The Hunters Campaign / Playthrough - GMT Games - Wargame - U-boat Solitaire Patrol 1

[@ZillaBlitz]

Note: I removed the original version of this video from KZbin and replaced it with this one because I unintentionally used a flag with a swastika in the original. There is no historical or educational reason for its use here. I’ve edited it out in this version. If I create a wargame video series about WW2 Germany, I want to be 100% clear that I am focusing on the military action and that I do not support the ideology behind it. I’m sorry that many of your comments were deleted in the process, but I feel like it was the right thing to do. I'll try to be smarter going forward.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Also, we have four volunteer crew members now and a waiting list of three, but feel free to add your name to the waiting list by making a comment if you want to be in line when a space opens up. :)

[@ZillaBlitz]

Oh, what a dummy! I meant to copy down the names of the volunteers before removing the video, and now I realized I can't recall all of them. Help me out if you volunteered! What I remember: Mahler (Hex) - Engineer MacLeod - ? Rae - ? Davet? (not sure here) - Waiting List: 1 - ? 2 - ? 3 - Dragons Sorry I'm such a dummy!

[@thenomad531]

When I was a child they used to have a captured ship from WW2. It was in the Duluth Minnesota harbor and it had a HUGE Swastika on the smoke stack. You could see it just as you got to the hill and came over the crest where ALL of Duluth was laid out before you. Not sure what ever happened to it. All these WOKE babies and hypersensitive brats need to understand history and stop taking offense at everything. Such idiots want the whole world to change for THEM instead of them coping with the world. I wish you would have left the swastika in. It's the mother who is afraid to take her child to the lake, whose child drowns.

[@iannicholson5107]

You have done some very good work out here. I am still working through the back catalogue. It may be the lesser, or a slightly differently emphasised, game but I was fortunate enough to pick up The Hunted, pristine on ebay. I believe The Hunters to be in reprint. I am not hopefully, as befits the theme, a shalllow man but I even loved the heft of the box. Your reviews, playthroughs are very useful. There are now about ten sites I follow across the board shall we say but that includes rpgs and miniature wargaming. In the last month I have been lucky enough to discover your good self and a wacky Frenchman who covers the miniature wargaming treatment of the 100 Years War. He makes me wish I smoked Gitanes and dated Simone de Beauvoir, something I have yet to explain to my wife. You do superb work sir. I wish you well.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Hahaha. I hesitate to ask what this channel makes you want to smoke and who you want to date. :) Thanks for the fun comment. Have fun with The Hunted, it can be a very unforgiving game I've heard. And yes, The Hunters is making its way back into print, hopefully sometime in the next few months. :)

[@billyriley492]

New subscriber here. You managed to make Afrika Corps sound exciting and then I found this. You have an easy voice to listen to and your videos are excellent and very informative and helpful Thank you

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, Billy! I'm glad you're enjoying the content and thanks for the compliments. Much appreciated fuel for the next video. :)

[@thenomad531]

Hey Zilla!....greetings from the Loring Park Neighborhood. Thanks for representing us Minnesotans. Just bought this game on line. Looking forwards to this winter to give this a full play through. GO VIKES!!! Garrett

[@ZillaBlitz]

This would be a great game for a cold Minnesota winter, and happy to represent Minnesota. And most definitely, Go Vikes! I don't know how we'll be this year but the future looks bright. :)

[@TcpIpNut]

What an awesome series and game. I loved it. Thank you. I wish this game had been adapted to PC to handle all the housekeeping, speed things along, and prevent user error. I don't own a single board game as I'm an old computer gamer who started gaming on a TI-99/4A in the 1980s. Still, I must play this. I placed my 4th printing P500 order last night. Thanks again for the series.

[@ZillaBlitz]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for stopping in. And once you get a few patrols under your belt the housekeeping becomes second nature. You've got this. I hope you enjoy the game. :)

[@TcpIpNut]

@@ZillaBlitz Thanks. While waiting on my P500 order, I started playing via Tabletop Simulator. My very first patrol had zero contacts (failed the patrol but easy to remain alive - LOL). The second patrol was successful, sinking two small freighters (5,800 total tons) and escaping detection by 1 of 1 escorts. A nice way to spend a hot 100 degree afternoon.

[@ZillaBlitz]

@@TcpIpNut Nice hunting, congrats!

[@PatricksTacticsTutorials]

Excellent production and editing. I look forward to following along each episodes. Kudos!

