Game Info
Year
2025
Players
1-2
Age
14+
Complexity
3/5
Collection
Your Tier
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Description
A card-driven historical board game where players lead Union raiders in the 1862 Andrews Railroad Raid to steal a locomotive and sabotage Confederate infrastructure by burning bridges cutting telegraph wires and damaging track while evading pursuit.
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video 7gxunXcg4iE
Zilla Blitz Playthrough at 0:00 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 85887 · mention_pk 220978
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Ability to gain useful tools like the crowbar or good tools.
- Successfully cutting the telegraph wire prevents alerts.
- Damaging track slows down pursuit and provides victory points.
- Acquiring intelligence can reveal and remove negative encounter cards.
- Gaining wood at wood stations replenishes resources.
- Successfully wiping out Confederate troops in combat.
- The train and most of the crew survived a brutal combat encounter.
Cons
- Mistakes are likely in the beginning stages of the game.
- Alert level can increase, though it doesn't impact gameplay until higher levels.
- Running into dangerous track can slow down medium-speed movement.
- Failing a challenge at Kingston Station led to a significant increase in the alert level and initiated combat.
- Combat at Kingston Station resulted in heavy casualties, losing 13 men killed and one captured.
- The pursuers are actively closing in and becoming a factor.
- Congestion ahead on the tracks can cause delays.
Thematic elements
- Union raid of a Confederate train
- Middle of the US Civil War, 1862
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Planning — Players select and sequence actions within a 15-minute turn to achieve objectives.
- Combat — When alerted or entering certain situations, combat can occur between Union Raiders and Confederate units, resolved with dice rolls and affecting troop strength and victory points.
- Dice rolling for challenges — Challenges and encounters often require dice rolls, with modifiers from persuasion cubes to succeed.
- event cards — Optional event cards can be drawn at the start of the game or at specific stations to influence gameplay, offering both positive and negative effects.
- map movement — Players move their train along a game map depicting a rail line, with movement dictated by speed and resources like wood.
- Objective Completion — Players aim to achieve objectives such as cutting telegraph wires, damaging track, and reaching specific destinations, which can grant victory points.
- Pursuit mechanic — Confederate pursuers actively try to catch the player's train, with their speed increasing as they acquire vehicles like pole cars and private trains.
- Resource Management — Players manage wood cubes for movement and persuasion cubes to influence dice rolls and challenges.
- Train movement system — Stacks of encounter chits represent unknown elements on the tracks, which move or stay put based on dice rolls, affecting player progress.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- they are absolutely determined to foil the union raiders plan
- if they catch us it's probably going to be the end of our raid
- this is a good omen
- oh my goodness oh no this is bad
- Kingston is a bloody mess
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 9H4xe03xNAo
Zilla Blitz Review at 0:03 sentiment: positive
video_pk 85929 · mention_pk 221201
Click to watch at 0:03 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Perfect combination of train games and war games.
- Detailed simulation of the historical raid.
- Granular mechanics with individual units.
- Visually appealing with vibrant art design.
- Robust solo mode.
- Engaging detail and mechanics.
- Unpredictable events create replayability.
Cons
- Not a simple fast-playing game.
- A lot to absorb due to many mechanics.
Thematic elements
- A civilian spy and agent's audacious plan to steal a train, race it northward, burn bridges, cut telegraph wires, and create havoc to destroy the Confederate reinforcement line.
- April of 1862, converging on Tennessee for a large confrontation.
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action cards — Used by both Union and Confederate players to determine actions.
- Alert level — Tracks how aware the Confederates are of the Union forces.
- Burning Bridges — An action to destroy infrastructure.
- Combat — Rules for firefights at stations or when encountering forces.
- Cutting Telegraph Wires — An action to prevent communication.
- Damaged Track — Track can become damaged, and players can drop items to create dangerous sections.
- Dropping Cars — Players can drop box cars to slow down pursuit.
- event cards — Introduce unpredictability and historical events.
- Fuel Management — Requires gathering wood to keep the train going.
- Movement — Discussed in the context of train movement.
- Persuasion — Used to navigate challenges at stations.
- Pursuit mechanic — Confederate forces pursue the Union train from behind.
- Raider Fate Tracking — Tracking what happens to the 20 Raiders (escape, survive, hung, captured).
- Single Track Rail — The rail line is one way, requiring passing at stations, leading to potential collisions and derailments.
