I always look forward to your videos Andrew, and the theatrical start was a fun treat. Oscar too. You are unfailingly eloquent, but also to the point on all the games you review. I recently learned, by the way, that the American city, Cairo is pronounced “KAY-RO” by locals. A little bit of USA trivia you can use to impress our friends in the UK. Great work as always!!
Thanks so much, Alan, and lovely to hear from you as always :) I had good fun doing this video, and I think it's only the second time I've dressed up! Thanks very much for the heads-up regarding "Cairo" too. I will remember that, and see if I can change the culture here, as I think most Brits say "Cairo" like it's the Egyptian one lol.
Hi Andrew, thanks for bringing this one back to life. For me it's one of the rare examples of the game in one area (sea) where other elements are abstracted (land) yet still working fine 😀 It's an under-rated gem, I need to get it to the table again. BTW, I've created a player aid for the game as well, available in the files section on BGG. For me rules could use some improvement.
My pleasure, and thanks very much for the feedback 😀 I am surprised this game is not more popular, given the theme and massive replay potential. Much appreciate you pointing out your player aid too - I know what you mean about the rules, I am still scratching my head over some of the generals...
I have the game and it is fun to play. Not overly complex and not too simple. In civil war games the naval warfare is usually limited to rivers. This game covers the blockades and oceanic aspects of naval strategic operations of the civil war plus covering some land aspects of the conflict as well. I have Iron and Oaks as well which I enjoyed playing. Ironic as the games did not get particularly good reviews on BGG.
Yes, this is one of the rare ones that scratches all of my Civil War naval itches at one go, and the Iron & Oak option just makes it all the sweeter. Like you, I feel they were a bit hard done by in some reviews, although I must admit to having some rules related headaches with this one when I first got into it. Certainly rewards the effort, though.
Andrew, Many thanks. This certainly looks like a good game. Quite possibly one that lends itself to being educational for someone with my limited knowledge. Looking forward to play through. Enjoy the rest of the day, Doug
Hi Doug, Hope all's well, and lovely to hear from you. I shall bring this one up with me in March along with 'Iron & Oak' and we can give both a spin! Hope you enjoyed the play through. All Best Wishes, Andrew
This looks like something dad and I would have loved if it had come out a couple of years earlier. (The listing I found online said it came out in 2013 and he passed away in late 2011). We were both always more interested in sea or space focused strategy and tactics games then land combat focused ones and the US Civil War was one of the periods of history we were both very interested in. Edit: No Frigates on the ship type listing on the back of the rulebook. That makes absolutely no sense given the era.
Thanks very much for sharing that. Is a shame about your dad missing out on this one - I am the only gamer in my family and I think it's great that you had him as a regular player. Having the same interests is a bonus too :) The lack of frigates is curious. It is not addressed in the designer's notes, but my feeling is he probably decided to subsume them into the screw sloop category. It does them a bit of a disservice. I'll have a look at the Union card deck again and see if any of the named ships are frigates. The Confederates have CSS Gaines, which converts a gunboat into an ironclad for the duration of one battle. Maybe the Union has something similar as a way of sneaking frigates in.....
@@andrewchoong2895 Of course the Confederates also have CSS Virginia which was a scuttled Steam Frigate rebuilt as an Armored Warship. Ship classification in the steam era got kind of weird because there were a lot of Steam Frigates that didn't come close to having enough guns to be a Frigate under the late 18th and Napoleonic era Sailing ship classification rules. While Virginia had fewer guns then the original pre scuttling design she had more then some Steam Frigates.
I recall people mentioning this game became a hit in Russian wargamer circles years ago, and expressing confusion as to why. I expect it was probably just due to someone translating the rules or essentials for it and spreading between groups. Just an interesting side note I suppose.
That is very interesting. I feel I should be surprised, but I can't explain why as I know nothing about the Russian wargaming scene 🤣 I expect you're right about the translation element but for some odd reason I never expected them to find the ACW interesting...
Odd that you are interested in the same games as I do. Last year I had huge fun with Iron and Oak from GMT. I even 3D printed most ships from that game, I also immediately saw the potential of this strategic game you now show and play it along with Iron and Oak with rules combining these games. A pity these 2 gems are out of print.
I'll flatter myself it's great minds thinking alike 😄 Glad you've been having such a blast with Iron & Oak. I'm taking both of these games up with me when I travel to see a gaming buddy in March, and hoping he'll enjoy them too. Both of them could really do with a reprint, something I might petition GMT Games about - a two games in one special edition, perhaps??
What a cool idea for a game
I always look forward to your videos Andrew, and the theatrical start was a fun treat. Oscar too. You are unfailingly eloquent, but also to the point on all the games you review. I recently learned, by the way, that the American city, Cairo is pronounced “KAY-RO” by locals. A little bit of USA trivia you can use to impress our friends in the UK. Great work as always!!
