A Gest of Robin Hood has been out for nearly two months now, and both Fred and I are very pleased with how it has been received so far. It has been especially gratifying to see people enjoying the game with a wide range of friends and family, including young children and non-wargamers. One of our aims with the game was to make a relatively accessible entry point with a family-friendly theme, and it seems like it has been a resounding success in this regard. However, we know that not everybody is able to find a gaming partner all the time, and so I wanted to put together this short guide to playing the game “two-handed solo” (playing both sides to the best of your ability).

Like other COIN and Irregular Conflict Series games, A Gest of Robin Hood is already fairly well-suited to multi-handed play, as the cards are all open information (when drawn) and it is relatively easy to formulate a strategy for each side based just on the current board state. However, unlike most of these other games, A Gest of Robin Hood does feature a small amount of hidden information, and I’ve come up with a few tricks for handling these when playing by yourself. In collaboration with British Way designer Stephen Rangazas, Fred and I have also designed a set of “heroic and villainous personas”, which you can use to add some additional variation for either solo or two-player games.  

No, I’m Robin Hood!

In the two-player game, the location of the special Robin Hood piece is known only to the Robin Hood player (until it is revealed). When playing two-handed solo, you can instead make use of the spare Merry Man piece that comes with the game and proceed as follows:

1. At the start of the game, and whenever Robin Hood becomes Hidden, switch out the Robin Hood piece for the spare Merry Man piece. While Robin Hood is Revealed play proceeds as normal, but the moment Robin Hood becomes Hidden again, replace it with the spare Merry Man piece. This means that while Robin Hood is Hidden, any Hidden Merry Man might be Robin Hood.

2. When you are acting as the Robin Hood side and Robin Hood is not currently Revealed, you may elect to replace any Hidden Merry Man with the set aside Robin Hood piece before Revealing it. This allows you to use any Hidden Merry Man for Deeds and Events that require Robin Hood to be Hidden and then Revealed (provided that Robin Hood is currently set aside). The replaced Merry Man should then be set aside until Robin Hood becomes Hidden again (as above).

3. If the Robin Hood piece is still set aside when the last Hidden Merry Man on the board is revealed, immediately replace it with the Robin Hood piece (as above).

4. When you are acting as the Sheriff side and Robin Hood is not currently Revealed, any Merry Men that you Reveal has a chance of being Robin Hood. Use a spare d6, or assign odds to one of the Rob die, then roll separately for each Merry Men as it is Revealed:

• 6+ Hidden Merry Men on the map: 1-in-6 chance of the Merry Man being Robin Hood.
  • 3-5 Hidden Merry Men on the map: 1-in-3 chance of the Merry Man being Robin Hood.
  • 2 Hidden Merry Men on the map: 1-in-2 chance of the Merry Man being Robin Hood.
  • 1 Hidden Merry Men on the map: The last Hidden Merry Man is automatically Robin Hood.

If the die result indicates that a Merry Man is Robin Hood, immediately replace it with the Robin Hood piece (Revealed), and set the Merry Man aside until Robin Hood becomes Hidden again (see point 1 above). Include the Merry Man currently being revealed in the total number of Hidden Merry Men, and update the odds as more Merry Men become Revealed. Remember, you should only roll to see if a Merry Man is Robin Hood the moment that the Sheriff Reveals it!

5. If an Event would force Robin Hood to become Revealed, assign equal odds to all Hidden Merry Men and roll a die to determine where Robin Hood currently is, then switch out that Merry Man for the Robin Hood piece (Revealed).

These rules have advantages and disadvantages for both sides. The Robin Hood side has the advantage of deciding where Robin Hood actually is as and when necessary, but the disadvantage that the Sheriff might stumble across Robin Hood in an inconvenient position at any moment. The Sheriff has to deal with the possibility that any Hidden Merry Man might be Robin Hood (just the same as in a two-player game), but also has the potential for any Patrol Plot to uncover Robin Hood if they get lucky. This should preserve some of the thrill and uncertainty for both sides while playing two-handed solo.

