Great War At Sea: Jutland - Final thoughts

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

Nice video - just subbed to you and sharing with a friend that loves this naval stuff.

[@andrewchoong2895]

That's really kind of you! Thanks so much. I'm really glad you enjoyed the videos and hope your friend does too! :)

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

2:28 the new box art is way better!

[@andrewchoong2895]

Definitely with you there! Can't beat a good Claus Bergen painting :)

[@Nangwaya]

Thank you again for this video series on this game series. Without a doubt I am eager to this out!

[@andrewchoong2895]

Hello! Sorry, belatedly catching up on my messages! It was my pleasure and great fun revisiting this series. Hope you have an excellent game of it when you have the opportunity :)

[@patrickols]

Now a days size of the game is the one major factor in me choosing to buy one or not. Many of my older games I cannot play them because I do not have the proper space for them, so the smaller the game setup is better. I just completed a play through of GDW A House Divided for my own video and I was surprised by how much room even a smaller game like that did take for setup, counters, player aids. It’s not easy since in so many cases game designers usually feel that more and bigger is better 😊

[@andrewchoong2895]

I greatly admire the 'big, bad and beautiful' games that seem to be the trend these days, but like you it's a trap when it comes to playing the things 😅. I remember Fantasy Flight Games' 'Tide Of Iron' being my first foray into this delightful madness. Mylast decade's buying spree is coming home to roost now, as I'm having to sell some titles off... Thanks for the heads up about your video! I love ACW games in general but that is one of the titles I do not have, and I'm very much looking forward to watching it!

[@ebrim5013]

Sounds like it would be kinda difficult to choose between them. The map size issue is real as a person with only a very average sized table. Then again, a bigger variety and wider scope for various scenarios and what-ifs is tempting. Would love to see some US ships.

[@andrewchoong2895]

Yes, I have the biggest table I'm ever going to fit in this house. It's decently huge at 6ft by 3ft, but I do share it's use with the family so in reality it's much smaller. The USN has a decent presence in this game, and it really shines in the Pacific War titles. I have put wheeling them out on the 'To Do' list :)

[@korposp]

The old map is also much more eye pleasing...

[@andrewchoong2895]

Right with you there :)

[@Jezza_One]

Agreed far better.

[@kirilloreshkin8343]

Thank you for your videos, Andrew, very interesting thoughts. I have been playing GWAS/SWWAS since the first game came out in the 90s and though the concept of these games is really great, the execution is not so in my opinion. Fnd yes the aesthetics of the early games is way more pleasing, especially the maps. Classical Love/hate relations between me and the game system. I have played both solo and face to face and the main problem is basic unplayabilty with forces consisting of more than 2 fleets due to all the plotting routine. Too much time is wasted on plotting of evident moves, checking zone numbers etc. But the operational scale of the game was tempting me, so a decade or so ago I homebrewed rules for fleet movement (and also air search and air combat for WW2 games) without plotting , except for raiding fleets... And since then I really love the game. Your thoughts about the combat system are very interesting and I will try the basic system, shame I never tried it in 25 years... But the beauty of these games is that you can substitute original combat system with the one you prefer quite easily. Once I played Cruiser Warfare with Fear God & Dread Nought rules for some battles. Great videos!

[@andrewchoong2895]

Thanks very much! I had loads of fun making these and it was lovely to revisit one of my student day favourites. I can't remember how I got round the solo play frustrations as a teen, but I think for the operational games with more dispersed fleets (looking at you, War Plan Orange!) I opted for just moving my fleets to commit for my turn, and then just rolling a dice with no plotting to determine the movement of enemy fleets. There was a reasonable amount of tension with that, and I am glad that the nature of the air search rules did not depend on you declaring and scouting particular zones. I really like your idea of simply substituting a more detailed and better tactical rule set. I didn't mention it this time around, but wanting to keep a bit of simplicity while injecting more granularity I was pondering using Minden Games' 'Salvo' rules. I like that system, but it struggles a bit when you have more than four or five ships aside unless you lock them into a single formation. In any case, I'll certainly be getting GWAS out again in the autumn :)

[@DieterDietz1]

Picked up Coral Sea per your recommendation

[@andrewchoong2895]

Wonderful! I hope you have a really great time with it :)

[@snorrithorfinnsson8230]

Hullo Andrew, just about to kick off Western Scenario I from GWAS the Med. Just curious as to how you handle activation of opposing fleets when playing solo. For reactive fleets..ie those w intercept orders I was thinking of a d6 roll w dm's for my squadrons crossing merchant routes, passing close to enemy or neutral ports or running into enemy fleet units.. I was thinking activation on 5 or 6 w dms to the roll... How do you handle such things?

[@andrewchoong2895]

Hello! You've pretty much summarized how I deal with reactive fleets, although I always start them off reacting on a base roll of '6' to represent the slightly poorer communications and slower reaction times of WWI, but the modifiers are cumulative over time. So, if I've say, passed a port, brushed a merchant route and sunk a ship, the enemy will always benefit from a +3 until they activate. A roll of '1' is always a fail regardless, just to factor in the inevitable miscommunications, incompetence etc...

[@snorrithorfinnsson8230]

Thank you! I have written out the Admiralty SRAAC.....solo rules according to Andrew and Company as my guide. I have reduced my activation roll according. I may yet pester you w annoying questions...

[@andrewchoong2895]

Awesome, I hope they're helping you have a fun time with the game. Please do keep the questions coming - no such thing as an annoying one :)

[@snorrithorfinnsson8230]

Another question....when executing enemy plotted moves....if I have 3 plotted tracks would you suggest putting an enemy fleet marker on each of the 3, move them normally and roll for possible contact for a 3 as my vessels cross em?

[@andrewchoong2895]

Yes, I think that should work well, and it certainly generates more tension than the system I use as you have no idea which ones are the dummies. In fact, I will definitely try that in my next game, so thanks! :)

[@Jezza_One]

Not really a game that can be played solo (even though the box claims its 'fair' solo) I am going to sell my copy.

[@andrewchoong2895]

Yes, it's a shame. I was very lucky to find a regular (ish) opponent who lives nearby. Some of the folks commenting here had some really good suggestions for solo-ing the strategic game and they were a bit better than what I've been doing. Hope you get a good price for it if you do sell.