digital platforms like VASSAL or Tabletop Simulator or Tabletopia, or other similar platforms

Digital Gaming? ➡️

⬇️ How long wargaming?

Tabletop Only Mix, More Tabletop 50/50 Mix, More Digital Digital Only Grand Total
Less than a year 3 2 –– –– –– 5
1-3 yrs 12 7 1 1 –– 21
3-10 yrs 21 21 4 4 1 51
10-25 yrs 14 10 2 5 –– 31
25-40 yrs 16 9 6 5 –– 36
more than 40 yrs 29 23 9 13 2 76
Grand Total 95 72 22 28 3 220

It does appear that the entire pool of respondents leans toward the tabletop, and there isn’t much correlation between their relative veterancy in the hobby and their use of digital gaming tools.


Changes from last year’s survey

 

Biggest changes in the list (at least 200 places)

The biggest risers from 2023 to 2024

Difference 2024 Title count sum Average
346 Undaunted: Normandy 6 19 3.17
307 Picket Duty: Kamikaze Attacks against U.S. Destroyers – Okinawa, 1945 4 9 2.25
305 Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain 10 31 3.1
305 Crossing the Line: Aachen 1944 1 5 5
302 Battles of Kursk: A Solitaire Wargame 1 5 5
275 Red Star Rising: The War in Russia, 1941-1944 1 5 5
272 Jutland 1 5 5
265 The Lost Valley: The Siege of Diên Biên Phù 2 8 4
257 1914: Serbien Muss Sterbien 1 4 4
246 Empires in America: The French and Indian War, 1754-1763 (Second Edition) 1 5 5
242 Paths of Glory 4 8 2
217 The Plum Island Horror 2 6 3
206 Oil War: American Intervention in the Persian Gulf 1 5 5
203 Israeli Air Force Leader 1 5 5
200 Freedom! 1 5 5

 

The biggest drops from 2023 to 2024

Difference 2024 Title count sum Average
-364 W1815 1 1 1
-322 Case Blue 1 1 1
-322 Hadrian’s Wall 1 1 1
-317 The MOG: Mogadishu 1993 1 1 1
-315 Arracourt 1 1 1
-291 Napoleon’s Last Gamble: Battles of the Hundred Days 1 2 2
-286 Field Commander: Rommel 1 1 1
-285 1775: Rebellion 1 2 2
-283 Versailles 1919 1 1 1
-279 Target! Bearing 093 degrees! 1 2 2
-263 Lisboa 1 1 1
-260 The Eastern Front: 1914-1917 1 3 3
-237 Commissioned 1 2 2
-223 Keep Up The Fire!: The Boxer Rebellion 1 1 1
-215 1914: Nach Paris 1 3 3
-206 1918/1919: Storm in the West 1 3 3
-205 Lewis & Clark: The Expedition 1 2 2
-201 Great Campaigns of the American Civil War (Avalon Hill/MMP) 1 3 3
-200 The Civil War 1861-1865 1 3 3
-200 Sherman Leader 1 2 2

 

Many of those large swings are often the result of just 1-2 people naming the game on their top 5 (or not) from the previous year.  Jumping from 2 votes to 5 votes, even if they were all in lower places, can cause a big jump from the low 400s up into the low 200s.

 


New on the list this year

Games that were new to the list in 2024 vs 2023 (rank in this table is just within the new games)

