Vuca Simulations

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2023 in Review and My Top 8 Games of the Year*

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2023 in Review and My Top 8 Games of the Year*

I’ve now been running this blog for two whole years, but somehow it feels a lot longer. I’ve been very pleased with how it has grown over the past year and I’m hoping to continue that growth going into 2024. I received several review copies of games this year which was really gratifying and allowed me to cover games that would otherwise have probably been beyond my budget - wargame blogging is not particularly lucrative. To mark the end of the year I want to reflect a bit on how I feel the last two years have gone and then, of course, provide my top ten games of the year. As per last year’s list, these will be games that I played for the first time in 2023 not necessarily games that were released in 2023 (although unlike last year this year’s list does is that were released during the year).

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Review - 1914: Nach Paris

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Review - 1914: Nach Paris

I played 1914 Nach Paris in something of a frenzy over the month of March and early April. Finishing a game one evening, setting up the next scenario and playing that the following night. It dominated my little gaming corner, pushing everything else to the edges. Night after night I struggled to learn to swim in this complex operational hex and counter game about the opening weeks of the Western Front of World War I, designed by Bertrand Munier and published by Vuca Simulations. That I played this so many times should give some indication about how much I’ve enjoyed my time with 1914: Nach Paris but this is a huge box and there’s a lot to unpack, both literally and in terms of the experience it offers. I hope you’ll bear with me for what will prove to be a meandering review through the pre-trench warfare of 1914 Northern France.

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First Impressions - 1914: Nach Paris by Bertrand Munier

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First Impressions - 1914: Nach Paris by Bertrand Munier

I have been admiring the games coming out of Vuca Simulations in Germany for some time. They have a striking aesthetic whose attention to detail and consistent feel across numerous games really stand out. Plus, they are among the best in the industry at box covers. However, their games are largely on World War II which is not a subject I have a burning desire to play games on, if I’m honest. I was still tempted because of their amazing aesthetic, but then I saw 1914 Nach Paris and I thought that this would be a great option for my first Vuca game. While I’m still more drawn to pre-twentieth century games, World War I does hold some interest and an operational look at the war’s opening weeks promised to be really interesting. At the same time, though, it looked like a daunting game in terms of complexity - a step beyond the games I have played so far. Still, I was excited to try it!