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, Patrick! I feel like I learn something each time I make a video about a new game, but it's a fun adventure. Thank you for stopping in!

[@PatricksTacticsTutorials]

@@ZillaBlitz my pleasure. See you around the water cooler.

[@trekanbelluvitsh]

Great story telling game. About agency: I think one has to understand that this game has not much micro management. But you have to keep in mind that you play just one person in this game - the commander. As commander you have to rely on your crew. And that's historical. I.e. a watch officers normaly did the torpedo shooting - at least on the surface - so the commander could observe and make decisions. Just like a tank commander didn't shoot the main gun - in a well designed WW2 tank 😉 Evading an escort attack seems a bit abstract. Having some more options would be nice. But again: In WW2 a submerged sub was blind and nearly deaf. As I said before; Some more options to evade an escort attack would be nice. But to me that does look like a good compromise which fits to level of simulation of this game. Note by me: Because a VII - type submarine carried over 100 shells for the 88mm gun I think one counter represents 20 shells.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Good points, for sure. I enjoy the level of agency in this game, and appreciate that it can be played fluidly in a reasonable time line. And yes, I think I read somewhere before (the rules, maybe?) that the deck gun firing represents a large number of shells being fired.

[@DigitalEssenceDesign]

Fabulous, loved the play through and laughed at your swearing as it's exactly how I play. These games are amazing, the mechanics are simply brilliant and each patrol is literally a nerve-racking experience. So much so that I find I can usually only play one, perhaps two patrols in a night as I invest so much into my crew. But oh so much fun. Michael's sub mats really improve on the delivered ones and I also use his patrol maps, although there is quite a lot of printing to be done at first due to the number of variants (map x sub class), it's worth it. I noticed you'd printed the mat and then laminated. I used some A4 200gsm card stock, the thickest my printer could manage which makes for a solid mat and the counters don't slip about. Anyway, going to watch another patrol of yours. Thank you.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks for the kind words! And yes, I can relate to being exhausted after some of these missions. There are a couple in particular where I felt like I needed to take a nap right after them. :) I used a cardstock as well, and was thinking to make it more durable by laminating it, but I didn't consider the lighting glare. I think I swap some of the laminated ones out as we go along. I hope you enjoy the series, thanks for stopping in!

[@rusty-sb1jy]

Good luck finding this game.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Yes, it went out of print shortly after this series started. The good news is that it's reached 500 orders on GMT's P500 system, so I'm hopeful that a reprint will be in the works soon. :) Link: www.gmtgames.com/p-967-the-hunters-4th-printing.aspx

[@vaele723]

Appreciate the effort of reuploading this! Better safe than sorry in the long run. And apparently, the Kriegsmarine had swastikas in their emblems so small they might as well not exists, so I'm not sure why the creator felt inclined to make it jarringly noticeable. Could've just made it tiny like Atlantic Chase did if he was aiming for authenticity. Anyway, Mahler is indeed the Engineer! He has only successfully fixed once, but that'll change soon, hopefully. He has quiet a responsibility.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, Hex! One consideration I had is exactly what you mention: "I'm not sure why the creator felt inclined to make it jarringly noticeable". I think the same thing could happen when someone who doesn't know this channel watched the original version of this video. "Why is he using a custom mat with that symbol on it in his video?" I think the biggest consideration, however, is the discomfort and pain the symbol can cause to specific populations. I'm fine with using it in historical or educational videos, but there was no reason to have it in this video. Thanks for the support and for posting your thoughts on the issue.

[@marcmac2089]

Great. I have the game too, but haven't gotten to it yet. So I'm all the more excited about the series. Greetings from Germany...:)

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thank you, Marc! I can relate to having games you want to play but haven't gotten to yet. I have the same issue. :) I hope you enjoy the series, and greetings from the other side of the pond.

[@TheHongKongHermit]

Oh, what lovely presentation and explanation, made it very easy to follow and compelling to watch. Greatly respect your reasons for reuploading too. I'll be watching more of these videos.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks for the kind words, HKH! I hope you enjoy the series, and am glad you're in support of the reposting decision!

