Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood | Shea's Final Thoughts

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A video outlining gameplay for the boardgame Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood.
For more game info, boardgamegeek....
Shea's channel:
/ rtfmshow
Check out the gaming table Shea uses at bandpassdesign...
Part I: Gameplay Runthrough
• Oathsworn: Into the De...
Part II: Final Thoughts
• Oathsworn: Into the De...

[@masterbridgemaster1]

I, for one, really like the interactive final thoughts. If it's not too much more work for you, Rahdo, then I say go for it!

[@ilqrd.6608]

The reason why these minis can be taken apart is because the KS had an add on called armory that was basically all sorts of weapons and armor for the characters that you could put on them to customize them!

[@rahdo]

ah, so it's one of those "if you get the retail game, there's a mystery since you don't have the kickstarter deluxe stuff" sorts of things. customizable minis does sound cool! :)

[@syncretist1701]

@@rahdo There is No retail game (Matrix mode).

[@rahdo]

ah, so there was a standard and deluxe version, and the mini changing was part of the deluxe. got it! :)

[@sebastiang.5032]

@@rahdo the switchable weapons were a add-on of the campaign

[@manuelwenzlik861]

@@rahdo The armory (interchangable weapons) was an addon and is the main reason the minis are bigger than usual and come apart. It's just one mini (Penitent) that is making problems and which you should probably glue.

[@MerrillWhiteKalEl]

This game is so FANTASTIC! We have played through chapter 8 and are just in love with the story, puzzles, battles etc. One of the best games I have ever played and so deserves game of the year. Also they come apart because you can change the weapons if you purchased it.

[@rhubahb]

Love this final thoughts format! Also STANDEES ALL THE WAY! For ALL the reasons you both mention. Plus, WAY few boxes to worry about and reduced KS bloat.

[@gregorykarcher5280]

I like the collaboration! That said, this felt more like an interview format to me than a final thoughts. I’d probably prefer to have the lead presenter discuss their final thoughts like normal, and having the second individual jump in with questions if something wasn’t clear; or jump in to provide an alternative opinion if they have a different view. This interview format might have the lead presenter (Shea today) being reactive instead of proactive and it might cause deviations in their preferred flow of topics, or worse, having them miss something they wanted to address. Subtle difference. Overall I love that my favorite channel is thinking outside the box. Appreciate the insights again today!

[@rahdo]

yeah, that was kind of the idea to make this a bit different than normal, and since i havent' played the game i'm basically the 'audience proxy who asks questions' (a storytelling technique as old as time), but i think we all agree taht there could have been a bit more time establishing the basics up front. still experimenting! :)

[@KRX_]

Almost feels like a mini-podcast. Definitely a good idea to have the back and forth and Q/A during these final thoughts!

[@sebastiang.5032]

Oathsworn is my #1 boardgame of 2022 so far. The blend of story and combat is just phantastic.

[@Sllohcin]

I REALLY like the back-and-forth banter/questions where you're acting as the viewer (us) and (someone/Shea) is answering/explaining it to us. Great format and very well done!!!

[@ericcorson1436]

I went all in on this game. I have played through the first four chapters. The first two twice with different groups. The Story was extremely well written and had varying paths to the boss encounter. It does remind me of Sherlock. Good point there. The Encounter A.I. played out well with varying abilities and ways of mangling our free company. All of our players thought about the game play for days afterwards. We really enjoyed this more than Gloomhaven. I do paint minis and just say the table presence is jaw dropping when everything is…not gray. The ability to change weapons, although cool, is a bit much. It does change the pose a bit but, dang it, I can’t paint all the options. Love the format guys. Always nice to have a little witty banter back and forth. Keep it rolling.

[@Whipitgood]

I love this format! Always want as much Shea as I can get, and this interaction is awesome.

