I’ve been screaming my praise and love for the Undaunted system to anyone who’ll listen for the past 3 years at this point. It absolutely IS a masterpiece in my mind and within those of our group. Very excited for Stalingrad and the Battle of Britain. 9/10 for me.
Thanks for circling back to this one. Always nice to be reminded how wonderful a game is :) My son and I bought Undaunted: North Africa last year and really enjoyed it. Time to get that one back out and play more scenarios!
Yeah my son is just slightly too young for gripping the strategy in this one but in another year or so I’m confident he’ll be able to hang, another year and he’ll be putting me in my place! Thanks for watching Karl, happy gaming!
My mates are big wargamers but I can't deal with the slowness and fiddle of many wargames. This gives all the tension and decisions but quicker and simpler. I actually introduced it to these hardcore wargamers and they were shocked at the elegance of this system. Absolutely a masterpiece.
I really hope you enjoy it. Something to note is they updated the rules about control in future editions of Undaunted and the designers have gone on to say that they recommend using the new rules in the base game. As is in Normandy you can’t take control of a tile if there are enemy units in the location, the new rule is you can still take control if there are enemy units in the area so long as your opponent doesn’t already control it. This presents more strategic options and cuts back on turtling. The rules as originally written are still great, but I think the update is smart and really dials things in even more.
Lol I dig your enthusiasm! My first serious attempt at a player aid was for Undaunted: North Africa (posted on BGG) I love how much freedom the game gives you, and how thematic the decisions feel (much like Pandemic)
Awesome, I really hope you enjoy it. Also heads up that future Undaunted releases and the expansion for this update the control rules to not requiring that you clear out enemy units from your current tile before taking a control action, and the designers encourage playing the base game with that rule set. The game is great either way, but I think that makes things a bit faster and encourages a bit more risk (in a good way).
Is it possible that gamers are just craving simpler designs these days? This looks amazing to play, but I can't help but feel that the main draw is elegance, simplicity, and theme.
It’s a very different system but tries to accomplish similar things. If anything I would call this the successor to Memoir 44’s legacy of being an approachable-yet-satisfying world war 2 game.
THIS GAME IS NOT A MASTERPIECE. Its design is brilliant and thematic ,and the gameplay is engaging and immersive, BUT due to the dice and "thanks" to bad die rolls - this game will never be a masterpiece. A bad die roll, specially after a strategic plan, sacrifice, effort and expectation, and/or when you are so proud of what you did to get to this point - is WAY too frustrating to be ignored of, and call this game a masterpiece. And "That's just how war is. Sometimes you miss" - isn't a good argument. Not if your forces are experience and your plan is smart and both players feel like you should be rewarded for that AT LEAST with a temporary small win in the battlefield.
@@tannerknox9088 And we know not to let you teaching games if that's how you misinterpreting words (and who knows what else... Rulebooks maybe.?) - I love dice! (Love love love) Yet, Undaunted Normandy will never be neither a perfect game or a masterpiece - only because of the role (..or roll) they're playing on it.
"That's just how war is. Sometimes you miss - isn't a good argument." I disagree. If it was intended to be anything like a pure abstract game with perfect information, then for sure it would be a horrible even, but that's not what the game is trying to do at all. Ultimately the game is about managing odds. It's ok if that's not how you'd prefer it, but that's not a flaw per se. Yes, theoretically it is *possible* for you to be extremely unlucky and lose due to multiple bad rolls. Realistically, in the vast majority of matches the player with better strategy and deckbuilding will win, despite the random factor. The possibility of unlucky or lucky games is also handled by the campaign system - by playing all scenarios against the same opponent you will ultimately average out any luck outliers.
@@Kolvarg I wasn't speaking generally about poor dice rolls during the game. My meaning was that due to a poor die roll, you feel like the game system itself is against you, if that makes sense. You can do everything right, you can set up the idle condition for an awesome attack, and even if not awesome - Then at least - THEMATICALLY - with some advantages or benefits with its outcome - And yet, due to a poor die roll it turns into a failure. No advantage. No benefit. Just a lot of effort which end up with nothing. And even if the better strategize will win eventually, yet - those moments will always remain a part of the experience. Did I make myself clear now? This game is great. I think that the co-work of the designers is one of the best thing that happened for both the hobby and wargames, and yet... Due to those situations which determined by dice rolls, this really cool, smart, and overall enjoyable design - is not perfect. But... it's perfectly fine.
Thanks so much for the kind words! So glad you dig it. :)
Thanks YOU for making cool stuff to enjoy!
I’ve been screaming my praise and love for the Undaunted system to anyone who’ll listen for the past 3 years at this point. It absolutely IS a masterpiece in my mind and within those of our group. Very excited for Stalingrad and the Battle of Britain. 9/10 for me.
Thanks for circling back to this one. Always nice to be reminded how wonderful a game is :)
My son and I bought Undaunted: North Africa last year and really enjoyed it. Time to get that one back out and play more scenarios!
Yeah my son is just slightly too young for gripping the strategy in this one but in another year or so I’m confident he’ll be able to hang, another year and he’ll be putting me in my place!