[@TheHongKongHermit]

@@ZillaBlitz Enjoy? I think you mean enjoyED because I already binged the whole thing. I saw that one salty dude crying about unsubscribing because you don't want to be putting swastikas out in the world, so I subbed very specifically as his replacement. The numbers remain the same, but the quality improves. Interesting little game, I wonder if it needed just a little more player agency in the final mission which... I won't spoil here, in case other viewers see it. But I understand the later games had some rules updates that get applied retroactively if someone wishes. When I have time I'll be checking out the other submarine series you have in the Pacific. Keep on keeping on, my dude.

[@ZillaBlitz]

​@@TheHongKongHermit Ha! My goodness, man, that was fast! :) There are a number of places where the game will just GAME OVER you regardless of what you do, some much harsher and more instantaneous than what we ran into. ~ And yes, I think The Hunted adds some rules that the designer has said can be applied to the other games in the series. One I believe is crew injuries when submerged, and there are probably a few others. At the moment I've decided not to use those. Silent Victory is quite fun, too. Approaching the midpoint in the war with that one at the moment. A tale unfinished at this point. Thanks for watching!

[@reptar33]

This is one of my favorite system of games, love the entire series. Great video and I’m in for more videos.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks for the kind words, reptar! More coming soon! I'm hopeful we can survive our next patrol. :)

[@LearnToPlaythrough]

Great video Zilla Blitz... I have this one, but haven't played it yet - got it free (along with Enemy Coast Ahead: The Doolittle Raid) from GMT's offer to those who lost their jobs due to COVID-19. Like the very in-depth playthrough and awesome audio effects!!! - hope I can do those type of audio effects for my channel half as good as you did - also looking forward to the rest of the campaign!!! The only confusing part I have is at 26:00 when you went against the flow of the red arrow back to base. Can you explain to us why you were able to go against the flow of the red arrow back to your base? Cheers

[@ZillaBlitz]

Hi Learn to Playthrough - Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. :) And that's great that GMT did that, I hadn't heard they had given games away for people who lost their jobs during Covid, that's total class. I hope you've been able to get back on your feet now, too. As for the missing red line, I believe I read on Board Game Geek that there are some errors on the mats, and that missing red line is one of them. So it should be there, but was omitted in printing. Hope that helps!

[@ParkeraNZ]

Herr Kalun. Not a bad first mission with some pleasing damages on the enemy. Finally catching these and hoping to catch up soon.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Cool! Many are short so it’s quick to catch up. :) Thanks for stopping in!

[@Obalcan]

Nice, you are using my friend Michele's sub mats.:)

[@ZillaBlitz]

Yes, they are awesome! He posted a comment on the original video (the video that I deleted then re-uploaded after editing). I still have to be sure to give him a shout out in an upcoming episode. :)

[@TheDiceman56]

I have only just subscribed to you as I have just watched you for the first time. Excellent stuff and the perfect voice as a rolling commentary. I have had all four games for a couple of years of which three are still in shrink wrap. Only because the rule book is so daunting and solid pages of text. You make it seem a lot easier than the GMT books layout. It encourages me to finally get this to the table. How would you advise me in starting to learn this game? The rule book is just so overpowering. Once again thank you and well done.

[@ZillaBlitz]

That's a great question. I do remember the rules being a bit tricky to parse. I'd probably recommend just starting, then looking in the rules when you come to a certain event on the patrol. You could also refer to a similar event in one of these (or any) videos online. The biggest thing I'd say is to not worry about playing it perfectly the first couple of times, just have fun and enjoy the game. Treat the first couple of times as a learning game. You're going to make lots of mistakes, but as you play it more you'll start to wonder about things, and you can play more accurately each time. Also, Board Game Geek's forums are a great resource for rules questions. You can ask there, or probably more likely, search the rules forum for the game to see if someone else has asked the same question before you: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/113873/hunters-german-u-boats-war-1939-43/forums/66 Hope this helps! Enjoy the game.

[@TheDiceman56]

Bless you for that. That is great advice thank you. I will finally get this to the table at long last. Take care and thanks again.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Sure thing, let me know how it goes! Happy hunting. :)@@TheDiceman56

[@TheDiceman56]

Will do.

[@DragonsAteOurName]

Good decision on reuploading it. And yes, I would still like to volounteer :D

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks! I think it was the right thing to do, and awesome. You're on the list, maybe #1 now if I can't sort out the names/people I lost when I removed the original video. :)

[@74Slamdunk]

I've been watching this series. Where did you get you Transit map? All my movement is located on my submarine cards, Thanks in advance... Mark

[@ZillaBlitz]

Happy to help! I believe the transit map comes with later editions, and wasn't a thing in the earlier printings. You might check GMT's website or Board Game Geek to see if it's downloadable.