[@CG_Hali]

Love the format, great idea. Maybe it could start with a small summary of a collaborator's final thoughts and then jump into questions. I think it might help for those who (sometimes or always) skip the runthrough to get the overall impression. I often watch Final thoughts first to see if I'm even interested in the game. So having a summary at first would be great. I like that Rahdo will be asking questions because, yeah, we always have some on this side of the screen :) Also: YES to standees!! :P

[@rahdo]

yup, this is something we identified after filming it too... my opening "ive got questions" thing has to start with a something that leads to a general summary before we get into particulars. what we did was i said to shea "i've got a lot of quesitons, and i can start with any of them" and he said he really wanted to talk about the story stuff most, so i figured i'd start with a question that led to that. but that should have been my SECOND question! :)

[@tristans5438]

Great run-through! The push fit/snap fit design was to allow for the armoury upgrade box you can get for the core Oathsworn characters. It comes with a bunch of different 1 and 2 handed weapons for each character that you can then swap out as you play the game and upgrade gear. You literally swap the arms of the characters out with them holding new weapons. I'd guess the problem miniature was either the warden or penitent and the shield arm? A trick to keep those in is to either glue the miniature minus the arms together to get a tighter fit or put a bit of blue tack on the arm peg.

[@rahdo]

that does sound cool. i guess it's a bit odd that for folks who get the retail edition, there's no explanation of this, but otoh you don't want to create unnecessary FOMO (or wait, is it still fear of missing out if you've already missed out? i guess not, and envy takes over!)

[@ZelDances]

Absolutely love the new format, it's very nice to hear a second perspective during a final thoughts.

[@LizGamerGirl]

Oooh love this format! Love seeing the interaction between you two!

[@MonsterX150]

Your mini gripe, is an advantage. It is for the optional armory pack, so that your mini accurately reflects the weaponry available....

[@JesseAStern]

As to the minis falling apart, the campaign definitely made it sound like they would hold together and come apart well without glue. As someone said, the point of this was to allow interchangeable weapons and such for those who bought the armory expansion. While they kinda succeeded, there was a practical issue. Specs were very precise, so it turned out that, unless the central body is glued together, putting something like and arm in will push the main body apart. Its not much, but even slightly pushing them apart makes the fit very loose. After 30 mins gluing all my minis bodies the to fit works very well. I was expecting it to work out of the box, but it was a simple fix overall and now they work very well

[@draphsor]

They just announced that they're modifying the minis in the second kickstarter to glue all the pieces that can be glued from the start, and also changing the plastic to make the pieces fit better.

[@aaronkoerner4903]

Definitely like having somebody act as a stand-in for the viewer in this format 👍

[@sebastiang.5032]

@Shea The miniatures are designed to be able to switch weapons if you have the 'Armory' expansion, that's why they are built like they are.

[@CB-yh3db]

Yep, I love the interaction b/w Rahdo & Shea.

[@nanorider426]

Thank you for this new final thoughts. Keep doing this please. :) You are not the only one preferring standees. I have so many models that I can't paint them all (roleplay models, model kits and board game models), and the size also plays a part like Shea said. Standees limits the size of the box and that is preferable - when you have a decent collection of board games. Edit: Tanhäuser is the only game (that I know of) where line of sight is really no problem. You look in the circle where your character is and where your target is, if they match colours you can hit your target. Easy peasy.

[@vegannotvogon8656]

OATHSWORN is my ultimate game,.I have six Kickstarters waiting delivery and I've lost all my excitement for them As a mini painter the mystery box version looks so good on the table that it looks like a different game.

[@MrVurtan]

I like the interaction / discussion of the final thoughts. So that is much appreciated. Maybe not for all games, but if you or any other contributor has something to say/ask, please to it together!

[@opsallen]

I only watched this because of the new format. Love it!

[@patricksteele]

If time permits then I like this format, some good questions were raised and answered. I also completely agree about having colourful standees to use instead of unpainted grey miniatures. Great work!

[@Zilong09]

I think this format is totally fine. Especially when it comes to how you two are with mannerisms. What I mean is, the two of you were comfortably cutting each other off at appropriate times and neither of you dominated the other during the conversation. As for Oathsworn: it looks so damn good. I just wish it wasn't behind a price tag that is more than a gaming console 😵‍💫 the first print was $400 CAD without shipping. like that is just crazy. I'm glad the game is at least well done for those that are willing to pay.

