@@ZillaBlitz Amazing to me, even now, that a genius of Napoleon's caliber could make such a huge miscalculation. What a huge waste of a once-in-a-lifetime military force!
Good to hear about the gameplay, thanks! And yeah, the devastation on both sides is unreal to imagine. I mean, Napoleon pretty much lost his entire army. What a nightmare.
Really happy with you doing this overview Mike, clear on everything. And honored by all the love for the art. Quick note, player aids are not identical (minor but important differences in the resource phase) so both players should consult their appropriate player aid.
Vuca games are so pretty. I love the hidden elements to this game those are always fun. One day I'll bite the bullet and dive into Red Strike. Keep making great content man! Much appreciated!!
I really like the look of the Vuca games. I'm looking forward to your gameplay video Mike. I really want to buy and play a game in the Napoleonic time period, but I#m not sure which one.
It's been really fun to explore a bunch of games in this era. 1812, Bonaparte's Eastern Empire, 1807 Eylau, I Napoleon. At some point I'll have to do a comparison video after playing them all. :)
I think this game has a great potential for two-fisted solo play, but the intent is to see what happens, re-enact, and understand. Winning is the result, not the object. You role-play what the historical commanders might do. If it's a coin toss, just toss a coin (or roll a cie). Games that are heavily hidden information, like many submarine games, can be considered not worth the effort (coincidentally, they make great solitaire games). This could be a very fun game to play solo because it looks like it would be easy to keep track of where you are in the turn, and the elegant brevity of the rules eases the load when trying to keep everything together.
After pushing pieces with this game for the past few days, my conclusion is clear: it is a tense and excellent game. I will have my first 2-player game next weekend, so I will get to find out if my conclusion is clear. I"m very excited to play this; and hope for other opponents after the vassal module comes out.
Napoleon would just take the capitol of his enemy (Vienna, Berlin,Madrid...) then sit back and they would surrender. But the Russians..... They never surrender. Apparently the most successful military commander in the history of man (98% success rate) failed to realize this.
I agree that it is playable solitaire, and have played it twice solo. But, I think the solitaire experience is much more limited because in 2-person games there are a lot of possibilities for surprising and ambushing your opponent due to the unknown information and cards.
Oh, but that's good to hear that it's playable solitaire, thanks! I can definitely agree it's designed for 2 though. We played a 2-player learning game and the fog of war was really fun.
I bet someone could figure out something, but I get a sense that a big part of the game is the confusion you can create with deceptive orders and the ambiguity about troop size in areas. Feels like that Fog of War, so to speak, is an integral part of the experience. Having said that, I'll likely give it a shot solo, as I'll learn the game that way. :)
That's how I played it a number of times. Plus, I selected battle cards and placed them in a separate deck and house-ruled which leaders can draw and play them (inspired by Hearts & Minds solo). It creates OK results, and it's good as a simulation. But the FoW is so intense in a 2-player game and a solo play realy lacks that.
Thanks for doing this video on my game 😊
My pleasure, Brian, thanks for making the game!
The artwork on the map and cards are superb. Another great overview!
It's gorgeous, isn't it. They produce such good-looking stuff. :)
That's a very ambitious project; covering Napoleon's whole campaign? Wow! Vuca has the goods, if anybody does.
Great video, as usual!
I'm curious to see the arc of play on that campaign game. I can imagine Napoleon returning with 1 or 2 Strength Points. :)
@@ZillaBlitz Amazing to me, even now, that a genius of Napoleon's caliber could make such a huge miscalculation. What a huge waste of a once-in-a-lifetime military force!
Personally I think this is the definitive game on this topic. I’ve played the full campaign and the intro scenario and it really sings.
Good to hear about the gameplay, thanks!
And yeah, the devastation on both sides is unreal to imagine. I mean, Napoleon pretty much lost his entire army. What a nightmare.
Really happy with you doing this overview Mike, clear on everything. And honored by all the love for the art. Quick note, player aids are not identical (minor but important differences in the resource phase) so both players should consult their appropriate player aid.
Oh, good to know on the Player Aids, that's very helpful, thanks! And I'm glad you liked the video. :)
Vuca games are so pretty. I love the hidden elements to this game those are always fun. One day I'll bite the bullet and dive into Red Strike. Keep making great content man! Much appreciated!!
