Le Havre - Playthrough & Review (Uwe Rosenberg Series)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Have you tried Le Havre? Let us know what you think about this game! 🚢

[@WildcatWithLove]

Don't forget to add the "little card" in the upper right hand corner at about 1:35!

[@dr3putt62]

Yes! My fav game of this series

[@lenaforsgren]

It’s brilliant 😀👍🥰

[@jacobmason3313]

Have you seen the player aids by Dannecus on BGG? They’re great and I never play Le Havre without them

[@gameon2553]

If you played the short game too, can you please show it?

[@jamesash2394]

You guys rock. So much heavy euro content between Vital games and Uwe games my two favorite board came designers.

[@Jagkt]

I played Le Havre yesterday for the first time. We played a 3 players game (all new players with this boardgame). We really enjoyed it. It took us about 2h50min. I think it is reasonnable. Thanks for video! It helped a lot to solidified my understanding of the rules.

[@raymyers700]

I owned this forever and finally played it solo last year. Amazing game. Another great example that the early 2000s were a wonderful time for euros. Not flashy or thematic...but just rock solid. I'm not a solo gamer but I love most Rosenberg games solo because you are still playing the real game and not some weird puzzle like many solo games. Thanks for the review and keep singing the praises of these games. Many old Euros have been replaced but there are many Beatles albums that your viewers might not know about : and they really need to.

[@TheGarnisher]

Love this game, thanks for showing it off! One thing I noticed you said you try to never take loans... but Le Havre is the ultimate "you gotta spend money to make money" game... I've played so many games where I have 4-5 loans or more but it allows me to get my engine to a state where I can ship a mountain of steel or coke in my final few actions and it more than makes up for the extra cost, even with the interest charges... It just takes some courage to hang in there until the end.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Oh wow! That feels like pro-level haha. We’re both so afraid of loans but that makes total sense

[@middleclassjoe]

This. Especially since interest is only 1 coin per round regardless of the number loans you have. Getting rid of loans using the Local Court (3 or more players) can really help as well.

[@deanlowdon8381]

I’ve found that the loan strategy doesn’t work as well when playing two player as there is only one other person wanting to use your buildings. Unless I’m doing something wrong?

[@middleclassjoe]

@@deanlowdon8381 The Local Court is not available in the 2 player game (And I haven’t played at that count) so that undercuts the loan strategy in the 2 player game.

[@samhagen1787]

You cannot deliberately taking loans as you will. You take them when you cannot pay food or the interest.

[@13ane]

Really enjoying this series guys. It's great to actually see you both play in detail, gives a really comprehensive idea of how to play and makes the game much more enticing and interesting as a result. Uwe is definitely one of my favourite designers. I can't wait until you guys get to A Feast for Odin :)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Glad you like them! We are super excited to get the next Uwe to the table!

[@adamkenney6932]

This game has climbed and climbed in my estimation, easily revealing new elegant and sophisticated layers with each play. My journey with it went from it being a daunting efficiency puzzle, to it feeling like it's on rails a bit too much, to now finding tons of satisfaction in trying new strategies each game and shaking things up. It's probably the most solid game in my library. My wife and I really enjoy playing it.

[@jppbkm]

I don't like it quite as much as playing Agricola with exactly four players but it's definitely in my top 3 uwe games

[@darrengrabe4179]

Monique and Naveen, I enjoyed every minute of your playthrough. I've had the digital version of this game and struggled with it and now have a much better feel for it. Thank you!

[@tina9422]

Woke up and saw this video has been uploaded! Yaaayyyy :) Thanks for the playthrough!

[@markneary1889]

Love that the Church provides a bread and fishes miracle

[@zlyntudteam2394]

the time has finally come!!! thank you for making the playthrough!! love it!! ❤️

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you for watching!

[@TheYashakami]

this was a great video! these Uwe Rosenberg games look so good

[@InfinityNL2000]

Always the wave at the beginning haha i am dyinggggg! Like the channel btw

[@snowchamp]

it's crazy that I've played almost all Uwe Rosenberg large games except Le Havre! Now, after watching your playthrough, I'm determined to play Le Havre for sure. Thanks for the great video!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

That's awesome! Hope you can try it soon while it's still fresh!!