[@JohnHoliver]

This game cant be less than rank 25 on BGG, it's fantastic! I'm sure we will see it high there once there's wider adoption, bc fact is everyone is loving it.

[@rahdo]

i suspect you're right!

[@milojicaRAF]

Love this format! Beard is amazing!

[@JohnTaberGM]

Another vote for this question format! My only suggestion is to maybe save the questions until after the final thoughts???

[@Erril-1]

This format seems like a good idea, because Rahdo can ask question Shea might not think of. I am interested especially in questions about how cut-throat or mean a game is. I know Rahdo and his wife are also less into conflict games like us, so I am curious about the level of take-that or similar things ins games.

[@rahdo]

oh yeah that would totally be the sort of thing i would drill down on for some of the games shea covers! :)

[@Erril-1]

@@rahdo Sounds great :) Thank you :)

[@jackiethomas325]

Liking the new format, a lot more informative to work out if this is a game for me or not. Watching run through is great but you only ever see a snap shot unless you play the whole way through. Agree on standees, there are some great ones nowadays in some games and can make the game more colourful as I don’t paint either.

[@duncanbarker6051]

Enjoyed this format a lot

[@mariuszkania9947]

I always like too see interaction between members of Rahdo family. Personally I think that game reviewer should say some feelings of the game at the begining like "Oh my God this game is fantastic, has great art and mechanic is exceptional. I really like that this game does this or that in this or that way...etc". After that you could move to Q&A session. I also believe that final thougts should not last more than 10-12min.

[@mattceloria5066]

I enjoyed the interaction between the two of you.

[@crystulas2598]

It was more expensive to produce to have the minis come apart and be able to fit back together. This was done for the "Armory" upgrade that lets players change the arms and weapons to match the weapons that they use during the game. Also, as someone who paints his games, they have done an amazing job creating minis that are so much fun to paint. This game is so so so so good! Choosing the number of Cards/Dice is a nice decision point as well as the Battleflow system that they have for your ability cards. We are 5 chapters in and every scenario feels varied and different. The writing is really really good as well as the narration done by James Cosmo. This game is in my top 5 and I don't see it leaving.

[@rahdo]

ah, so it's an optional sold separately upgrade then? and if you got "just the basics" you're in just a bit of a weird spot it sounds like?

[@geoffcost7330]

Love the new format. This is in my top 2 games of the year for me so far (Ark Nova is #1 for now), it may go up depending by the time I finish all 21 chapters. The story is 2nd to none. The card mechanics I prefer to Gloomhaven as well as having a companion option (we play one full and one companion each), and the tactics is preferable to KDM for us plus so far all bosses play so different. I did not get the armoury so I glued all the hero minis.

[@matthewatherton6537]

I like this format, since the run-throughs are solitary, the finals thoughts are bolstered with a conversational element

[@paulweiwang4533]

I enjoyed this. I would also like to see more collaborations with the Rahdo team--not necessarily having Richard be in every one of these collaborations. I think the JonGetsGames series on Friendly Ties is a really good model to follow.

[@rb4551]

I enjoy this format. This is by no means a dig at Shea because I think he is fantastic but he does not bring the same energy that you do and when I signed up to the channel, it was because of that energy. I have the same problem with other content creators who bring along other reviewers as it is not always a fit "for me". That being said, when you are both in, I get the vibes I like and the energy you bring and I feel like it is contagious and infecting shea who is normally more reserved. Anyways, I enjoyed this video a lot! Thanks to both of you for the work you do.

[@rahdo]

yup, we thought it would be a fun twist on the norm for me (someone who hasn't played the game) to act as the 'audience proxy who asks questions' (an ancient storytelling technique). will probably keep experimenting with it :)

[@Sthunderrocker]

You can change the weapons. There's a reason the minis come apart. Seems weird that they wouldn't have sent you that as well.

