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Thanks for a fascinating run through of your very nice collection of GMT games. You seem to have gotten a good deal of your money's worth out of the games! A fun, engaging hobby. One thing I noticed, looking over all your GMT games, almost no games focused on Air Combat (such as Wing Leader) and only one game (Atlantic Chase) based on Naval at sea conflict. A good deal of World War II, high level strategic games and campaigns (grand scope) and a dabbling mostly in Roman and War of Roses games (it would seem). Also, not a single fantasy or Sci-Fi GMT game interesting enough. Will look forward if you do another video on your other game company collections which I imagine you organized on other shelves.

AR games lean toward full experiences rather than just a board game. You need to engage with all of it in order to get your moneys worth. Paint the minis, allow the gameplay to facilitate the story and let your imagination run with it. They're made for the kind of person that appreciates needing to grind because verisimilitude means gameplay isn't always a bombastic Hollywood movie. I'm not going in for evrrshade because I already have enough games that do the same (hexplore it, folklore, ect) but I can understand being excited for it if your collection isn't extensive.

I would say give this one a little bit more time, with these SG and everything, right now there are many SG are already in and maybe there will be good vids or comments which will put a light on some things

Thanks for the video. I cut my teeth on gaming with rise and decline of 3R as my first wargame. That took awhile to get competent and I even learned how to PBEM. Yearning to play 3R again but the vassal module absolutely is horrible. Really only interested in ETO and Med. Do you think this is worth the investment!

Play again! 😊

great!

Ideally you would have two tables: one will pay your bills and one will pay your heart!

Just checked Amazon and they don't have Warriors of Middle Earth, nor is it available on the Ares web site 😞 A real shame as I live in Asia with extremely limited access to decent board game shops, so Amazons my go to for board games usually.

Also to your point about digital packages. Absolutely yes. I'm sat here recently staring at the BCS series being completely sold out, not on the second hand market, and if they were they'd be 200-300% inflated price due to rarity. So I'm missing out on potentially a great game system. 1985: Under an Iron Sky, for example, is £350 second hand. It's absurd we're still stuck in this ancient way of gaming. Please for the love of God if you're a game developer reading this EMBRACE DIGITAL.

Good, easy to understand simple language in rule books is such a boon. A lot of games are written by very knowledgeable folks who know their stuff, but aren't necessarily the best at writing rules to be understood. Combined with as you mentioned the staggered learning scenario format are both most important, imo, for getting into, enjoying and wanting to play more of a game.

My main problem with this crowdfunder is that the combination of pledges and addons just seems weird. No way to make *everything* standees. No way to buy 'deluxified cardboard' for the standard edition. No way to upgrade the books to leather while keeping the hardcover special edition book. (And the fact that you're getting a mix of hardcover colored and spiral bound black & white is already odd to me) It makes me feel like any pledge I get consists of some kind of weird unnecessary tradeoff. Somehow this game, which aesthetically looks like I'd go crazy over it, and has really nice audio narrating through the app, has me doubting more than any other campaign game I got before it. That said if I do end up backing it, the 'CYOA' vibe of it combined with the fact that the app can keep track of the story markers and stuff makes me *really* think about just going for standard + story add-ons, or special + story add-ons (for the 'save' system).

Just came across your video many years after you uploaded it. Still in p500… but almost available. Appreciated hearing your thoughts about the deluxe edition. Don’t currently own any so-called monster games but have great interest in WW2 generally and Normandy campaign specifically. From your channel, seems like you have fair amount of experience with monster games so I had a question for you - do you think this game (or monster games in general ) worth picking up if likely only would ever play scenarios and never the full campaign (both because of space and time required for the campaign )? Great channel by the way. Thanks for all the helpful and engaging content.

You put a heck of a lot of 'work' / enthusiasm into the games we love, without clickbait and exaggeration. Congratulations.

Here's some criticism: we need more of your supreme vids! 🎉🎉

War for the ring exception, especially using the ultimate rework. Rebellion really fun too. Dune good but not as lore heavy for me, good mechanics though

Great video on some of my favorite games! While I love all three, War of the Ring is my favorite game so I’m definitely biased. I’m happy to play any of them though! There actually are a handful of solo variants for WotR, my favorite being the Queller Bot which uses some slick flowcharts (on the level of COIN bots in complexity) to emulate a very competent AI opponent.