[@gatotonto]

I really love Le Havre. I think is one of the best games ever. It's simple and it's absolutely cool and clever. It's easy to teach because of that. And the thing I love most, is that you feel that you are building something, even when you lose. Maybe I'm wrong but for me is the best Uwe R. game. Big hugs from Spain and thank you for the video.

[@robertdavidson9799]

Been years since I actively played this, but on the question of the 'woodpile' that was accumulating there....I would have started to consider picking it up at 9+; especially if I held the charcoal kiln; and a definite pickup at 15 wood. I didn't count out your pile in this game, but lets say it did hit 15; 1action - pick up the 15; 2 action charcoal it....you now have 15 'coal equivalent'...enough to 'fuel' 3 ships 5times over the remainder of the game...or power other energy requirements. Going to the colliery tops out at 4 coal per trip; the same two trips (colliery/cokery) net you 40 energy +4 francs...if occupancy and cost are not prohibitive. Charcoal has no cost (other than time, which both are similar) 3energy units are more fungible than 10, lessening waste. That's my 2c on the subject. (ed. to add- didn't notice that this had been covered already...)

[@thomaswilson7718]

Thanks for another great video!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@arturmachno2223]

I think in 2p game Marketplace is built in the town. Great video, as always. I play mostly 2p with my wife, I love your playthroughs. Really looking forward for next Uwe's games.

[@popgas3821]

This format is really good. Nice way to get a close up with the cards or other detached, detailed pieces. Please keep it up. I'm also about to buy this game. Absolutely convinced!

[@Tabletop_AshleyRose]

Just purchased Le Havre recently and this playthrough was super helpful! Thanks, guys!

[@fmargueirat]

Re your question about wood around 1:34:45, I've been wondering the last 45 minutes why no one took the wood and converted into charcoal with the Charcoal Kiln. It would have save you so much hard-to-get coal by using it as energy to paid for all those goods processing and buying ships.

[@TheGarnisher]

Yep thought the same thing… two actions around late mid game (1. Take wood, 2. use kiln)and you have all the energy you need for the rest of the game.

[@tirolausa]

And the wood not turned into ships to erase food worries and ship more

[@copeboar]

I was thinking the exact same thing was about to leave a comment. Even worse, straight up taking wood would have given more energy than visiting the colliery

[@deanlowdon8381]

One of our favourite games. 🙂

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We had a lot of fun discovering this one!

[@deanlowdon8381]

@@BeforeYouPlay The special buildings really help each game play differently. We’ve been coming back to play Le Havre for years now.

[@Hakucho64]

At 17:50, when you went to the Marketplace with a harvest coming up, you would have heard me yelling "take a grain"! 🙂

[@doggosplosion]

Really like you all broke up the video chapters by rounds. Such a great game.

[@zacharythorp6095]

Okay, I can already tell I'll love this game, even 1/4 of the way through the video. It's both very Uwe Rosenburg and very approachable, feeling not nearly as heavy as people rate it. Simple to teach, snappy to play. I imagine the decision space becomes huge by the end of the game, however - as do the resource demands.

[@Jootie_de_Kop]

Thank you for posting this excellent very useful playthrough. Helped me a lot understanding this big game. 2 steel thumbs up from me!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Glad it helped! Thanks for checking it out!

[@filiplazov5895]

This game is my favourite Uwe game, by far.

[@PabloTheAwesomee]

Thank you again! Another purchased game because of you guys

[@bondy034]

Rather like this one. It is quite long though! Not sure I've ever played with more than 3 as a result. I'm probably still really bad at it, but I do love the way it escalates from the early game, where you're just trying to get by, to the end game where you're shipping heaps of stuff and making mad francs!

[@damaddestgamer]

Love it! And the video. Keep up the good work.

