My first impressions of the Napoleonic Gothic Horror skirmish game, The Silver Bayonet

[Grumpy Gnome]

So it has taken longer than I expected but I have finally written my first impressions of The Silver Bayonet and the miniatures from the pre-order. Bear in mind this is from reading the book and watching folks play on YouTube rather than playing a game myself, so take what I say with a pinch of salt.

https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2021/11/30/the-silver-bayonet-first-impressions/

TLDR: The game needs more work, it feels unfinished at this point, but the miniatures are brilliant.

[lowlylowlycook]

Back in the eighties Battletech had a section trying to explain why in the far future engagement ranges were so short comparted to contemporary tank warfare.  And lo ranges have been a problem for miniature gamers ever since.

 

Try to keep in mind the difference between shooting at the range and on a dark, moonlit night with wolf howls bumping up your heartrate.  After all, even with soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder, the 25 or so rounds did not suffice to kill all of one's opponents.

[Grumpy Gnome]

16 hours ago, lowlylowlycook said:

Back in the eighties Battletech had a section trying to explain why in the far future engagement ranges were so short comparted to contemporary tank warfare.  And lo ranges have been a problem for miniature gamers ever since.

 

Try to keep in mind the difference between shooting at the range and on a dark, moonlit night with wolf howls bumping up your heartrate.  After all, even with soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder, the 25 or so rounds did not suffice to kill all of one's opponents.

Fair points both. It just frustrates the scale modeler in me. The engagement ranges look out of scale to my eye. And as you say, not just this game. Ranges helped ruin Bolt Action for me.

 

And sadly, you will likely spend more time shooting at other humans than monsters if you play the main focus of The Silver Bayonet as currently written. 

 

 

[Venator]

It seems weird that range limits are so heavily enforced. Like why can't it be like some sort of accuracy penalty? Where the further you are from the recommended range the less of a chance you have to hit, you can still hit the target from far away, but it is challenging and much more rewarding when you do hit the target.

[Grumpy Gnome]

On 9/26/2022 at 1:41 AM, Venator said:

It seems weird that range limits are so heavily enforced. Like why can't it be like some sort of accuracy penalty? Where the further you are from the recommended range the less of a chance you have to hit, you can still hit the target from far away, but it is challenging and much more rewarding when you do hit the target.

I suspect Joe was going for streamlined play. The same with reload times. For me the game does not “feel” like Napoleonic combat because of the firearm combat rules.