2024 Title count sum Average Rank
Vijayanagara: The Deccan Empires of Medieval India, 1290-1398 10 36 3.6 1
Atlantic Chase: The Kriegsmarine Against the Home Fleet 1939-1942 12 35 2.92 2
I, Napoleon 11 29 2.64 3
Western Front Ace: The Great War in the Air, 1916-1918 5 22 4.4 4
Manila: The Savage Streets, 1945 6 18 3 5
Global War: World War II Worldwide 1939-1945 6 17 2.83 6
Freedom: The Underground Railroad 6 15 2.5 7
N: The Napoleonic Wars 3 13 4.33 8
Empire of the Sun: The Pacific War 1941-1945 5 13 2.6 9
Ottoman Sunset: The Great War in the Near East 5 11 2.2 10
Men of Iron Battles Tri-Pack: Men of Iron, Infidel, Blood & Roses 2 10 5 11
Sharp Practice: Wargame Rules for Large Skirmishes in the Era of Black Powder, 1700 to 1865 2 10 5 11
The Dark Valley 2 10 5 11
World At War 85: Storming the Gap 2 10 5 11
Hornet Leader: Carrier Air Operations 4 10 2.5 11
Sicily: The Race for Messina 2 9 4.5 16
Corsair Leader 4 9 2.25 17
Conquest of Paradise 3 8 2.67 18
Warfighter: The WWII Tactical Combat Card Game 4 8 2 19
Norman Conquests: Men of Iron Volume V 2 7 3.5 20
Stonewall Jackson’s Way II: Battles of Bull Run 2 7 3.5 20
The First Jihad: The Rise of Islam 632-750 2 7 3.5 20
The Lamps are Going Out: World War I 2 7 3.5 20
Downfall: Conquest of the Third Reich, 1942-1945 3 7 2.33 24
Time of Crisis: The Roman Empire in Turmoil, 235-284 AD 3 7 2.33 24
Votes for Women 4 7 1.75 26
Raid on St. Nazaire 5 7 1.4 27
Cities of the Damned: Aachen and Cassino 2 6 3 28
Space Empires 4X 2 6 3 28
Zulus on the Ramparts!: The Battle of Rorke’s Drift – Second Edition 2 6 3 28
Austerlitz 1805: Rising Eagles 1 5 5 31
Axis Empires: Totaler Krieg! 1 5 5 31
Band of Brothers: Texas Arrows 1 5 5 31
Blue & Gray: Four American Civil War Battles 1 5 5 31
Britannia 1 5 5 31
Crusade and Revolution: The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 1 5 5 31
Horse & Musket: Dawn of an Era 1 5 5 31
Lock ‘n Load Tactical: Heroes of the Bitter Harvest 1 5 5 31
Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition 1 5 5 31
Memoir ’44 1 5 5 31
Nations 1 5 5 31
Panzer Leader: Game of Tactical Warfare on the Western Front 1 5 5 31
Rule the Waves, Britannia! 1 5 5 31
Sicily: Triumph and Folly 1 5 5 31
Silent War 1 5 5 31
Smokejumpers 1 5 5 31
Stonewall’s Sword: The Battle of Cedar Mountain 1 5 5 31
Tannenberg: The Introductory Game 1 5 5 31
Target for Today 1 5 5 31
The Coin Tribes’ Revolt: Boudica’s Rebellion Against Rome 1 5 5 31
The Great Battles of Alexander: Macedonian Art of War 1 5 5 31
The Russian Campaign 1 5 5 31
Tobruk: Tank Battles in North Africa 1942 1 5 5 31
Undaunted: North Africa 1 5 5 31
Volley & Bayonet: Road to Glory 1 5 5 31
World in Flames 1 5 5 31
1565: Siege of Malta 2 5 2.5 57
Chain of Command 2 5 2.5 57
Fields of Despair: France 1914-1918 2 5 2.5 57
I Ain’t Been Shot, Mum 2 5 2.5 57
Levee En Masse 2 5 2.5 57
Lost Battles: Forty Battles & Campaigns of the Ancient World 2 5 2.5 57
Maquis 2 5 2.5 57
Red Winter: The Soviet Attack at Tolvajärvi, Finland – 8-12 December 1939 2 5 2.5 57
The Dark Summer: Normandy 1944 2 5 2.5 57
Tiger Leader 2 5 2.5 57
Advanced Squad Leader: Starter Kit #2 1 4 4 67
Algeria: The War of Independence 1954-1962 1 4 4 67
Battles of the English Civil War: A Solitaire Wargame 1 4 4 67
Birds of Prey: Air Combat in the Jet Age 1 4 4 67
Cataclysm: A Second World War 1 4 4 67
Close Action: The Age of Fighting Sail Vol. 1 1 4 4 67
D-Day Dice (Second Edition) 1 4 4 67
