TDG: Undaunted: Normandy

"This is a fact we can't ignore - I think they think we're going to war!" Join Cody as he looks at this new squad-level tactical deck building game from Osprey Games. Will it advance on all fronts? Or will it retreat from your tabletop? Let's watch!
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[@MrDaedhel]

Totally agree. I will love to see a game like Undaunted Dungeons

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I'd be on board for that.

[@davidthompson7233]

Thanks for the awesome review - really appreciate it! :)

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you for the fantastic game! Looking forward to more in the series!

[@davidthompson7233]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer, North Africa is next!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@davidthompson7233 Yeah. I saw that. Can't wait.

[@redblackmonkey]

So, singles dating app meets WWII... "I like long walks on the beach...I just hope it doesn't have landmines"

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

That's the best kind of beach!

[@zerothehero2579]

Inspire doesn’t come from the supply but allows a card in your play area to be put back in your hand.

[@lootnscoot50]

Man I feel this games greatness radiating from the game box on my shelf. Have had it for 3+ weeks and haven’t got to play it yet! This review makes me want to play it so badly.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

You really need to - the sooner the better!

[@Raeez100]

I had ordered the game a week back and it is currently being shipped. Glad about the positive review. Osprey games are publishing some great games. London, Cryptid, Undaunted.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Osprey is a great company, and this, IMHO, is their best game yet.

[@steveholmes11]

Superb introducton - you've earned another subscriber.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thanks!

[@natester2342]

Thanks for the review loved it. I am a huge war gamer and was looking at this title because the simplicity of it but I'm gonna get this one. Thanks again

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Happy to help!

[@zerothehero2579]

5:10 Incorrect. The inspire doesn’t come from the supply but from an already played card in your play area. Just received my copy and can’t wait to get this to the table with my 8 year old son. Excellent review!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you!

[@tianjian97]

Thank you for another creative, fun, and informative review!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@merasmussen82]

Bought my copy today on the strength of this review. Thanks Cody!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

merasmussen82 Happy to help!

[@varovaro1967]

Good, about time! Great game. Thank you.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Indeed.

[@juliesquirrel5269]

U seem to be on the fence with this one ...

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I'm just so wishy-washy when it comes to games....

[@NostraDunwhich]

On BoardGameGeek, the designers have added an entry for Undaunted: North Africa, so it looks like there will be another theater of war.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Looks awesome!

[@twentysides]

Awesome video, I love the humor.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you, love the comment.

[@bobdole8830]

War is messy and confusing and I love that this "dealing with what youve got" idea forms the core mechanic. I would however have liked for it to be a bit more asymetrical. Americans for example were well equipped but not so well trained and their chain of command was VERY hierarchicic, so a lot of the soldiers didnt know what was going on without someone telling them. The Germans however were more experienced or at least better briefed, so even if you would shoot an officer everyone knew what to do. They were however VERY short on almost anything, gas, ammo, men, you name it. I would have loved to see this difference play out in the game. Maybe by making the German deck smaller but more streamlined, while the American deck has more cards making it more random, something like this. Still a great game!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Good points. The latest edition of the game: Undaunted: North Africa, has more asymmetrical scenarios. You may enjoy that one a bit better - though it is the British Long Range Deseret Group vs. the Italian Army early in the war.

[@bobdole8830]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer Thanks for the tip! Would you recommend Africa over the core game (not in regard to the asymnetry aspect but in general)? I played the core game at a friends place (back in those days when there were friends, and places other than your house) and I was thinking of gettin a copy myself.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@bobdole8830 Generally, I prefer Normandy because of the theme. But North Africa is cool because it introduces vehicles.

[@bobdole8830]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer thank you for you input! It's much apreciated, you sexy, hairy, cunning, hairy Dr.! Congrats again btw!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@bobdole8830 Danke!

[@decb7959]

Sooooo ahhhhh fancy catching a movie. : )

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I don't know... Hard to tell from a KZbin post...

[@redblackmonkey]

I am just gonna go out on a limb here and assume that there are no swipe rights yet?... Thanks for another great review!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

D'oh!

[@piotrglinski6414]

My wife listened to this and decided that she had to buy this game because she really doesn't like to hear women are stupid. Equals - my wife is smart and I will play Undaunted : Normandy ;) All thanks to you Cody!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Happy to help!

