Barbarossa is set in a fictional Second World War setting, where anime German military girls rush against Moscow to defeat the evil magician Stalin. It is for 2-5 players. In this game, players control a division of the German army set to invade Russia during World War II. They will have to build up their army, create strategies and gain support to be able to deploy their troops and attack different key sites on the battlefield. Each victory will gain them victory points which can help them win, not only the war but the game. In the end, the player with the most victory points will be declared the winner.
The game is played over several rounds. Each round, players will take their turn performing a series of 4 separate phases, before passing to their left. Those 4 phases are the Starting Phase, Tactics Phase, Reinforcement Phase and Clean Up Phase.
The game continues until Moscow is conquered from the City deck. Once this happens, the game ends. Players then add up all the Victory Points from their Front Line, play area, deck, hand and discard pile. Players compare points and the one with the most Victory Points is the winner.
COMPONENTS
The cards of a good quality stock, they feel nice in your hands and will shuffle and pick up off the table easily. They have a slight shine coat to them, so overall the cards themselves are great. The artwork is straight out of anime, so if you’re a fan of that, you will be a fan of this, if your not it might be jarring for you, as yes the girls are scantily clad and there is a lot of sexual overtones suggested here, as with most anime things, they do offer a version of the game, this uses historical accurate photographs, if that’s more of your cup of tea. The artwork is top notch and well done, it draws you in. colors pop. Overall great job on the artwork.
Where I had a problem with them, is the same problem I have with most deck builders, the font is small, like crazy small. I’ve mentioned in other reviews that I have a vision problem, so this does not help, but wow, this is some small print. As in other reviews, this might just me and vision, and the most player will not have an issue with it, but keep that in mind.
RULEBOOK
The rulebook is the size of the card box and is black and white, They give your examples of cards and cover gameplay well, I wish it would have been in color, but overall the book does a good job. After a few reads of it, you should be able to jump right in and get going. I apricated the fact, they took time to explain all the different symbols used on the cards, The book really does a great job of explaining how to set up the game, as well as explaining different areas, cards, and keywords used in the game.
GAMEPLAY
Each player starts with a small deck of resource cards and during the course of the game, one buys cards from an open card pool to build a deck of cards to play with. The goal of the game is to conquer Moscow. If Moscow falls the player with the most victory points wins. Victory points are acquired by conquering different cities and/or strategical positions during the game.
Every time you attack a city, event cards from an event deck are drawn. Barbarossa uses six different kinds of cards:
- Supply Cards: These provide points to buy other cards from the open card pool.
- Unit Cards: The use of these cards require “Operation Points” and deliver the military strength to attack cities or strategic positions .
- Operation Cards: They give you a one time bonus in different forms. After use they are not just discarded but put out of play.
- Deploy Cards: They stay in the players play area and deliver bonuses in different forms every turn.
- Target Cards: The cities and strategic positions which deliver VPs, also if you conquered strategic positions it becomes easier to attack cities.
- Event Cards: If you attack the Target cards an event is drawn and stuff happens.
If you’re a fan of most deck builders, you will be right at home here, if you have played Dominion then you know what you are in for, this plays much like that, Game Play is solid and fun, there is a nice bit of strategery involved that after a few plays you will have a nice plan ready to go. The more you know what cards you want, you will notice them come up and you will buy them, to start building yours to victory.
OVERALL
This is a solid fun deck builder that knows what it is, the WW2 is prevalent throughout, and of course the anime theme is there as well, again keep in mind there is a “Historical Accurate” version available if you find the Anime theme to off-putting. The anime theme might be a bit jarring to some people, if you are not familiar with what Anime is, this game keeps the theme of both a fictional WW2 timeline and anime in the forefront. Again, if you think it will offend you, go to the “Historical Accurate”
I touched on the anime aspect and that might be considered “Controversial” the other part of that is this is WW2, be it a fictional version, your playing the Germans, there are no signs of Nazis, swastikas or anything, you will see the Iron Cross, but it’s pretty clear you’re the Germans, invading towards Russia.
If you’re a fan of deck builders and anime, then this delivers a place on your shelf for sure.
Find out more information at the official site
You can purchase the game via the official online store
or via Amazon
The “Historical Accurate” version here via Amazon
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