[@Arahmon1117]

Only ever played this solo and I love it. Good to see a 2 player playthrough - really got to get it to the table with more players.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Oh that's awesome! We were wondering how the solo game was

[@blackjack2150]

@@BeforeYouPlay It's very straightforward, no changes to the gameplay really. You just try to score as high as possible and adapt your strategy to the building cards that come out.

[@KSweeney36]

@@BeforeYouPlay The solo is my favourite type of solo. I love Uwe’s solos. Unlike a lot of games push for solo bots, this keeps it nice and simple and don’t have to learn another card system.

[@markle-g9d]

The solo isn't as good as multiplayer, because the 1P card choices are a lot more limited. Not quite enough variability to push it into the upper tier of solo Uwe games, IMO. But still a very good game.

[@ribblettsgaming2779]

I really like these types of games. Tjis one might have to go on my wish list. I think you two should add long games into you content on a regular basis. Loving these long game playthroughs.

[@LaraBlancoSantos]

Great video as usual. Thanks guys!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

You bet! Thanks for watching!!

[@ludwigvan2932]

My favorite Uwe Rosenberg game

[@jogumby]

Love the game and have played it for years! I think I learned something though. I and my friends thought the player disc had to move each time. We also thought to take something from the supply you had to move your disc there, but watching you and re-reading the rules it looks like we've been doing it wrong! Thanks!

[@Norrygan]

Thanks for the video, I love this game. Awesome job as always.

[@lonewolfvc3575]

Really good playthrough. I wonder if you stopped doing Uwe Rosenberg series or I am not able to find Caverna or Feast for Odin. Looking forward to watch them. I understand it is indeed ambitious to do this series, he has published a lot of games.

[@CincyAirshipPirate]

My favourite Uwe :)

[@shortydancer]

13:55 Naveen low key calling her out for “accidentally” cheating. Get her Navman! Lol

[@yemendel]

Long game, 3 players. That’s the way.

[@Shuckleking87]

100%

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Ooooooh! Okay, we will definitely be trying the long game at 3-P then!

[@garylangford6755]

What too long with 3p lol

[@yemendel]

I can’t remember what else you get at 3, but the second wharf is a big deal.

[@kennh.3321]

This is the way.

[@TawanWorapol]

Nice gameplay. Love this game

[@marknadeski7485]

I really enjoy Le Havre. With players that are familiar with the game, I've been able to get a 4-player long game done in under 2 hours. I think this game is good at all player counts. One of the things I miss in our hobby as I play more new games is how varied the really great games are with repeated plays and at different player counts. Games you think you've figured out can play so differently at higher player counts or with players who are doing different strategies than you are used to and it's great to have that opened up and to have to adapt to it.

[@JamesPattersonME]

Great video and I love this series!

[@itboznkgvjugjtfg]

Waiting for the continuation of the series!!!

[@faxanadu13]

Thank you I’ve owned this since 2008 and used to play it regularly. I think I need to break it out once again and teach it to the group

[@draheim90]

Great video as always! Played the short game for the first time yesterday with three players. Still took around two hours and the person who taught it scored around 150 whereas I (and the other player, who had also never played it) scored in the 80s. As you mentioned, definitely can’t expect to do well your first time playing. It grew on me during the play though, and after, and very much feel this is indeed one that gets better with each playthrough. Hoping to try the long version soon but it would also likely me with 3 players again.

[@heldrin4968]

first few playtrough I spent soo many actions working the smoke fish, bread and meat to provide for my feeding game and later I understood that ships are key to free ur actions for more lucrative one and ship the ressources.

[@venomgold]

Please play pursuit of happiness with all expansion that game is so epic and to watch you two play would be amazing

[@coyotemoon722]

Yay! More Uwe!!

[@lenking8994]

Monique's grin at the start of the playthrough! Cheeky grin!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Haha such a cheeky grin

[@bartl7436]

We just played it 4 player Long game in 3 hours. We all loved it! We played at a pretty leisurely pace too. I would not hesitate to play it again at 4p as long as all were reasonably quick players.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

That's good to hear, sucks to be the player in a round who only gets one action lol

[@lz4011]

A classical item on the shelf, next to Agricola or Puerto Rico. Maybe not a first choice game these days but still well ranked. Personally a bit more time I spent over boars from Agricola than cattles here but.. for sure both comparable. Nice video btw.. as always 😊👍

[@jaayse3690]

I managed to pick this up recently and I'm very excited to give it a try!