[@Deltium5683]

good video, thanks. You’ve convinced me to buy this game but it’s hard to find !

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks! Yes, you can order in on GMT's P500 system, but that will be a wait. If you're not picky about the theater, Beneath the Med is available at normal prices and uses the same system for an Italian adventure. The Hunted is available too, but that is the harder (more brutal) of the four in the series.

[@Deltium5683]

@@ZillaBlitz thanks !

[@Locutius11]

New Subscriber here. Well done mate. Looking forward to working through these videos. Great game and the campaign is just what I am looking for. I want to do a campaign and hopefully survive and migrate that crew and experience across to a campaign of my copy of The Hunted. Thank you!!

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks Lord Greystoke, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for subscribing! I think getting a Captain through both The Hunters and The Hunted would be an ultimate gaming achievement. I can't imagine how hard The Hunted must be. :) Good luck if you take on that challenge!

[@soloboardgaming]

Still here Zilla, nice move! :)

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, SOLO! As a creator, it's a bit of bummer to have to restart the video, but that didn't seem to be a good reason to not do what I felt was the right thing to do.

[@lufasumafalu5069]

wish you get more subs and views , this is great playthrough.. far better than DVG's uboat leader but they are for different crowd i guess

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks! The channel seems to be growing steadily now, so fingers crossed we can keep progressing. I've got U-Boat Leader too, but haven't gotten it to the table yet. :)

[@MaxMustermann-sp9yq]

Great, great video serie, thanks a lot. Like the music, sound and the tension of your voice! One question: why at 8:53 didn't fire the flak per 9.8 (procedure section)? Btw, historically U86 was commissioned on July 41

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks for the kind words! I’m traveling at the moment so I can’t dig into the question yet. It’s possible I missed something. I’ve made a note to take a look when I get back. And thanks for the historical info on U-86!

[@michaelodunga5294]

Hello Zilla, I'd like to sign up as a Doctor! Keep up the good content!

[@ZillaBlitz]

Welcome aboard, Michael! Thanks for volunteering! I will add you to the list, there are a handful of others in front, but I expect we'll be seeing casualties. Be ready! :)

[@raynorton5920]

excellent explanation of how to play this, as the stuka ace game isn't yet available i might try to get this as my first game of this type, thanks

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, Ray! This game is actually on P500 with GMT now, so not readily available yet. But Beneath the Med is, and it's the same sort of game but about Italian submarines in WW2.

[@raynorton5920]

@@ZillaBlitz Cheers Zilla, i have actually ordered it here in the UK but it may take a couple of months to arrive so i've just bought second front tonight and will follow your vids for that to learn the basics, great content m8 many thx

[@ZillaBlitz]

Oh, glad you were able to find it, that's fantastic! And Second Front is a ton of fun too. I hope you enjoy both of them. :) Thanks for the kind words. :)

[@tarkalak]

You may have caught this later on, but doesn't each marker for the ammo represent two shots? They have a 2 printed on them and according to manual it represents two shots. So you should have 10 deck gun shots total.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Hmmm. Maybe? That's a good question. I don't have the game handy to look it up, but your math seems pretty logical. :)

[@jasonyoung8509]

Hi Zilla. Where did you get the patrol mat that is really nice. It doesn't come with The HUnters. Not in my copy anyway.

[@ZillaBlitz]

I think it was added in a later version of the game. Perhaps yours is an early version? I think you might be able to print it from GMT’s site.

[@jasonyoung8509]

@@ZillaBlitz It says they are out of stock and I can't find anywhere to print them. I ended up ordering an Update Kit from the UK.

[@thecustardprophet8434]

If there's still a spot I'd be happy to be part of the crew!

[@ZillaBlitz]

Sure thing, thanks for volunteering! I've added you to the list, and just managed to edit your name into the next episode. You're #3 or #4 on the waiting list.

[@charlesheer8460]

I'll be the watcher!!! Charles heer

[@ZillaBlitz]

Nice!

