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Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

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× For those who like to push chits.

Cataclysm

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27 Jun 2018 11:27 #276356 by Gary Sax
Cataclysm was created by Gary Sax
New GMT game just came out. It's a speculative 1930s-WWII game. Any of you guys try it? Impressions? I find this a very interesting (fun more than realistic tbh) lens to look at WWII through... Triumph and Tragedy, by all accounts a great game, does the same thing.

I don't have the players for this unfortunately but I'm always tempted by potential new toads. I suppose you could play something like this VASSAL, at least, though in less satisfying fashion.
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27 Jun 2018 12:37 #276372 by GoTeamVenture
Replied by GoTeamVenture on topic Cataclysm
I haven’t played this yet but I have considered ordering it even though that’s probably a bad idea. I would also love to hear impressions if anyone has played it.

Cataclysm looks more appealing to me than Triumph & Tragedy. It sounds like the war can play out in a lot of different ways. I played Triumph & Tragedy once and thought it was okay. I would play it again though. I liked the diplomacy/government phase, industry buildup and different win conditions. I thought the technology system sounded neat but I remember thinking it felt difficult to get enough cards to actually build many of the tech upgrades. I didn’t love the block units and combat in Triumph & Tragedy but I don’t have a lot of experience playing block wargames.
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27 Jun 2018 13:37 - 28 Jun 2018 09:18 #276386 by Gary Sax
Replied by Gary Sax on topic Cataclysm
I basically post new wargame threads on this forum so Msample can come in and fill me in. ;)

This could be wrong but Cataclysm looks like it is pulling back a little bit on the complexity of the war part vs. Triumph and Tragedy, which sounds interesting to me.
Last edit: 28 Jun 2018 09:18 by Gary Sax.
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28 Jun 2018 09:15 #276466 by jpat
Replied by jpat on topic Cataclysm
I might still get it at some point. A friend was making noises about it. I have T&T and have played it two or three times (can't remember which, although I played terribly each time, so you think I would). I felt and feel like T&T is basically two games, the first being a diplomacy game that I liked a lot and the second being a block wargame that I liked less (even though I like block wargames in general). At 40 pages in what looks like Arial sans serif font, the Cataclysm rulebook put me off, but then again a 24-page Besinque rulebook is probably like someone else's 40-pager, by which I don't mean that it's bad but dense and telegraphically written.

By the way, kudos to GMT on its site redesign and incorporating a search engine that actually turns up the game I'm searching for, which the old one often couldn't even when I typed in its full name. Maybe we can have that fall 2016 sale now.
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28 Jun 2018 21:50 #276537 by Msample
Replied by Msample on topic Cataclysm
I suspect this will be a hot game in open gaming atbWBC next month, will try to get a look/play in. The designer will be attending.
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29 Jun 2018 09:41 #276556 by Gary Sax
Replied by Gary Sax on topic Cataclysm
Do we have a WBC thread?

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29 Jun 2018 19:56 - 29 Jun 2018 20:04 #276610 by ratpfink
Replied by ratpfink on topic Cataclysm
I received it a couple weeks ago... had it on p500 because seemed to be in my wheelhouse what with the multiplayer and ability to play in an evening...

First sentence of the rules:

First Time?
Head straight for the Playbook and read sections A
(How to Survive Cataclysm) and B (Comprehensive
Example of Play). These two sections will give you a
sense of the unusual mechanisms that Cataclysm is
built around.


First time, that's me! I'm really excited that there is some sort of tutorial that will teach the game!

The playbook starts by giving strategy tips. That's an interesting choice considering I don't know any of the mechanics or have any idea about what the gameplay is like. But sure... tips like "You cannot ignore the stability track." are taken to heart. I have no idea yet what a stability track is, what it measures, how it impacts the game or how I can affect it, but I certainly won't ignore it! Ok, let's dive to the "Comprehensive Example of Play" and there I will learn how to play the game!

2. Gain flags
France chooses to not gain a flag (Status Quo).
Italy gains its Il Duce flag, moving it from the available
markers box to the production holding box.
The United Kingdom chooses to not gain a flag
(Status Quo).
Germany gains two flags (Night of Long Knives),
moving both from the available markers box to the
production holding box.


I don't know what flags are, how a power gains one or chooses not to gain one, but maybe it's illustrative in a later step?

3. Production
France collects two resources (Paris, Provence) and
converts them to two builds, then constructs one fleet
(using the Dreadnought Refit discount). The fleet is
placed on the turn track for 1939-40, and the Refit marker
is removed from play. France also constructs one air
force, moving it from the French available force pool
to its production holding box, along with the flag and
fortress already there.


and... nothing. Since I was given faulty direction by the rules about how to learn the game, disappointingly the rules go back in the box for another day.

Seriously, what the fuck. Don't tell me to read the non-rules that don't explain the game before reading the rules.
Last edit: 29 Jun 2018 20:04 by ratpfink.
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