Picket Duty article

DicedT · June 10, 2014, 01:45:30 PM

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/its-kamikazes-versus-u-s-destroyers-in-this-brutal-war-game-41295e153b68

BanzaiCat · June 10, 2014, 01:49:38 PM

Great article, Michael. Thanks for the write-up! I still have yet to play my copy but will sometime this summer.

One thing I noticed - in the fourth paragraph from the top - "Japanese suicide planets sank 21 American ships" - I think you meant "planes" :)

DicedT · June 10, 2014, 02:22:23 PM

Typo corrected. Though I like "planets" better. Just imagine a kamikaze Death Star.

BanzaiCat · June 10, 2014, 07:00:24 PM

That might be the next Legion wargame; you never know.

maclifer · June 11, 2014, 04:24:19 PM

Great article! I was notified by Medium and clicked on it the minute it posted - good stuff. So good in fact that I purchased it. Picket Duty is my very first war board game ever purchased. I began looking at the Ver. 2 PDF of the manual and am a bit nervous that it might be overwhelming. Any suggestions for a new guy?

I'm heavily into WWII research and general learning and have already started on the book (Kamikazes, Corsairs, and Picket Ships) that inspired the creation of Picket Duty. It's fascinating.

BanzaiCat · June 11, 2014, 05:40:34 PM

Welcome aboard, maclifer!

There's others on this forum that also have Picket Duty and have delved into it more than I. You can see that forum here:

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=10183.0

It specifically discusses the 2.0 rules, but not in depth - just impressions overall. There's another thread on here that discusses the 1.0 version, and there's an article on unboxing (which I wrote). I'm sure there's some other resources here as well - just click on the Home tab at top and then go to the Search field in the upper right corner and enter what you want to look for.

Overall though, if this is your first EVER wargame, congratulations. As a solitaire game, it's a great way to get into the hobby. As for complexity, I don't think it's that bad, though I've been gaming for a long time and have seen much more fiddly and difficult games to deal with.

There's a 15-page solitaire gaming thread on here as well - go to http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=9185.0 to check it out to find various recommendations from the lurkers and dwellers here. It really depends on what period of history you're interested in; if you're into WWII, you will find plenty out there. Field Commander: Rommel is one solitaire game that comes immediately to mind. D-Day Omaha Beach is another, and a game that's been widely discussed here. The sky's pretty much the limit! :)

Nefaro · June 12, 2014, 12:45:23 AM

Quote from: maclifer on June 11, 2014, 04:24:19 PM
Great article! I was notified by Medium and clicked on it the minute it posted - good stuff. So good in fact that I purchased it. Picket Duty is my very first war board game ever purchased. I began looking at the Ver. 2 PDF of the manual and am a bit nervous that it might be overwhelming. Any suggestions for a new guy?

I'm heavily into WWII research and general learning and have already started on the book (Kamikazes, Corsairs, and Picket Ships) that inspired the creation of Picket Duty. It's fascinating.

These 'narrative' solitaire games may look intimidating when you first see the rules, but they end up being kinda easy since you will mostly be directed through the gameplay in the order the Tables are in. You'll skip some here & there but the turn phases usually direct you through them and you can concentrate on one task at a time.

maclifer · June 12, 2014, 12:44:49 PM

Thank you both for your replies! It's nice to see forums that are actively used and is a real blessing for someone so new as I am.

I admit while reading through the V2 rules PDF yesterday that everything looked a bit overwhelming yet is quite exciting. The level of detail is phenomenal and quite engrossing (understatement if there ever was one). PD arrives tomorrow at work. I'm guessing once I see everything that there will be documentation that guides me forward and leads me along.

A bit gobsmacked but eager to learn... Cheers.

GJK · June 12, 2014, 12:50:14 PM

Welcome to board wargaming!! It's my personal preference. NOTHING beats actually picking up the pieces, laying out the map, looking at the charts and rolling the dice. And if you have an opponent in a two player game, the experience is far beyond what a computer will do for you.

That said, rulebooks that are 20+ pages in length can seem very intimidating. The key is not to get hung up on getting the game rules exactly right the first few playings. Skim the rules, set up the first scenario or battle and then follow the sequence of play. Make any rules references that you need as you need and otherwise, just "wing it" a bit if need be. Then, for the post game, go back over the rules and pay particular attention to any areas that you had confusion about. If you're still uncertain on some things, www.boardgamegeek.com as well as here (for those that play this particular game) would be a great resource to ask game play questions.

Good luck, have fun!!

PanzersEast · June 12, 2014, 02:34:17 PM

Quote from: maclifer on June 12, 2014, 12:44:49 PM
Thank you both for your replies! It's nice to see forums that are actively used and is a real blessing for someone so new as I am.

I admit while reading through the V2 rules PDF yesterday that everything looked a bit overwhelming yet is quite exciting. The level of detail is phenomenal and quite engrossing (understatement if there ever was one). PD arrives tomorrow at work. I'm guessing once I see everything that there will be documentation that guides me forward and leads me along.

A bit gobsmacked but eager to learn... Cheers.

Welcome aboard... ask if you are unsure about some of the rules, best way to learn. Also like what has been said, don't try to remember all of the rules, but get the flow of the game and then as situations arise, use the rules as a reference. After a couple of play throughs you will have no problem.

PE

weateallthepies · June 12, 2014, 05:16:01 PM

Quote from: maclifer on June 11, 2014, 04:24:19 PM
Great article! I was notified by Medium and clicked on it the minute it posted - good stuff. So good in fact that I purchased it. Picket Duty is my very first war board game ever purchased. I began looking at the Ver. 2 PDF of the manual and am a bit nervous that it might be overwhelming. Any suggestions for a new guy?

I'm heavily into WWII research and general learning and have already started on the book (Kamikazes, Corsairs, and Picket Ships) that inspired the creation of Picket Duty. It's fascinating.

Hello!

I've keep referring to myself as a new wargamer but it's been a couple of years now and I play stuff quite regularly now so it's not really true any more. Anyway, I remember my first tentative steps, and I made some bad choices of games to start on so at least you have that part right. :)

My suggestion is to get the thing on the table and push stuff around. Make mistakes, but actually have it all in front of you so you can tie the rules to the actual components. It's tempting to try and read and understand all the rules before you actually start playing, but most wargames are too complex for that approach, at least for me and other mortals I know. Videos and session reports can be helpful too, and of course ask questions as has been suggested.

Picket Duty is a really good one as the rules are in the order you need to read them. You can lay the game out and play it as you read each rule section, so a really good game to start with. It's the games that have lots of rules referencing other sections of the rulebook, and the mental fatigue of constantly flipping between pages to read different sections that are a lot harder to learn, at least in my experience.

Anyway, play it, even if you play it wrong. You learn so much more when you start pushing counters around.