Thanks so much, Alan, and lovely to hear from you as always :) I had good fun doing this video, and I think it's only the second time I've dressed up! Thanks very much for the heads-up regarding "Cairo" too. I will remember that, and see if I can change the culture here, as I think most Brits say "Cairo" like it's the Egyptian one lol.
Hi Andrew, thanks for bringing this one back to life. For me it's one of the rare examples of the game in one area (sea) where other elements are abstracted (land) yet still working fine 😀 It's an under-rated gem, I need to get it to the table again.
BTW, I've created a player aid for the game as well, available in the files section on BGG. For me rules could use some improvement.
My pleasure, and thanks very much for the feedback 😀 I am surprised this game is not more popular, given the theme and massive replay potential. Much appreciate you pointing out your player aid too - I know what you mean about the rules, I am still scratching my head over some of the generals...
This look’s like a game made for you, you really enjoy naval games
It certainly pushes a lot of my buttons 😁
Oh this looks for sure like it’s for the old wishlist. Excited to see your demo.
Thanks very much! I fear I'm coming back to this rather late, but ope you enjoyed the demo :)
I have the game and it is fun to play. Not overly complex and not too simple. In civil war games the naval warfare is usually limited to rivers. This game covers the blockades and oceanic aspects of naval strategic operations of the civil war plus covering some land aspects of the conflict as well. I have Iron and Oaks as well which I enjoyed playing. Ironic as the games did not get particularly good reviews on BGG.
Yes, this is one of the rare ones that scratches all of my Civil War naval itches at one go, and the Iron & Oak option just makes it all the sweeter. Like you, I feel they were a bit hard done by in some reviews, although I must admit to having some rules related headaches with this one when I first got into it. Certainly rewards the effort, though.
Andrew,
Many thanks. This certainly looks like a good game. Quite possibly one that lends itself to being educational for someone with my limited knowledge.
Looking forward to play through.
Enjoy the rest of the day,
Doug
Hi Doug,
Hope all's well, and lovely to hear from you. I shall bring this one up with me in March along with 'Iron & Oak' and we can give both a spin! Hope you enjoyed the play through.
All Best Wishes,
Andrew
Just finished watching the series. I very much look forward to giving it a go.
Many thanks,
D
This looks like something dad and I would have loved if it had come out a couple of years earlier. (The listing I found online said it came out in 2013 and he passed away in late 2011). We were both always more interested in sea or space focused strategy and tactics games then land combat focused ones and the US Civil War was one of the periods of history we were both very interested in.
Edit: No Frigates on the ship type listing on the back of the rulebook. That makes absolutely no sense given the era.
Thanks very much for sharing that. Is a shame about your dad missing out on this one - I am the only gamer in my family and I think it's great that you had him as a regular player. Having the same interests is a bonus too :)
The lack of frigates is curious. It is not addressed in the designer's notes, but my feeling is he probably decided to subsume them into the screw sloop category. It does them a bit of a disservice. I'll have a look at the Union card deck again and see if any of the named ships are frigates. The Confederates have CSS Gaines, which converts a gunboat into an ironclad for the duration of one battle. Maybe the Union has something similar as a way of sneaking frigates in.....
@@andrewchoong2895 Of course the Confederates also have CSS Virginia which was a scuttled Steam Frigate rebuilt as an Armored Warship. Ship classification in the steam era got kind of weird because there were a lot of Steam Frigates that didn't come close to having enough guns to be a Frigate under the late 18th and Napoleonic era Sailing ship classification rules. While Virginia had fewer guns then the original pre scuttling design she had more then some Steam Frigates.
I recall people mentioning this game became a hit in Russian wargamer circles years ago, and expressing confusion as to why. I expect it was probably just due to someone translating the rules or essentials for it and spreading between groups. Just an interesting side note I suppose.
That is very interesting. I feel I should be surprised, but I can't explain why as I know nothing about the Russian wargaming scene 🤣 I expect you're right about the translation element but for some odd reason I never expected them to find the ACW interesting...
Odd that you are interested in the same games as I do. Last year I had huge fun with Iron and Oak from GMT. I even 3D printed most ships from that game, I also immediately saw the potential of this strategic game you now show and play it along with Iron and Oak with rules combining these games.
A pity these 2 gems are out of print.
I'll flatter myself it's great minds thinking alike 😄 Glad you've been having such a blast with Iron & Oak. I'm taking both of these games up with me when I travel to see a gaming buddy in March, and hoping he'll enjoy them too. Both of them could really do with a reprint, something I might petition GMT Games about - a two games in one special edition, perhaps??
@ Super idea !