- Station Challenges — Challenges at stations that may require persuasion or lead to firefights.
- Station Events — Special events at key stations.
- Train Switching — Possibility to switch trains if the current one has issues.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Engine Thieves designed by West Crawford and published by Compass games if you like train games and you like war games this might be the perfect combination game for you.
- this is a meaty deep simulation of this raid
- This is a very detailed simulation of this raid by the northern forces.
- soliter complexity soliter rating 10 out of 10 absolutely without a doubt this is going to be I think a marvelous solitire experience.
- Really like the art design on this game just a really vibrant the game pops visually.
- I love how theyve made it very granular with all the different mechanic options and and the ways that you can play the game to try to recreate this historical raid.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video drgRN8xh2Fk
Zilla Blitz Playthrough at 0:02 sentiment: negative
video_pk 85848 · mention_pk 220811
Click to watch at 0:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
- Burned a bridge, causing pursuit to stop and creating confusion/chaos.
- Successfully cleared congestion at Kingston Station.
- Cut a telegraph wire, preventing a warning message.
- Caused some confusion and delay for the enemy.
Cons
- Lost 14 out of 24 Raiders.
- Lost most of the remaining troops in a final stand.
- Suffered too much human loss to justify the damage done.
- Ran out of wood, a critical resource.
- Failed the mission, resulting in a 'Massive Union failure'.
Thematic elements
- Union Raiders evading Confederate forces
- Kingston
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Alert level — An 'alert level' increases, signifying increased Confederate awareness.
- Combat — Firefights occur with Confederate forces, leading to the loss of troops.
- Dice Rolling — Used for resolving challenges such as clearing trains, attempting to burn bridges, and determining enemy movement.
- Event resolution — Flipping over challenge cards (green and red) that trigger events, some beneficial, others detrimental.
- Resource Management — Managing 'wood' for movement and 'persuasion cubes' for various actions and to mitigate negative effects.
- Track Clearing — Players must clear trains and obstructions from tracks to allow movement.
- Victory Points — Points are awarded for actions like burning bridges, cutting telegraph wires, and eliminating enemy units, and deducted for lost troops.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- we lost 14 of our original 24 Raiders were down to 10 men
- if they catch us there'll be another firefight probably our last
- we are minus 18 at this point in terms of human losses
- things just got a lot more interesting
- we've cleared three trains out of the way and this marker is gone
- we're going to try to set fire to this bridge which which will really screw up our Pursuit behind us
- this bridge won't burn
- we set fire to this bridge that is excellent it cost us a ton of wood
- the grip is tightening on the general
- Andrews is killed and that brings our general Adventure our Northern Raiders wiped out to the last man
- we have failed the North tremendously
- the shootout in Kingston did not help us
- Lessons Learned thanks for watching everybody have a great day
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 2Nt3qcS3goI
Zilla Blitz Discussion at 1:10:44 sentiment: positive
video_pk 85742 · mention_pk 220421
Click to watch at 1:10:44 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Really want to explore more
- Intrigued by the idea
- Does a good job of making the game granular and tactical
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Union soldiers attempting to steal a general and create havoc on a train line
- Civil War raid
Comparison games
- Raid on St. Nazir
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Individual soldier counters — each of the the Union counters are individual soldiers.
- Individual train movement — They're individual trades uh trains.
- Raid simulation — about the Civil War raid where Union soldiers went down and tried to steal the general and create havoc on the train line coming back.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- It's really exciting to me. It's a card-driven racing game that's just incredibly fast-paced.
- Ark Nova is a really complex game.
- The Great Western Trail is a big euro-style game.
- Pax Pamir is a political game.
- Cascadia is an incredibly relaxing game.
- Terraforming Mars is still a great game.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 0QrxOL-7AZA
Zilla Blitz Discussion at 7:58 sentiment: positive
video_pk 41680 · mention_pk 126324
Click to watch at 7:58 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Clever two-player system; thematic focus on trains and war
Cons
- Prototype/early-stage talk; details limited
Thematic elements
- Trains and combat in Civil War setting
- Civil War era; train robbery/stealing theme
- Historical tactical feel with puzzle-like decisions
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- two-player card-based deception — Two-player card-driven game with deception and placement elements
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The news is somewhat dire but let's not give up yet
- It feels good to be back
- This was the best players in the world I think
- One of the fun things about conference was the place and games we played
- The biggest shift is the balance of life and work; it forced a reorganization
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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