I've played this game since it arrived in November and those dice have consistently managed to be the biggest obstacle in the game. I'm convinced they're designed by Cobra. The only thing I've found that helps are the cards that allow you automatic hits combined with re-rolls. And you can't even count on the dice for that. I've failed difficultly four missions with 11 dice and two re-roll cards. Mind you, I absolutely love this game and won't stop playing, but my wife has heard me drop f-bombs more than once.
@Jason Baldwin lol I think you nailed it ... dice were designed by cobra! I'm not much "home-brew" rules, but for this one I think for every mission failed, the team should get a "reroll any number of dice" on a future mission token. That may help with the f-bombs. :)
@Gwyndon I hope you have paced yourself into Marvel Champions and not got it all at once! After 2 years of releases, thats a big shipment to see all at once!! And yeah, as a kid, I was all about GI Joe, Superman, and Spiderman (and as an adult, that really hasn't changed except now there are so many more IPs and heroes in that list) :)
@@DaletheCasualGamer Haha! I did get it all at once (except for Galaxy’s most wanted can’t find it in stock), still waiting on the shipment to arrive. Going to take is slow and play it in progression order though going to enjoy the game.
@@Gwyndon this is what I did. I mostly play around deckbuilding with each hero and am still fighting the first three villains from core. Soon I'll move into red skull.
Thanks for this vid. It was really helpful to see a walkthrough in addition to what happens on those cards with the threat meter color on them. The rule book mentions them in the scenario they walk through but I think there’s a misprint in it. I like playing what the threat level calls like you do.
@RT Nightmare The rulebook could definitely been better. Even for setup when it stated shuffle the main deck, it didn't exactly explain what that was, along with some other misprints and mistakes, even in the walk through. But ... I'm good with "my interpretation" of the rules. :) Happy gaming!!
Finally played my first game yesterday, solo, and this video helped me a lot. Thanks! The game manual is a disaster, so I skipped it altogether and just watched this.
Thank you so much for the video. I love G.I.Joe and was excited to play through the game. Your video answered some questions I had, like the missions stay until you complete them, however long t takes etc. Great video, well done. Thank you for that sir.
Thanks for the set up and playthrough, just found out about this game, and after watching your video, think I'll pull the trigger and purchase. Looks like a mix of the GI Joe and Shadowrun TCG from the early 2k and late 90s respectively, with a few new mechanics added.
@D. W. I loved the GI Joe TCG. Too bad it didn't last very long. My daughter and I played a lot of that game! Hope you like this deck building game. Actually played a 3 player game earlier tonight on mission 2 ... successful!! :)
There is one mistake at the beginning you need to be aware of, when he played muskrat he should have used his ability and rolled 5 dice to get hits before assigning more joes. Always remember to activate any joes abilities when you play them! Knowing is half the battle! 🇱🇷
Thanks for the playthrough. I've had my eye on this one for a while since pre-order days. It's got me seriously considering getting it now. Big joe fan back in my youth.
@ J Atkinson. Same here. Aside from Magic the Gathering I’ve played no other card game and bought this strictly because of my love of Joe. And I must say I’m pleasantly pleased with the game. I’ve only played it solo but imagine it would be grand with a friend as well.
@Srrkato For me, I've enjoyed this game best at 3 and 4 players. For solo deck builders, I prefer Star Realms (Frontiers expansion), Ascension, and Hero Realms with the campaign packs (Ruin of Thandar & Lost Village). Hope that helps, and happy gaming!
Looks like I’m getting another game. Not sure about the dice, me and dice do not get along. What size sleeve for the mission cards? I’m kinda a nerd I sleeve all my cards. ThanksDale sharing the game.
