Samurai Battles (GMT) Review

[@yodennis2000]

I must watch your videos a lot around my three-year-old. When I queued up the video, he heard your voice and said, "I like Marco. He's a nice guy." Keep up the great work!

[@QCCQG]

hi. are the stickers misprinted? i read somewhere they are miscutted. any other issues with first print? thanks

[@gregarious_one]

Yes, Marco! Waiting for my SB to arrive (and still halfway through stickering Medieval). Great job as always!

[@malachor5ve]

Great video, I'm glad I found your channel. If you were to recommend 3 of the best wargames for beginners, and another 3 of the best wargames for intermediates, which ones would you choose?

[@eriksaari4430]

wasnt there another samurai c&c with figs?

[@shrekage]

Hi Marco, can you please create a playlist with your solitaire wargame reviews. Thanks

[@twentysides]

Thank you for the video! It's amazing how similar this is to Battlelore, which I also love. I'm excited to finally get this to the table.

[@sahaynam6470]

They are based on the same system (commands and colors)

[@twentysides]

@@sahaynam6470 Right, I've owned about 6 games in the system. Specifically they're very similar in the way you generate points when rolling battle dice and at the end of the turn, and spend them to play cards that create additional effects. There are certainly other differences but this element is shared between these two entries.

[@johnrogers8876]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Marco.

[@shinobi9576]

How can I play this solo in a solo variant???

[@StratfordWingRider]

40 scenarios! Wow that’s awesome. I must admit I don’t know much about Japanese history, but the command and colors games are often great as I will play a battle and then look into the real battle afterwards. I’d love to see a age of sail or dreadnought sea historical battle command and colors, I think that would really lend itself to the mechanics (and lack of communications/ initiative etc.) A great series of games.

[@przemekbozek]

Thanks for the review Marco, looking at the reviews of Samurai Battles it actually looks quite similar to Red Alert, except the minis assembly side. I really enjoy Red Alert over Vassal, we've played all the scenarios in the game with a friend who owns the game😁

[@felixsulla7853]

Yes, it is similar to Red Alert, except for everything about the game.

[@sethsez]

@@felixsulla7853 Considering the Red Alert board game is part of the Commands and Colors series, same as this, I'm not certain how "everything about the game" is different. The only things that come closer are... some other Commands and Colors games.

[@CarlosGonzalez-km3uj]

Good review like always Dear Marco ,, Regards from Mexico - i am a Big fan - - this new game needed to buy , jejejejej , because for the colection that i have to COMMAND AND COLORS

[@jasondanielmalloy]

THIS is the C&C *and* block wargame i’ve been waiting for! I think it might fire everything else!

[@TheFortinbrasEffect]

Great. Now I have to get this one, too.

[@neeleyfolk]

Looks good, but can't get into another Command & Colors $eries. I'll stick with Ancients, which I'm now doing solo while trying to learn about the battles online & ordering history books to read. Waiting on Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War.

[@StratfordWingRider]

Can’t go wrong with Ancients! I do struggle to justify yet another one, but my friend and I have been playing through Medieval scenarios one after another and I really noticed the better board and dice in that one. So we often use his dice and board when we play Ancients

[@A_Toastonawhiteplate]

Same for me its napoleonics...just too many expansions I am just happy the great war does not have so many expansions

[@StratfordWingRider]

@@A_Toastonawhiteplate - I just picked up Napoleonics as it is an era that I really like, but the amount of expansions IS intimidating, especially since they are full priced and hard to find here in NZ at times.

[@NullSpaceKid]

I understand, I have most of the C&C Napoleonics but am not into collecting another series, although I'm much tempted by this game as I suspect it's complete in itself & unlikely to need expansions. Not to mention 40 scenarios!

[@shinobi9576]

Is it possible to play this game solo?

[@felixsulla7853]

Maybe.

[@Caratacus1]

Dang it no mention of whether this is 'roll the damage per block attacking' ala Napoleonics or a 'flat damage roll regardless of how many blocks you attack with'. No mention on BGG either. Or on GMT website. Anyways I can't stand the flat damage system so will skip this just in case.

[@kilgallong]

it is a flat damage system

[@Caratacus1]

@@kilgallong Many thanks for the confirmation 👍

[@marcoomnigamer]

@@Caratacus1 you can also see it on the player aid at 04:14.