[@garybraddick5042]

Lots of ships lots of cows and lots energy to ship , avoid debt. You can use other players buildings, but they can not use your ships. Ships provide food, cash and points. Best buildings Hardware and Grocery. Love this game.

[@mongaloogirl]

Friends of ours introduced this to us when we were first starting to get into serious board games. Such good memories! We bought my folks a copy of it, played with them several times before we started having kids, but oddly don't own a copy ourselves! EDIT: For what it's worth, most times we played were with 4 people (2 board game savvy couples) and it was always highly enjoyable!

[@chappy6817]

I really like this game but the favourite Uwe game I've played is Fields of Arle. I never got a chance to play feast for Odin however.

[@VinegarAndSaltedFries]

Love Le Havre so much. Especially my premium bit set from BGG. I will say it’s kind of counter intuitive to how one wants to play early on for the first few plays because of how loans work. In all honesty you should take a bunch of loans early because they give you the opportunity early to sure up your ability’s later…but that’s so not clear when first learning. At first you feel ohhh no I can’t take a loan that’s bad and do everything in your power to just survive rather than thrive. Great video keep up great work Before you Play.

[@MsChic-jm8wo]

You look so familiar! Did you go to Westborough Middle School? I knew a girl named Monique and met her through Ron. The girl I knew from Middle School had short hair and glasses and she looks very much like you! It was so long ago, but I moved to Fremont after Middle School. They were the sweetest people!

[@marcosoenke]

Love it!

[@zlyntudteam2394]

12:35 the way naveen said "once it becomes edible" totally made me laugh 😂 and the 16:42 "if you have two cattle, you birthed another cattle" wow, what a man 😂

[@BeforeYouPlay]

LOL!

[@EzFlyers10]

can't wait for you to play ora et labora.. that + fields of arle are my two fave uwe games. i actually like ora et labora the most with 4 people but you can do the long variant with 2 and it's still good. fields of arle is MADE for you two, hope that's in there, too, in this series

[@tylert.5357]

Thank you for the playthrough. Watching it did NOT feel long. I enjoyed seeing an entire game play out and imagine how different choices would change the game. No worries from this fan....hehe... Also question: @ 1:38:18 wouldn't Monique have gotten 7 coal for all the hammer symbols?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thank you! I believe the card maxes out at 4 coal, but that would have been awesome

[@5eimaru]

Great playthrough of my second most loved game! As far as player count goes, I'd say that 2 and 3 players, long game, is the sweet spot. Though I wish I could play a 4 player game with seasoned players to see how the (need for) loans would impact the play and the economy.

[@ColonelKurtz]

Come on. You know someone is going to ask the question... What is your first most-loved game?

[@gameon2553]

@@ColonelKurtz Correct. @VictoriaX WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE?

[@5eimaru]

@@ColonelKurtz I didn't expect to be asked what my favourite game is, but since you did, I'm going to say that the game I enjoy playing the most is Troyes, which has a great playthrough on this channel.

[@wyz1324]

Thanks for making this, I added this one to my wishlist.. Its kinda hard to find though :( Hopefully there will be a reprint at some point.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

I hope so too!

[@heldrin4968]

Hey Yannick its available on amazon for 54$

[@wyz1324]

@@heldrin4968 not in canada as far as I can see 😭

[@MrJakewray]

If there's like 14+ wood in the stack, it is more efficient to collect wood and convert to charcoal than it is to collect 4 coal and convert to coke. That is only if you're going to use it for energy, not to sell.

[@Lordofthering2102sj]

You should do a the Fields of Arle game!

[@israeljesuslopez3833]

Hi there, do you guys know if this is going to be reprinted?