[@rahdo]

so were those only available in a 'deluxe' edition and not the normal standee version i wonder?

[@tomlikeabomb6706]

I liked the final thoughts like this. Saying Sherlock got me interested. 70% combat and the price of the game might push me away though

[@geoffcost7330]

Just get the standee version. Far cheaper.

[@ryangilmore3678]

I'm all for group reviews. More voices and opinions in one video gives the viewer a more rounded review. I think this gives us a better idea of if a game is for us or not.

[@rahdo]

cool! yeah, we've thought about doing more crossover final thoughts for awhile, but it was always hard to do because unlike the dice tower who all work in the same house, we're spread all over the place, so getting review copies for everyone to try it tough. but then it occured to us... why did i have to play the game? what if i'm just an audience memeber like everyone else, and i just ask questions, like you would do irl if someone was describing a game. so that's the idea... i don't think i've seen other boardgame media where people are talking about a game, but not all of them have played it. but of course, that's super common in real life :)

[@adamanderson1979]

The push fit minis were a major selling point of the campaign.

[@Kojimalosophy]

Is the Oathsworm standee version limited or constricted in any way when compared the the minis version? like , do you get a lesser experience gameplay-wise with the standies version?

[@RTFM]

As far as mechanics go, absolutely not. It's the same game, just using different materials. The only mini I've seen that I actually wouldn't mind having is the trees/terrain, because that actually helps to visualize the battlefield a little better, and they'll get used just about every fight.

[@shanerion]

You CAN change their pose!

[@pete4922]

Wanted to make a couple rules comments. 1)it sounded like you said you battle flow the cards around at the end of the round. I believe they stay put until you force them to move with card-play or other abilities. I think it’s an easy mistake to make but would make the game a lot easier. 2) - there are a few “how exactly does this work in this situation?” Most of these are in the rules, some are not, but almost none are important or game breaking. But prepared to either scour BGG or make a house rule. Normally I would hate that, but the game is amazing. I Haven’t seen The engaging Narrative + Epic battle done to this scale before.

[@pete4922]

Oh, and I like the conversational , almost Q and A format. Would love a follow-up with Shea asking Radho some questions about how he liked it, if he ever plays it.

[@BadatBoardgames]

You are supposed to be able to change the weapons as they change in game. Why the minis are push fit.

[@rahdo]

yup got it. i guess those customizations don't come with the 'regular' version, but only the deluxe?

[@koenwijnants6499]

Miniis come togheter because you can change the weapons if you have armory box.

[@rahdo]

ah, so the armory box was an add on during the campaign, and if you didn't back for the bigger deluxe version you're left in a bit of a weird spot? just checking :)

[@momgamer9750]

Yaaaas plz

[@ailurophile71]

I enjoyed the addition of Rahdo's perspective, but I wish Richard had let Shea proceed as normal and then interjected questions when appropriate, vs. what felt like trampling the presentation from the outset with questions and then rushing a conclusion. In the end, I felt like something of Shea was missing, unnecessarily. So a bit disappointing, but also promising as a first try. I'm sure there's something greater than the sum of its parts here, but this wasn't yet that.

[@rahdo]

it's true i do tend to motor mouth. it's something i'm aware of and am constatnly struggling with whenever i do a video with someone, and also just in real life! :)

[@joncarr5545]

How do you not know about the Armory box? It’s why the minis are push fit.

[@joncarr5545]

Beyond they odd lack of info, great video!

[@djfusion2808]

Love you Rahdo but Shea doesn't need your guiding questions mate, just let him do his review he would have covered everything you raised anyway.

[@rahdo]

(between you and me, this was shea's idea) :)

[@djfusion2808]

@@rahdo Fair enough then! Although I think this format would be a great complement to the usual final thoughts. So playthrough, final thoughts, and then the post-final thought review. This way we get even more Rahdo and Shea!

[@frankl352]

Too crazy an interview. Just give him the questions in email.

[@rahdo]

well i guess that's one "thumbs down" vote!