Star Wars is similar to the old AH game "Freedom in the Galaxy" where you also could use your leaders for missions.

Nice video! Thanks for the look at your GMT collection and sharing your thoughts on each game . Interesting to hear your perspective on each game, particularly ones I also own. On Holland 44 - curious if you have any thoughts on what might be an appropriate way for a game designer to handle the bridges to avoid the “issue”you noted? Status of bridges / blowing / building / re~building obviously critical to the real Market Garden and their status / potential for changed status need to addressed in a good simulation of the battle - but can end up with a lot “riding on” a few die rolls, etc. Bridges also a factor in the Ardennes campaign and any simulation of that too such as Ardennes 44

While I understand where you are coming from with not repeating content when others get there before you: I would suggest that people want your take/opinion.

The challenge playing ATO solo is there's a lot to keep track of. All your Titans have different gear that trigger special abilities under different conditions as well as Mnemos and Fated Mnemos abilities. Don't be discouraged by the need to retcon your decisions once in awhile.

Your experience with AR is exactly the same as mine as well as many other people I've talked to. Just don't back it and don't second guess yourself. Some people love these games, but there's a significant subset of people that grow bored with them very quickly. I don't expect I'll ever back another AR game. For good story, deep gameplay, and great design check out Into The Unknown Studios.

The rulebook shows the spotting counters used only on the diagonal (I.E. count out in each diagonal direction to create a square perimeter". I think that's easier for me to visualize.

Great review...Thanks!

Great stuff! You are costing me a fortune. I have bought several great games after watching you present a play through.

Not really into 1st person video games. I'm more of a board gamer. Although this was interesting, just not my style. Cheers from Tennessee

Play Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront (what a long name lol). Just kidding. Do what you want. But I recently got that game and it's very cool. Most likely the best historical WW2 RTS game currently out there. I'm gonna try Steel Division 2 at some point too.

Congrats loved your EFS play through and stayed for every episode

Nathan excellent review really enjoy expert gamers observations on various games that I have played and agree with almost all of the analysis-thank you

Congrats and well-done, especially for the small number of wargamers in Oz. You're an inspiration! Have you thought about trying any of the Next War series of games? They are crunchy but I have found them immersive and interesting, to say nothing of topical.... They might suit your style and approach.

Received mine today!

Awaken Realms, like CMON and others, specializes in selling the bling and bloat of components. This game in particular is trying very hard to mimic a tabletop roleplaying game. The problem is that what is being pushed is a much more limited experience. By it’s nature as a board game/miniature money sink, it promises to be a linear, shallower and narrower experience than a true ttrpg. Furthermore, it will cost a mint. You can’t create your own content. What is there is very limited to a defined narrative. Anything forthcoming for this IP will be gate kept by Awaken Realms. That means no third party support or independent contributors expanding content. All in all, it’s a very commercialized product made to maximize profits by selling bling over content while creating a walled garden for this release and all future content. Save the money and shelf space and play one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of actual rpgs that exist and are being brought to life everyday. There are plenty out there that can be soloed, if that is a concern. In a real rpg you are only limited by your imagination.

My issue with this game is very unfair to the game itself but I feel I have to mention it. It’s that silent hunter 3 exists (more specifically with the grey wolves and one Alex edition mods) and renders most of the mechanics in this game as feeling like those of an inferior arcade game. Silent Hunter three is one of the most one of the most immersive games ever made the Way you make torpedoes solutions in that game is by actually calculating the trajectories of your ship in comparison to your targets course the way they actually did at the time so you have a stopwatch so you can time movements and calculate their speed. The Game also let you go to all the different theaters of the second world war u boats went to so you can go to the Atlantic, Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the Pacific. It also has a wider range of uboats and torpedoes represented.

