Sherman Leader: Board Wargame Playthrough AAR - Episode 2 (First Battle) - Dan Verssen Games DVG

[@soloboardgaming]

I like the draw for German armour, despite the fact we drew a Tiger - ouch! Lucky to meet such a timid enemy though, except for that suicidal infantry unit that is! Great fun :)

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, SOLO! This enemy battalion certainly hasn't shined so far in the battle, between missing their initial shots and then turning tail. The next turn will be pivotal, as they'll have some really good shots at our Stuart. Thanks for stopping in!

[@Fallub]

Great video. Very clear documentation of all moves and superb camera work. Thank you.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, Phillip! This was a fun series to make. :)

[@Phredd03]

I haven't seen the follow-up episode, yet, but I'd have held in place and let them attack us. You got two cautious die rolls for the Germans in those middle two rounds, but that's unlikely to keep going. The bocage invites them out into the open and only allows them to attack piecemeal because of the distance. You've gotten lucky with the German attack rolls so far, and I think it is a mistake to throw away the advantage that has given you by increasing their odds. I understand we need to eliminate units, but I think we'd do better with them in the open and not us. I look forward to seeing how your troops do now that they are exposed.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Good points, thanks! I think I learned a lot about playing the game as I went through this series, and started changing tactics as we went on. Later on, too, I change one rule interpretation that was making it easier for us.

[@tonycutty598]

Great video, you captured the action superbly. Looking forward to the next one :) I find the faster units like the Stuart and the armoured cars are great for the final push towads the end of the battle; it's easy to call up a 'surprise' for the enemy where suddenly they have one of my vehicles in their faces.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks for the kind words, Tony! I can see now how that Stuart, with a movement of 2, can be handy, and could be handy, for example, in taking out those trucks at the end. I kind of wish I got more than one unit with a speed of 2. Lesson learned for next time!

[@jaredlucev2705]

I've been wanting this game for a while now, and these great videos are just confirming that. Nice job pasting the Tiger.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, Jared! It's been a blast to play and make these. Lots of positives with the game, for sure. I especially enjoy the game's ability to generate excellent stories, and there is some fun depth to the game as you play out the campaigns. Definitely recommended. :)

[@farpointgamingdirect]

Excellent hit on that Tiger! We have dachshunds so my battles are always safe 🤣

[@ZillaBlitz]

Oh, that is an excellent wargaming pet choice, yes! In retrospect, I wish we did that instead of hyperactive cats who love to pretend they are Godzilla.

[@mtaran02]

Thank you! Great video and rundown. Very helpful!

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, glad you found it helpful! :)

[@WWBoardgamer]

Great vid also. Too bad you don't have smoke to protect the infantry. Sitting ducks in the open. Great start though. Pressing seems to be the way to go while the die are being favourable.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Yes, things can go sideways in this game quickly. One minute all is well, and the next your best Sherman is up in flames and your leader dead. :)

[@marcusdecull4473]

Loving the series….Sherman Leader looks terrific. I always enjoyed Warfighter WW2 and was curious about this one.

[@ZillaBlitz]

I've recently watched a couple of videos on Warfighter from SOLO Boardgaming, and I can see some similarities between the two systems, for sure. But yes, this is a very fun game. :)

[@PACEUK22]

Excellent presentation, delivery and content on this vid! Thanks . Personally I prefer videos without background music but that’s just me I suspect

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. The background music was very much a work in progress at this point. Overall I think it's too loud in this series, but I was learning. :) In case it helps, I've found that I can often adjust the volume on videos with background music to a level where I can hear the commentary but not the background music.

[@PACEUK22]

@@ZillaBlitz thanks for the advice. Keep up the great work. I always make an effort to watch your content . I suspect we have very similar tastes in games 👍

[@vaele723]

Great video! And good start so far, the dice seems to be on the Allies' side. But those garrisoned units on the building hexes might prove problematic.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks! Yeah, this scout battalion doesn't seem to be Germany's finest. :) Lots of misses and pulling back from engagement right away. We've been really lucky so far. ~ We only have to get the battalion down to its last 4 strength points, so we might be able to avoid some of those infantry squads. Maybe even have our armor, if possible, try to hit them from range. I'm curious to see their next move. :)

[@robertdelaney4332]

I am a year behind but enjoying this playthrough. I may have to do some shopping.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Ha! Glad you are enjoying it. :) It seems a bit pricey at the moment, but there are many Leader games to pick from if money is a factor. :)

[@robertdelaney4332]

@@ZillaBlitz I am used to those kind of prices. Years of miniature wargaming teaches you how to budget for hobbying without angering the misses :)

[@ZillaBlitz]

Makes sense, miniatures do seem like they could take some funds, for sure! :)

[@nheather]

On the German movement dice throws shouldn’t you have been adding modifiers - one from the ‘invasion’ mission card and one from the special operation card - making them much more aggressive?

