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Great review man! Now I might get this. TAL is still my favorite, but this looks very promising as well! (That is, untill the mech based DVG comes out, so hyped!!)
I'm so used to DVG rule books over the years, I expected some issues with it. Fortunately I'm familiar with this era of naval warfare so I could guess most of the unanswered stuff correctly. Most. Still had fun with it. Rather enjoyed the submarine campaign I played, too, although much of it was my lone highly experienced SSN murderizing everything until a lucky enemy sub pummeled me near the end. Cake walk complacency into a pit trap. 😉 The CV expansion looks like it's almost a separate Leader game. Was also a bit bummed at how thin all the cards are. Was always worried about accidentally bending them. Penny sleeved so they don't get chipped so easily but still gotta be a bit careful.
I Kickstarted Spruance but I'm yet to get it to the table. I was sorting through the components last night and it struck me that compared to the other games in the leader series (or at least those I own) that Spruance is a challenge in terms of effective storage.
Good and honest review. I got the game, but have waited to play it so that the errata was cleared up which the designer has done through the amended rulebook. Dean Brown like Greg Smith is active on BGG and is responsive to the many questions asked about their games (Mr. Smith's rulebooks can be similarly confusing too). You and others have given it high marks so I will play it soon. Thanks Wayne. P.S. Have you ever played B-17 FFL?
Funny you should mention Corsair Leader, I got that not long ago and indeed struggled a bit with the organization of the rulebook and some missing details. Spruance Leader should arrive by next week, so it's good to hear that it is a really good game. It does remain very strange to me that they can't by now produce consistenly clear rulebooks for this series. It surprised me with Corsair Leader too, which certainly wasn't the first by a long shot (in its non-pnp fully published version). And then the whole kerfuffle about the errata pack and whatnot... It's that these games are so good that I'm willing to handle all the bits of errata and clarifications for these games, that seem completely unnecessary by this point. And no, "oh it's a wargame, all wargames have errata" doesn't cut it for me, not with this series. Anyway, looking forward to Spruance Leader! :)
The rule book problem occurs at the moment the rule book goes to Final and there are no fresh eyes/fresh testers reviewing the rules and game at that point. These issues that Wayne points out would have been caught at this stage. I know this because I spent three years in managing this stage of computer game testing and rule book editing. We would catch similar mistakes. DVG doesn't have a process in place at this stage of the development process to catch these details.
I experienced that same rules problems with the Zero Leader game. Does DVG have anyone read their rulebook (besides the designer/developer) before sending it to print? (The obvious answer is no.)
The rulebooks were posted on the Facebook site for review by everyone for a while before they were sent to the printer. I did get some great feedback and made some clarifications.
I think you're being a little too critical with the rulebook. This game isn't going to be learned immediately. I will get my game in the mail in a couple of days, and I have read the errata, and all 130 questions on the rules in BGG. I fully expect to pick this up and play, immediately, with NO issues. I do this for every game, even games far more complex than this.
Hey everyone! I hope you liked the video. If you did, I'd love to think I earned your subscription. It really helps me to get more of these great games to show off! You can also help by buying me a Coffee or 1/10th of a wargame at ko-fi.com/wargaminghansen OR subscribing to my Patreon: www.patreon.com/wargaminghansen OR making a one-time donation: paypal.me/wargaminghansen
The Warfighter Fantasy Rulebook says...
'Hold my beer'.
Great review man! Now I might get this. TAL is still my favorite, but this looks very promising as well! (That is, untill the mech based DVG comes out, so hyped!!)
I'm so used to DVG rule books over the years, I expected some issues with it. Fortunately I'm familiar with this era of naval warfare so I could guess most of the unanswered stuff correctly. Most. Still had fun with it. Rather enjoyed the submarine campaign I played, too, although much of it was my lone highly experienced SSN murderizing everything until a lucky enemy sub pummeled me near the end. Cake walk complacency into a pit trap. 😉 The CV expansion looks like it's almost a separate Leader game.
Was also a bit bummed at how thin all the cards are. Was always worried about accidentally bending them. Penny sleeved so they don't get chipped so easily but still gotta be a bit careful.
I Kickstarted Spruance but I'm yet to get it to the table. I was sorting through the components last night and it struck me that compared to the other games in the leader series (or at least those I own) that Spruance is a challenge in terms of effective storage.
It comes with a TON of content. You definitely get a long of bang for your buck with DVG’s games.
Yes, on point review. I believe the action tokens were more meant for the sub expansion.
Good and honest review. I got the game, but have waited to play it so that the errata was cleared up which the designer has done through the amended rulebook. Dean Brown like Greg Smith is active on BGG and is responsive to the many questions asked about their games (Mr. Smith's rulebooks can be similarly confusing too). You and others have given it high marks so I will play it soon. Thanks Wayne. P.S. Have you ever played B-17 FFL?
I owned B-17 FFL, then got rid of it before I tried it. Definitely regret it, I think I would like the game.
Funny you should mention Corsair Leader, I got that not long ago and indeed struggled a bit with the organization of the rulebook and some missing details. Spruance Leader should arrive by next week, so it's good to hear that it is a really good game. It does remain very strange to me that they can't by now produce consistenly clear rulebooks for this series.
It surprised me with Corsair Leader too, which certainly wasn't the first by a long shot (in its non-pnp fully published version). And then the whole kerfuffle about the errata pack and whatnot... It's that these games are so good that I'm willing to handle all the bits of errata and clarifications for these games, that seem completely unnecessary by this point.
And no, "oh it's a wargame, all wargames have errata" doesn't cut it for me, not with this series. Anyway, looking forward to Spruance Leader! :)
The rule book problem occurs at the moment the rule book goes to Final and there are no fresh eyes/fresh testers reviewing the rules and game at that point. These issues that Wayne points out would have been caught at this stage. I know this because I spent three years in managing this stage of computer game testing and rule book editing. We would catch similar mistakes. DVG doesn't have a process in place at this stage of the development process to catch these details.
SL is a blast once you have the rules down, I think you'll enjoy it Jeroen.
I experienced that same rules problems with the Zero Leader game. Does DVG have anyone read their rulebook (besides the designer/developer) before sending it to print? (The obvious answer is no.)
The rulebooks were posted on the Facebook site for review by everyone for a while before they were sent to the printer. I did get some great feedback and made some clarifications.
I get annoyed by rulebooks that don't follow the the sequence of play.
I think you're being a little too critical with the rulebook. This game isn't going to be learned immediately. I will get my game in the mail in a couple of days, and I have read the errata, and all 130 questions on the rules in BGG. I fully expect to pick this up and play, immediately, with NO issues. I do this for every game, even games far more complex than this.
You should never have to leave the rulebook to learn a game. The fact that there is a new edition of the rulebook shows some issues.