Hi Zilla. I was a rules editor and playtester of this delightful game, and your impressions are dead on. This is definitely NOT an along-for-the-ride B-17 clone; this has more in common with those wargames (thinking of Jon Southard's Carrier or Tokyo Express games or any of the oeuvre of John Butterfield) that are, in essence, two player games with highly intelligent AI bots. If you've played Butterfield's RAF you'd have a good primer as to how this game plays. Finally, Legion did a superb job with the game's materials and Gina Willis, the designer (and a winner with co-author Gerry White) of this year's CSR award for Skies Above Britain, is an absolute peach of a person ... the nicest designer I've ever worked with.
Good to know on the agency and development, Smecty, thanks for sharing! That was my sense as I've been looking through things and it's good to hear that it's in line with the development intent. It really seems like a unique and deep game. :)
@@ZillaBlitz Since agency comes up frequently in discussions of this and other pure-solitaire wargames, a few comments: Yes, I think there's as much agency as I could reasonably pack into this game, given the constraints of the role you're playing (naval commodore), and the nature of age-of-sail warfare. So the agency you have pertains to high-level decisions -- primarily about where to deploy your ships, what missions to give them, and (when the enemy appears) whether to seek or avoid battle. During battle itself, you chose a Tactic, which is more like an overall battle plan that your counterpart might have explained to his ship commanders in a prebattle council of war aboard the flagship, or via signal flags. But most of the agency in combat belongs to the side that has the Weather Gage (i.e., the better wind position, which in game terms just means that at any given point either you have the initiative or the enemy has it). A very important decision in battle is when to press your luck and keep attacking, pursue, etc., or to take a partial victory and wait for perhaps a better opportunity another day. But ... as Nelson (?) once said, "Nothing is certain in a sea fight." So one has to accept a BIG role that luck can play in this game, too -- not just the way a dieroll falls, but specific game conditions like weather or sickness that can throw your plans out the window.
I think the concept of "player agency" nowadays has fallen into the realm of buzzwords and overused terms used only to make the writer sound savvy. In other words, it's overrated, in my humble opinion. Many superb ”strictly solitaire” games from the past decade are subject to being skewered for lack of "agency" according to today's current meta/mob mentality. But they're great games nonetheless.
Zilla, You have once again outdone yourself. Not only with how you were able to get the gist of the game just by skimming through the rules/components, but also at the speed with which you were able to do all that and put together an outstanding video which conveys the concepts in a short and understandable format. I heard from Gina and she said "He explained and introduced the game better than even I could have" of which there is no higher praise. Your videos remind me of a story I heard once that an episode of Gilmore Girls has twice the dialogue as your typical one hour show because the pace of the conversations were so quick, and yet highly entertaining. Thank you, Randy Lein Legion Wargames
Thanks for the kind words, Randy! I'm glad that you and Gina feel that the video captures the spirit of the game, as that's one of the goals with these. It was a fun video to make. I also must add that that's the first time I've ever been compared to the Gilmore Girls. I'll have to go watch an episode now. I don't think I've ever seen one. Thanks again!
Zilla, you have some of the best board game videos on YT; I really appreciate your thoroughness and enthusiasm. I ordered this game a few days ago. I had a preorder a long time ago but cancelled it, thinking that Glorious Chance might never see the light of day. I'm glad it has!
I think the rulebook really reflects her vision too. I think this is a game you can set up and start to play right away, working your way through the sequence of play as you learn.
I just realized that (talking about Gina Willis). I love the game Skies Above Britain too and just to see that they both have the same designer could be a winner to take this game. Very good point also is to be possible just to read the first pages to setup the game and start learning while playing. This is typical from other solitaire games and I like it
Yes, I know the learning element for Skies Above Britain is supposed to be marvelous, and I get a sense that the "learn as you play" element to this game is intentional as well. I think she puts a lot of thought into how people learn the games she designs.
Thanks for bringing this game to my attention. Didn't have it on my radar. Plus ... it's a solo game. Have had a long standing interest in the 1812 conflict. But all unboxings or playthroughs of other games I've watched didn't resonate with me. This might be a game changer.