Careful some are also "Tarot" sized. i.e. "give or take a few" This guy does playthroughs and he doesn't know what a Tarot size is? o.o That means you've either missed some great games (Like, the very BEST solo an' co-op ones OR worse, you are some heathen that doesn't sleeve! xD
@jacoobb Oddly enough, my top 5 really hasn't changed much since my last video. I'll probably get some heat for saying this, but Aeons End has dropped and Touch of Evil: Dark Gothic has probably taken it's place at #4. While I keep playing more deckbuilders, they are really going to have to be something great to take out my top 3 of Marvel Legendary, DC Deck Building and Star Realms. I do like GI Joe multiplayer, but it's not going to make it into the top 5 (and after 5 many games are so close it would be hard for me to put in an order that wouldn't be different on a daily basis). :) What's your top 3?
Hi Dale! Quick question - in minute 44:09, Scuba Gear drew two cards and stayed in hand (and then used its recruit points) but in minute 53:21, after drawing two cards, you put it back in the discard pile (and then didn't count towards your recruit points). What's the reasoning behind these two scenarios? Thanks so much!
Hey Dale! Started playing this and love it although rulebook is terrible. What’s considered a “hit”? A success or just a dice roll (whether is successful or not)? Rulebook uses “hits” under both successes and failures but looks like it’s supposed to mean an actual success?
@Debbie Agreed, the rulebook needs some help. And with the way I roll dice, I need some help. ;) A "hit" would be a star on the dice, and some cards will give you "hits" which would count as the same. My the dice roll many Hits for you. :)
I just wanted to mentioned that in the early parts of the game, you didn't destroy your starter joe cards on your successful missions thanks to their own effect of "you may destroy this card if it's in a successful mission." 2 cases of that are 23:00 and 25:51. I didn't know if you were waiting to buy better cards before removing them from the deck or something, but I wanted to share that before I forget.
@Daniel Schaublin Thanks for watching! You do lose the recruitment points for that round, and both of those rounds I would have lost the opportunity to get "the better" cards in the line-up. Hope that helps, while I do tend to forget, I needed the money. :)
Hi Dale (Dave :)) I have a question that the rules didn't explain well and I am not sure if this was crossed in your example play (I watched twice - playing blood bowl 2 while watching so I could have missed it). It is in reference to terrain type. Deep Six has a ship terrain type of +2 wild skill. If the active Story Mission is Decode Cobra's Secret Message (which has the ship terrain type); does Deep Six get this bonus? So if attacking with a skill type of +5? A friend of mine thought that you had to have a transport that also had the ship type (e.g. SHARC which has the ship terrain type). I do understand on the SHARC text for the ship bonus of +2 Tech you would need someone like Cutter who is a Tech Joe. I apologize for the wordy question and I hope it makes sense. Happy New Year and look forward to seeing more videos in 2022.
@Kip Kelley I didn't see anything in the rulebook, and can see it going either way ... but I think I was playing it he had to be on that type of transport, but honestly, makes sense if that's in the mission too. As I may have mentioned, the rulebook could have been better. Good luck in Blood Bowl! :)
@@kipkelley8658 I saw the Dice Tower did a top 10 list for "Games that are worth the effort". Thoughts being, long games, setup times, and ... bad rule books. Made me think of this game.
Absolutely love your content, Dale! 🔥 I know Marvel Champions is your fav so I'm curious - for first-time deck-building gamers (both solo and multi), which one would you get - GI Joe or Marvel Champions? (Nostalgia aside 😁) PS: Can we request a GI Jane expansion? 😉
@Debbie Camacho-Franco Thanks for watching, and Easy ... get both and yes, definitely request a GI Jane expansion! ;) I consider Marvel Champions to be a "deck construction" game, as you create the deck and it stays the same throughout that game play, where GI Joe, I consider a "deck building game" as you start with a basic deck and will be adding better cards to it as you play the game (and hopefully removing most of the starter cards). So for many these are two different styles of games ... and I generally prefer "deck building" because I'm not a fan of making constructible decks. And yet I prefer Marvel Champions over many true deck builders. Between those two games, and getting only the core set, I think it really goes to your favorite IP to get new people more interested. If the IP doesn't matter, with just the core games, I think Marvel Champions is a better game system and it has so many expansions to choose from and hopefully get one of your favorite Marvel Characters. Tough choice! :) Other Deck Building games I enjoy are Marvel Legendary, the DC Deck Building Game, and Star Realms. Hope that helps and have a great new year!! :)
@@DaletheCasualGamer Well that was easy indeed - two Amazon boxes will be arriving this weekend ;) Thanks so much for your insight and for the quick turnaround/response - you're incredible! Wishing you a fantastic 2022 and see you on the next video!
