Grand Havoc First Look | US Civil War Wargame | Battle of Perryville | Board Game

[@rikterandersson3568]

My favorite channel by far! The quality of the videos while still feeling 'homemade' (the feeling if you get my drift) is just so enjoyable!

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks for the kind words! Very much appreciated, and I understand what you mean. :)

[@hermannluttmann1637]

Fantastic video, ZB - as usual! Jeff Grossman did a terrific job with this entry into the series. Thanks!

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks Hermann, I'm glad you liked it. :) It really feels like a polished and fun system, very adaptable to each battle.

[@scotwilliams803]

Thanks! Your enthusiasm for the system really shows. I live about 45 miles from Perryville and even though I’m not a big Civil War gamer, this game intrigues me.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Very nice! I suppose you've visited the battlefield? In particular I suspect the variant scenarios will provide a good bit of gameplay with this one. I'm really just starting to dip my toes into American Civil War games now. I'm liking them more than I anticipated. :)

[@scotwilliams803]

@@ZillaBlitz yes. There is a really nice state park there. They do a large reenactment every year but I’ve never been to that event.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Nice! It'd be fun to play a game about a battle and then visit the battle after that.

[@bm5251]

This system has been my first dive into Civil War games and its been great so far. Fun to solo and I really like the maps.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Great to hear, thanks for sharing! :)

[@coyi51]

Excellent and informative unboxing. I like acw games and ordered my first game in this system yesterday, Stonewall's Sword, hoping it arrives tomorrow. Many thanks.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Nice timing! I hope you enjoy it! :)

[@campsawyer]

This is one of the best games in the line. Bigger than most, but not at large are Longstreet Attacks and it a really good play.

[@nordicmaelstrom4714]

Now that you mention it Sawyer I need to check my Three Days of Gettysburg scenario book and see if there is an historical Longsteet attacks scenario in there. An epic days fighting in that one.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Good to know, thanks! I was wondering about which of the 10 games might be considered the strongest in the set.

[@campsawyer]

​@@ZillaBlitz This is hard to say as system itself is strong. Each battle has a different perspective and this is more subjective to an individual.

[@williamstewart4620]

Thanks for the unboxing and introduction to this interesting system. I have a first edition and upgrade kit for A Most Fearful Sacrifice and would love to play it, however I have yet to get it to the table or find a table big enough - I may have to knock out a wall, 😊 Perryville, This Grand Havoc of Battle by Kenneth W. Noe is a good source for those looking for more information and background on the battle.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks for the source book! Much appreciated. And AMFS isn't as a big of a table hog as it might appear, as most of the scenarios only use one map. :)

[@patrickols]

I really enjoy this series, I don’t have all of them but I’m not missing many. I am slowly in the process of getting them all like Pokémon 😅

[@ZillaBlitz]

Very nice, I've only got this one, but it's starting to feel like this might be another Pokemon collection series for me too. :)

[@thecustardprophet8434]

Map looks fantastic on this game. One thing I was wondering after watching a bunch of your reviews; how many scenarios does a game need to have to represent decent value. I guess this will very much depend on the game and underlying mechanics, but it would be interesting to know your thoughts.

[@ZillaBlitz]

I think it varies a good bit, depending on like you say the mechanics, game balance, and gameplay. One great scenario that's well balanced, with lots of interesting decisions, can make for a great game. Other games can have 10 scenarios but if they aren't balanced or particularly interesting you end up playing them once and feeling like you're done with them. :)

[@robertdelaney4332]

My bonus comes in two weeks. Already warn3d the misses that I was buying 3 games. A game in the system is going to be one of them. I was leaning towards Sales Chruch but after seeing this, I think I will go with Perryville. I am not as familiar with the western theater so this could be an interesting start.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Bonus time is the best time! Very nice, what are the other 2 game that you're thinking about?

[@robertdelaney4332]

Going with Arracourt as a start with BCS and probably White Plains from GMT. I hear is a series but I will need to check one more time to mKe sure its for me. I figured I would add some civil and revolutionary war stuff to pry me from WW2 😂

[@robertdelaney4332]

PS - do you have someplace where the group comments on their shelf of shame challenge updates?

[@ZillaBlitz]

I'm adding some updates to the Community Page, so that would be a good place. Also, I'll be posting a new channel update this weekend, so that would be another good spot. :)

[@ZillaBlitz]

Good choices! For the Revolutionary War games, GMT has a new Tri-Pack (so 3 of the games in the series) available on their P500 system, in case that might interest you. That is good value when the pack 3 games into 1 box. :)

[@travisoke4683]

The first ACW game I got was Death Valley from GMT, and boy howdy that’s a complex system! I rarely get it to the table, and it could be that it’s too complex for me. I should certainly give one of the Blind Swords’ games a shot.

[@ZillaBlitz]

I've heard that system is really good... and fairly complex, yes. I do have Death Valley on my Shelf of Opportunity. I think after I play this and A Most Fearful Sacrifice, it'd be fun to break that out and compare the systems. And MMP's system as well. So many games to play! :)

[@fredwmanzo8580]

The first Blind Sword game was “Stonewall’s Sword” from Revolution games. And while you can start with any game in the series its first game was the simplest. Plus it’s a really good game too.

[@Phalanx11]

There should be three to four times more Union counters than Rebels. Thats roughly how much more manpower the North had.... 3-4 times more infantry 10 times more industry 10 times more naval. 10 times more rail. Sounds fair to me!!

[@ZillaBlitz]

A fair amount of the counters for each side are markers/leaders specific to that side, and SPs alter the math as well. I suspect that when you tally up the SPs for each side, it's probably actually pretty close to what we'd expect.

[@dirtfarmer7070]

That wasn't always true in every battle....if your numerical superiority wasn't in the area, you didn't have that advantage. As we seen at Perryville, 2 whole Corp pretty much sat it out.

[@Phalanx11]

@@dirtfarmer7070 Strategically speaking theres no way the South could have won the war. Therefore Civil Wargames are a waste of time. Try Eastern Front games where both side get to attack and defend. You won't have as much headaches.

[@dirtfarmer7070]

@@Phalanx11 war games are just that, games. Historically speaking, hindsight is twenty- twenty. It's all woulda,coulda,shoulda. I enjoy these games in many time periods. On another note, I'm heading to an Eastern front reenactment next week. Should prove interesting.

[@Phalanx11]

I've created a fiestorm!! Sorry Mike.

[@nordicmaelstrom4714]

I have Into the Woods, Three Days of Gettysburg and Death Valley + supplement for GBACW but I have to think about looking into this system. One of the issues I have with GBACW and it really isn't a huge problem is solo playing the large battles is daunting. From what I gather the blind sword system is better suited for solo play. Have you tried GBACW yet Zilla? Also give Library of Napoleonic Battles a whirl at some point very easy system and at this point well fleshed out.

[@ZillaBlitz]

I've not tried any of the other Civil War systems yet, but I have a game from each on my Shelf of Opportunity. I think after I play more of A Most Fearful Sacrifice and Grand Havoc, it'll be time to give them a shot. :)

[@nordicmaelstrom4714]

@@ZillaBlitzGBACW is crunchy but provides a narrative to the game. Id like to give the Blind Sword system a shot and I am not sure I need another Gettysburg game but I may consider A Most Fearful Sacrifice.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Crunchy is fine, too. I've heard good things about the GBACW system. I'm loving AMFS at the moment, too. It's spectacular.

[@nordicmaelstrom4714]

@@ZillaBlitzGBACW is a good system once you get it down and its going to take a couple plays to do so. Good starting point is Death Valley.