I'm glad the video was helpful! One of the things that really appeals to me is that it's a MEATY solo game, with a nice long arc to it. I hope you enjoy it if you do pick it up. :)
Thanks for this one, although for a different reason. The educational possibility is striking. I grew up less than an hour from the lake shore. In school, the War of 1812 was treated as little more than an historical footnote. Mention of Fort Niagara, sure. The roles played by Charlotte (outside of Rochester), as well as Sodus (likely Sodus Point), nothing. Vague references to Oswego, sometimes. Sacket's Harbor? Known today as nothing more than the entry to 1,000 Islands State Park. I learned more New York history from this video than I did from all my years in NY classrooms.
I love games that teach history (which is one of the reasons I enjoy wargames/conflict sims). I do think this would be a marvelous game for someone who lives in the area. There is a bibliography in the back of the game too, for the sources used in making the game. The 'ol game/book combo would be a fun pair for this one. I should have looked up a book to read with it. :)
@@GinaInCA Great! Thanks for the suggestion! I'll add it to the description. I should have thought of that before I made the video. I love book-game combinations. :)
Hoorah for Oswego, the Ol' Hometown! Seen at time marker 24:30! An excellent summary and intro to the game; clear, concise, relevant highlights, engaging. Thank you!
There are so few games whatsoever, about the War of 1812. And the few I have encountered really gloss over the history and details. This sounds fascinating. I'm not a huge naval buff, but I used to *love* AH's Wooden Ships and Iron Men. While it seems pretty rules-intensive, it also seems like the developers did a good job making the game as playable and easy to learn as possible. All good signs I think this game is going on my list!
Yes, I think that the game's complexity will be manageable by following the sequence of play, and that you can jump right in and start to play by setting up and following it. I'd also add that the game's operational level is huge, with lots of victory points to be picked up outside of the ship-to-ship tactical level encounters. Really feels like there are two equal halves to the game.
You so intrigued me with this presentation, I have to get a copy of this game. Well done. Please, keep up the quality of your reviews; few do it as well as you. As a solitaire player (I'm retired, but my playing buddies still work), I really am grateful for insights into solitaire systems.
Thanks very much for the kind words! If you decide to pick up the game I hope you enjoy it! I'm looking forward to playing, but have a fairly large backlog still in front of it. Slowly but surely we'll get there. :)
@@ZillaBlitz, best of luck with that backlog. I estimate I still have 15 years of games to play in my house (I kid you not) so I understand your dilemma.
First, great video. Thanks. Second, this looks like a gorgeous, well-designed game that I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. As a long-time wargamer, grognard if I dare say, my days of struggling through such complex systems are now far behind me. Solo or not.
Not every game is for everyone, no shame in that. It's great that we live in a time where there is such variety of choice. I remember a time when there were, like, a half dozen solo games out there. :)
Yep, and that's kind of my hope with these. To paint a picture of the game so people can make informed decisions. Nothing worse than buying a game, opening it up, and five minutes later realizing it's not for you. Or missing out on a great game because you couldn't get good information on it. :)
OK, this one is odd, in that being a SOLO game, the unboxing didn't tell me much about it. I mean, I've played a bunch of wooden ship games--but mostly two players--so you know what it is when you are looking at a new one. But since this is SOLO, it's all buried in the charts and boxes and rules, so there was no real feel for what actually happens. So I sure hope you DO play at least one turn of this in your new studio to show us more! That said, you DID pique my interest with the mention of all the various things you can do from refitting to reloading etc. So all those decisions, as you mentioned, should add to the player agency and make YOU the deciding factor of if you win or lose, rather than just luck of the dice.
Thanks for the video. There seems to be a lot in the box for this game. I am a bit confused about the scale. There seems to be an operational and strategic component as well as land battles, but you say it is a tactical naval game. Interested to see you play it to see the mechanics.
It's more of an operational game and tactical naval game combo, I think. The land combat is abstracted and simplified. Basically you make a bunch of operational level decisions that sometimes lead to tactical encounters, which you then fight out on the tactical board. In case it helps, I talk a bit more about that at 3:33 in the video. :)
No worries at all! It's easy to miss stuff, and I agree, it'd be helpful to see gameplay. I've got a lot of prior video commitments to complete, however, so I won't be creating gameplay video for this. I will be playing it, however, and will likely share thoughts in some format. :)
Hoping you respond to a request: Please play Give Us Victories (Chancellorsville) using the Solitaire module. Solitaire hex-and-counter games are rare. This one is said to be good but no one is playing it using the bot. Please be the first. Love your channel.
