Yeah, and I've just seen Italy '43 has been added to GMTs P500! Exciting to see more!

@@rollobaker2031 Thanks!

Oh wow, I love Warriors! It really encourages me to rush Strider south, and, since we introduced it, the Companions have played a far more active role in regions like Fangorn, Helms Deep, and the Woodland Realm. It's added that extra 'flavour' that you see in the books, that often didn't reflect in our games.

@@WiseGuyHistory I can see that. I just think the whole “add a figure/remove a figure” for effects and combat is really clunky. Plus all the new unit cards make the game take up even more space on the table. I like the cleanliness and unobtrusiveness of the original cards from the base game for those same effects.

@jnharr Yeah they have a choice of what tile to use, so in effect they can weed out weak tiles, or go strong to corrupt the Sovereigns...

Mainly the random bridge rules, a few bad rolls and progress can be halted...

@Dangerous27Dave Actually our game today with all 3 expansions was our fastest ever! I'd suggest it'd normally add a bit of extra time, but not much.

As do I. Last played 40 yrs ago.

Do I see a game played with unpainted miniatures ? Steady my racing heart. Are you playing the 2nd Ed ?

@evildrganymede No they can't really respond. They just have to hope the Free People don't have too many of the Dead Men faction cards to use...

Likewise 😢

Same here :(

Its so difficult! I love the game, and the 2nd edition is such a beautiful production, but I mostly play on BGA and even when I win I hardly know what is going on XD

Not yet, but one I'm keen to try!

@michaelgustavsson4107 oh tough question. I think gameplay in France 40 is better, but I like the history and setting for Normandy 44...

@@WiseGuyHistory I haven't got this to the table yet, but I love the chrome in Normandy (and Ardennes). The later Simonitch games are more streamlined, but I prefer the "old" approach more (that is DCB instead of halving and doubling for example).

I know about the shift/ctrl ability, but what do you mean by 'reversing the deck', how do you 'reverse a deck'?

@@WiseGuyHistory it is an option that appears when you right click on decks that have it activated (when making a module or extension) and it reverses the order of the cards so the bottom card becomes the top card and so on. It’s good since it doesn’t reveal what the cards are

Ah nice! I think in the case of Mr President, the deck has been setup to always 'draw random', so it doesn't matter what is technically 'on top', it'll always draw a random card.

@@WiseGuyHistory also some module recommendations Arkham Horror, the aliens board game (which has a really cool campaign system that lets play through the and have different results movie), also would recommend the legendary module which has a lot of automation but I am a bit biased hear cause I have been updating it.

Hello Michael, thank you very much for your very kind words. As it may not have been easy to understand during the interview, please allow me to briefly describe the design philosophy: a rule that requires one or more exceptions is probably not a good rule and is hard to learn (and remember). I prefer to combine three easy-to-learn (and remember) mechanisms to present the player with complex decision making. Apart from the fact that each rule should only appear once in the rulebook, each rule must have an impact on the game that justifies its existence. This applies to both the technical aspects of the game and the historical aspects. Thanks to a lot of feedback, my approach of "keeping each rule short, simple and as precise as possible" (KISS-P) has proven to be less than satisfactory. Hence the "living rules", because we needed clarifications here and there. Personally, I really like the simple command system and the army fatigue rule. In recent years, I've grown less and less fond of all-powerful decision making and perfectly coordinated movement of entire armies. I have written relatively detailed designer notes to show how I interpret which aspects of a Napoleonic battle. I also hope that the level of detail reflects the character of a Napoleonic battle. Certainly there would have been the possibility to include skirmishers, ammunition for the artillery, different formations and reaction options for the cavalry, but there is already another, beautiful series: La Bataille :-). I decided to focus on the essential battle formations and rather expand the system to include the aspect of "orders" and army fatigue. On a covention I had a wonderful encounter during the Great Battle scenario. Davout rolls up the left wing of the Russian army, the player complains about the lack of reaction options and the effectiveness of the French army and says the system is broken. I asked him what orders his formations have in this sector. He says "hold". I then asked him what he expects when he gives his formations the order to hold the position? A counterattack? It is not the game system that is broken, but the player has given his formations disastrous orders :-). Anticipating your opponent's plans (orders) and possibly launching an unexpected counterattack or retreat on a segment of the battlefield is a lot of fun.

I completely understand what you are saying about trying to couch the rule language in as precise a form as possible. I honestly don't mind having "living" evolving rules as a way for you to refine the system as it's played by wargamers now and not just your testers. We live in the modern world and it's not a big deal to download and print revised rules at all. What I truly LOVE about this system is the orders and the very realistic representation of how hard it was to coordinate such armies at that time. Your description of the gamer that wanted to blame the system instead of his orders is entirely apropos! I was completely blown away by your other description of adding a cube to designate a thunderstorm, or periods of fog (Austerlitz!) or snow showers, or wafting clouds of smoke, etc.! Just brilliant and it can actually be sporadic because of the cube pull mechanism!! Like I said, I'm really becoming obsessed with your system. I do appreciate the streamlined combat charts and abstraction of morale being built into the SP number, formations, skirmishers, etc. It all just really works for me without becoming to cluttered and bogged down and it does give the game it's own flow, especially with the cube pulls. Again, I really think you've created quite the wargame gem here!