Thanks for watching Karl, happy gaming!
My mates are big wargamers but I can't deal with the slowness and fiddle of many wargames. This gives all the tension and decisions but quicker and simpler. I actually introduced it to these hardcore wargamers and they were shocked at the elegance of this system. Absolutely a masterpiece.
Love your enthousiasm
Agreed, this is a materpiece, it was our most second most played game in 2020 (it was almost a draw with number 1)
Your number one?
@@jlGuitarGuy7 czcams.com/video/llnvJZL85JE/video.html
such a great mechanic with depth and theme from a deck of cards, i know there's more to it but the cards mainly.
My copy just arrived at my door. I hope to try it out asap
I really hope you enjoy it. Something to note is they updated the rules about control in future editions of Undaunted and the designers have gone on to say that they recommend using the new rules in the base game. As is in Normandy you can’t take control of a tile if there are enemy units in the location, the new rule is you can still take control if there are enemy units in the area so long as your opponent doesn’t already control it. This presents more strategic options and cuts back on turtling. The rules as originally written are still great, but I think the update is smart and really dials things in even more.
@@TheCardboardHerald Thanks! I just watched the How Its Played, I'll try to keep this tip in mind. If designer recommends it, no point not doing it.
Lol I dig your enthusiasm! My first serious attempt at a player aid was for Undaunted: North Africa (posted on BGG)
I love how much freedom the game gives you, and how thematic the decisions feel (much like Pandemic)
That’s a great comparison and I completely agree. Very flexible but easy to understand decisions that each have consequence.
just ordered!
Awesome, I really hope you enjoy it. Also heads up that future Undaunted releases and the expansion for this update the control rules to not requiring that you clear out enemy units from your current tile before taking a control action, and the designers encourage playing the base game with that rule set. The game is great either way, but I think that makes things a bit faster and encourages a bit more risk (in a good way).
I want this in other period of war. Napolenoic war! Instead of a infantry soldier on a card can be a whole unit on the board, etc
What kind of animal throws the dice right onto the middle of the board?!
This animal apparently. Haha
Is it possible that gamers are just craving simpler designs these days? This looks amazing to play, but I can't help but feel that the main draw is elegance, simplicity, and theme.
Is this very similar to memoir 44?
It’s a very different system but tries to accomplish similar things. If anything I would call this the successor to Memoir 44’s legacy of being an approachable-yet-satisfying world war 2 game.
Yes it is!
Stalingrad?
I don’t have a copy yet but will do a review as soon as I can.
THIS GAME IS NOT A MASTERPIECE.
Its design is brilliant and thematic ,and the gameplay is engaging and immersive, BUT due to the dice and "thanks" to bad die rolls - this game will never be a masterpiece.
A bad die roll, specially after a strategic plan, sacrifice, effort and expectation, and/or when you are so proud of what you did to get to this point - is WAY too frustrating to be ignored of, and call this game a masterpiece.
And "That's just how war is. Sometimes you miss" - isn't a good argument.
Not if your forces are experience and your plan is smart and both players feel like you should be rewarded for that AT LEAST with a temporary small win in the battlefield.
Well we all know now to never play games with dice with you lol.
@@tannerknox9088 And we know not to let you teaching games if that's how you misinterpreting words (and who knows what else... Rulebooks maybe.?)
- I love dice! (Love love love)
Yet, Undaunted Normandy will never be neither a perfect game or a masterpiece - only because of the role (..or roll) they're playing on it.
"That's just how war is. Sometimes you miss - isn't a good argument."
I disagree. If it was intended to be anything like a pure abstract game with perfect information, then for sure it would be a horrible even, but that's not what the game is trying to do at all.
Ultimately the game is about managing odds. It's ok if that's not how you'd prefer it, but that's not a flaw per se. Yes, theoretically it is *possible* for you to be extremely unlucky and lose due to multiple bad rolls. Realistically, in the vast majority of matches the player with better strategy and deckbuilding will win, despite the random factor. The possibility of unlucky or lucky games is also handled by the campaign system - by playing all scenarios against the same opponent you will ultimately average out any luck outliers.
@@wishmeheaven Hey I’m great at rules explanations. It only took me an hour to teach Codenames, and I only cried for like 10 minutes of it.
@@Kolvarg I wasn't speaking generally about poor dice rolls during the game.
My meaning was that due to a poor die roll, you feel like the game system itself is against you, if that makes sense.
You can do everything right, you can set up the idle condition for an awesome attack, and even if not awesome -
Then at least - THEMATICALLY - with some advantages or benefits with its outcome -
And yet, due to a poor die roll it turns into a failure. No advantage. No benefit.
Just a lot of effort which end up with nothing.
And even if the better strategize will win eventually, yet - those moments will always remain a part of the experience.
Did I make myself clear now?
This game is great.
I think that the co-work of the designers is one of the best thing that happened for both the hobby and wargames, and yet...
Due to those situations which determined by dice rolls, this really cool, smart, and overall enjoyable design - is not perfect.
But... it's perfectly fine.