I come to your channel a while back learning to play Pathfinder. Then you got me in to Marvel Champions and I bought it all…now today you drop this. Come on Dale I’m broke lol jk game looks great!
@Duane Barth Haha! For normal sized cards, my preference is Dragon Shield clear matte sleeves. A bit on the expensive side, but I love the way they feel, and have had no tearing/ripping issues while playing, or re-sleeving. Merry Christmas, and Happy Gaming ... and New Years. :)
@@DaletheCasualGamer Dragon Shield really IS the Top Shelf! Their storage solutions are also excellent. i'm not sure what you would do with all the cardboard bits n' extras though. :3
I’m liking this game more and more even though I have less than 0 interest in the GiJ franchise. Not enuf dice but the RNG mitigation is wonderful as are all the economies. The game flow is swift with just enough thinky bits. Maybe it will bog down in three acts with normal difficulty but so far I’m seeing all counting up as one of its more amusing mechanics. Multiplayer is an evenings commitment no doubt. The threat meter is suggestive, but I nit pick. The only thing missing somewhat are scenarios. Considering the press/plays/content they generated dropping this gem at the end of the year I’m optimistic about expansions. … So, this is Christmas. Under the tree there are boardgames, expansions, warm socks, cat/dog toys everywhere and a pile of nifty gear (More dice indeed!). In a few hours I get to do this all again and also snow. It’s a good thing. Thank you for a wonderful year of content. From all of us here to all of you there, we wish you the happiest of holidays and the most successful of New Years.
@JJE McManus Playing multiplayer, the game can run long for my personal tastes ... but GI Joe, and deck building, I'm a bit biased to like it. :) Hope you keep the cats under control, and have a great Holiday!! :)
@@DaletheCasualGamer Then the ice arrived. Dog angry. Took a bath for NOTHING. Thank heavens for MCDB. I’m occupied all day. Christmas should a two day affair anyway.
@Sam Wolverton I've got 4 or 5 plays in, but only one multi-player game, and for me, I think I'm going to like the game more multi-player. Getting only 2 missions was concerning, but the way the other 6 cards are randomly put in the missions, it doesn't seem too bad. As always, I am typically biased to like deck building games, and GI Joe was a big thing for me as a kid, so the game is a bit nostalgic. The Hangar mechanic seems very thematic, and while I do like the dice, I think the 50% success does put a lot of weight on getting lucky. A keeper for now. Anxious to see what expansions will add to the game. :)
@@DaletheCasualGamer because one of the dice is worth two, its slightly higher than 50%. I like to think of it as of 7 possible hits/misses on the dice, 4 are hits. 4 out of 7 slightly favors us Joe's. At least it doesnt favor cobra. 😁
At around 18:00, I spent to upgrade the leader, removed the initial card from the game and placed the upgrade on top of the deck. That's the way I believe the process works. Hope that helps!
