from the back of the box:
Ambush! is the solitaire wargame of combat, adventure, and heroism in World War Two France. Using a ground-breaking development of the programmed paragraph solitaire system, Ambush! gives the player control of an American squad, faced with a variety of missions against an ever-changing, hidden German foe. The variable events, innumerable tactical options, and wealth of unexpected occurrences make Ambush! a solitaire gaming experience unlike any that has gone before. The easily learned rules are specially designed to get the player into the action within minutes. The player selects and arms his squad, providing each soldier with command and initiative ratings, perception, weapons skill, driving skill, and movement capability. After selecting one of the eight missions provided, the player sends his squad into a mission map to conduct operations called for in the mission. Soldiers move freely, as far as the player wishes, checking for events each time they move...until the sequenced action rounds are triggered by the whine of German bullets!
- solitary game
- had a lot of fun with that
- got to have the stats for the soldiers
- complex
- war game
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I consider myself a board game media junkie anytime I have spare time I'm usually watching a video review or a walkth through or I am listening to a podcast
- he does such a wonderful job of presenting how a game works in his video he couples that with excellent video work and then all the editing that goes into that I just it's it takes a lot of time and effort he does them so well it just I always walk away understanding how the game works
- there's nothing pushy about it I always walk away knowing exactly what he thinks about the game and I never feel like um he's closed the door on on what I should think about the game either
- basically on the board game geek forums there is a a section that's that's dedicated to the geek of the week and they give a thread each week to a new board game geek member well not not necessar a new member but to a different one each week
- the first serious game that I remember playing oddly enough was a war game actually which surprises me because I don't really have war games in my collection today
- I think I must have somewhere along the line Associated what I perceived to be all this incredible fun tied into these very thick complex rules
- the Box said something like um you know would take you 2 hours to 2 months to play depending on what you played
- I came to realize that I'm not going to be able to teach this game anyone who's going to want to play it with me
- I wonder if that's part of why I get so much meaningful satisfaction out of making these videos I do about teaching games some of them complex and feeling um connected to the other people that I'm you know through online teaching these games too
- This was it for me um when I saw this game on Board Game Geek I got excited because there was the complexity yes there was the complexity there but all of these components and were really goodlooking and and dripping with theme
- I mean this is this is what I was looking for if you will this was the The Thing I needed to get me back and interested in this hobby really full force
- I didn't really realize that games like this existed and that got me going to board game geek all the time
- I really enjoyed watching his videos and it was very inspiring to me it made me think this this is what I would want to do
- I have this I I say it's almost an irrational aversion to giving my opinion about games over the Internet because I never mind it when anyone else does it like that's that's great I don't always agree with all the opinions I hear but I enjoy hearing other Gamers opinions about games but I think on a personal level so I'm not critiquing anyone else who does this but just on a personal level I struggle with the idea if I tell someone A Game's really great and they go and buy it and they hate it I'm going to feel like I cause them to waste money
- This was it I was now getting to play games outside the four walls of my own home with other people they were continuing to play with me and they seem to be enjoying it and I was really enjoying it
- what surprised me believe me it was a surprise was that other people seemed to enjoy watching along with us
- I think that's one of the one of the things that really got on to me early was instead of having just inviting a few people to join us invite everyone to join in people can leave their comments and vote for what ideas they want best that way everyone can feel like they're contributing to the gameplay
- really we just wanted to complement the other great review videos that we were enjoying ourselves
- it's really helped shape me as a gamer it's helped me evolve and and it's certainly made my enjoyment of this hobby all all the more meaningful
- that's really the big part of this hobby that I enjoy the most is that interaction
- thanks Joel thanks for this opportunity to be the geek of the week it's just another extension of being able to reach out to more Gamers and and meet them and and share that passion for this hobby
References (from this video)
- Deeply nostalgic for the host.
- Complex and engaging mechanics.
- Offers a unique way to resolve events.
- squad-level tactical combat
- World War II battlefield
- Paragraph-based event resolution triggered by hex movement
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Character advancement — Soldiers can level up and gain new attributes and equipment after missions.
- Dice rolling — Used for character creation and likely for combat resolution.
- Hex-based movement — Movement occurs on a hex map with numbered or lettered locations.
- Hidden information/random events — Moving onto certain hexes triggers events revealed by sliding a code sheet into a slotted envelope with windows.
- scenario-based play — Players progress through a series of missions or scenarios.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm pretty excited right now if you can't already tell by the look of my face because I just finished up the city of remnants instructional video
- I really did my best on it um and you know what you guys helped make it too because the the fundraiser we held helped get these walls made
- Don't think that that has anything to do with my opinion on the game I'm playing this game every chance I get
- People have described it as almost a zen-like experience with playing it and as cheesy as that sounds I I really can't disagree with that assessment
- Jamie you successfully tickled my acquisition disorder
- well done sir I also wanted to say a quick thanks to James John's one of our viewers who's a big fan of the game uh pixel tax tactics pixel tactics and he sent along this playmat
- So go figure the day that I decide to shoot an episode standing up I feel like I have to end it seated
- The game is the game that stasha sent to me and it's the game Ambush by Avalon Hill and I never thought I would get a chance to play this game again
- Sasha I am certainly going to enjoy this thank you so so very much