Some years ago... inspired by the book "Gettysburg" by Stephen Sheers, I proudly bid on eBay and won (at a stupidly expensive price.... such is the power of gaming love) a copy of the amazingly intense board game "Terrible Swift Sword."
As I am re-reading the book, and have a growing tentative desire to play this complicated giant of a game, I wondered if anyone else here has any experience with this board game?
Anyone who has played and loved it, and regards this retro game with enthusiasm, might spark the necessary drive needed for me to learn how to play it for myself. It`s many years since I purchased it, but have never quite gotten round to learning the rules… it looks like headache tablets are a pre-require to undertaking such a mammoth task?
Anyone?
Six :-\
I had the old SPI edition when I was a kid, back in the late 70's or early 80's. I think I traded a friend of mine an Avalon Hill game or two for TSS and A Gleam of Bayonets. I remember setting up the maps on the floor of my room and playing a few turns. I know I never finished a game or many turns, as being on the floor of my room, I always had to put it away after a few days or the dog or cat would walk across the map and totally mess things up. One of,the frustrating things was that the unit strength was printed on the counters but when a unit took hits you had to put a counter with its current strength underneath. Stacks tended to get rather high and difficult to move when units took casualties.
I don't remember if I eventually bartered, sold or trashed them.
Hi
I had most of the games in the system. The ones dealing with smaller battles like Cedar mountain, Wilson's Creek were fine games as they fulfilled the requirement that a player would command his formation down at most two levels of command. Thus a div would command brigades and at most regiments & batteries. For Gettysburg Meade and Lee as a player are commanding corps, divisions, brigades & regiments and batteries. This mico-management made for a hopeless slow and cumbersome system.
Having just got TSS out, after all these years, and looking at all those boxes of counters made we realise what a cul-de-sac these type of boardgames were - no hidden movement, perfect information on status of your own and enemy units, slow movement, cumbersome combat system. It must have been a real labour of love however to put it all together.