[@TScottT]

A fantastic and encouraging review, Cody. I really like how you put your personal touch and personality into your videos. I just picked this up, and I haven't found anybody to play it with yet. Can it be played solo do you think?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I don't really think it lends itself to solo play. Get on the 'ole internet and find someone to play with ASAP!

[@aceshelman]

It’s great solo; look on BGG for ideas on how to handle initiative, as that is the only real hurdle to playing solo.

[@TScottT]

@@aceshelman very good to hear. Thank you for the pointer.

[@Janisurai]

Solo mode is out in the latest expansion

[@gabrieldomocos7570]

This is Raptor grown up. Seems really cool

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I am unfamiliar with Raptor.

[@gabrieldomocos7570]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer It's the Brunos' gift to mankind hehe. It's Jurassic Park as a fun asymmetric tactical board game.

[@slowmodeproductions]

Bought it, played it, love it

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Fantastic!

[@rogerst-arneault3522]

Cool intro! 😀

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thanks!

[@GenghisVern]

reminds me of an old game, Up Front!, only more playable :)

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I haven't played that one.

[@barillamindset3109]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer Because it isn't playable.

[@jimsmith7445]

Cody... have you played Columbia's "Combat Infantry: West/East"???? Block game that are very good.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I have. I played the latest one. Fun game.

[@fmoros]

Doc...is this better than Memoir44? I only want to buy one of the 2 and not fan of expansions. Thanks!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Gun to my head, I'd go with this. Thought M44 is a lot of fun and perhaps a little easier to teach new players.

[@pokefrosch617]

You didnt ask me, but I would go Memoir anyday. I find Undaunted unbelievably boring. Terrain is almost rendered meaningless. 10 are always hits. Machine Gunners have 4 rolls to suppress. So its close to irrelevant where they are on the board, with enough cards you will supress the living hell out of your enemy, because their magic bullets will fly through a stone house, through a forest and one single 10 will suppress. There is no range, no Line of Sight, played couple of times and I really wanted to like this, but I would trade it away anyday. If you want a WW2 game that a midweight euro type gamer could enjoy, go for CoH Storms of Steel 3rd edition. Its easy, fast and makes so much more sense. And: Tanks! Tanks! Tanks!

[@NoEnemiesHere]

Cody, you kill me!!!!!!!!!!!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I hope not. I don't wanna have to beat another murder charge!

[@flyworld9620]

so next review is exodus: proxima centauri?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Ha! Don't count on it. Gonna be a while yet before it gets to the table!

[@thadmccollom6444]

Hey Cody, are you going to be at BGGCon this year?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Probably not. Not enough time. Not enough money. :(

[@thadmccollom6444]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer Ugh...You are making it very hard for me to fulfil my life long dream of you teaching and playing Churchill with me...

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@thadmccollom6444 Ha! I haven't played it in years. I think I'd need it taught to me again!

[@jimsmith7445]

You should play "Warfighter: WWII"... beating cover, equip your troops, etc.... check it out.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Perhaps at some point I shall.

[@davidwarren3221]

Wow..Game of the year??.....Does it play solo at all?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

No solo that I can see - maybe with expansions. Yeah - really is that good!

[@xero989]

Undunted North Africa is a thing, a offten overlooked theatre of WWII but one of the more interesting ones IMO boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/290359/undaunted-north-africa

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Yeah, I saw that recently, Nick. One of the things I'm writing about for my dissertation is Fredendall in North Africa.

[@BrianMarcus-nz7cs]

Oh yes a game like this,,,,, ! Needs to b asymmetrical, if only one side more frightened than the other, worse ledd and most possibly nearly out of supply support, and closer to the pub or brothel

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Ha!

[@kaimada.s]

Indeed very good game. Im sure there will be pacific front, maybe Italian? I wish they would create Undaunted Poland 1939. Conflict of Heroes Price of Honour was awesome and David Thompson has already been working on game set in 1939' Free City of Danzig so maybe there is a chance. :)

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Could be. That would be awesome!

[@maverickdelta]

Would swiping right fast forward the video toward the end?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

It might. But that's a chance I'm willing to take!

[@DonBuonasera]

What I don't like about this game is scenarios are not that balanced... Still a great, great little game.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I don't know that in a game like this, with multiple scenarios, you want each one perfectly balanced. I like games with multiple scenarios to have a few that are weighted.

