Terrific job showcasing the game, Joe! What a great system. I'm in the minority - prefer Alexander (not so much his specific battles, but the expansions for that set/era) and started with the "Full" system, then played "Simple" (more like "Medium," I think) for years, but have since gone back to Full. But it really doesn't matter which version you prefer. This is just an inspired system that every wargamer interested in Ancients deserves to experience. Your video kind of makes me glad I lost the pick on your poll!
@HexedAndCountered4 ай бұрын
Thanks Tom! I only have the three Roman games but now that I've played SPQR might have to get Alexander too. I had played GBoH once, probably 30 years ago and had forgotten the rules. Now that I've refreshed myself, I agree that this is an outstanding system. I can see some videos on Caesar, Cataphract and maybe Alex too in the future. I was hoping Hearts & Minds would win the poll, but I certainly don't regret SPQR winning.
@tommarshall-113th4 ай бұрын
@@HexedAndCountered I find it difficult to play the system opposed live (this is were Simple GBoH shines); it took a global pandemic to attempt to Vassal it with a wargaming buddy and we only got through 3 turns. But if you're reading any of the terrific histories by Goldsworthy or Everitt or Mary Renault's Alexander trilogy - or rewatching your favorite episodes from the Rome series - it's a really vivid experience solo. Makes the personalities and eras come alive; the mark of a great tactical game.
@HexedAndCountered4 ай бұрын
@@tommarshall-113th I put off playing it for quite a while: "Will I like Ancients combat?" was my big question (and I have a ton of other stuff on my shelf of shame to play). Turns out that was a mistake, I really enjoyed playing the game and look forward to exploring it via SGBoH, which suits my limited time availability better. I'm already thinking that Alexander will be one of my pickups in the GMT Sale that starts next week. I backed a bunch of P500s last year so I have plenty of options for using the discount but one of them is going to be Alexander and whatever else GBoH is available that I don't have.
@tommarshall-113th4 ай бұрын
@@HexedAndCountered Excellent, Joe! I believe the currently available Deluxe edition of Alexander has what I consider the two best (most balanced and interesting) modules included in it (Diadochoi and Tyrant among other expansions). There is a LOT of game in that box!
@MTDude1232 ай бұрын
Thanks Joe for providing a video showcasing some of the rules. You did a great job! I bought GBOH Julius Caesar and am struggling getting through those rules at the moment as well. I was pretty happy to see the specific rulesets for SPQR and JC are virtual analogs which was something I was curious about. There's other eras that seem pretty interesting as well (in these GBOHs), and I feel like knowing the rules for any of these games probably transfers for most of the others in the series. Again thanks for the willingness to show the rules on a KZbin video! There's almost none of these online that I have seen.
@HexedAndCountered2 ай бұрын
Thanks! It's always great to hear that the videos are helpful for learning rules. Part of the reason I started doing these videos was the reason you mentioned: it was hard to find videos that showed how to play for many games.
@steveoh92854 ай бұрын
Joe, keep it simpler and just go Simple! :)
@HexedAndCountered4 ай бұрын
Thanks Steve - that's the plan!
@A._J_.4 ай бұрын
what do you think of all the writing on the counters?
@HexedAndCountered4 ай бұрын
My only real issue with the counters is that they're small, which exacerbates the problem with the text & numbers on them. All that stuff is needed for the game to work, but they're a little hard to read for me even with my glasses on. The game was originally designed in 1992 and the counter size reflects that. Larger counters would be ideal, but that would also mean a larger map.