The July 2023 Monthly Debrief Video saw us discussing Grand Strategy Games, including what the genre is, what we like about it and then some of its different types of mechanics. This was a fun discussion!
Also as usual, we covered the games we played in July, which included a trip to the World Boardgaming Championships held July 25th through July 30th, and a look at what games we plan on playing in August.
We will remind you here that we are fortunate to be continuing our relationship with Noble Knight Games as the sponsor for our Monthly Debrief Video series. In case you don’t know, they specialize in hard to find games but also carry all the new releases. But what makes them truly unique is that you can find some of the rarest games, out of print games, hand made games, imported games from overseas, etc. Thanks to them for their sponsorship and we hope that you will consider them first when looking for the games we cover.
-Grant
The Players' Aid 
I have had Kaiser’s Pirates for 9 years playing it several times. James Day did a great job on the game, the cards and rules making it a fun game to enjoy. The solo system is good, but I prefer taking the role of 2 or 3 players to get a better feel of the whole system.
In what other WWI game can you command the storied Seeadler?
Rich
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Great discussion and game selection. Personally, my favorite is Cataclysm- which you discussed at the end. It is very sandbox, which I love. I have played this solo all factions – I choose a strategy for each faction prior to the start, and then see how it plays out. For solo, chit pull ,ales this great.
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I would recommend Empires in Arms (AH) for grand strategy Napoleonics. I have the Avalon Hill edition, but it’s an Australian design originally. You fellas need to play the ‘mother of all grand strategy games’, A World At War. Being GMT aficionados you should have this one on the shelf already. It’s benefited from years of play and a dedicated group who have continually refined the rules, just watch Ardwulf’s interview with Bruce Harper.
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It scares me though! It’s a big, ugly, mean looking monster.
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When in command, delegate! Grant what you do is hand Alexander the rule book and say learn this then teach me. Also a video of this and Alexander having conniptions would be funny! Although in all seriousness, there is very good learning tools available, all you need is the time to play it.
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You are probably correct! Just FYI Alexander is the rules guy mostly. I’m just the face!
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