Play Matt: White Eagle Defiant Review

Which is kind of appropriate. White Eagle Defiant tells the...

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This is a Hollandspiele game, and I keep wanting them to go fully-fledged publisher instead of farming out their games to a 3rd party (Blue Panther) print-on-demand model. They have received a lot of acclaim both within & without the typical grognard community, and it seems like they are ready for the big time. Maybe increase the production value a bit while holding the line on price via decent print runs. They won't be GMT, but I feel like they could be a bigger company with a broader reach with the right amount of effort. But what do I know.

I mean, speaking of wargame publishers, Worthington seems to have consistently good distribution via all the usual suspects, and their games have been distinctly mediocre for years now. Hollandspiele's stuff is deliberately niche, but rarely disappoints. They should switch places on the pecking order totem pole.

Mark Herman's Empire of the Sun is a similar thing.

The Japanese win if they can delay the inevitable US victory and it is also excellent as a solo game.

I can rarely get into these opponent never had a chance games. It's what makes strategic american civil war games hard. Good review though, thanks for reviewing hollandspiele stuff. I've always been interested in them.

fightcitymayor wrote: This is a Hollandspiele game, and I keep wanting them to go fully-fledged publisher instead of farming out their games to a 3rd party (Blue Panther) print-on-demand model. They have received a lot of acclaim both within & without the typical grognard community, and it seems like they are ready for the big time. Maybe increase the production value a bit while holding the line on price via decent print runs. They won't be GMT, but I feel like they could be a bigger company with a broader reach with the right amount of effort. But what do I know.

I mean, speaking of wargame publishers, Worthington seems to have consistently good distribution via all the usual suspects, and their games have been distinctly mediocre for years now. Hollandspiele's stuff is deliberately niche, but rarely disappoints. They should switch places on the pecking order totem pole.

I think the somewhat boutique subject matter of most of Hollandspiel's games precludes them from having the usual print run of 1500-2000 copies of a game, thus the print on demand model.

Worthington seems to be the non block version of Columbia - occasional interesting subjects, but executed in a bland and somewhat cookie cutter manner. The only game of theirs that remotely interested me was HEARTS AND MINDS, which was decidedly a mixed bag. Whenever I see a new release mentioned, further investigation leaves me shaking my head and walking away, an easy pass.

Thanks for the review. Also interested in Hollandspiele and Tom Russell's games (side note: she had some pretty big news last week if you missed it ).

IMO, it seems that Hollandspiele has stepped into (and nicely filled) the niche/POD hole that was left when Victory Point Games ultimately decided a few years ago that "the bling's the thing" should be their new motto and they significantly upped their prices.

Pugnax555 wrote: Thanks for the review. Also interested in Hollandspiele and Tom Russell's games (side note: she had some pretty big news last week if you missed it ).

IMO, it seems that Hollandspiele has stepped into (and nicely filled) the niche/POD hole that was left when Victory Point Games ultimately decided a few years ago that "the bling's the thing" should be their new motto and they significantly upped their prices.

Thanks for the word. I just sent a "Thank you sir" response to her a few weeks back, did not know.

I've been doing Print 'n Play for Hollandspiele and even paying double if I make two copies. They're cheaper than sin -- I think the expensive ones are $15 and I get to control the product quality, saving money when I want to, blinging when I don't, and frankly using what's lying around because I don't feel like going out to buy stuff. Having a band saw is remarkably useful for wooden components, and I print cards on cheap paper and drop them in cheap sleeves. I can only imagine how much of a savings this is for people in countries with big import duties. Bits is cheap.

THIS game, by the way, is not on the Print 'n Play list on Wargamevault.com. I just looked (and remembered that there's about a dozen titles I'd love to purchase . . . Christmas time maybe.) She has 55 titles up there, surprised this one isn't on the list. The designer is a local guy, I'd like to support him.

I think Hollandspiele is "publishing" some of the most innovative games coming out right now. You ignore them to your detriment. I'm eyeballing the Antarctica game next. It's getting a lot of chatter on BGG.

(FYI -- www.wargamevault.com/browse.php?keywords=hollandspiele&page=1 )

Msample wrote: Worthington seems to be the non block version of Columbia - occasional interesting subjects, but executed in a bland and somewhat cookie cutter manner. The only game of theirs that remotely interested me was HEARTS AND MINDS, which was decidedly a mixed bag. Whenever I see a new release mentioned, further investigation leaves me shaking my head and walking away, an easy pass.

Worthington have at least one very good game which is, ironically, a block game: Holdfast Eastfront aka Holdfast Russia. They exported the successful Holdfast formula to a range of other theatres most of which seem to be pale shadows of the original.