Great introduction to the game. A small note; I think you misunderstand the Confederate reinforcement rule that you address at around 22:00. The Confederate player can elect to hold a reinforcement for a turn, after which it is eligible to enter by road, whether or not a unit has previously entered at that reinforcement point off road. Definitely comes in handy for Mumasberg.
Good vid Gilbert. I agree on Bowens rules. He creates rather novel abstractions and gives you a very accurate but unintuitive explanation. Makes his games hard to learn. I like that Bowen produces command situation sims, rather than historical situation sims.
Excellent job. Thank you! It is indeed a very deep game crammed into those 13 pages. I actually prefer to face the same situation/decisions as the historical figure. My first game the Union had both of Hancock's units eliminated and no other units had arrived yet. As a game that's rough, but as a simulation of the situation as it was on the day it's beautiful.
Looks like he dodges some of the bits of Napoleon's Triumph that bother me, for instance the different handling of artillery. Thanks, I may give it a try.
realism: 1. you do not know what is ahead of you.. the artillery a division and you do not know who is coming to link up with you so one sees it pretty much as a HQ would see it..( no crystal ball ) Simmons has made the confederates "Blind" due to no-cav. The Union seems to have awareness out there ( proof of the way the Union's Blocks can go road movement right now without penalty etc.) Mechanics of combat is ridiculously simple almost comic at first. Be warned this is a faint.. Simmons has added terrain symbols and other mechanics that complicate combat. This game is not a simulation game.. it is a "what-if & whats next" type of game. I am still trying to learn this game.. never been swung around by a game mechanic as this GoG by B. Simmons. Board Game Geek subscribers have been above and beyond helpful and fantastic in explaining with great detail on how to play GoG etc. This game is easy simple almost comic with everything being divided in the sum of "3" with few tokens etc,, but then all hell breaks loose with the terrain, the length of the turn duration, whats on the field, whats is and is not comming onto the field and of course what is the enemy going to do next? Thats it... this game is hard and very stressful to learn because B. Simmons has created a new mechanic that needs a very open mind with patience and virtue. I refuse to give up on this game. C.S.
Oh Gilbert... what have you done to me sir! I busted my brains learning this game and watched your vid again and again lol. I finally made videos on this game and in my vids I made alot of mistakes (playing solo on video makes one prone to that) but thankyou for this video it was a great help sir!
@Spqr I'm glad you liked the video, but the funny thing is, I don't even own a copy of the anymore. Friends and I tried it out several times and there was much about it that we liked. The 'moving time record thing' was brilliant and other concepts. Fantastic map. But in the end it was 'not the Gettysburg' game for me. I missed having named leaders and a more accurate order of battle. I missed the artillery battalions and I thought the combat was too even. You lose a step, I lose a step etc...This designer (Bowen now Rachel) really thinks outside the box. But sometimes the 'old ways' are still the best. An innovative design for sure but of all her designs I only have "Bonaparte at Marengo" left. I will be doing in the near future my 'grail' game of Gettsysburg after many years of search.
Hey Enrico! I don't even own the game anymore so that might give you an indication of how I eventually felt about it after playing it a few times. My friends and I found the combat ultimately disappointing. Definitely a case where a 'die' makes it more exciting. The map is gorgeous but even the terrain interpretation is deterministic. The designer has decide on what terrain is important and what the fields of fire are. Amazing research to be sure. But, ultimately not a very exciting game. No commanders, no named artillery and and Order of Battle that is neither division nor Corps. It just didn't grab me in the end. The 'variable front' idea and the sliding turn record was a brilliant idea though.
Have you ever seen a video of calandale? ;) Personally I prefer this informal and casual style. It's like a friend is explaining the game to me. The video ist not meant to be shown on TV.
I appreciate the video, you may want to try writing out a script and practicing so you have fewer "ums" in your speech. Additionally more examples and less "well get to it laters" would be nice. In any case thank you for making this video, this is the first heave war game I have bought, I haven't played it yet, and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on it.
Great introduction to the game. A small note; I think you misunderstand the Confederate reinforcement rule that you address at around 22:00. The Confederate player can elect to hold a reinforcement for a turn, after which it is eligible to enter by road, whether or not a unit has previously entered at that reinforcement point off road. Definitely comes in handy for Mumasberg.
Good vid Gilbert. I agree on Bowens rules. He creates rather novel abstractions and gives you a very accurate but unintuitive explanation. Makes his games hard to learn.
