Heroes of Normandie Review with Sam Healey

[@WatchItPlayed]

Mad respect for the detailed overview. Nicely done Sam!

[@abingdonpreacher]

cudos for sure!

[@EclecticCamel]

So Rodney, would you say you like Heroes of Normandie or Memoir 44 more? I'll accept Rivet Wars as an answer.

[@WatchItPlayed]

+TheGreatHamEl I'll never fall for this trick you keep playing.

[@EclecticCamel]

+Watch It Played Lucky Charms or Golden Grahams? :D

[@Rb-hm5mliu]

+TheGreatHamEl which one do you like the best?

[@ntmetroid]

Just got my Kickstarter edition of the Big Red One edition. The basic tutorial/run through is very well done and very helpful

[@bjornfranke8132]

Thanks for reviewing all those cool games nobody talks about Sam. I own HoN and a friend owns Memoir 44. Because we meet like two times a month and play also Wings of Glory or Rum and Bones it gets harder and harder to get Heroes of Normandie to the table because of the more complex rules and the rulebook. Memoir, Rum and Bones and Wings of Glory are easier to get into with enough tactical decision making and we can play more games of them over one afternoon because the rules are clearer. In the same time we played three HoN scenarios we got through the whole Memoir campaign from the base game.

[@NostraDunwhich]

Another nice video, Thanks! Heroes is definitely a more complex than M44, so it scratches the itch for a reformed wargamer and miniatures gamer (This is one of my favorite games). One of the nice things (that you pointed out) is that most of what you need to know is printed on the tokens and the board. It is just getting used to the mechanisms for shooting and assault as well as a couple of factors such as "Line of Sight" and such that take a little bit of getting used to using. Once you have those down, the game plays very quickly and offers rich tactical play. I had a couple of notes, just to clarify a couple of mistakes: 1) When the US Support team assaulted the German unit, the German should have gotten an additional +2 defense bonus for the hedgerow, same as it would get if you were shooting at it instead. Since the Support team rolled a 6, it did not change the outcome, just a note :) 2) If you lose an Order token (such as Order #2 when you used Opportunity Fire), you skip that Order phase -- you don't have a unit that goes in Phase 2, so you skip it and the US player would get to use their unit with Order 3. Basically you got your turn to act when you shot the Support Team earlier in the turn, so you have to pass now :) But overall, nice review and you bring up some good points for folks to consider if Heroes of Normandie is the right game for them.

[@COMMONMAN.COM.]

I keep going back to this video because it's so good!

[@leonjoffe6380]

Just bought it 2nd hand for my son and me. This video's very helpful. Many thanks

[@MechaJoezilla]

Thanks for the review. I really think that I want this game now. Good job.

[@CopperLontra]

Hey Sam, good job on the review! I'd love to see some coverage of the expansions. Maybe a video or two about their contents, which ones you think are good or not as good, and especially which ones you might consider essential.

[@robertmoffitt1336]

Very nice look at the game. I like having the forces and the situation laid out for me as well in many cases. D-Day, Carentan, St. Marie Eglise, Pegasus Bridge scenario packs and scenarios in the Gazettes are something I'm looking forward to checking out in that regard for historical content. For fans of Axis & Allies Miniatures, this game is in that category/type of game, obviously without the miniatures. Highly expandable, army building aspect a major component, low to variable game play time, but a replacement for Memoir 44'...not even close.

[@caffeinetransmissions3308]

Great video. Thanks Sam.

[@stevepruneau6561]

Okay so here I am with the original version's review. I'm very impressed, and I still haven't bought Memoir '44 yet. Oops. Shame on me! ;) Thanks Sam, for this review and for the Chtulu-like standalone version of this also. I'm learning a few new things here. I love the artwork in this, it's very cartoonish. I guess they went for that because war is so violent and such. I think after a few reviews of this.. and an upgrade to the rulebook on the net BTW, I'm gonna add this one :D Awesome!

[@danpango682]

Great review Sam! Sometime I just need to see a game played out to understand it. Bravo!

[@SlotraceDK]

How come you can't move through a hedge, but you can move inside it from one hex to another hex inside the hedge? Or is it bushes and not hedges?

[@74Slamdunk]

Hi Sam, This is one of my newest obsessions. Really enjoy this game. It is ASL Lite. I like the mixing of playing components and the feel of being a bit of a miniatures game as well.

[@Captainlunchbox]

Thanks for making this video and demonstrating a turn in it. That rulebook makes my head spin a bit.

[@MrBraun6]

Is that Shadows over Normandie that I seen in the background?

[@reptar33]

Great review! Thanks you Sam.

[@Tellgryn]

Good review Sam. This game has a lot open ends to add on. But my question is should the game have been called cowards of Normandie? As the way the game is played it is a very bad idea to place a hero close to the front, for losing him can cost you the game outright. This is one of the many things that need to be changed in later editions. I have a number of sets of all the releases of this game and it can be played multi-player very easily. With the addition of Shadows over Normandie and the Guardian Chronicles expansions it can take the game in a different direction which adds depth and value to replay. Changes I would like to see are, leadership modifier for leading fire teams, maybe go to 2 six sided dice and the belle curve for combat resolution, change the command and control rule. I have been in war gaming since 1967 and designed many of my own, this is what Squad Leader should have been.

[@boardgameknight2791]

great overview - thanks!

[@shiftydevils]

im pretty sure that you only get that third command point when the square has a troop in it.

