TDG: Manila: The Savage Streets, 1945

Douglas MacArthur is back! And this time... it's personal! Join Cody as he looks at this solitaire World War II wargame from Revolution Games. Will it conquer on game night? Or will it just fail to get off the beach? Let's watch!
BGG: boardgamegeek....
Cody Carlson, PhD: / @codycarlsonph.d.5591
Facebook: / thediscriminatinggamer
Twitter: / codyk76
Galaxy of Games: galaxyof.games/

[@christopherwilson2606]

My late grandfather was an Army truck driver in the Philippines during WW2. He rarely talked about it. He once told me, when I was about 8, that he trusted the Japanese more than he trusted the Filipinos. I learned at that young age what," fog-of-war" truly meant.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[@Neutron-pb4jl]

Now I am interested to know why, most likely a bad experiance.

[@pmiles67]

A great review. I started playing Manila and stopped because I realized I didn't know much about the battle and was just pushing cardboard around. Rampage was recommended in the game's bibliography so I checked it out from the library. Such a brilliant and harrowing book that certainly impacted my thoughts when I came back to the game.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Indeed. A tough book to get through. But very important.

[@seanobrien798]

Looks like another good one. I have a personal interest in this one. One of my great uncles fought in this battle. He earned a Bronze Star for his actions in the battle. Another great uncle was a POW in the Philippines. He was a survivor of the infamous Bataan Death march.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

God bless them both. Thanks for sharing.

[@billchristian9445]

I played Stalingrad several times and got smacked everytime. I was a little taken aback at how difficult it seemed. I still preordered Manila without hesitation because I really enjoy the system and the look of this series. A day before Manila shipped to my doorstep, I read a post on BGG that was revalatory. The “event” effect (Sniper, Fanatic, etc) only take effect during the first time you reveal the defending forces. NOT EVERY TIME YOU FIGHT THE CURSED PIECE. Ha. Oh boy did that change things. Me am dumb. So my first play of Manila is now in the books and I beat it quite convincingly. (Good dice rolls are still *very much* needed during a run). Great game, great system. I’m looking forward to the next one.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Yeah, if they events are triggering with every attack, you're in trouble. Awesome game!

[@Chris_Donovan]

I see you sneaking some learnin' into your game review. More, please.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

It's what I do.

[@jjflash30]

Nice video. Great game and great game system for sure. Exposed me to part of WW2 I did not know much about (the Battle of Manila). Rampage definitely makes a great companion piece to the game (though as you note , reading about the Japanese atrocities is very disturbing). Challenging game. Different every time. Once fully understood the rules, seems to consistently take just over two hours to play - and always comes down to last turn (have yet to win but come close…). Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the game. 👍

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you. Great game for sure!

[@didelphidae5228]

I was literally just asking myself when a second entry into this series would come while clipping the first game's counters, considering it had "volume 1" printed on it.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

And here it is!

[@danderson5084]

Interesting to see they added the values tracker and event reminder to the board, which were basically "missing" in the first game. Not sure I need another game so similar though, good as it is.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

They’re both great games. But you need to decos if you need both.

[@romandacil3984]

You can see the scars from this battle along the walls of the old city of Intramuros, Manilla. My wife and I walked along the inner fortress and they stil have gun emplacements left overfrom WW2

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Interesting. Thank you for sharing.

[@didelphidae5228]

I wonder if we'll get the battle of Berlin eventually?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Should be next year.

[@JukeJudlow1]

All of Scott's books are sobering reads--excellent books. I also love Rinella's games, but im not sure I can play it after reading Rampage. I couldnt imagine it as a 2p.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

It’s a great game. I hope you give it a chance at some point.

[@RolandoRatas]

I once dated a Filipino woman who was a contortionist on the savage streets of her country's capital city...... .... ... ... ... She was a great Manila Folder.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Ha!

[@michaelrinella6384]

As always, thanks for reviewing.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you for the great game!

[@Demy1970]

I have the Stalingrad version on the table

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Great game!

[@richx5064]

Good job. Are there games that were you play as a Japanese commander?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Solo? I don't know. You can certainly play the Japanese in various multi-player wargames. Axis & Allies, certainly.

[@Ad3tr]

Considering the Philippines was a colony of ours, what we did there over the previous decades and what we did after the war, I’d feel the same as I would playing the Soviets in Kursk.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

What happened during the Filipino insurrection was horrible, and America made many mistakes in that war. However, to compare it to what the Soviets did to their people, on that scale, is not accurate. The proof is in the pudding. After the end of WWII, an armed insurrection against the Soviet authority took place in Ukraine well into the 1950s when it was ultimately crushed by force. By contrast, by the eve of WWII, relations between Washington and Manila were quite good, and Filipino people fought bravely alongside American servicemen against the Japanese.

[@wartable]

Ordered Rampage

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Tough book to get through, but very important to read. Happy to help.

[@MagicMan508]

Wow this is alot

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Indeed.

[@CrashbeeUK]

I don't understand what makes this outstanding. At the end of the day you're just rolling two sets of die and seeing which set is higher, which isn't very interesting.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@CrashbeeUK I disagree. The game is about using your limited resources to mitigate the luck of die rolls. You have to pick your battles wisely, and how you approach them. Further, it tells a great story.

[@OroborusFMA]

I guess you've never played an Area Impulse game in your life then. Not the ones published, in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, or 2020s. It's a whole genre of war gaming that people have been playing for over 40 years.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@OroborusFMA Indeed.

[@CrashbeeUK]

@@OroborusFMA You're right that I haven't played any other games like this, but my issue is that I feel this isn't a difficult game, or even a challenging game. It's a completely random game, where it's up to the dice gods to decide if you win or lose and you don't have much control over what happens.

[@varovaro1967]

The unnecessary battle….

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

You think so?

[@varovaro1967]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer Those Japanese couldnt go anywhere with the American control of the Seas and would have surrendered anyway in a few months time…. “So much for Manila” said the American general….

[@raulduke6105]

Ick, no area games!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@raulduke6105 Dismissed!

[@OroborusFMA]

Hexes are so 1970s.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@OroborusFMA Ha!

[@douglaspearson4853]

Not to excuse the German. But because they did hartbreaking things, but it always seemed to me the Japenese in America any way got a pass on there Atrocities. In Politics to day you see everybody that has a beef with the other side they call then Nazi's or Hitler. Witch I think is wrong anyway as the people have no clue about history. On to the game I have all the AH Area Movement games and enjoy them. So I like this idea and the really are not a lot of Japanese lang games so there a 2 pluses for me.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

It's a great game.