14:45 In scenario 1 rules E.7.b. they say to round-off downward for ratios. Thanks for the video--this helped convince me to reacquire the game. I had it as a kid in the 70s but it was too complex for me and I never even made it through Scenario 1, though I loved having it on my shelf. It disappeared from the family game shelf some time in the early 90s. Now as an older adult I am finally able to handle the rule set and have played through Scenario 1 with hopefully the rest to follow. The Terrans completely obliterated the Humanoid structures and army almost without a scratch. I'm not sure how Humanoids do better aside from lucky rolls and more strategic placement. Next goal is to attempt reading the book.
I remember my older brothers owning this and always wanted to learn how to play however at the time I was only about 9 years old and seemed complicated at the time. That being said I'm going to pick up a copy someday soon now that I'm into board games and try to learn it. Thanks for the video and God bless!
Bought this when it came out in '76 I believe and its been in my library and played often since then. It really is underated on BGG and deserves more love IMO. Thanks for a great review GG.
Sci-Fi, particularly at the time it was released, seemed to be a niche genre other than Star Fleet Battles. I was always frustrated by that. I still think the hidden movement system in this was never fully appreciated. I like your approach to soloing it. I have used a similar approach in the past.
Did a solo play, was fun. Used your ideas about bugs. Although they seemed ineffective because they move so slow. I may go for more breaches & bugs. I also worked in a final breach once retrieval ships landed., figuring that would be loud enough. Forgot to settle on a point system before the end, Bugs actually won (fairly) because Terrans killed too many workers and not enough fighters. Had house rule if worker was in a stack it took damage first.
Hilltown Graymers I like both of the new rules you mention. Excellent and thematic. I’ve got to get this game out again. It’s just light enough and meaty enough and campy enough to really work.
@@GeekGamers01 thanks. I really appreciate your channel.both boys at school now,wete my main gamers. (Rural area)You have a unique insight for gaming. I too sometimes find the narrative a driving force. Keep you posted on ideas hopefully playing again this week end.
Hilltown Graymers Ah it’s tough when the kids leave ... so great they were your gaming buddies tho. Nothing better than that. And how lucky for them to, to have a gamer parent.
Thank you, your video help me so mutch, I'm french and I try to traduce the game and readapt the game only with some PDF gathered on internet, and without you I would not have the half of the rules and graphics !
@@kirbyculp3449 A lot, we played the whole campaign like three times, just to experience every sides of each mission. Through, we never really created new mission. But I have some homebrew rules about psychic troops, a more detailed drop phase, and air support.
Excellent narrative! Like many of my games, I've had this game since 1990 and have yet to play it ;-) This video inspired me to priorotize it as the next game to dusty off.
Thanks for the comment and I'm so glad you enjoyed the vid. Lucky you to have the game hanging around and I hope you do enjoy it when you get it to the table!
Well that would take way too much space for here but my #1 piece of advice is to highlight the game as much as possible. There's a reason I'm not in any of my videos and that's because I want it to be about the game so if you're thinking of doing a game video, that would be my advice.
bought this game a few months ago and trying to play it. we where a bit confused as to how terran even get on the map. figured parachute drop but didnt know about dice rolls for it. what is the crystal collage thing in upper right-hand corner of map? just a giant city?
I hope you have tried the game .... the most basic rules just have the MI entering from a side of the map. In the full rules, yes, the MI drop from orbit. The player selects a target hex for the drop of each squad and the scenario gives a direction of the drop. The counters for the squad are then laid out, 1 per hex, starting in the target hex, going in the direction of the drop. Then each member of the squad is scattered, 1 at a time, by rolling a d6 for direction, and then a d6 for distance in hexes.The results is the squad is scattered over an oval about 13 x 21 hexes or so, depending how the rolls go. They could wind up in a tight cluster!
Great game that I spent alot of time playing back in the day. Unfortunately my copy didnt survive me getting out of the service. one of many that I ended up losing.
NOT Tehran( a country on earth) its Terran as . Pronounced TEAR-IN meaning from earth ,and it does not only happen on one planet like you said the scenarios happen on different planet represented by only one board.. This too is my favorite game, and to not use nukes is crazy in this game, Arachnids can only win most scenarios with well placed nukes. glad you enjoy the game its a classic.
I hope you don't mind.... I have already spammed a link to two Facebook groups and my Avalon Hill Yahoo group. Thanks for the video. Great vid on a great game.
BTW, the Boardgame Geek has a pdf of the Alien hexpad with "over-sized" hexagons. I don't remember them being so small when I was a kid... ;) Also, the stacks can get tall, sometimes it is best to hold the stack "off-table" as they jump in and then scatter in their move.
Yeah they are so small! I created an annotated one showing how I randomize the location of "found" breaches but omitted it from the video. It was such a mess because of those tiny little hexes only I could understand it. Thanks for pointing out that other version. I didn't know about that.
