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 subscribing to my Patreon: www.patreon.com/wargaminghansen OR making a One-time donation: paypal.me/wargaminghansen

One of your best overviews and reviews. Thanks, Wayne.

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

You're too kind Kirk. Thanks for watching and commenting.

Thank you for the very clear and informative overview and review! I also appreciate the extra touch of recommending a book on the topic. ; )

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

My pleasure David. And I'm going to try and recommend a book whenever it seems appropriate.

With a little effort, this is a really fun game that sets up quickly, plays quickly and like you said, is incredibly thematic because of the history. At first it was frustrating for me but now that I have the rules internalized, I love it.

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

It's really a fun one once you have the rules down, and don't mind some ambiguitous in your rules (that kind of thing drives some people crazy), but man the journey there can be discouraging. Also, thank you for your support Frankie, it is very much appreciated. I just put in an order for some games from Flying Pig Games so already got more content coming!

Stellar review, couldn't agree more. Definitely recommend getting the current Player Aid on BGG. The designer of the game (and the solo variant designer) have been feverishly updating the rulebook FAQ now. I definitely don't regret buying meeples from Amazon to replace the cubes. Overkill and utterly unnecessary, but I like Meeples on that gorgeous board better than cubes. :)

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

I know I found a player aid on BGG that really helped me when playing. It basically had rules corrections already on it. Some of them, anyway. Also agreed some nice meeples (give me some wagons instead of white cubes, please!) would have improved the themeing even more.

@hairbrainedgames3127

2 жыл бұрын

@@WayneHansen Yes! I've been on the lookout for toy wagons and tiny railroad track sections. Hobby stores had them but way too big. I even looked at cake decorating stores in case they had some toppers that would work. Apparently, kids aren't into "Wagon trains" on their birthday cakes anymore. Who knew? ;)

As always Wayne, your insight and forthrightness is very much appreciated.

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you my friend, and thank you for the support here, on Patreon, and on my live stream. Looking forward to meeting you in person one day. I will make it to a wargame convention one day, I promise!

It's a good point about the need for newcomers to look over the rules and see if they make sense rather than those who have seen the game grow from the beginning...

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

That alone, in my opinion, could have saved this game/these rules from being the mess they are.

@vincec5260

2 жыл бұрын

@@WayneHansen Good observation :)

Nice Final thoughts. I like how you pointed out that this game falls in line with Academy Games (1775, French Indian war, etc). That’s good to know, actually….may be easier to pick up and play if one is familiar with those systems. Have you tried Joel Toppens Games either Navajo Wars or Comancheria ? Those are very good solitaire games and will teach a lot on the History of that subject. More than just a game, those are!

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

Hey Tom, I haven't played either of those, although I do own Navajo Wars. One day I hope to get it to the table. You know how that goes.

@Tombonzo

2 жыл бұрын

@@WayneHansen - Yep. Too many games, too little time! And they’re pretty well established games at this point too, so there’s that.

Thanks for the honest review, Wayne. The video has piqued my interest on the topic; I’ll give the old Geronimo from Avalon Hill a closer look.

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

High praise coming from you, thank you sir!

Excellent. Just excellent. This is one of two reviews that have nailed the reality of the incredibly bad rulebooks. This was one of the most under-baked rulebooks I've EVER seen GMT produce. It boggles me that there people actually vehemently defending it. This is SUCH a simple game, by general GMT game standards. At least with GMT games' previously notably bad rulebooks (Fields of Fire, Hitler's Reich...), there was a much more complex game to describe, and I'd even argue Fields of Fire wasn't as bad as some suggest, though there's a reason they're redoing the rulebook so obviously it was generally considered bad. This has no excuse. I'm glad they've taken on the mantle of fixing it, and I hope it works, but I pity the person who finds it in a store and decides to try it.

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

You'd have to be a fanboy, in the worst sense, to not at least acknowledge the rulebooks have issues. Severe issues, that require hours on BGG, or simply making things up as you go, to correct.

@darrenmcfadden1102

2 жыл бұрын

@@WayneHansen Well said.

@Andrew_NJ

2 жыл бұрын

I have read much, much worse rule books but the main rule book is not as bad as what people are complaining it is. It simply needs some clarifications and typo's corrected. Every rules question is now addressed in the official BGG thread, "AUTHORIZED CORRECTIONS AND FINAL FAQS ANSWERS" by the game designer. The 2 player game is very playable reading the rule book and after we spent about 15 minutes looking up some rule clarifications on the BGG forums. Rules issues in the solitaire rules should not be lumped in with the regular rule book as it is misleading.