[@scottpalmer829]

I like your explanations of this excellent game. You give a great demonstration of how to play the game. I would prefer that you not cuss at all, though even when things don't go right.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, Scott! That's interesting, I didn't think I was cussing. I'll listen through this again to figure out what you mean, as I'd like to keep these relatively family friendly. Thanks for the feedback. :)

[@scottpalmer829]

@@ZillaBlitz Thanks, I guess it wasn't what some might say is real severe, but it did bother me. I'm glad you took my statements in the way I intended as I'm not down on you. I really appreciate all of the work you are doing on this series. I hope to get the game out this weekend mainly because your effort has reminded me of how great it is!

[@graygrumbler4253]

Love this game. Q: Your roll for the transit box (2nd one outbound) was a '3' with a +1 mod for 1939 and should have been a no event or am I reading it wrong?

[@ZillaBlitz]

I'm a bit confused, sorry. I don't think there is a +1 mod on any of the transit zones, so I'm not sure quite sure what you're referring to. But the very bottom result on the table is for a dice roll of "2", as you can't get a "1" with two dice. Any chance that clears up the confusion?

[@graygrumbler4253]

@@ZillaBlitz My bad, I stated it poorly. I was confusing tables [E1] and [A1]. Yes, you correctly had an aircraft encounter and there is no modifier for table [E1], but on [A1] you rolled a '5' and there is a +1 DRM for 1939 so the result should have been a successful crash dive and not a damaging attack by an aircraft. Next time I'll remember to break out my copy of the game and read before I reply from memory.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Ah, got it, thanks for clarifying! Yes, you are totally correct. Someone pointed that out in an earlier comment and it's listed as in the "Known Errors" section of the video description up above. (There is a "Known Errors" section on every video in the series. :)

[@rogueskypilot4116]

Fun to watch thank you

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks for stopping in, SkyPilot, glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@setSCEtoAUX]

Hey, is there a spot for the cook? Everybody knows the cook is the most important job on the sub.

[@ZillaBlitz]

I'm taking this as a volunteering, and will put you #4 in line, or number 2 if I can't figure out who the other volunteer were. You can have a side job as the cook, too. Engineer + Cook would be an awesome life on a U-Boat!

[@WhyteRabitScribe]

How high is the complexitity for this game? Im a newbie to wargames, but this looks cool.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Happy to help! Random thoughts... - On a wargaming scale, I'd say it's a 3 out of 10. - The rules are pretty good, although I'd argue there are a few places where they could be tightened up, and I did spent a bit of time poking around Board Game Geek to clarify some things I wasn't sure of. - Have you played some more complex Euro games? If so, if you are interested in the topic, I think you'd be able to make your way with things pretty well. Watching a video or two about the gameplay will probably help too. But... this game is currently out of print. It can be ordered on GMT's P500 page for the game, but it'll be a while before it gets reprinted.

[@WhyteRabitScribe]

@ZillaBlitz thank you for the reply! I am used to pretty complex euro games, and can make my way through with no problems usually. I have just discovered the P500 system, and have a few games I am looking at. This one included.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Oh, I think you'd be fine complexity-wise, then. I envision a 3 on my complexity scale to be the equivalent of a moderately complex Euro. You've got this, and can probably quickly move up the scale if you want. There are other games in the series, like The Hunted and Beneath the Med. I'd probably not recommend The Hunted as a starting point because it was a fairly brutal time in the war to be a U-Boat captain. You might also look to Western Front Ace, by Compass Games. Same designer as this, but World War 1 planes. I've heard good things about that one too, but I have yet to play it. Wings of Valor, by Legion Games, is also a hugely fun game in this family of games. It's lighter on decision-making than most games in the series, but spins great stories.@@WhyteRabitScribe

[@WhyteRabitScribe]

@ZillaBlitz great! Thank you for all those recommendations. I'm loving your videos by the way. Just found your channel.

[@ZillaBlitz]

My pleasure, and thanks for the kind words. :)

[@Leonardo_montagna]

There is some decision making in this game or is only gambling?

[@ZillaBlitz]

I'd probably go with: both of these things. :)

[@idjester]

good stuff man... sorry I am late to the party for sure..

[@ZillaBlitz]

It's not going anywhere, so no worries at all! Thanks for stopping in and watching. Sounds like you made it to the end, too. :)

[@tawandamhishi1407]

hii zillla nice vid still at xul

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, Tawanda! I hope school's going well? You studying hard?

[@mathewkelly9968]

Re upload ?

[@ZillaBlitz]

Yes, I've posted a clarifying comment and pinned it. Sorry for any confusion! :)