[@SamHealey6]

yep...a detail I carried over after building a force for another playthrough beforehand...an honest mistake...my bad.

[@Wulfborn]

+Sam Healey The expansions change up the commands a little bit, where the faceplate gives an order, the LT gives an order, and then you have the option for the third. I have found I prefer that, because it makes losing the LT much less of a game changer, and it seems DPG feels the same since all of their new stuff seems to follow that format, something to keep in mind if you do keep playing it.

[@timg7954]

Wow I was actually just digging this out to learn.....nice, Sam -

[@KnightOwl23]

Thanks Sam great review my friend

[@raygun1966]

Does this replace Tide of Iron for you Sam?

[@SamHealey6]

+Ray Gaer Because ToI is slightly more complex, and I didn't like the fiddly nature of the squad building and having to pop-in those tiny little figures into and out of the bases...yes, I don't think I have a need to play ToI again. HoN does almost exactly what ToI did in a more streamlined and non-fiddly way. Don't get me wrong, though...the minis were neat, but popping them in and out of those bases got tiresome real fast.

[@raygun1966]

+Sam Healey thanks for the reply. I have TOI and this game looks like a good alternative but I can't part with good ol TOI. Gotta make some shelf space for this one.

[@SamHealey6]

Ray Gaer Understandable...I got my original set of ToI for just $8 at a ToysRUs in South Korea...one of my proudest gamer moments ever...and I grudgingly, yet firmly got rid of it a couple years later...just didn't make it to the table enough.

[@Marzunited]

Nice review Sam. What is your opinion on Rivet Wars if you have played or will play it?

[@SamHealey6]

+Marzunited Haven't played it, but Tom does own it. So, it's just a matter of getting it to the table.

[@Marzunited]

I got in on the kickstarter. Heavy tanks. Planes. Exclusive characters. Everything. Lol. Did Tom ever get any of the expansions? Those minis look really fun to paint!

[@SamHealey6]

I don't know. I've only looked at it a couple times at most, and that was a while ago.

[@Marzunited]

What about Dust Tactics? I sold my 1st and 2nd edition boxes and Warfare book cuz I just knew it wouldn't hot the table. Never played it, but did try Dust Warfare once. I stuck to Rivet Wars and Tannhauser. I'm dying to play my copy of Tannhauser!

[@SamHealey6]

I have played Dust Tactics...it might be showing up somewhere in the near-ish future on a video...;)

[@duke81639]

Great Review Sam, however I would argue this game is not that complex. Most notably to your point of building armies while the game allows you to do that if you play a scenario it does build your army for you. I'm 100% with you on the rules though, I only bought it after I tried it out at a convention. Again though good review.

[@baredas]

In round 2 when it is the german players turn to use his second command token (the one who did an opportunity fire), doesn't the turn go to the amercian player since the german player already used his nr. 2 command?! Since it is back and forth between players using command tokens and the us player started round two, shouldn't he have done his 3rd command token before the german player?!

[@DeadVoivod]

How many times do you cut the video :-)

[@SamHealey6]

+Gilles Ronconi Well...I cut about 12-15 minutes out of this one...-_-

[@perryclayton3987]

I thought the pictures of the soldiers were interesting considering all the grief you've given Tom for Battleground Fantasy Warefare... ;)

[@coreyhendon]

+Perry Clayton I had the exact same thought.

[@thedicetower]

+Perry Clayton I guess this doesn't bother me as much because of all the other artwork on the modular boards, and the iconography on the tiles themselves. I also hated having to use a dry-erase marker on the troops in BFW...it's a silly game...good idea, poorly implemented.

[@timg7954]

This just came out on Steam - any thoughts anyone?

[@bjornfranke8132]

+Tim G THe Steam Version is cool but buggy at the time and as far as I came there is no card play what takes away a lot of fun from the game I think.

[@NostraDunwhich]

+Tim G Steam version is fun, although the cards are not yet implemented (but are supposed to be coming in a later patch). Internet play is bit odd as it is sort of "play by update" -- you run a turn and then that is sent to the server and your opponent is updated and can download the move. On the other hand, it can allow you to play a game in your spare time over a couple of days, so that can be fun as well :)

[@bjornfranke8132]

+NostraDunwhich Cool I didn't know that the cards will come. Now I am less dissapointed :-)

[@Wulfborn]

+Derekrledr I actually do believe the claims of weighted dice. There is no such thing as a true RNG when it comes to dice rollers, doesn't matter who creates it. The dice are weighted to 3 or better by the simple fact of that is how random number generators work, and rolling on a table introduces other variables, such as chipped dice, uneven rolling surfaces, obstructions, and the like, even small things you can't see with your eye. I disallow dice rolling apps in my physical games for this very reason.

[@COMMONMAN.COM.]

Great job Sam!

[@COMMONMAN.COM.]

Nice Job Sam!

[@theturdreich9546]

if you think this is hard to learn think you need to have words with yourself it's easy

[@mathamoredan2450]

254\1 ???

[@mariog.65]

I bought that game, but after a week of trying to fully understand the rules, I got a refund. The game looks great graphically, the mechanics looked good but the rules are so badly, very badly made... Downloaded the updated rules on their website, but that was the same rules of the box, rules updated on August 2014. And the forum didn't help me at all, they're changing the rules based on moderators' feeling. What is discussed on their forum isn't what's in the rulebook. So from my point of view, this is STILL A KICKSTATER, and it shouldn't have been on the store shelves. Very disappointing, but at least I got a refund. I wouldn't recommend buying this game.