[@bctpd2]

Really enjoy your videos! You should reconsider on taking loans, especially early in the game. You’d spend less time worrying about feeding & more time building your economy early. There’s plenty of time to pay them off & usually one turn of the Shipping Line will cover it. I also couldn’t believe you just left all that wood sitting there! Don’t forget that you can still use it as energy. Instead of Naveen’s turn of going to the Marketplace to take 1 coal, iron & fish, he could have taken the wood offer which at that point was equal to about 5-6 coal!

[@gameon2553]

How do you do the close-up of the card projected over the board?

[@paulnewsham]

They have another camera setup to show a table with a green cloth on it. They (Monique) place card on the green cloth to show it in close up. In editing this second view is overlaid onto the first (main) camera view, but using a 'chroma key' technique which removes the green and allows you to 'see through' to the main camera view.

[@coalitionofseekers9572]

How is it 2 players? Is it better at 3 or 4

[@BeforeYouPlay]

I think we both agree this game plays best at the 2 or 3 player count. There's an app that is fantastic (if you are familiar with the game) where you can try different player counts against the AI.

[@coalitionofseekers9572]

@BeforeYouPlay nice! I was actually just looking at the app. Gunna get it now.

[@dennisklang]

Having two colors now? :D @1:16:19

[@dennisklang]

:D @1:41:21

[@NemoMangelk]

Maybe if Naveen took the wood at the end it would have energy he needed since he did not need all that coke. Would have saved him a few actions I think

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Yeah the wood was so tempting, should have pulled the trigger once 9+ piled up!! Had about 2-3 inefficient moves that likely cost me (Naveen) 20-30 points

[@jaybee0063]

This is a Top 10 game for me, but I've only played it at 2p. And I'm scared to play it at 3p. Glad you liked it.

[@windyhillbomber]

I think taking loans is a legitimate strategy, some may say a flaw in the design. But it shouldn’t be something you avoid at all costs.

[@WildcatWithLove]

Love this game!

[@jppbkm]

Long game with 3 players is my vote also

[@AttilaUdvari]

Cool game. Unfortunately OOP in Europe :( I don't know, it will be reprinting.

[@stuwest666]

It also gets a lot quicker as you get to know it. Once you have played a fair bit, a 2 player of long version only takes just over an hour.

[@jeffhiatt1682]

at 1:06 i dont think Monique paid Naveen for the warf

[@tuesss]

Was going to point that out, but I guess it cancelled out with Naveen taking too many pieces of leather just a few minutes later, more or less.

[@thomasvickery5671]

My favorite Uwe! Lots of choices but less AP options.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

YES, you are right! The AP is far less of an issue with this one

[@ColonelKurtz]

How do you do "evens or odds"? I thought you just threw a 1 or a 2.

[@Chereebers]

It’s the sum of both hands. Monique called odds. She put out 0 and Naveen put out 2. 0 + 2 = 2, so “evens” wins.

[@ColonelKurtz]

@@Chereebers if you are limited to choosing 0, 1, or 2, evens will win 5/9 times. You would need to be able to choose from an equal number of even and odd numbers. Unless you like adding up numbers, a simple '1' or '2' should suffice.

[@melski9205]

I think you both put up a number of fingers and add the count of fingers up to get either an odd or even number.

[@snowchamp]

@@ColonelKurtz hahaha. how in the world is that example correct. Even if we were restricted to using 0,1,2. it's still 50% of the time evens. you have 8 possibilities, and evens occur at (0,0) (0,2) (2,0) (2,2). So there's no flaw to this. Only your basic probability concepts makes it 'wrong'.

[@ColonelKurtz]

@@snowchamp If each person is limited to throwing 0, 1, or 2, here are the outcomes: 0, 0 = even 0, 1 = odd 0, 2 = even 1, 0 = odd 1, 1 = even 1, 2 = odd 2, 0 = even 2, 1 = odd 2, 2 = even That's 5 outcomes where the sum is EVEN. 4 outcomes the sum is ODD. Not sure how you think this is incorrect.

[@khay0z]

Can’t wait for the next one! Almost time for the next Uwe game?