I feel like they have the best understanding of a color palette of any publisher, so elegant to play. And thanks!
The art design of this game looks extraordinary.
Good review.
Thanks! It's such an elegant design. :)
Great looking game, stellar preview Zilla! Thank you much
Thanks Erich! And thanks for stopping in. :)
I really like the look of the Vuca games. I'm looking forward to your gameplay video Mike. I really want to buy and play a game in the Napoleonic time period, but I#m not sure which one.
It's been really fun to explore a bunch of games in this era. 1812, Bonaparte's Eastern Empire, 1807 Eylau, I Napoleon. At some point I'll have to do a comparison video after playing them all. :)
I think this game has a great potential for two-fisted solo play, but the intent is to see what happens, re-enact, and understand. Winning is the result, not the object.
You role-play what the historical commanders might do. If it's a coin toss, just toss a coin (or roll a cie).
Games that are heavily hidden information, like many submarine games, can be considered not worth the effort (coincidentally, they make great solitaire games).
This could be a very fun game to play solo because it looks like it would be easy to keep track of where you are in the turn, and the elegant brevity of the rules eases the load when trying to keep everything together.
Yes, this could work. I did something similar for Chase of the Bismarck and it worked surprisingly well.
After pushing pieces with this game for the past few days, my conclusion is clear: it is a tense and excellent game. I will have my first 2-player game next weekend, so I will get to find out if my conclusion is clear. I"m very excited to play this; and hope for other opponents after the vassal module comes out.
Yes, we had a great time exploring 2-player a week or so ago. I want to play again soon. :)
Awesome review.Thank you so much.
Seem like a great game.Would love to play at two t 00
Thanks, glad you liked it. :) I should be getting it to the table soon, I'm particularly interested in seeing how the attrition works.
This is a beautiful and well thought out game. Thanks for the overview.
My pleasure! :)
Looks like a unique game, which is refreshing. A bummer it’s not good for solitaire, so I must pass. Thanks for this great overview.
Definitely a lot of fresh thinking involved in this one, and yes, the 2-player experience is most assuredly the strongest experience too. :)
First class map, counters, cards...and campaign, sounds great!
Going to be giving this a learning game tomorrow. :)
Napoleon would just take the capitol of his enemy (Vienna, Berlin,Madrid...) then sit back and they would surrender.
But the Russians..... They never surrender.
Apparently the most successful military commander in the history of man (98% success rate) failed to realize this.
Yeah, it's wild that they burned Moscow to prevent Napoleon from using it.
@@ZillaBlitz you are correct sir
I agree that it is playable solitaire, and have played it twice solo. But, I think the solitaire experience is much more limited because in 2-person games there are a lot of possibilities for surprising and ambushing your opponent due to the unknown information and cards.
Oh, but that's good to hear that it's playable solitaire, thanks! I can definitely agree it's designed for 2 though. We played a 2-player learning game and the fog of war was really fun.
I wonder if the solo system from Stuka Joe can be applied to this game🤔...
I bet someone could figure out something, but I get a sense that a big part of the game is the confusion you can create with deceptive orders and the ambiguity about troop size in areas. Feels like that Fog of War, so to speak, is an integral part of the experience. Having said that, I'll likely give it a shot solo, as I'll learn the game that way. :)
That's how I played it a number of times. Plus, I selected battle cards and placed them in a separate deck and house-ruled which leaders can draw and play them (inspired by Hearts & Minds solo). It creates OK results, and it's good as a simulation. But the FoW is so intense in a 2-player game and a solo play realy lacks that.
Will you ever show a game vs an opponent?
Ideally, yes. Practically, it's challenging for a lot of reasons.
@@ZillaBlitz Well, if you ever need an opponent for this (or some others that you might want to review, just contact me.
How does it play solo, if at all?
I talk about that in a few places in the video, but with the hidden movement and units, it's not very well suited to full solitaire play.
Love Romanticist period ART since I was young, which is a long time ago. Haven't seen this one in a very long time..if memory serves me
Vuca really does take games to the level of art. :)
@ZillaBlitz ty ..but I was serious, the picture behind you is pre- impressionist and Romanticist art
Ah, now I get it! Sorry, I didn't realize you were referring to the image in the background. :) Now it makes more sense to me. :)