Let’s Play: U-BOOT – The Board Game
January 18, 2018 by brennon
Today we're diving into the Irish Sea as we crew our submarine in U-BOOT The Board Game from Phalanx Games.
Each of the four roles entails unique responsibilities, encouraging the players to develop an effective communication scheme and use genuine navy terminology. The Captain oversees the completion of mission objectives, supervises action point costs, and is responsible for the crew's morale. The First Officer operates the companion app, manages the flow of information, and takes care of the crew's health.
The Navigator steers the submarine by setting its course and depth but also updates all the essential information on the strategic, and the tactical map. Last, but not least, is the Chief Engineer, who is responsible for the engines, repairs, as well as other mechanical implements on board of the U-boat (such as the ballast tanks, weapon systems, etc.)
The idea behind the companion app is to deliver a real-time, realistic gameplay experience. To that end, the app features the essential instruments of the u-boat (such as the periscope, the hydrophone, and the Enigma, among others).
Rest assured, however, that the vast majority of gameplay traditionally takes place on the game board, with the instruments revealing otherwise hidden information, and the app requiring only certain data (such as the U-boat's course, speed, etc.) in order to generate an adequate A.I. response of the enemy force.
Can we survive the journey or will John sail us to the depths, tune in for this high-speed adventure.
Are you interested in UBOOT?
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oh my…das boot had a huge impact on my when I was a child, the movie was made at the Filmstudios of my home town. I have been in the set of U-96 which made the whole experience even more impressive. I recommend to play at least once das boot by U-96.
As soon as i come home and have time I will watch it for sure.
Game looks great but the app kills it for me.
Very cool looking game which obviously had everyone engaged throughout 🙂
Totally enjoyed this Let’s Play!
Very cool game and I actually think the app idea works really well in this case. Two thumbs up and congratulations to the splendid crew. I’m sure Kaleun John will be rewarded with the Knights Cross (if he indeed made it back home..otherwise only posthumously unfortunately 😉 ).
For a moment I thought I either was seeing double or Justin’s twin was visiting the studio …
Thoroughly enjoyed this Let’s play, was already sold on this one at UKGE but the vid sealed it for me. The wife has been eagerly waiting for the Kickstarter as well, so the spending won’t be an issue……good times!
Personally I think the app is implemented very well, but I understand why some may object.
Wow what a fantastic game.
I am fascinated by WWI and WWII U-Boats so this goes straight on the “Take my Money” list.
John played the part very well and at one point reminded me of the Captain from the movie U-571 who appears calm and collected while reading a book but the book’s actually upside down and the Captain is internally freaking out.
Internally I was trying to not shout at them when it got serious. Maybe I should have. But all I managed was “Calm down” 😛
great video must be one of the best lets plays, the game captures the atmosphere and tension very well also the kickstarter will start on my birthday. so much sand and no sand mould.
John does look the part…he has that “I’ve been at sea for 7 weeks” beard indicative of the U Boat crews.
The game looks great with some really innovative mechanics. The app is great but I hope it is available on PC so I could put the graphics up on a large monitor near my gaming table.
Thankfully, the game’s app does have a PC version 🙂
Game changer! @warzan.. this is it.. the possibilities of integration of aps and board games begins.. just watching you feel the tension.. so good.
Gratz to the Crew! You have sunk the enemy and survived, with no KIA on the deck. This is a VERY good result for an inexperienced crew. Good job, Guys!
John missed his vocation with the cap he looks like he was born to command a U-boat, needs the leather bomber jacket to go with it.
thoroughly enjoyed this let’s play! would love to love to see U-BoW take on more shipping convoys.
Holy hell, look at those components! Awesome! That map looks like a direct copy of the actual “Kriegsmarine Marinequadratkarte” operations maps with their navigational and operations grids. Actually a very dark topic. I’ve read the German Ubootwaffe in World War II took the highest fatality rate of any arm of any military service in the history of warfare. Something like 85-90%. Of course everyone’s seen Das Boot. For a more first-hand account, I highly recommend “Iron Coffins” by Herbert Werner, a harrowing tale of the Battle of Atlantic from the German side from the first days of the war until… Read more »
Very true ‘Das Boot’, was fiction based on personal experiences of the author Lothar-Günther Buchheim. My Grandfather, who was in the Kriegsmarine, on a destroyer during WW2 didn’t like the book at all because of that. He liked the movie better according to him it reflected very well in what conditions the crew had to live during WW2 on a german Submarine. Sadly he never spoke much about his time in the Kriegsmarine. For me the movie left a big impression when I saw the first time, and up to this day it is one of my favorite german movies.… Read more »
Commenting as I watch – 26:00 – I like how the speed of the U-boot is so slow while submerged, they have to surface to pick up more speed. Endurance was also an issue with these when submerged running off batteries – I’m assuming this is pre-schnorkel (looks like a Type VII)?
Yes, this is VII C.
Another awesome bit of realism at 53:10 – enemy sonar “points” forward, and is blind astern. This is true for sonar systems even today, as the noise of the ship’s own propellers deafens her sonar in an arc bout 30 degrees astern. They call it the “baffles.” Some modern warships get around this with a towed sonar array that be be deployed behind its own propellers, but I don’t think these were available in WW2.
Loved the look of this when we saw it at UKGE last year and even more excited now that I got to see the play through
Every time I watch a Beasts of War play through I have to add another item on to my games to purchase list
What an impressive game. You really saw the pressure everyone was under when suddenly all went wrong. The hectic when the action started. The app puts some reallism and pressure into the game so you are constantly in game and there is no chance to get a rest if the things get tough.
If the German commands from the app would be spoken by native Germans it could possibly bring so much more of the feelning even for German players.
But anyway I think I’ll back it when it starts on kickstarter 🙂
I enjoyed this let’s play a lot. The components look awesome, everybody has his own job to do, not so far off on the historically correctness and it has real time events (that puzzle thingy). I didn’t mind the app integration too much. It works quite well for the “fog of war” element in this and random events. I just would put it up on a larger monitor so everybody can see stuff. But maybe that takes away too much of interaction with the first officer. BUT the german voice-acting is really crappy. Even for a board game it can’t… Read more »
Ok I missed the part about it being kickstarted. So I guess the voice acting is just a mock up. Looking forward to it on KS. Hope it’ll do well.
I will be backing, but I hope this is successful enough to do a Silent Service edition featuring US subs in the Pacific
Now there’s an idea. 😀
We have even better ideas in store, such as a destroyer-themed game based on a similar app-driven system, and then we clash the two games together in network multiplayer (one uboot team vs one destroyer team… or maybe more? Who knows what’s gonna happen, right? 😉 ).
Don’t like the idea of sinking civilian shipping. Seems in poor taste. Sinking warships not so bad.
Then i believe you are missing the whole point of the uboat program and what this game is trying to replicate about the topic. The knife edge lifestyle these crews had hunting their targets of value. sinking a destroyer gains the overall war effort very little. sinking a boat full of food or munitions gains your war effort a lot more.
Alarm!