Round Breakdown: Blood & Valor
October 16, 2019 by dignity
Rufus from Firelock Games is in the studio to take us through a round of their new game Blood & Valor.
Gerry and Justin are back on the tabletop to run through a round of Blood & Valor. Both players get to grips with the secret bidding mechanic at the heart of the turn order as they send their troops across rural France. Whilst similar to Blood & Plunder in some ways, the Blood & Valor rule system has been designed specifically with World War One small unit tactics in mind.
What kind of force would you like to run in Blood & Valor?
I liked that very much, and if I was to play the game myself, I´d probably choose a French patrol. Yet I could not discover, what makes this game a typical WW I game. Are there more rules in it adding some WWI flavour? What I have in mind is gas, trenches, excessive use of hand grenades, storming forts like Vaux, Souville and Douaumont and such things? You mentioned tanks, that´s allright but this should not be played in games pre 1917. (Although, if I want to have fun, I apply my “Advanced Prototype” houserule, allowing to field anything I… Read more »
no one knows, there are miniatures coming from Phalanx Consortium, but Rufus had been gifted these and we don’t know who made them.
Some look like they’re Perry’s foundry sculpts from the late 90s, but we couldn’t be sure without tearing them off bases
Some of the British look like Renegade Miniatures
I think they are, a buddy of mine gave me the miniatures several years ago. Not sure of the manufactures.
Ahhh. I didn’t even think about gas rounds/attack. Great question.
This could be interesting you know.
I’m keeping my eye out for the let’s play
The bid mechanic is very interesting. French might be interesting to paint.
Not convinced at the mo, I need to see a proper let’s play first as I don’t get a sense of WW1 from this run through as it would seem the rules seem to generic. But great to have the Firelock Games team back in the studio.
I think to get a better feeling for the nuances and restrictions in WW1 combat you need to fight battles at a higher level
In the how to play demo we did not get into a lot of the special rules for each faction. We were trying to show the basic game mechanics and to give a general sense of how the game works. The game has a lot more depth when it comes to faction specific rules, special units , Gas and Naval barrages, special characters and weapons that were developed in WW1. (Tanks) The different theaters of war also give players the opportunity to play battles outside of the trenches, in Gallipoli, Africa and the Near East. Early war forces are in… Read more »
the commanders bonus is a good thing to remember for the surrounding units.
loved Justin’s death or glory approach to playing.
The miniatures in the video are a mix of miniatures from many different manufacturers. Some are out of print. I believe some are Foundy and Old Glory. We are doing our own line of miniatures with the Phalanx Consortium .
Looking good! Wasn’t overly fussed for a ww1 game, but the mechanics seem nice so i might be tempted to get into this.
I’m no WWI expert but with at least the British emphasis on bayonet training, I’m struggling to understand what makes the difference between core units and close combat specialists. Hoping this is covered in a later vid.
Most forces up until late 1916 had dedicated bomb throwing units which this might be referring to other wise apart from some trench raiding units and later German assault troops there shouldn’t really be much difference except that quality of troops goes up and down depending on the year
This game looks amazing. I’m betting the English faction would be better for tanks, while the Germans would be better for MGs. I’d love to see how planes are introduced.
Liking the feel of this game from what I’m seeing. Compact board, quick turns, initiative bidding… all in a WW1 package!
Are the commonwealth countries as one or does the Great White North have it’s own list?