I’m a big fan of the channel and really enjoy the content. I also have very similar tastes in games to yours, though I’m working to keep my collection small so I don’t play as many different games as you do. I don’t know how representative I might be of your audience, but I only watch a RUclips video if it is 10 or maybe 15 minutes long. If it is an hour or three, typically I will listen to it while I am doing chores, but not actually watch it. In other words, I consume it like a podcast. That in turn means that if a significant proportion of the content is being conveyed visually then I miss too much of it and it won’t hold my interest. As a result, detailed playthroughs with a running account of what’s happening on the board generally don’t work well for me. Reviews work better for me, or comparisons between different game systems. For some of these monster games, what I would really enjoy would be a series of videos commenting on different game mechanics or aspects of the design - not teaching the rules, but commenting on what they simulate or how they interact with other systems. I could probably talk for 20 minutes about attrition as a mechanism in AWAW, or diplomacy, or strategic warfare, or air-naval interaction, and I’m sure the same thing could be done with WIF or BAR or GOSS or any similarly detailed game or series. I think the ratio of time spent playing to amount of content produced would be too unfavorable for this to be a staple of anyone’s channel, but I wish there was more content like this.

Congrats on the 5k subscribers. I understand the 18XX concern. However, 1862 does have a proper solo mode which is great fun. It makes it a completely different game - you want to lay track to benefit all the companies whereas in the multi-player you don't want to do that unless you own shares in the companies benefitting. I think it would make for a great video too. Heavy Cardboard have done a number of plays which are very long so that may stop you....but if you just show decision points and updates and thus make it much shorter it may work. As for anything else - do what you want to do! Ultimately that has to be the right choice!

Congrats Nathan! One aspect of your videos I really enjoy is that you are engaging to watch and your videos are entertaining. I particularly like your playthrough videos both computer and board games, even if I am not interested in playing the game myself! Another aspect that I really value is your honest and thoughtful reviews, particularly that you are not afraid to be critical, some channels have a tendency to only highlight positives in reviews and this isn't particularly helpful for the consumer.

Congrats; keep up the good work, mate:) Love your stuff.

Gratz! My favorite content from you are your deep dives and/on monster games. ❤

1914 Twilight In the East would be a good choice. I thought you were enchanted by Vassal?

I realize you are going to make videos that get high views, but what I want to see, and what I think you are the best on youtube to providing. is complete detailed playthoughs of games with an hour or so per turn lasting dozens of turns (if only you'd do Case Blue from beginning to end!). I am also most interested in operational games on the East Front, but also would watch games set anywhere in WWII or even WWI. Have you looked much at Three Crown games? I hope you'll go on with your side-by-side playthough of those two Case Blue games (though I've been saving up the ones you completed).

Congratulations, Mr. Wiseguy. I'm a big fan of your approach. After following the channel for a few years, and especially watching you come to grips with GOSS, I can say with perfect certainty that you make every effort to offer opinions based on real time spent learning these games. It's inspiring and, in my opinion, exactly what our hobby needs.

Always interesting videos. I agree with you on Tanto Monta, disagree on Pursuit of Glory. I don't think you'll care for Illusions of Glory. Will have to give Mr President a try, doesn't sound like my cup of tea but so many good reviews I ma take a chance. Cheers.

Well done Nathan!!!!!

Appreciate your vids so much, Nathan. Thanks for your thoughtful videos.

Thanks for that. It's nice to see the thinking processes behind acquiring/keeping/selling games and how others organise their games.

One of my favourite channels, really appreciate your efforts!

Cards won during the Auction Year go into your hand. They can be played during D3 Play Year....there are alot of moving parts in this game.

at 47:00 I dont think any of the players can draw from their professional decks as they are on "callow" spaces. Each player can only initiate an auction, no professional draws and no debauchery is allowed on the first turn. At least thats how I interpret the rules.

Congrats, and well deserved! Hope you get round to trying Illusions of Glory - I thoroughly enjoyed it, using the CDG solo system. The amount of space and movement compared to Paths made it feel really fresh.

The 40 series games are as big as I get, but enjoy watching you play bigger games, time permitting.

I guess you're right about Holland-44 ... fortunately I haven't tried it being totally ruined by bridges, but I guess it can happen. It tells a story though. (Ardennes-44 has briges too btw) I'd skip World-at-War and try WiF instead if I was you. And ... Just leave Stalins War in shrink and get rid of it ... I hated it.