[@DonBuonasera]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer that's a good point. I haven't played many scenarios in this one, but the ones I did, were a bit unbalanced. Still had great fun and want to play more of them, even the unbalanced ones! Also, on the other hand, there is also great satisfaction in winning with the underdogs! ;)

[@wartable]

Combat Commander or Undaunted?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Two very different games. Gun to my head - I'd really have to think about it but I'd probably go with Undaunted because I think it's more accessible to non-wargamers, easier to find people to play with.

[@redblackmonkey]

So glad I already bought it, at least I am not stupid then...lol

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

No... but not exactly wise, either.

[@user-hk5fo1nm9h]

Have you seen the new Medal of Honor game they announced? Medal of Honor Above and Beyond (the call of duty)

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I haven't heard about it. Look good?

[@user-hk5fo1nm9h]

The Discriminating Gamer It's looking to be the first AAA VR shooter, and one of the most ambitious single player campaigns in a WW2 shooter in years. You play an OSS agent working with various resistance groups with a lot of attention to detail like the german soldiers listening for the ping of your Garand cartridge popping out to shoot you while you reload.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@user-hk5fo1nm9h Ha! That sounds very cool.

[@user-hk5fo1nm9h]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer Yeah, it was like my biggest dream as a kid.

[@BrianMarcus-nz7cs]

Why is the german feildwebel dressed in a Luftwaffe officer's uniform? , are there any enemy paratrooper s present !? Nein

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Because he loves you.

[@rockxhero]

Overview doesn't really begin til around 2 mins in.

[@matthewkilbride1669]

I played the first two scenarios and they both became shoot outs and it just came down to who was luckier with the dice. Pretty disappointing. Maybe the later scenarios bring out the best in the game

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

That hasn't been my experience. It's a deck builder with dice, so of course there will be luck, but nevertheless the games I've played had a lot of choices and were a lot of fun.

[@niradz]

Gee whiz what did Darin ever do to you?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

The question is: what did he do to me?

[@StarfieldBound]

So, you like the game?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Ha!

[@bgm-1961]

If you want people to "swipe right" (and potentially find that special someone to play 'Undaunted' with), then you need to lose that T-shirt and show that chest hair!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I'm showing too much chest hair as it is. I feel so cheap.

[@jeffa6841]

You're convincing me, but like I said elsewhere, I'm going to probably wait for the Canadian army expansion (which may or may not ever come).

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I hope you don't wait. This game is too good to not play!

[@jeffa6841]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer Hey, I know this is ridiculously short notice, but why not come to Castlecon castlecon.net you know if you have the time, the money, and the energy to travel all the way up here!

[@leshtricity]

i enjoy GOOD deck-building games and mechanics, but it has gotten to a point lately where the genre is crowded with really garbage games; it also feels like every publisher is trying to shoehorn in some type of deck-building component to a game that doesn't need or play well with one. i think Undaunted is a good example of how it should be done; it builds on the mechanic rather than being a lazy knock-off.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Indeed.

[@pgtmg624]

I just bought...God, I am such a sheep.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

But you will be well rewarded with hours of fun. You'll be an entertained sheep, at least.

[@pgtmg624]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer You my friend are a most excellent enabler.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

It’s what I do.

[@varovaro1967]

Btw this is the way war games have to go if they want to have a chance with the newer generations...

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

It certainly has broad appeal.

[@panzerabteilung]

normandy theme is so boring, thanks to save private ryan it reached tremendous fame, but wwii enthusiast want other things, germany vs france 1940, germany vs poland 1939, much more ost front, etc..

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

They recently released Undaunted: North Africa, which takes place with the British and Italian armies, and I think they've got more planned coming in the future.

[@TheTheshadow32]

I really hope this is Thompsons last game he converted from his earlier print and play efforts. Not even a single difference between both sides... No wonder players state that some scenarios are stale. Solo ? Why would you want a pure 2 player deck builder in solo mode because there is a soldier on the box. It has zero WW2 relevance, not even LOS, not even has a US or German difference. Complete garbage. Not ONE reviewer even noticed there is no difference between the 2 sides. It shows how much water came into our once excellent bottles of wine. If that is something your WW2 Phd will be based on, well you are lucky I am not your promotor...:)

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Wow. That's one perspective. This is obviously a very abstract World War II game. Not every WWII game needs to be ASL, or a heavy Avalon Hill wargame. It seems to me that is a very narrow way to look at it. Nor is it intended to be asymmetrical. If its not your thing, it's not your thing - well and good. But I think you missed the point here. And for the record, my PhD is not based on games, so you don't need to worry about that.