The main concern is the total piece density should not change from turn to turn. Lets say you start with 1,000 pieces and on turn two, this shrinks to 500 and 200 on turn three.
Larry’s games design usually maintain the number and this total is much lower to start. It makes for a manageable game with just enough pieces to keep a front expanding or contracting.
The map itself has strong colors when it should be more subdued. Also, the cartography is not too good ( just my opinion). It needs to be more accurate. The font looks fine however.
Also, the chits for attacks makes for tedious planning and probably does not make the game more fun. I used these systems and regret them.
If you could just make it more like something Larry would put out, you would benefit. It just has to look fun to play. To me it looks “complicated” and messy. You probably want to ghost the setup on the map to make it easier to set up.
It might be better if the supply tokens/rules were left out to make it flow better.
My opinion in any game when it comes to the rules is: As long as both sides agree, add or subtract any rule you want. If you don’t want to play with the supplies, then don’t. It will however change the gameplay some. Thanks IL on your critic. Do you have a map or are you just looking at the pictures posted?
This is the situation after the first complete turn. Just about all the Russian border units are wiped out. Four turn session 01/03/13. We are using an advanced setup with trucks and supply tokens. The Russian player has set up rear guard blockers for turn two.
This is the situation at the end of turn four. The tank with the flag in the center represents a rather large German army group located off the map. When I did a second setup for this game I decided to streamline the minor axis units and I used Italian units for all. They will be mixed with the Germans after a few turns anyway. But we have to be careful with the minors in the battles because a lot of them have different attack and defense values than the Germans.
You will notice in this photo that the Luftwaffe is located in rear areas. The rear guard blockers that the Russians were using to trade space for time were easy to run over with just ground units. I wanted to capture some Russian airfields before I moved the planes up anyway. The weather during turn 3 happened to be snow so all the planes not on airfields were grounded anyway. This saved me a lot of supply tokens because every zone that is activated with planes in it costs 2 supply tokens in addition to the 1 token to activate the land units. This game is going to require a lot of thought to keep units supplied. Much more so than the BotB game.
We have some new files up on BGG for this game. Reworked the rules a bit. Updated Basic Setup chart to reflect rules changes. Added the Advanced Setup Chart. All should now be version 2.1.
Let us know how everything is!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/133549/operation-barbarossa
We have some new files up on BGG for this game. Reworked the rules a bit. Updated Basic Setup chart to reflect rules changes. Added the Advanced Setup Chart. All should now be version 2.1.
Let us know how everything is!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/133549/operation-barbarossa
What does this mean? “removed 2 supply type system”. When I scanned the rules I did not find any changes in the supply rules.
2 supply system is referring to the optional oil rules. The supply system in Barbarossa is in depth enough without adding another tier. So we decided to remove the oil rules.
The advanced rules originally contained a supply system where you split supplies into infantry supplies and oil for vehicles. We deemed the system too cumbersome without any benefit to gameplay so it was axed.
The advanced rules originally contained a supply system where you split supplies into infantry supplies and oil for vehicles. We deemed the system too cumbersome without any benefit to gameplay so it was axed.
2 supply system is referring to the optional oil rules. The supply system in Barbarossa is in depth enough without adding another tier. So we decided to remove the oil rules.
OK, I got it.
Turn 7 of todays Barbarossa game.
Ready for the battle of Stalingrad.
Battle of Stalingrad on the battleboard.
I had a chance to play a few rounds of this great game a couple of weeks ago and my initial impression was….Wow! Having played a lot of AAE 99, needless to say, this game was thick with strategy and logistics. The supply and oil vein really keeps you involved, playing out every move in your head 2 and 3 rounds in advance. I won’t lie, if the supply is removed from the game, I wouldn’t miss it, haha, does make for an interesting view of the conflict, not taking into account the real price of war.
So, many different pieces with attack and defend skills allows you to purchase just what you need to execute your actions with ferocity and accuracy. Again, the AA Europe game gives you a tank, Barbarossa gives you 3, as well as Self-Propelled and Tank Destroyers!
Overall, this game is visualy stunning, when I walked into the room, it was already set up, it took me by surprise, nice big map, lots of territories but historicaly accurate with cool font, I always say that the pictures don’t do it justice and when you see this game “In the vinyl (flesh)” you’ll agree. This game is rich, robust, and full of flavor…like a cigar! Enjoy!
I had a chance to play a few rounds of this great game a couple of weeks ago and my initial impression was….Wow! Having played a lot of AAE 99, needless to say, this game was thick with strategy and logistics. The supply and oil vein really keeps you involved, playing out every move in your head 2 and 3 rounds in advance. I won’t lie, if the supply is removed from the game, I wouldn’t miss it, haha, does make for an interseting view of the conflict, not taking into account the real price of war.
So, many different pieces with attack and defend skills allows you to purchase just what you need to execute your actions with ferocity and accuracy. Again, the AA Europe game gives you a tank, Barbarossa gives you 3, as well as Self-Propelled and Tank Destroyers!
Overall, this game is visualy stunning, when I walked into the room, it was already set up, it took me by surprise, nice big map, lots of territories but historicaly accurate with cool font, I always say that the pictures don’t do it justice and when you see this game “In the vinyl (flesh)” you’ll agree. This game is rich, robust, and full of flavor…like a cigar! Enjoy!
The logistics are a real challenge for the axis. I have not played the Russian side yet. Finding a way to stop the axis from gaining their objectives may be just as big a challenge. In the photo, SS panzers approaching Stalingrad. They got that far into Russia by rail. Need to find a way to bomb them before they get that far.
Yes, the rail adds a whole new aspect to AA style game play. Moving your pieces four at a time makes for a tremendous advantage.
So no advance weapons for minor countrys and is the armor for minors in adv setup medium tanks?
@SS:
So no advance weapons for minor countrys and is the armor for minors in adv setup medium tanks?
I made a small change in our game. The minors had the light tanks on the setup and mediums were available starting with turn two. No heavy tanks in the game for minors. I streamlined the game a little by using Italian units for all the minors. There is plenty to keep track of in the logistics department. See the brown units in the lower left of the photo.
I am making some changes to the rules and the setups, mostly rules. One is the Minors armor units will be light tanks and not medium or heavy.