BTW (maybe you've already seen this): I did a video reading through the last Avalon Hill catalogue from 1997. I don't know how to point to it in this comment and not have the comment deleted but it is on my channel and may be of interest.
That was my plan (as I try to do in most videos) but the explanation ended up running long and I as the gameplay itself is relatively straightforward (at least as far as wargames go) I omitted it. Maybe I'll get back to it someday and do a short vid showing some of that.
First, great overview. I'm interested in how you located the secondary material, i.e, the articles from The General and Dragon magazine. Tell us your secret!
Rob M Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the comment. As to the supplementary material: all I can say is that it is findable online but as I am not really sure whether any copyright is being violated by the posting, I don’t want to send out a link.
Oh, I didn't mean where can I get it. My question was how you located the third-party material in the first place. I had never thought about looking for third-party material from these older games before but your video has me interested in seeing what was published for Panzer Blitz and Dawn Patrol. And, thanks for the quick reply. :)
There is no accent on the word Terran. The first syllable is stressed. If you are going to take the time to correct someone, why don’t you take the time to be right about it, too?
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14:45 In scenario 1 rules E.7.b. they say to round-off downward for ratios. Thanks for the video--this helped convince me to reacquire the game. I had it as a kid in the 70s but it was too complex for me and I never even made it through Scenario 1, though I loved having it on my shelf. It disappeared from the family game shelf some time in the early 90s. Now as an older adult I am finally able to handle the rule set and have played through Scenario 1 with hopefully the rest to follow. The Terrans completely obliterated the Humanoid structures and army almost without a scratch. I'm not sure how Humanoids do better aside from lucky rolls and more strategic placement. Next goal is to attempt reading the book.
I remember my older brothers owning this and always wanted to learn how to play however at the time I was only about 9 years old and seemed complicated at the time. That being said I'm going to pick up a copy someday soon now that I'm into board games and try to learn it. Thanks for the video and God bless!
Bought this when it came out in '76 I believe and its been in my library and played often since then. It really is underated on BGG and deserves more love IMO. Thanks for a great review GG.
Uwe Bech So glad you enjoyed the vid and I totally agree it’s an underrated game. It does a lot, even when compared to contemporary games.
thank you for your time.
I never thought to have a glass top, for the maps; fantastic!
Sigh. Where were you when I was growing up playing war games and D&D?
Great overview of the game! Thanks for the video
So glad you covered this game! I own a couple of copies of this one and owned it as a kid as well which is owed to the book entirely! Thank you!
This one has really held up through the years! Glad you are enjoying these videos of these old games.
My first AH game... and I still have it, along with a ton of additional material I've collected over the years for it. A very underrated game.
Agree about it being oddly underrated/ under the radar. I was shocked not to find any other posted video on it for example.
Sci-Fi, particularly at the time it was released, seemed to be a niche genre other than Star Fleet Battles. I was always frustrated by that. I still think the hidden movement system in this was never fully appreciated. I like your approach to soloing it. I have used a similar approach in the past.
Another classic gem of a review.
Good review. I just picked up the box at a game store after having played it nearly 40 years ago.
Clyde Warden Great find! Glad you enjoyed it. Lots of great ideas in the game.
Did a solo play, was fun. Used your ideas about bugs. Although they seemed ineffective because they move so slow. I may go for more breaches & bugs. I also worked in a final breach once retrieval ships landed., figuring that would be loud enough. Forgot to settle on a point system before the end, Bugs actually won (fairly) because Terrans killed too many workers and not enough fighters. Had house rule if worker was in a stack it took damage first.
Hilltown Graymers I like both of the new rules you mention. Excellent and thematic. I’ve got to get this game out again. It’s just light enough and meaty enough and campy enough to really work.
@@GeekGamers01 thanks. I really appreciate your channel.both boys at school now,wete my main gamers. (Rural area)You have a unique insight for gaming. I too sometimes find the narrative a driving force. Keep you posted on ideas hopefully playing again this week end.
Hilltown Graymers Ah it’s tough when the kids leave ... so great they were your gaming buddies tho. Nothing better than that. And how lucky for them to, to have a gamer parent.
Kill 'em all and let the giant Bug in the Sky sort 'em out.
Loved hearing this. Fascinating
Thank you, your video help me so mutch, I'm french and I try to traduce the game and readapt the game only with some PDF gathered on internet, and without you I would not have the half of the rules and graphics !
Goldrake313 That is very ambitious and I wish you good luck! Glad my video has been of some help.
Have you enjoyed playing the game?
@@kirbyculp3449 A lot, we played the whole campaign like three times, just to experience every sides of each mission.
Through, we never really created new mission. But I have some homebrew rules about psychic troops, a more detailed drop phase, and air support.