[@ZillaBlitz]

This was the second wargaming series I ever did, so it has a higher error rate than most of the series on the channel. Most have been pointed out, though, but it's quite possible you're correct. At some point I want to go back through the series and create a "Known Errors" section for the Description in the video. That's what I do for subsequent series, so that the errors are easy to account for when/if they happen. I was still very much learning to to play/talk/record at the same time here. :)

[@nheather]

Thanks for the reply - I suspected that as I had come to this a year late then these minor issues may have already been picked up. The points I was referring to come from the Battalion card ‘Invasion’ and the Special Operation card. The Battalion card give the Germans +5 to all move rolls in the first week (which would have made them much more aggressive). It also gives an extra attack die when attacking at range 0 (not sure whether that just applies to the Germans). Those would have made the Germans much more powerful. The Special Operations card adds a further +2 to the move dice throws but only for non-fixed command and support units (I’m not sure which of the units in that particular battle that would have applied to - probably moot though as they were already getting +5 so probably max’ed out already).

[@ZillaBlitz]

@@nheather I can take a closer look at this over the weekend but one thing that's bouncing around in my head was that I think the battalion movement you are referring to for the first week is for the full battalion movement and not the individual unit movement during the tactical combat. It’s so that all battalions advance in the first week.

[@ZillaBlitz]

@@nheather I’m going from memory here but I think the extra die roll for range 0 was for the US only and I remember that was something that I didn’t do in the earlier battles. I remember that was a mistake I made. But yeah, I don’t have the game handy at the moment and it was a while ago. :)

[@Kili121416]

Great video, well presented.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks, Kili, and thanks for stopping in! :)

[@mikevargas809]

great vids brother

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thank you, Snow Leopard!

[@Wolfvonhinslik]

Is the writing on the Battalion card only affective for the fight with them? For example the Assault one that gives bonus to all attacks on your armor? or does that affect ALL of the fights?

[@ZillaBlitz]

I don't have the game handy at the moment, but I thought that there are some that apply to only battles with that battalion and some that apply to all of the fights. I thought the wording on the cards specifies which of the two cases it is.

[@OldLadyPlays]

Well, this would be an excellent video, but you did go over 30 minutes, so I have to dock you a few points. ;)

[@ZillaBlitz]

Ha! I realized that at the end and thought, "Pfft, who will notice that?" :)

[@robmarcjon]

Great video thanks

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks Marc! :)

[@ParkeraNZ]

I think you need to check the dice as the Axis never seem to get good roles. I suspect the die were made in England :D

[@ZillaBlitz]

For sure, they rolled AWFUL and then they ran away. If our luck is like this through the whole series, this will be easy. I fear it'll all even out though, and we're primed to take some hits in the next episode. Our Stuart tank is going to take fire for sure.

[@TokyoDan0]

At 8:59 how did you determine the starting hex of the enemy units?

[@ZillaBlitz]

There is a die roll that you make for each unit, that shows which of the 8 possible starting hexes a unit can go into, and how to handle situations where the die roll would place a unit in an impassable hex. I think the rules are pretty clear on this part, so I think you'll find it pretty easy to follow in the rulebook. :)

[@TokyoDan0]

@@ZillaBlitz Thanks again. The reason I asked about such details (besides forgetting that this video is not a tutorial) is because I have a brand new still unopened Sherman Leader, and I am not sure I want to open it as I may want to sell it. That's because I just played D-Day Dice and found it had too much house keeping for my likes and I thought that Sherman Leader might be even more complicated with all the things you have to do in every phase of every turn. I found a PDF version of the manual which I will read.

[@ZillaBlitz]

@@TokyoDan0 Ah, I see! For what it's worth, D-Day Dice has a 2.13 complexity rating on Board Game Geek, while Sherman Leader has a 2.71. If that's accurate, Sherman Leader is a good bit more complicated and harder than D-Day Dice. (I'm not familiar with D-Day Dice.)