[@timnickerson5389]

This is Probably Our favorite game, It plays so well solo, 2 and 3 player, I would not want to play it at any higher count unless It were with veteran players.

[@RolandIronfist13]

Its actually a very interesting game at 5. If everyone has played, it doesn't take that long.

[@dramajoe]

Small note: only bricks and steel can be used as their ‘lesser’ side.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

That's good to know! Thank you!

[@Hakucho64]

@@BeforeYouPlay yes, try building a house out of charcoal or planting bread for harvest!

[@doggyaugie]

Are the supply "houses" (eg the "Wood Supply" or "Treasury" - I hesitate to call them buildings) just dead space on the board? Or are they simple buildings one can enter for one matching resource (and not likely used in a two player game)? If it's just board art it's so weird to have pictures of the resources on them... or is it just me?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

I think those are just spaces to hold your resources, they're not actually functional buildings. We thought it was more of a hassle to put them on the board so we just put ours in bowls

[@doggyaugie]

thanks! and thanks for the video! I always thought le havre was just nusfjords older brother (one of my favorites) but it's totally different and I'm enjoying your vid thoroughly!

[@yemendel]

Just a few comments now that I’ve actually been able to watch (half of) this: I noticed you didn’t mention the loans while teaching, and you mentioned them much later. I respect that you play trying to avoid them, but I wouldn’t treat them like they’re not in the game and avoid teaching the rule. Personally, I think they’re a wonderful mechanism to let yourself focus on building things up rather than chasing food, and the fact that you can’t take them at will (only when necessary) makes the buildings with money entry fees very interesting. And I joke that the game teaches a skewed version of financial responsibility because no matter how many loans you have, you only pay 1 franc in interest every time that (randomly placed! more fun!) space is triggered. I’m not sure if this was me misunderstanding or you misspeaking, but I thought I heard you say that upgraded goods count as the normal ones as well, specifically when talking about charcoal. But that’s definitely not true. The only upgraded goods you can use as the basic materials are bricks can be used as clay, and steel can be used as iron, and those are clearly marked. Just as in real life, using charcoal instead of wood to build something will not work. I think you neglected to point out that buying and selling a building is a way to kick someone out of it, so e.g. if someone’s camping out in the free-entry building spot, you can buy it from the town to be able to use it. It’s also a nice way to get an icon to make your Marketplace stronger. Monique is definitely after my heart with the cows and the abattoir. I can’t stay away from them.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Yossef! These are all excellent points and mainly due to our inexperience with the game haha. Monique totally forgot about the loans because we never take them, but as someone else pointed out, that’s probably a mistake! They probably help you do more with your economy. Also, that’s so true! Buy a building to kick someone out of it haha. I’m sure that plays an even stronger role in higher player counts but that’s a great point. Thanks!

[@yemendel]

I got to the end, and those are some dang fine scores for "inexperienced" players. You're just good at games in general, heh.

[@kelvinchua2720]

It’s one of my favourite use games. I find 2 and 3 players are pretty balance. Some find 3 player games not balance. However I don’t find so. As everyone will have same number of turn in total. 1231231 - 1st round 2312312 - 2nd round 3123123 - 3rd round ..

[@yemendel]

Yesssssssssssss

[@Diabolik771]

Monique, were you in a commercial when you were a kid? You look familiar. I'm thinking it was Burger King or McDonalds.

[@steveznt]

Big fan but as the name implies the long game definitely feels long. By the end of it I'm exhausted from continually distributing resources

[@kriba6755]

Good review. However what game an experienced player, unless it's a pure fun /party game, would not outbase you ? I think this argument can be said to any strategic tactical, even casual strategic tactical games.

another great game impossible to buy in Europe.. meh

[@tuesss]

Really? The Polish version is available in dozens of online shops, I took it for granted that German and English versions should be abundant. Maybe I should buy it then just in case, even though I've just bought Agricola so I'm not planning to play Le Havre anytime soon...

[@lonewolfvc3575]

In Spain it was reprinted last year but It is sold out again.