@Andrew_NJ

2 жыл бұрын

@@WayneHansen I was not a part of the P500 on this but saying the MAIN rule book has "issues" and interpretting that to mean you need hours on the BGG forums is laughably not true. The 2 player game was very playable for us after only 15 minutes on the BGG forums. All of the rules issues are now in an official FAQ.

@darrenmcfadden1102

2 жыл бұрын

@@Andrew_NJ What a crock of crap. It's laughably not true that the manual is anything BUT a disaster. Your dubious "I played it in 15 minutes" with just a few clarifications on BGG is laughably fictional. First off, it took six weeks post-launch to even GET a FAQ (so yes, it took hours/days to get rules clarifications), and it's page after page of scrolling text answering questions that flat out aren't in the rulebook. Downplaying the woeful instructions as "just needing clarifications and typos" is also laughable. Anyone who's actually *played* the game knows that. The designer himself screwed up answering rules on his OWN game. You're more knowledgeable about the game rules than the designer himself? Hardly. He even answered the same question two different and opposing ways more than once in the pre-FAQ days. "It's not that bad a manual, I just needed to ... wait months for actual answers to be available on a website... pretend the problems where literal swaths of information are missing from the manual were not there, then pretend weeks later that the belated information presented in a confusing and opposing way makes it all ok... " I dare you to post within this day a video of you playing against someone completely new to PIW , start to finish, using only the rulebook and with no help from you and your extracurricular lookups. Show us that you can play this completely error free. I guarantee you won't play it completely correctly from the rulebook. The designer couldn't even do it.

I didn't have a problem with the rule book. I haven't read the solitaire rules yet. I want to play the multi-player version solo a few times before I tackle another set of rules. That said, after two plays I think the game is great.

I've been interested in this game since I first heard about it a few months ago I'm normally a euro gamer not a war gamer. I could be very wrong but I always assumed war games have more comprehensive and precise rulebooks than other types of games. So when folks say the rulebook is bad is it just bad compared to most other war games or would a non-wargamer think just as poorly of it.

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

Both (regular game and solitaire) are objectively poor rulebooks. Has nothing to do with whether it's a "wargame" or not.

@Andrew_NJ

2 жыл бұрын

The 2 player game was very playable for us after only 15 minutes on the BGG forums. All of the rules issues are now in an official FAQ. The solitaire rules may be worse but it is misleading to lump these together.

It amazes me how bad rulebooks can be. Couldn’t imagine writing one though as I think it would be hard. I learned the game by watching videos of a guy who play tested it. That is how I primarily learned the rules. I have only played it solitaire though. It is fun to play and I like the theme, but agree it is more of a game than simulation. I was somewhat disappointed by that. Maybe a video on the publishing process of these games would be good and informative for us all.

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

Exactly Mike! And I agree about the video idea.

@kurtthecat3995

2 жыл бұрын

Rulebooks are bad because of a lack of money, proper training and methodology. I was a QA manager at Electronic Arts and we spent a lot of money on training and setting up a dedicated system of fresh eyes to review and edit rule books. It made a difference.

I really want to like this game so I can buy it as the theme appeals and I'm a big fan of Academy Games birth of series. But spending all that money on a game with a rulebook that's been thrown together like an after thought really puts me off. Disappointed with the designer and with GMT, they could of had a great game here but instead its now just average.

@WayneHansen

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed Lee. It's not a bad game, and once you know the rules it's excellent, but the poor rulebooks are just really unfortunate. It hurts the entire experience. Disappointing.

@leelowe251

2 жыл бұрын

@@WayneHansen I wish Academy games would start focusing on a few more Birth of America and Europe games.

TERRIBLE game. Look at the damn map. Kansas City is two hundred miles north of where it should be. The UP left out of Omaha NORTH of the Platte River, not well to the south, and the Rockies were NOT on the California coast, hundreds of miles WEST of Salt Lake City. I just can't get past the map.....TERRIBLE. Oh..you have the railroad going south of Salt Lake City, too. WRONG.

@Andrew_NJ

2 жыл бұрын

The designer addressed this: "For what it's worth I wanted the central Plains regions large enough to accommodate 16 cubes (8 per side) At the same time I did not want to make the map any larger than it would be so I used my designer's vast amount of influence to drag the Rockies east to allow players to witness the difficulty of building the RR through the mountains. Most historical locations were added later for general interest and have no effect on the game. Have to admit when they were added I did not double check actual locations. No idea why Bozeman is closer to the Black Hills than to SLC or why Tucson was neglected. As for Phoenix, I don't see why including it would be a problem as those permanent structures went up before Custer met his demise in the great Sioux War of 1876. Most players recognize this is a manipulated game map not a cartography teaching tool."