[@TokyoDan0]

@@ZillaBlitz Well your videos are done so well and systematically that you make the game seem easy to play.

[@MisterG2323]

I'm thinking I was commanding that unfortunate Tiger. How many times did I have to remind my gunner to keep his sights in order? But, noooo... 🙄

[@ZillaBlitz]

Ha! If all the enemy battalions perform the way this one has so far, we're going to have an easy campaign. Those first 8 shots were just awful, and then they ran away from us. :)

[@MisterG2323]

@@ZillaBlitz After having that Tiger smoked by that damn Wolverine, I am not surprised the rest of the Germans are somewhat hesitant to engage. Btw, I should mention that I know designer Rick Martin on a personal basis. I think he'll be thrilled to know you're investigating his game. 😀

[@ZillaBlitz]

That's a good point on the Tiger, for sure. I thought it would take quite a bit longer to take that out. Getting it on the first shot was much faster than I expected. I have a feeling things will even out over the course of the campaign, though, but it's nice to get some luck to start. ~ And that's awesome that you know Rick Martin! It's such a well designed, fun game. It'd be a thrill if the designer of the game saw one of these. :)

[@67icebowl]

How do you choose which units you assign to attack the Germans?

[@ZillaBlitz]

Happy to help, but do you mean, "What are the rules for it?" or "What is a good strategy for it?"

[@67icebowl]

The rules

[@ZillaBlitz]

I don't have the rules handy at the moment, but if I recall there aren't many requirements in the rules about having to attack certain enemy units. I think it's a matter of just picking what unit you want to attack and attacking. I mean, there are range and target type considerations, of course, that come into play. You can't attack beyond your range, and some units can't attack certain target types under certain circumstances.

[@67icebowl]

@@ZillaBlitz Thanks. I enjoy the videos.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Sure thing, thank you! :)

[@67icebowl]

Is there any information on the scale of the units?

[@ZillaBlitz]

Yes, I'm going from memory so it might be a touch off, but generally speaking: - 1 vehicle = 1 vehicle - 1 infantry counter = 1 fire team (4-5 men), with listed weaponry I might be slightly off on the infantry numbers, but it's a very tactical game.

[@tawandamhishi1407]

Hey hey your fav fan here

[@ZillaBlitz]

Hey Tawanda, nice work in this one so far! Your Wolverine is kicking butt! :)

[@tawandamhishi1407]

@@ZillaBlitz yessir

[@setSCEtoAUX]

Aw, shoot. My request to be a commander must've been deleted by KZbin back when I was in the algorithm doghouse.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Darn that KZbin deletion monster! There are still some infantry squads left that'll start in the next battle. You want an Experience Rifle Team, a Machine Gun Team, or an Anti-Tank Team?

[@mathewkelly9968]

I sense gold in that large building ........ where's oddball ?

[@ZillaBlitz]

Aha! That explains why the Germans are all pulling back to that building on the left! Brilliant! That must be the bank! :)

[@mathewkelly9968]

Will I survive one battle ? Let's see

[@ZillaBlitz]

You might well be okay in this one, although you haven't had a chance to do much yet. Since you're with the MG team, the enemy will always aim at them first. If you split up, you might start taking fire. With 3 turns left, a lot depends on how the enemy moves in the next turn or two. I'd like to see if we can get you a kill, but it's not the greatest map for infantry, and it doesn't help that the enemy has pulled back. :)

[@ABiggles]

What is the scale of the hexes?

[@ZillaBlitz]

Heh, that's a good question. I've looked through the rulebook but don't see it mentioned there. It might be on the box, but I don't have access to the game for a bit. I'll see if I can find out when I get back. :)

[@ABiggles]

@@ZillaBlitz Thanks. Have a good break and come back refreshed.

[@ZillaBlitz]

Thanks!

[@TokyoDan0]

Between 8:59 and 9:45 you lost me. A lot of important stuff (for a newbie) was let out

[@ZillaBlitz]

Hi The Man! Thanks for watching. This wasn't designed as a tutorial series so much as a playthrough, so although I think it will help you learn the game, it really isn't designed to teach everything.

[@TokyoDan0]

@@ZillaBlitz Yes. You mentioned that it wasn't a tutorial in the very beginning of the video. But I got so involved in watching it that I forgot that you said that.

[@ZillaBlitz]

@@TokyoDan0 No worries at all! Were you able to figure it out? Happy to help if you have more questions. And thanks for stopping in. :)

[@johnbaker9290]

AI is so broken eh.