Thank GOD for you! :D Sorry, but i just recently got G.I. JOE: Mission Critical and a friend wants me to run the G.I. JOE RPG for his toy stream soooooooo yeah, i could use a break from Renegade's rules documents. For like, *EVAH.* xD
@Patrick Sayet The number of turns will vary depending on how you are able to deal with the threat track. Completing certain missions can reduce threat. Hope that helps, and happy gaming! :)
@ActionHeinz I only played Venom Assault solo and only with the core box. Reminded me a bit of Legendary. I heard it really shined with the expansion. For me GI Joe wins, but probably just from my trip down memory lane and fun I had with the toys and cartoons as a kid. I feel both games needed more dice mitigation. GI Joe did feel more thematic, but then again, I did like the map and different locations to visit in Venom Assault. So now if they would just merge the two games together and call it GI Joe II ... I'd be happier. :)
This game is much better than Venom Assault. Thematically, VA is fun but there we so many missions where the villain at the location required “x dice of value y+” to win. After choosing a location and unveiling the bases’ reinforcements, the goals would make the win condition impossible (I.e., 5 dice of 7+) with standard six-sided dice. So frustrating.
@ 13:26 Deep Six ain't goin' in that V.A.M.P. man. You're *dreaming!* xD Deep Six might possibly be the least "action" "action figure" ever made. TWO points of articulation and one CHONKY, CHONKY lad.
@Michael Wages For me, neither one really shines over the other. I do think GI Joe runs better as a solo game, but with that said, I do think both are going to be better multi-player games, and will both benefit from at least one expansion. GI Joe wins the nostalgic trip down memory lane though. :)
@@DaletheCasualGamer They’re both nostalgic trips for me :). Since I haven’t taken War Machine or the Hood for a swing yet in Champions I’ll probably just stick with Transformers for now, but I’m keeping an eye on Joe.
I think I like this game better in true solo. I wish one could manipulate the deck more by being able to remove from game cards other then the G.I but all in all, true to the theme and flows well after getting a better grasp of the rules. Rulebook is so bad one would not believe.
Dice mitigation talk... any ideas/thoughts on how to overcome the high degree of randomness due to bad dice luck (which result in failed story missions)?
@Debbie Camacho-Franco I haven't heard or seen any variants to deal with that. I wish one more side of the dice had another hit. Maybe use regular dice until a good variant comes out and a 6 counts as a double hit, 3 through 5 as a single hit, and 1 and 2 a blank. That's all I have for now. But I don't know if that would take the game in the other direction of too easy. I'm used to dice betraying me, so there's that. :)
@Dale the Casual Gamer Fantastic, thank you! Love your outlook on dice betraying you - will keep an open mind about it and pretend we're in Vegas then 😎. Solo Board Gaming Knight also had a positive spin [no pun intended] to it in his review at minute 24 (e.g. by using the appropriate abilities, it raises your chances of getting a successful roll). Got it delivered today btw game night it is :)
Yes. Stop sucking at the game *in general.* Also, stop blaming non-extant "randomness" on your LACK of experience. Sorry. This is NOT a power fantasy for you. Move the fuck on!
@@biglew031 & Dale. My Fault for the bad info. I was thinking the card said target player, in that case you would be able to target yourself. However Target teammate, a player other that yourself self. When I made the comment I did not double check the rules. 🙃
@Cyntia Miller I was looking for that too ... I always remember him being team leader in my missions with the toys. :) Rock and Roll was 2nd in command for me. :)
@@DaletheCasualGamer You know, I really resist "house rules" to make games easier, but in this case, I'm thinking of something like you get free reroll token or something similar every time you defeat a Story Mission or Officer, or maybe append the text of the Service Rifle to include "Discard to reroll blah, blah..". Or maybe, option to take a free reroll token instead of doing a -1 on the Threat Meter when you get them. Or just replace a miss side on the dice with a single hit. Anything. Being unable to remove a Cobra Battalion with a 8+ dice roll.....TWO TURNS IN A ROW...is nuts. Kinda ruins an otherwise cool game experience. BTW, I am a generally absurdly lucky dice man.
@@popmon6446 Bwahahaha! Feel my dice rolling pain!!! I like the "free dice roll token" idea. Maybe for every failed mission, the party gets a token type of thing. Great ideas!! :)
Dale... you need to just leave... get out... we don't need your videos showing us more stuff... I have no room... no room I say... so stop it and get out..