Eastern Front Solitaire 1 4 4 67
Endurance 1 4 4 67
Five Parsecs From Home: Solo Adventure Wargaming 1 4 4 67
Freeman’s Farm 1777 1 4 4 67
Great Battles of Julius Caesar: Deluxe Edition 1 4 4 67
Historia 1 4 4 67
Keep’em Rolling: 1944 – Race to the Rhine 1 4 4 67
Napoleon at Leipzig (Fifth Edition) 1 4 4 67
None But Heroes 1 4 4 67
PONY SOLDIERS: A Solitaire Game of Soldiering during the Plains Indian Wars (1865-1890) 1 4 4 67
Redvers’ Reverse: The Battle of Colenso, 1899 1 4 4 67
Sammu-ramat 1 4 4 67
Set Sails for Glory: A Solitaire Game of Naval Adventure during the Age of Nelson 1 4 4 67
Sicily II 1 4 4 67
Spearhead 1 4 4 67
Star Wars: Imperial Assault 1 4 4 67
The Day Was Ours: First Bull Run (July 21, 1861) 1 4 4 67
The Desert Fox: Rommel’s Campaign for North Africa April 1941-December 1942 1 4 4 67
The Great Game: Rival Empires in Central Asia 1837-1886 1 4 4 67
The Royal Navy 1 4 4 67
The Western Front: 1914 to 1918 1 4 4 67
Twilight Struggle 1 4 4 67
Valley of Tears: The Yom Kippur War, 1973 1 4 4 67
War at Sea (Second Edition) 1 4 4 67
War in the Pacific (Second Edition) 1 4 4 67
Waterloo Solitaire 1 4 4 67
We Are Coming, Nineveh 1 4 4 67
World War Africa: The Congo 1998-2001 1 4 4 67
Aces of Valor: A Solitaire Game of World War I Aerial Combat 2 4 2 102
Charlemagne, Master of Europe 2 4 2 102
Churchill 2 4 2 102
Conflict of Heroes: Eastern Front – Solo Expansion 2 4 2 102
Enemy Coast Ahead: Operation Chastise – The Dambuster Raid 2 4 2 102
Gato Leader 2 4 2 102
Lock ‘n Load Tactical: Heroes of the Nam 2 4 2 102
Phantom Fury 2 4 2 102
Plains Indian Wars 2 4 2 102
Warfighter: The WWII Pacific Combat Card Game 2 4 2 102
Wooden Ships & Iron Men 2 4 2 102
Red Flag Over Paris 3 4 1.33 113
7th Fleet: Modern Naval Combat in the Far East 1 3 3 114
Ardennes ’44: The Battle of the Bulge 1 3 3 114
Aurelian: Restorer of the World 1 3 3 114
Beyond Valor: ASL Module 1 1 3 3 114
Codeword Cromwell: The German Invasion of England, 8 June 1940 1 3 3 114
Flashpoint: South China Sea 1 3 3 114
Gettysburg (125th Anniversary Edition) 1 3 3 114
Hellenica: Story of Greece 1 3 3 114
Heroes of Normandie 1 3 3 114
Infamy, Infamy! 1 3 3 114
Kido Butai: Japan’s Carriers at Midway 1 3 3 114
Königsberg: The Soviet Attack on East Prussia, 1945 1 3 3 114
Lock ‘n Load Tactical: Solo 1 3 3 114
Modern Spearhead 1 3 3 114
Mosaic: A Story of Civilization 1 3 3 114
Mound Builders 1 3 3 114
Pacific War: The Struggle Against Japan, 1941-1945 (Second Edition) 1 3 3 114
Panzer: The Game of Small Unit Actions and Combined Arms Operations on the Eastern Front 1943-45 1 3 3 114
Poland Defiant: The German Invasion, September 1939 1 3 3 114
Prague: The Empty Triumph 1 3 3 114
Red Storm: The Air War Over Central Germany, 1987 1 3 3 114
Roads to Gettysburg 1 3 3 114
Russia Besieged: Deluxe Edition 1 3 3 114
Soldiers of Glory: An Epic Game of Swashbuckling Adventure during the 1600s. (2014) 1 3 3 114
Squad Leader 1 3 3 114
Stuka Leader 1 3 3 114
Target For Tonight 1 3 3 114
Task Force: Carrier Battles in the Pacific 1 3 3 114
The Barbarossa Campaign 1 3 3 114
The Barracks Emperors 1 3 3 114
The Hardest Days 1 3 3 114
This War of Mine: The Board Game (2017) 1 3 3 114
Walnut Grove 1 3 3 114
Winter War: The Russo-Finnish Conflict 1 3 3 114
Almoravid: Reconquista and Riposte in Spain 1085-1086 2 3 1.5 148
Islands of the Damned: Wake Island and Peleliu 2 3 1.5 148
ONUS! Traianus 2 3 1.5 148
