Love your content and how your reviews are not generic unboxing videos with vague statements like almost every other war game channel out there. Your in-depth commentary is so refreshing. What are your thoughts on the 1940 series vs the Dark series? There’s now 3 direct head to head comparison - Ardennes 44/Deadly Woods, Stalingrad 42 and Ukraine 43/Dark Valley, and Normandy 44/Dark Summer. If you only had to pick one series, which one would you prefer?
Thanks Chris! In terms of 1940 vs Dark, Dark is more of a game, whereas 1940 shifts the focus slightly more towards simulation. If you're playing face to face versus an opponent in a single sitting, the Dark series may be better, whereas the 1940 series is better for longer-term studies and deeper thinking.
@@WiseGuyHistory I have the same sort of thoughts. I own all of the 1940 series games, except for France 40 (waiting for that P500 reprint). It’s interesting how Deadly Woods was not published by GMT Games… wonder if they passed on it? That box art is pretty awesome!
Just re-posting here as I missed this: I probably don't have enough experience to pick a heavy title. I've played Race to Bastogne and it's great. I'm also about to play The Last Blitzkrieg [BCS] and I have A Time for Trumpets in the post. But it's been a long time since I played Bitter Woods, and I haven't played Wacht Am Rhein so I can't make good comparisons at this stage. There's a lot in the 'medium' complexity area, and here I love Ardennes '44 for a great mix of complexity and playability [mid-weight, while retaining some juicy decisions]. And while all the light games are fun, they never really capture the feel of the Bulge all that well. Honourable mention for John Butterfields Enemy Action: Ardennes, heavy complexity solo game that is a must have if you like detailed solitaire systems.
I have bought this game and found it enjoyable after 3 restarts. I initially missed the rule about the arrival of the airborne divisions and 24 hex road movement which is absolutely crucial to prevent the Germans taking the VP towns too quickly which brings about a bit of annoying immediate end to the game. I do like the chit pull system though.
Another great series Nathan. Re: German Greif marker... it is pretty useless to try and monkey with Allied reinforcements, I found it more useful to jam up the Allied frontline area, that is slowing up units trying to withdraw/reposition or being reinforced. The road movement rules jam up the Germans as much as the Allied traffic marker 😆
As much as I'm fascinated by Normandy, I think the Bulge setting makes for better games generally, so taking the same system and applying it to both, I think The Deadly Woods is more fun, but also prone to more swingy results because of the heavier impact of the chit-draw [so likely less fun for two-players].
Just out of nowhere, have you seen the movie “The Mummy” with Brendon Frazer? Watching this I kept hearing “Imhotep! Imhotep! Imhotep!” In my head (at least I hope it was in my head.)
Looking forward to getting this to the table at some point. Good shout about the exception sheet on BGG.
Love your content and how your reviews are not generic unboxing videos with vague statements like almost every other war game channel out there. Your in-depth commentary is so refreshing. What are your thoughts on the 1940 series vs the Dark series? There’s now 3 direct head to head comparison - Ardennes 44/Deadly Woods, Stalingrad 42 and Ukraine 43/Dark Valley, and Normandy 44/Dark Summer. If you only had to pick one series, which one would you prefer?
Thanks Chris! In terms of 1940 vs Dark, Dark is more of a game, whereas 1940 shifts the focus slightly more towards simulation. If you're playing face to face versus an opponent in a single sitting, the Dark series may be better, whereas the 1940 series is better for longer-term studies and deeper thinking.
@@WiseGuyHistory I have the same sort of thoughts. I own all of the 1940 series games, except for France 40 (waiting for that P500 reprint). It’s interesting how Deadly Woods was not published by GMT Games… wonder if they passed on it? That box art is pretty awesome!
Nice review as always
so if you could only have 3 bulge games one each of low medium and high complexity what are the 3 ?
Just re-posting here as I missed this:
I probably don't have enough experience to pick a heavy title. I've played Race to Bastogne and it's great. I'm also about to play The Last Blitzkrieg [BCS] and I have A Time for Trumpets in the post. But it's been a long time since I played Bitter Woods, and I haven't played Wacht Am Rhein so I can't make good comparisons at this stage.
There's a lot in the 'medium' complexity area, and here I love Ardennes '44 for a great mix of complexity and playability [mid-weight, while retaining some juicy decisions].
And while all the light games are fun, they never really capture the feel of the Bulge all that well.
Honourable mention for John Butterfields Enemy Action: Ardennes, heavy complexity solo game that is a must have if you like detailed solitaire systems.
I have bought this game and found it enjoyable after 3 restarts. I initially missed the rule about the arrival of the airborne divisions and 24 hex road movement which is absolutely crucial to prevent the Germans taking the VP towns too quickly which brings about a bit of annoying immediate end to the game. I do like the chit pull system though.
Another great series Nathan. Re: German Greif marker... it is pretty useless to try and monkey with Allied reinforcements, I found it more useful to jam up the Allied frontline area, that is slowing up units trying to withdraw/reposition or being reinforced. The road movement rules jam up the Germans as much as the Allied traffic marker 😆
Thank you for another great review. Which one was more enjoyable for you to solo, the Dark Summer or the Deadly Woods?
As much as I'm fascinated by Normandy, I think the Bulge setting makes for better games generally, so taking the same system and applying it to both, I think The Deadly Woods is more fun, but also prone to more swingy results because of the heavier impact of the chit-draw [so likely less fun for two-players].
Just out of nowhere, have you seen the movie “The Mummy” with Brendon Frazer? Watching this I kept hearing “Imhotep! Imhotep! Imhotep!” In my head (at least I hope it was in my head.)
A looooong time ago, I had to go re-watch some clips to remind myself :-D
Terrific, as usual. Great stuff.