First impressions of Triumph!

Discuss anything about Washington Grand Company Products (TRIUMPH!, MESHWESH, TERRAIN CARDS, ETC.)
Post Reply
Texus Maximus
Sergeant
Posts: 318
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 4:04 am
Location: Dallas, Texas

First impressions of Triumph!

Post by Texus Maximus » Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:59 pm

I had an opportunity to try out Triumph! recently and came away with a good impression of the game. The game session was hosted by Chris Brantley and guided by Scott, who I understand has been helping run demonstration games of Triumph! at conventions. Both are great guys and excellent gamers. Here are a few informal observations:

Army selection: Army selection takes less time than I anticipated. There are more troop types in Triumph! than in DBA, but really not that many more variations in a single army list. I selected all the compulsory troops and counted up the total points, then picked other troops out of the box to get up to 48 points.

Board size: The widened board gives more flexibility in setup but all the miniatures are still within easy reach. It also looks good, an important consideration for me as a miniatures wargamer.

Terrain setup. The terrain cards are a nice part of the rules. They prevent players from setting out the perfectly symmetrical terrain sometimes used on the square DBA battlefield. There is still some player choice; selecting the long side of the battlefield, the number and types of terrain, and the order in which they are placed. The order of terrain placement makes a difference because the lower numbers on the terrain cards tend to be on the edges! At least it seemed that way to me. Overall pre-battle setup took about 10 minutes for each game.

Pace of the game: Each game, from selecting the armies to the final hand shake, took about an hour. Each player's turn comes around quickly, so there is not much idle time.

Tactics: The game has some interesting interactions between troop types. The first game was Gauls against Romans, which ended with the Gauls smashing through the Roman line. In a later game, a line of skirmishers in front of the Roman line slowed down the Gauls and broke up their formation some. If we had kept on playing, I might have tried a line of skirmishers in front of two separate lines of Roman infantry, to contain or destroy any Gauls who broke through. This makes me think the rules are doing a good job of simulating this type of warfare.

Chris and Scott did a great job of introducing Triumph! to a new player. The new troop types, army lists, and terrain setup are easier than they look in the rule book. The game runs quickly and involves a lot of interesting decisions. I look forward to seeing the battle cards and the final version of the rules.
Scott Kastler
Levy
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2016 1:46 pm

Re: First impressions of Triumph!

Post by Scott Kastler » Wed Aug 23, 2017 4:32 am

Hi Texus. I'm glad you had a good time. It was great seeing you. Thanks also to Chris for hosting.
User avatar
FanatiChris
Squire
Posts: 104
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2017 1:00 am
Location: Columbia, MD (USA)
Contact:

Re: First impressions of Triumph!

Post by FanatiChris » Thu Aug 24, 2017 6:57 pm

Great to meet you in person Paul and a fun day all around. Hope we can do it again some day. In the meantime, I'll get to work on that Sumerian pitch to Eureka we discussed.
User avatar
David Schlanger
Grand Master WGC
Posts: 280
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:01 pm

Re: First impressions of Triumph!

Post by David Schlanger » Fri Aug 25, 2017 4:20 pm

Sorry I missed your visit! Sounds like you had a good time playing the game with Scott and Chris, so am glad it worked out well.

DS
Post Reply