[@Caratacus1]

@@marcoomnigamer Yep I didn't think to look at that!

[@yoshigikenichi4245]

風の方向がこのゲームにはない追い風向い風によって有利不利ある晴天もある

[@mikolajwitkowski8093]

Oh and GMT basically remade original old Samurai Battles so it is not very good historically speaking.

[@elizabethlestrad5282]

One thing I don't get. If its a block game, presumably there's some sort of fog of war. If so...why are the commanders using black blocks. Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of "fog of war" to know exactly where the enemy commander is? Or am I missing something?

[@godlaydying]

I think there is no fog of war, and it has blocks only because this series has blocks.

[@jona826]

Blocks are used as a kind of cheap alternative to miniatures, not for fog of war. However there is fog of war in all C&C games by the mere fact that you are limited in what you can do by your card hand. If you have no cards on the left flank when you really want to move your pieces on that side of the board, this simulates orders not being received or being misinterpreted etc.

[@elizabethlestrad5282]

@@jona826 Hmm. So it's not like Holdfast series where the blocks face each player and you don't know what units are where? I mean, if they're not using it for FoW, Chitts would have been cheaper.

[@jona826]

@@elizabethlestrad5282 Correct, unit strength is visible to both sides at all times. The C&C system is great though. I don't have this one but do have C&C Napoleonic and have played a friend's copy of C&C Ancients plus expansions. They all do a great job with slight variations from the core rules for each particular setting.

[@twentysides]

The contents and quality of the opponent's army is completely known, but their capabilities are unknown (cards in hand). The blocks are just a tangible stand-in for the troops and could have been cardboard tokens (but I'm glad they're not).

[@mikolajwitkowski8093]

You cannot play the game solo, i.e. The game does nothing to help with that and it has hidden information. You can play both sides the same as you can play both sides in poker, that says more about the player than the game.

[@marcoomnigamer]

if you draw your card at the beginning of a turn, instead of the end, you don't know exactly what the opponent has when you play one side. Also in poker knowledge of the opponent's hand is everything; here you have maneuvers and random die rolls, which add a lot of uncertainties even if you have perfect knowledge of the cards in play (which you don't if you draw at the beginning)

[@mikolajwitkowski8093]

@@marcoomnigamer but that is just one card out of hand of cards. The game is about surprising your opponent and making multi turn plans. Sure if you are committed you can play any game solo, but there are games that are well suited for this and those that are not. Saying it is soloable can be misleading to a new player watching, also, and this may be a personal pet peeve, this approach from wargamers may be why companies are not motivated to develop real solo systems.

[@michaelhill6453]

Block Command and Colours would be a great system if it was Counters Command and Colours. Blocks here are just an annoying gimmick.

[@ElGrandoCaymano]

Command & Colors has been around for 15 years already, 6 printings, 4 versions (Samurai = #4) and oodles of expansions. Where you been at? Hardly a new concept or gimmick...

[@michaelhill6453]

@@ElGrandoCaymano I agree in part. An enjoyable system; I think I've played almost every iteration. Why do I see the block thingie as a gimmick? Well, after you've spent hours putting on the sticky labels, you're left with vertical counters. Regular, cardboard counters are cheaper, lighter, can be larger, with lovely artwork, perhaps carry some game-related statistics. In block games where the opponent shouldn't see the sticker on one side, blocks are an inspired innovation, otherwise, a bit gimmicky. Please don't think I'm having a go at your opinions and experiences, which are just as valid as mine, I'm just thinking out loud because I love the system but neither blocks nor figures bring anything to the game; instead they detract.

[@ElGrandoCaymano]

@@michaelhill6453 Ah I see. Yes, the stickering is painful (very painful) and they could switch to - or alternatively offer - counters ala Hold the Line/Frederick at War. I guess it's on the intro/lighter-end of their product line and they probably didn't want to deviate too much from DoW, FFG and now PSC's offerings.

[@twentysides]

After playing the game a few times, while the gameplay is brilliant, it's definitely not historically accurate in many respects. It falls back on exoticism and orientalism to a disappointing degree. It fixates on an outdated, surface-level understanding of Japanese culture and applies it awkwardly and ahistorically. I wish GMT developed it instead of just reprinting the first version but with blocks, because if they gave this the care they gave Napoleonics or Ancients along with editing by Japanese scholars it would be on a whole other level.