@@bastien1578
Very nice! I have not played this game for thirty years but have good memories.
What a gem of a review. Thanks!
Excellent narrative! Like many of my games, I've had this game since 1990 and have yet to play it ;-) This video inspired me to priorotize it as the next game to dusty off.
Thanks for the comment and I'm so glad you enjoyed the vid. Lucky you to have the game hanging around and I hope you do enjoy it when you get it to the table!
Would you please share your video shooting method and suggestions?
Well that would take way too much space for here but my #1 piece of advice is to highlight the game as much as possible. There's a reason I'm not in any of my videos and that's because I want it to be about the game so if you're thinking of doing a game video, that would be my advice.
What camera are you using and is it head mounted?
It's just an old iphone on a $14 tripod.
I think in most AH games attacker odds were always rounded down.
bought this game a few months ago and trying to play it. we where a bit confused as to how terran even get on the map. figured parachute drop but didnt know about dice rolls for it. what is the crystal collage thing in upper right-hand corner of map? just a giant city?
John Correll Jr Yes I believe that is a city.
I hope you have tried the game .... the most basic rules just have the MI entering from a side of the map. In the full rules, yes, the MI drop from orbit. The player selects a target hex for the drop of each squad and the scenario gives a direction of the drop. The counters for the squad are then laid out, 1 per hex, starting in the target hex, going in the direction of the drop. Then each member of the squad is scattered, 1 at a time, by rolling a d6 for direction, and then a d6 for distance in hexes.The results is the squad is scattered over an oval about 13 x 21 hexes or so, depending how the rolls go. They could wind up in a tight cluster!
Based on the book, not the movies.
Great game that I spent alot of time playing back in the day. Unfortunately my copy didnt survive me getting out of the service. one of many that I ended up losing.
I imagine this game was a great companion.
I feel for you.
this is an ideal dungeon crawl
It’s a great game indeed
Do you have a pdf of your hybrid rules. I just got a copy of the game and will try Matthews rules, but would like to try yours as well.
So sorry but I’m afraid I don’t...
Great vid love this game and the book!
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for commenting!
NOT Tehran( a country on earth) its Terran as . Pronounced TEAR-IN meaning from earth ,and it does not only happen on one planet like you said the scenarios happen on different planet represented by only one board.. This too is my favorite game, and to not use nukes is crazy in this game, Arachnids can only win most scenarios with well placed nukes. glad you enjoy the game its a classic.
I hope you don't mind.... I have already spammed a link to two Facebook groups and my Avalon Hill Yahoo group. Thanks for the video. Great vid on a great game.
Glad you enjoyed the video. I tried to do the game justice and hope I did. Great game indeed! I'm not on FB but know I should be...
BTW, the Boardgame Geek has a pdf of the Alien hexpad with "over-sized" hexagons. I don't remember them being so small when I was a kid... ;) Also, the stacks can get tall, sometimes it is best to hold the stack "off-table" as they jump in and then scatter in their move.
Yeah they are so small! I created an annotated one showing how I randomize the location of "found" breaches but omitted it from the video. It was such a mess because of those tiny little hexes only I could understand it. Thanks for pointing out that other version. I didn't know about that.
BTW (maybe you've already seen this): I did a video reading through the last Avalon Hill catalogue from 1997. I don't know how to point to it in this comment and not have the comment deleted but it is on my channel and may be of interest.
Great vid! Very enjoyable and informative.
So glad you enjoyed it and thanks for letting me know. I have a lot of fondness for this game!
How about a play through of a couple of turns with examples of combat, etc?
Would like to see your solo version in play.
Thanks!
That was my plan (as I try to do in most videos) but the explanation ended up running long and I as the gameplay itself is relatively straightforward (at least as far as wargames go) I omitted it. Maybe I'll get back to it someday and do a short vid showing some of that.
First, great overview.
I'm interested in how you located the secondary material, i.e, the articles from The General and Dragon magazine. Tell us your secret!
Rob M Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the comment. As to the supplementary material: all I can say is that it is findable online but as I am not really sure whether any copyright is being violated by the posting, I don’t want to send out a link.
Oh, I didn't mean where can I get it. My question was how you located the third-party material in the first place. I had never thought about looking for third-party material from these older games before but your video has me interested in seeing what was published for Panzer Blitz and Dawn Patrol.
And, thanks for the quick reply. :)
Rob M Oh I see what you mean. Well I am always looking for contemporary written context for pretty much anything so it was natural to search for that.
The accent on Terran is on the first syllable.
There is no accent on the word Terran. The first syllable is stressed. If you are going to take the time to correct someone, why don’t you take the time to be right about it, too?
and it's still wrong isn't it?
Uhlan Yes, calling it an accent is wrong.
Actually, accent is correct.