...wait, this game doesn't seriously come with "scantily clad Japanimation" artwork normally, right?
http://grogheads.com/pix/unboxing/18415
Because it looks unreasonably awesome, although I have no idea where to look for getting it. But I'd have to pass on the anime art. :buck2:
Are there solitaire rules, Brant?
...oh.
Omg, there is. (https://smile.amazon.com/Barbarossa-Deck-Building-Game/dp/B011K2NZPI)
...and an earlier (?) sequel/expansion one for El Alamein. (https://smile.amazon.com/El-Alamein-Illustrated-Card-Game/dp/B07CZVGPXV) :o
My soul kind of died.
I did find an Amazon link to the historical edition, though. (https://smile.amazon.com/Barbarossa-Deck-Building-Game/dp/B071R32WVN) For El Alamein (https://smile.amazon.com/El-Alamein-Deck-Building-Historical/dp/B06ZXXC6WK/), too!
Very reasonable pricing. :smitten:
Now this looks interesting. This historical photograph version of course*cough* *cough*.
Says for 2, but it's co op deck building, so I assume one could play this?
The game looks great though, and the Amazon price was at $33, so not going to break the bank.
Be aware, if you order the historical version(s) there's a non-zero chance the store will ship the pervy anime version(s) instead.
El Alamein's saucy, sultry box art is wrapped up prepared to return as I speak. :pullhair: :tickedoff: :knuppel2: Good thing I had them expedite shipping in order to have time to correct any problems before Father's Day....
Quote from: JasonPratt on June 01, 2018, 11:40:21 AM
Be aware, if you order the historical version(s) there's a non-zero chance the store will ship the pervy anime version(s) instead.
El Alamein's saucy, sultry box art is wrapped up prepared to return as I speak. :pullhair: :tickedoff: :knuppel2: Good thing I had them expedite shipping in order to have time to correct any problems before Father's Day....
Hahahaha
It'd be interesting or possibly scary to see how many of each version have sold. You'll have to let us know your thoughts once you get a chance to play it.
At least I can play Barbarossa. But while that particular Rommel is indeed a fox (of sorts), no.
(...actually, come to think of it, I can't understand why the art designers didn't make her a fox-woman. ??? )
Okay, the players are basically competing against each other as Divisions to see who can get to Moscow first. I haven't read the rules closely enough yet to see if there's any real co-op effort, but I don't see why there would be, because as far as I can tell it's impossible to lose the game to the Russians. (...unlike real life?) So helping your fellow player only helps him beat you faster. 2 vs 2 co-op might be possible.
There may be some way to hotpatch a proper solitaire game out of it.
Not quite any idea yet how this and El Alamein would combine.
Considering this has a copyright 2010, I wonder if there's a 3rd game in the series yet (and if it has a historical photo mode).
The instructions start with a note to the effect that they know some of the photos have nothing whatever to do with the card's name and type. The rules somewhat illustrate this by using the General Zhukov card as a gameplay example. The photo isn't of Zhukov, but of two soldiers (can't immediately tell if Russian or German) walking a patrol bundled up in a snow-covered city lane. ??? ??? ??? ???
I think they mean it is co-op in the sense that everyone is fighting on the same side of the war. Not that they are necessarily helping each other. It's a race to Moscow and you're trying to be the first general to get there
Yeah, I get that, and that's fine as a concept. O0
I only mentioned that as context for why the game, despite being nominally co-op (all players fighting against the deck), doesn't seem workable as solitaire out of the box. Players can win against each other, but the deck can't win against the players. So, on nominal setup, playing by one's self you can't lose. As far as I can tell. (I haven't been able to get back to the rules yet tonight to verify that but I didn't see anything in a pretty close skimover this afternoon.)
The back of my mind has been working on it, though, and the obvious solution would be to develop a time factor, among possibly other defeaters -- which would make historical sense, too, since (on the face of it anyway) the Nazis just ran out of time to knock out the Soviets in December 41 before the suicidal / murderous levels of Soviet industry could come back from an 80% loss of industrial power with a mere ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND TANKS. It's a fricking miracle of ongoing absolute skill that the Germans got as far as they did and held on as long afterward.
But anyway. I'm already pre-plotting how to house-patch the game for a proper solitaire / historical setup (or as close as the game will allow), though I'll need some vanilla plays first for a baseline to work from. One obvious change would be to set various card stacks up in as close to historical sequence as possible (perhaps with some mild randomization). A greater difficulty will be to find a way to balance a solitaire game so that the player starts with a seriously powerful hand already but then starts to bog down as time goes on and reinforcements start to, naturally, slack off. (I understand the vanilla choice from a game design perspective, ramping up in capability does seem more fun. I suppose one could imagine playing as a short Division at the start and hoping to catch up and earn a place in the history books, too, maybe make the decisive difference in front of Moscow.)
Quote from: JasonPratt on June 01, 2018, 04:47:59 PM
At least I can play Barbarossa. But while that particular Rommel is indeed a fox (of sorts), no.
(...actually, come to think of it, I can't understand why the art designers didn't make her a fox-woman. ??? )
Hah!
Quote from: bayonetbrant on June 01, 2018, 06:40:32 PM
I think they mean it is co-op in the sense that everyone is fighting on the same side of the war. Not that they are necessarily helping each other. It's a race to Moscow and you're trying to be the first general to get there
Ah I missed that.
Quote from: JasonPratt on June 01, 2018, 08:34:30 PM
But anyway. I'm already pre-plotting how to house-patch the game for a proper solitaire / historical setup (or as close as the game will allow), though I'll need some vanilla plays first for a baseline to work from. One obvious change would be to set various card stacks up in as close to historical sequence as possible (perhaps with some mild randomization). A greater difficulty will be to find a way to balance a solitaire game so that the player starts with a seriously powerful hand already but then starts to bog down as time goes on and reinforcements start to, naturally, slack off. (I understand the vanilla choice from a game design perspective, ramping up in capability does seem more fun. I suppose one could imagine playing as a short Division at the start and hoping to catch up and earn a place in the history books, too, maybe make the decisive difference in front of Moscow.)
I like the idea of the player becoming weaker over time. It'd be more interesting and accurate I think.