Hi Dale - I'm glad you're enjoying the channel! Give Us Victories looks like fun but I committed to a lot of review projects earlier in the year and until I get through those I'm not taking on new projects. I'd love to be able to play them all. I will add it to my list to check out when I've caught up. Thanks! :)
My growing anxiety as these superb solo games enter the market month after month is in realizing how little time I have remaining to get my money's worth from them all. I'm 60 and fully intend to live to see 100. But even the next 30+ years won't be enough time, I suspect. Not if I keep buying new games in the future, that is.
Yes, I can understand that, for sure. I'd argue that it's really independent of age, though, right? I mean, it's always a good idea to be buying what you can play no matter how old you are. :)
Nice comment. It just sounds like me ... and I just turned 67. Wargaming brothers in arms ... ;-) I always remind myself that both my grandfathers died (of accidents) age 94. My mother died 2 months ago age 95. So I aim at age 94.5 for myself. One can tell I'm a wargamer. Thinking in odds, numbers etc. *laugh* But then my dad died at age 50 ... Hmmm ...Brain goes into maths mode ... Just can't help it. One doesn't roll 6's all the time.
@@ZillaBlitz Yeah, but the swelling angst is in looking at my collection of all the midweight to heavy games I haven't played yet, plus anticipating all the weighty games I'll undoubtedly buy during the next decade at least (now including 'Glorious Chance'), the question isn't in being unable to play them due my ageing, but rather, having enough years left to play them, due to my ageing! :)
Looks very cool. I like your observation about interesting decisions v. along for the ride. I could see it becoming overwhelming with the number of choices also being the number of things to remember. I will be very curious to see how it plays.
I think it's very much a "follow the sequence of play" type of game, in both the operational and the tactical phases. And both of those places seem well thought out, so I think it might be a relatively straightforward game to play. We'll see!
@@ZillaBlitz A solitaire game with an AI like this will almost inevitably have a pretty structured sequence of play in order to make the A I work properly. So, one fundamental principle is to do exactly what the step tells you to do, exactly when it tells you to do it. While the sequence may seem long and detailed to some, keep in mind that in many (if not most) turns you end up skipping many parts of it and a turn can actually be quite short.
Great stuff, thank you! Additionally, I think the rules have done a great job of leveraging that system to make it possible to just jump right in and start playing. The middle portion of the rulebook feels very much like a comprehensive sequence of play, guiding you through the game's systems and decision forks. Once you get comfortable there, you can shift to the sequence of play on the map, and refer back to the book for details you may have forgotten or are still learning. The big thing, I think, is that it makes the game more accessible and more likely to get to the table, because you can start playing (albeit slowly at first) pretty much right away.
@@ZillaBlitz This may be off topic, but it directly applies to this conversation. Heart of Darkness is not complex step by step, but everything has mods and special cases such that even after numerous replays, I still find myself referring to the rulebook during every step of the game turn, just to make sure I'm not missing anything. Plus, every time I read the rules I find something major I wasn't quite doing right. Many times, after all the work of die rolls and chit draws, I'm left wondering why this is so involved. Much the same effect could be accomplished with one step, not three, or five. I know that you like Mr. Kanger as a designer, but he did a poor job with this one.
I do hope Legion Wargames is giving you a cut because you just made a sale for them. I am Canadian and always been fascinated by the War Of 1812. This look’s a bit like my old game from the 80’s War Of 1812 which is now upgraded by Columbia Games I believe
Haha! No, no cut for me, but I hope you enjoy the game! From all your comments on other videos, I do think you might really enjoy this one. I'm very curious to hear how you like it!
That's a good question. To me it's probably more than just complexity. Smoothness of play matters, and does the game feel like it's moving on. Some complex games are awesome, as all the rules impact gameplay positively. Others have complex mechanics that don't add much to the game. So it's really more of a blend of smoothness, complexity, fun, and efficiency? Probably a few more things if I really think about it. :)