I like that Bowen produces command situation sims, rather than historical situation sims.
Excellent job. Thank you! It is indeed a very deep game crammed into those 13 pages. I actually prefer to face the same situation/decisions as the historical figure. My first game the Union had both of Hancock's units eliminated and no other units had arrived yet. As a game that's rough, but as a simulation of the situation as it was on the day it's beautiful.
Looks like he dodges some of the bits of Napoleon's Triumph that bother me, for instance the different handling of artillery. Thanks, I may give it a try.
Is combat deterministic? How does that affect the feeling of realism (if so)?
realism: 1. you do not know what is ahead of you.. the artillery a division and you do not know who is coming to link up with you so one sees it pretty much as a HQ would see it..( no crystal ball ) Simmons has made the confederates "Blind" due to no-cav. The Union seems to have awareness out there ( proof of the way the Union's Blocks can go road movement right now without penalty etc.) Mechanics of combat is ridiculously simple almost comic at first. Be warned this is a faint.. Simmons has added terrain symbols and other mechanics that complicate combat. This game is not a simulation game.. it is a "what-if & whats next" type of game. I am still trying to learn this game.. never been swung around by a game mechanic as this GoG by B. Simmons. Board Game Geek subscribers have been above and beyond helpful and fantastic in explaining with great detail on how to play GoG etc. This game is easy simple almost comic with everything being divided in the sum of "3" with few tokens etc,, but then all hell breaks loose with the terrain, the length of the turn duration, whats on the field, whats is and is not comming onto the field and of course what is the enemy going to do next? Thats it... this game is hard and very stressful to learn because B. Simmons has created a new mechanic that needs a very open mind with patience and virtue. I refuse to give up on this game. C.S.
This is an extremely superbe war game.
then help me learn this game! my word... im havn problems lol
Oh Gilbert... what have you done to me sir! I busted my brains learning this game and watched your vid again and again lol. I finally made videos on this game and in my vids I made alot of mistakes (playing solo on video makes one prone to that) but thankyou for this video it was a great help sir!
@Spqr I'm glad you liked the video, but the funny thing is, I don't even own a copy of the anymore. Friends and I tried it out several times and there was much about it that we liked. The 'moving time record thing' was brilliant and other concepts. Fantastic map. But in the end it was 'not the Gettysburg' game for me. I missed having named leaders and a more accurate order of battle. I missed the artillery battalions and I thought the combat was too even. You lose a step, I lose a step etc...This designer (Bowen now Rachel) really thinks outside the box. But sometimes the 'old ways' are still the best. An innovative design for sure but of all her designs I only have "Bonaparte at Marengo" left. I will be doing in the near future my 'grail' game of Gettsysburg after many years of search.
@@occc5943 look'n forward to that!
Hey Enrico! I don't even own the game anymore so that might give you an indication of how I eventually felt about it after playing it a few times. My friends and I found the combat ultimately disappointing. Definitely a case where a 'die' makes it more exciting. The map is gorgeous but even the terrain interpretation is deterministic. The designer has decide on what terrain is important and what the fields of fire are. Amazing research to be sure. But, ultimately not a very exciting game. No commanders, no named artillery and and Order of Battle that is neither division nor Corps. It just didn't grab me in the end. The 'variable front' idea and the sliding turn record was a brilliant idea though.
Have you ever seen a video of calandale? ;)
Personally I prefer this informal and casual style. It's like a friend is explaining the game to me. The video ist not meant to be shown on TV.
I have a question how do you find people in your area to play with?
i need a battlebuddy to help me play this damn game!
"we have these AREAS....we'll call them polygons for now" how about call them AREAS :"?? lol
In the rules they are referred to as 'Polygons'.
Thanks for the review. For the record, Bowen "Rachel" Simmons is not a he. boardgamegeek.com/image/1977572/bowen-simmons
At the time that this video was made Bowen Simmons was still publicly only known as Bowen Simmons.
I appreciate the video, you may want to try writing out a script and practicing so you have fewer "ums" in your speech. Additionally more examples and less "well get to it laters" would be nice. In any case thank you for making this video, this is the first heave war game I have bought, I haven't played it yet, and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on it.
It’s unfortunate this review continually refers to the designer as “he” when Bowen Simmons is a woman.
It's unfortunate that you don't have all the facts also.
Simmons is transgender.. born a man but is now a woman.
@@2000spqr So it is ..she..