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Author Topic: Best Strategic Civil War Board Game  (Read 14095 times)

bbmike

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Reply #15 on: September 04, 2020, 09:35:36 PM
DO IT!

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BanzaiCat

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Reply #16 on: September 04, 2020, 09:44:55 PM
I dood it :(

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bbmike

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Reply #17 on: September 04, 2020, 10:52:41 PM
 :bigthumb:

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Achilles

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Reply #18 on: September 19, 2021, 03:39:10 PM
I used to play War Between The States, long ago and enjoyed it. I have acquired For The People more recently and found it very accessible and fun, without the time and space investment. Some of the other games mentioned here seem interesting too so I will need to check those out.



Boyerwulf

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Reply #19 on: September 24, 2021, 09:40:29 AM
  In my humble opinion For The People is the best Strategic Civil War Game ever.

 It is number one, playable. It does not get bogged down in rules minutia, and abstracts a lot of things like the Blockade, River Control, etc. While not a beer and pretzel game, it is not so complex as Mark Hermans other card driven game Empire of the Sun.

 The game just really captures the feel of the CIvil War, helped much by it's card driven system which adds much flavor. The map being point to point also does a great job of simulating the logistics, and chokepoints faced by commanders at the time.

 Now Victory Games Civil War used to be my favorite and is still a great game in it's own right, especially with the updated community rules. But it  is a little more detailed, and not as easy to play over a few days. It really does do a great job with showing how important leaders were in battle, and showing how good corp commanders (Hood), do not necessarily make good Army commanders. Matter of fact I have hoarded 3 copies of this game I am so fond of it, and think it was the best game Victory Games put out( with NATO, and The Korean War close seconds).

 The new GMT Civil War I have not played much since it's initial release. It has since gotten updated rules. Two things that bothered me were the leader effects on battles seemed very minimal. Also the strict timeline of when commanders entered and left the game, seemed like something that could be gamed out by the player. As compared to the other two games where leaders can die (rarely) in any battle they participate in. I should revisit this game, but the other two being so damned good makes it hard to find the time.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2021, 09:42:55 AM by Boyerwulf »



Ardwulf

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Reply #20 on: September 24, 2021, 09:57:29 AM
The new GMT Civil War I have not played much since it's initial release. It has since gotten updated rules. Two things that bothered me were the leader effects on battles seemed very minimal. Also the strict timeline of when commanders entered and left the game, seemed like something that could be gamed out by the player. As compared to the other two games where leaders can die (rarely) in any battle they participate in. I should revisit this game, but the other two being so damned good makes it hard to find the time.

US Civil War's leader schedule was intended to directly address the demonstrable history of gaming the leader system in the predecessor games. (whether it succeeds at this is debatable.) Leaders might "rarely" die, but I've played games where Grant and Lee both end up dead - Grant in his first battle. It seems statistically improbable but you're making enough rolls that it happens with some regularity.

That aside, while I prefer US Civil War or VG Civil War for taste reasons, For the People is outstanding.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2021, 03:01:23 PM by Ardwulf »



BanzaiCat

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Reply #21 on: September 24, 2021, 10:08:30 AM
According to Gene's monthly GMT email that went out yesterday, the reprint of The US Civil War is at the printers now, but there's no release date yet.

they've been stymied like everyone else by the shipping glut outside of ports. I admit I had no idea what was up with that, so I went reading yesterday. I don't think the news sources even really know, themselves. (Gene talked about this briefly in his email.)


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Boyerwulf

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Reply #22 on: September 24, 2021, 10:15:43 AM
US Civil War's leader schedule was intended to directly address the demonstrable history of gaming the leader system in the predecessor games. (whether is succeeds at this is debatable.) Leaders might "rarely" die, but I've played games where Grant and Lee both end up dead - Grant in his first battle. It seems statistically improbably but you're making enough rolls that it happens with some regularity.

That aside, while I prefer US Civil War or VG Civil War for taste reasons, For the People is outstanding.


 
 While I have limited opportunity to play with them, I believe the community/unofficial rules tried to address those concerns of gaming the leader system.
 
https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/52068/unofficial-rules-revision

 You made me think of the fact that Grant was minutes away in May of 1864 from being captured by Mosby's Raiders, when he was taking an unguarded train back from Washington DC to his HQ during the Overland Campaign. It's a what if like that, that makes us play wargames. Obviously as you note many players try to game the system. So it is up to the designer to make it difficult to game, while at the same time leaving that element of chance. Not an easy thing to do.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2021, 11:01:16 AM by Boyerwulf »



bayonetbrant

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Reply #23 on: September 24, 2021, 10:21:45 AM
[quote author=BanzaiCat link=topic=2417.msg78239#msg78239 date=1632492510they've been stymied like everyone else by the shipping glut outside of ports. I admit I had no idea what was up with that, so I went reading yesterday.[/quote]

 :waiting:
https://www.armchairdragoons.com/news/global-shippings-impact-on-tabletop-gaming/

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BanzaiCat

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Reply #24 on: September 24, 2021, 12:24:13 PM
I hardly ever read my own articles!  :)

Also, DVG recently announced a 'General Lee Leader' type game. Can't find a link to post; saw it in their FB thread.

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W8taminute

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Reply #25 on: September 24, 2021, 02:38:32 PM
Oh, no! Don't never mind! Good question and it will be interesting to hear thoughts about it.
As for me, I have this on P500 order: GMT The US Civil War, 2nd Printing

I own this game and like it a lot.

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Ardwulf

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Reply #26 on: September 24, 2021, 03:08:09 PM
You made me think of the fact that Grant was minutes away in May of 1864 from being captured by Mosby's Raiders, when he was taking an unguarded train back from Washington DC to his HQ during the Overland Campaign. It's a what if like that, that makes us play wargames. Obviously as you note many players try to game the system. So it is up to the designer to make it difficult to game, while at the same time leaving that element of chance. Not an easy thing to do.

Definitely. It's a tough design decision; US Civil War chose to use the locked schedule, but lots of folks felt that sucks flavor out of the game and creates a situation which is not necessarily less "game-able". I avoid the question by liking both games; US Civil War is much more streamlined without losing much detail except with the leader system.



bbmike

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Reply #27 on: September 24, 2021, 03:26:30 PM
According to Gene's monthly GMT email that went out yesterday, the reprint of The US Civil War is at the printers now, but there's no release date yet.

they've been stymied like everyone else by the shipping glut outside of ports. I admit I had no idea what was up with that, so I went reading yesterday. I don't think the news sources even really know, themselves. (Gene talked about this briefly in his email.)

If it's at the printer that's excellent news!  :bigthumb:

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-Sherlock Holmes

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ojsdad

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Reply #28 on: September 24, 2021, 06:42:20 PM
Unless the printer is in China. The backlog of ships waiting to offload in Long Beach and LA keeps growing.

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BanzaiCat

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Reply #29 on: September 24, 2021, 09:09:15 PM
Yeah, I think all their games come from China.

I saw yesterday the backlog is 62 ships right now at the LA port?  :o

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