Strange Defeat – Game Review
Replay
For this review, I played this game solitaire and with both an experienced and novice player. The solitaire game was enjoyable and permitted me a chance to familiarize myself with the rules and develop basic strategies for each side. The German side is by far the easier to play and your main objective is to eliminate the Allied units and control French cities and fortresses. The Allied player must busy themselves with damage control. Moving forces to control the aforementioned cities and ports is vital as well as taking small losses to prevent greater losses down the road.
The experienced player jumped right into the game and was very comfortable with movement, combat and strategy. The game was fast-paced and lively with a German victory in doubt until the last turn.
{default}The novice player started out more slowly, as expected. By the third turn, the references to the rulebook were very sparse and the player felt they had a good grasp of the mechanics. We also agreed that it was much easier for the novice to begin play as the Germans.
Overall Impression
This game retails for $19.99 from Avalanche Press. For that price, you get a bargain. The game is relatively fast, easy to learn and enjoyable for both novice and experienced gamers. I recommend playing twice with the same opponent, changing sides after the first game is concluded. This permits both an offensive and defensive experience for each player. The game favors the German blitzkrieg and the fall of France is all but assured. However the real enjoyment for the Allied player is not in fighting the Germans, but wrenching a political victory from the jaws of a strange defeat.
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