A Spoiled Victory: Dunkirk 1940 1 2 2 151
Advanced Squad Leader: Starter Kit #3 1 2 2 152
Ancients I 1 2 2 153
Bag the Hun 1 2 2 154
Belisarius’s War: The Roman Reconquest of Africa, AD 533-534 1 2 2 155
Bios: Genesis 1 2 2 156
Black Orchestra 1 2 2 157
Chickamauga: The Last Victory, 20 September 1863 1 2 2 158
Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel! – Kursk 1943 1 2 2 159
Dark Ages: Heritage of Charlemagne 1 2 2 160
Dark Blue Defection (fan expansion for Red Storm) 1 2 2 161
Death of an Army: Ypres 1914 1 2 2 162
Expedition: Northwest Passage – HMS Terror Edition 1 2 2 163
Fortes fortuna iuvat: Plinius adversus Vesuvium 1 2 2 164
Here I Stand 1 2 2 165
Imperial Struggle 1 2 2 166
Israeli Independence: The First Arab-Israeli War 1 2 2 167
La Bataille de Mont Saint Jean 1 2 2 168
Malta Besieged: 1940-1942 1 2 2 169
Midway Solitaire 1 2 2 170
Naval Thunder: Battleship Row 1 2 2 171
Pacific Subs 1 2 2 172
Panzergruppe Guderian 1 2 2 173
Panzers Last Stand: Battles for Budapest, 1945 1 2 2 174
River Rats: PBRs and PCFs in Vietnam 1 2 2 175
SPQR (Deluxe Edition) 1 2 2 176
Scream, Aim, Fire! 1 2 2 177
Steel Wolves: Germany’s Submarine Campaign Against British & Allied Shipping – Vol 1 1939-43 1 2 2 178
The Fall of Rome 1 2 2 179
The Library of Napoleonic Battles (OSG) 1 2 2 180
Undaunted: Battle of Britain 1 2 2 181
Wolfpack: Submarine Warfare in the North Atlantic, 1942-44 1 2 2 182
Commands & Colors: Ancients 2 2 1 183
1989: Dawn of Freedom 1 1 1 184
278th Squadron “The Same 4 Cats”: SM79 Damned Hunchback 1 1 1 184
8th Air Force 1 1 1 184
Air Force 1 1 1 184
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice 1 1 1 184
Assault on Vimy Ridge: A Solitaire Wargame 1 1 1 184
Battles of Normandy: A Solitaire Wargame 1 1 1 184
Beaches for the Brave: A Solitaire Wargame 1 1 1 184
Blue vs. Gray 1 1 1 184
Brothers at War: 1862 1 1 1 184
Canadian Crucible: Brigade Fortress at Norrey 1 1 1 184
Cedar Mountain: Prelude to Bull Run, August 9, 1862 1 1 1 184
Chariots of Fire: Warfare in the Bronze Age, 2300-1200 B.C. 1 1 1 184
Cradle of Civilization 1 1 1 184
Cross of Iron: A Squad Leader Gamette 1 1 1 184
Death in the Trenches: The Great War 1914-1918 (Second Edition) 1 1 1 184
Disaster on K2 1 1 1 184
Great Battles of History (GMT Games) 1 1 1 184
Hell Hath No Fury 1 1 1 184
Hornet Leader 1 1 1 184
Imperium: Legends 1 1 1 184
Invaders from Dimension X! 1 1 1 184
Iskra 1 1 1 184
Nemo’s War: The Ultimate Edition 1 1 1 184
Norway 1940 1 1 1 184
O’Group: Wargames Rules for Battalion Size Actions in WWII 1 1 1 184
Pax Pamir 1 1 1 184
Pax Viking 1 1 1 184
Rebel Fury 1 1 1 184
Root: The Clockwork Expansion 1 1 1 184
SAS: Rogue Regiment 1 1 1 184
The Battle of Wakefield: Yorkshire, England 30 December 1460 1 1 1 184
The Blitzkrieg Legend: The Battle for France, 1940 1 1 1 184
The Chosin Few 1 1 1 184
The Lost Expedition 1 1 1 184
The Punic Wars: Rome vs Carthage, 264-146 B.C. 1 1 1 184
Tinners’ Trail 1 1 1 184
Typhon sur le Pacifique 1 1 1 184
Victory in the Pacific 1 1 1 184
War of 1812: Solitaire Travel Game 1 1 1 184
Washington’s War 1 1 1 184
Wilson’s Creek: The West’s First Fight, August 10, 1861 1 1 1 184
World War I: 1914-1918 1 1 1 184

 

 

 


The results of our 2024 survey can be found here:


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Brant G

Editor-in-chief at Armchair Dragoons

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