Hexed And Countered

Tag: Vuca Simulations

  • Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648 (VUCA Simulations) — First Look & Overview

    Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648 (VUCA Simulations) — First Look & Overview

    The Thirty Years’ War doesn’t get gamed nearly as often as it should. It’s sprawling, politically tangled, and grimly attritional in a way that scares off a lot of designers, so when a treatment as handsome as Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648 lands on the table, it earns a close look. This is designer Brian Asklev’s take, published by VUCA Simulations, and in this video I open the box and walk through what you actually get.

    What’s in the box

    In this first look I go through the components and the box back before committing to a full playthrough. VUCA’s production values are the first thing you notice — the map and counters are up to the standard you’d expect from them. I keep the overview focused on what the game is trying to model and how it presents the sprawl of the war, rather than getting lost in every chart. If you’re weighing whether this belongs on your shelf, the components alone make a strong first impression, but production is never the whole story.

    Is it for you?

    A first look is exactly that — my initial read before the counters start moving. What I want to know with any game on this period is whether it captures the grinding, attritional character of the war without collapsing into pure bookkeeping, and that’s the question I carry into the gameplay videos. I keep the tone honest here: I flag what looks promising and what I’ll be watching for once it hits the table. If the Thirty Years’ War is a period you’ve wanted a good game for, this overview should help you decide whether to dig deeper.

    The playthrough rounds are already up — start there to see it in motion. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next.

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  • Thirty Years of Misery (VUCA Simulations) — Round 1 Gameplay & Walkthrough

    Thirty Years of Misery (VUCA Simulations) — Round 1 Gameplay & Walkthrough

    A first look tells you what’s in the box; a walkthrough tells you whether the system breathes. This is Round 1 of Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648, Brian Asklev’s design for VUCA Simulations, and it’s where the Thirty Years’ War stops being a handsome map and starts being a set of hard decisions.

    Getting the first round moving

    I take the opening round slowly and talk through the sequence of play as I go, so it’s clear why each step happens rather than just what the result is. Learning a new system solo means you’re refereeing yourself, and the value of a walkthrough is watching someone make — and occasionally fumble — those first calls in real time. Round 1 is where the shape of the war starts to reveal itself and you get a feel for the tempo the design is asking of you.

    First impressions in motion

    Seeing a game played is worth more than any rules summary, and this is where Thirty Years of Misery either earns its place or shows its seams. I keep an eye on how cleanly the turn flows once you’re past setup and whether the decisions bite early or take a while to matter. This is a full walkthrough running over an hour, so it’s the deep end rather than a highlight reel — the honest pace of actually learning the game. Round 2 continues from here.

    Round 2 picks up where this leaves off. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.

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  • Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648 (VUCA) — Round 2 Gameplay & Walkthrough

    Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648 (VUCA) — Round 2 Gameplay & Walkthrough

    Round 1 got the pieces moving; Round 2 is where a wargame usually tells you what it really is. This is the second gameplay round of Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648, Brian Asklev’s design from VUCA Simulations, picking up the Thirty Years’ War with the opening moves already behind us.

    Building on Round 1

    With setup and the first round out of the way, this session moves faster and digs further into how the system develops over time. I keep talking through my reasoning as I play solo, because the interesting part of a game like this is rarely a single die roll — it’s the accumulating pressure of decisions across rounds. If you watched Round 1, this is the payoff; if you’re jumping in here, I recap enough to keep it followable.

    How it’s holding up

    A shorter session than Round 1, this one is about momentum — seeing whether the design keeps its grip once the novelty of setup wears off. I stay honest about what’s working and what feels fiddly, because that’s the only useful thing a walkthrough can offer over a glossy overview. By the end of Round 2 you should have a real sense of whether Thirty Years of Misery is a game you want to spend an evening with.

    Thanks for following the playthrough. Subscribe for more solo wargaming on the channel.

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  • The Far Seas (Vuca Simulations) — First Look

    The Far Seas (Vuca Simulations) — First Look

    When war broke out in 1914, Germany had a squadron of modern cruisers on the far side of the world under Admiral Graf von Spee, with no way home and every reason to make trouble. The Far Seas, designed by Martin Anderson and Julius Brunken for Vuca Simulations, turns that opening chapter of the naval war into a solo-friendly game of raiding and pursuit. In this first look I open the box and walk the system.

    A raider’s problem

    Commerce raiding is a wonderful subject for solo play because the tension is baked in: a cruiser at large is powerful but fragile, hunted by a Royal Navy that can afford to lose ships in a way you cannot. The game hangs on coaling, intelligence, and knowing when a prize is worth the risk of being pinned down. The components look excellent, and the design offers several solitaire approaches — this first look covers the sequence of play, combat, and how the hunt comes together.

    A two-part solo playthrough follows this overview. Subscribe to sail with the squadron.

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