Design Note: Thematically, we could imagine that “Robin Hood” is more of a title or folkloric mascot than a real person, akin to “Ned Ludd”, the mythical leader of the 19th-century Luddites. Any Merry Man can become Robin Hood when necessary, but the whole group suffers if the figure claiming this title is captured (or even if the Sheriff just makes a convincing claim to have captured him).

What’s in My Carriage?

The second piece of hidden information in the two-player game is the type of Carriage that the Sheriff places when Confiscating. Fortunately, this one is very easy to resolve: simply shuffle the Carriage counters together and place a random one (without looking at it) each time you Confiscate when playing as the Sheriff side. This might seem like a disadvantage for the Sheriff, but it will help to maintain suspense, and you also might be surprised by how often random selection is actually the optimal move in simple games of deception (see e.g. https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-game-theory-math-behind-rock-paper-scissors-20180402/).  

Design Note: Thematically, the Sheriff only has limited control over what kind of goods his henchmen will seize when he sends them out into the Parishes, which he will only find out when they arrive back in Nottingham or he receives word of an attempted robbery.

Heroic and Villainous Personas

Finally, we’ve put together a set of heroic and villainous Personas, inspired by the Faction Personas designed by Stephen Rangazas for The British Way: https://insidegmt.com/faction-personas-for-the-british-way/

You can use these Personas for added variety in either two-handed solo or two-player games, or as an additional challenge for one player in two-player games. At the start of the game you can choose a Persona for either or both sides, or assign Personas randomly. Each Persona has two conditions for receiving “Persona Points” (PP), which you can track with Shillings on the Royal Favour track (moving towards Justice for Robin Hood and towards Order for the Sheriff). If the game ends early with an automatic victory, award both sides one additional PP for each unplayed Ballad (so +1 PP if the game ends early with one unplayed Ballad, +2 PP if the game ends early with two unplayed Ballads).

The winning side only achieves a major victory if they also have 5+ Persona Points, and the losing side only suffers a minor defeat if they have 5+ Persona Points. Personas therefore offer an additional way of assessing victory and defeat for both sides, as well as adding in some extra narrative flavour and forcing you to adopt new strategies.

Three Personas for each side are listed below, but they can also be downloaded in a printable format here: https://gmtwebsiteassets.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/AGestOfRobinHood/Gest_Personas.pdf

Robin Hood Personas

• Foco Theorist: Robin Hood is a charismatic revolutionary, leading the struggle from hidden forest camps.
  • +1 PP every time you perform the Inspire Deed.
  • +1 PP at the start of each Royal Inspection if there are at least two Camps in Forests (including Ollerton Hill).

• Social Bandit: Robin Hood is a man of the people, stealing from the rich to give to the poor.
  • +1 PP every time you use Recruit to place at least one Camp in a Parish.
  • +1 PP at the start of each Royal Inspection if the number of cards in the Victims pile is less than or equal to the current Ballad number (1/2/3).

• Lollard: Robin Hood is a heretical proto-protestant, advocating anti-clericalism and swearing a vow of poverty.
  • +1 PP every time you add a Monk or Bishop to the Victims Pile.
  • +1 PP at the start of each Royal Inspection if you have less than six Shillings.

Sheriff Personas

• Law and Order: The Sheriff is pursuing a strict policing strategy to crack down on the criminal elements plaguing Nottinghamshire.
  • +1 PP every time you perform the Disperse Deed.
  • +1 PP at the start of each Royal Inspection if there are more Merry Men in Prison than on the map.

• Hearts and Minds: The Sheriff is a just ruler who only wants to maintain order in Nottinghamshire.
  • +1 PP every time you use Hire to set at least one Parish to Submissive.
  • +1 PP at the start of each Royal Inspection if there are no Camps in Parishes.

• Enclosure of the Commons: The Sheriff is a proto-capitalist reformer, aiming to improve Nottinghamshire’s archaic economic system.
  • +1 PP every time you perform the Confiscate Deed.
  • +1 PP at the start of each Royal Inspection if you have more Shillings than Robin Hood.

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Article images were taken by Scott Mansfield.