Let’s Play Decisive Campaigns : Barbarossa AKA Time To Piss Off The Train Nazi

Decisive Campaigns : Barbarossa is VRDesigns take on the War in the East. Actually, it’s not, it’s just Barbarossa. That’s a huge distinction we need to get out of the way right now.

This is not War in the East.

This is a different game on the Eastern Front. It models not only the movement of troops and supplies as we’d come to expect but more interestingly it models the political in-fighting and clash of personalities that nearly crippled the German Army in 1941. I recently read Brian Fugate’s book on Barbarossa and I was amazed at how often the Germans almost tantrumed themselves right out of the war. Literally like a bunch of angry school children. There were egos, prejudices, and of course rivalries.

DC:B does a great job of adding another new layer to the game. If I piss off the Train Nazi, how will that impact the movement of my Panzers? If I decide to ignore Hitler, will it offer me a benefit? The Truck Nazi doesn’t like the Panzer Commander, so he’s gonna shaft him with fuel. Lets not forget that eventually we need to secure an objective and win the campaign!

Where Gary Grigsby’s War in the East simulates the minutae, you are essentially commander as god. Where in DC:B you have real limitations based on your interpersonal relationships. Now this immersion loses a bit of shine when I have to order individual regiments about. I’d much rather order the 3rd Panzer Army to take Mogilev and watch them do it! The whole roleplay of the part would fit much better as me, the player, as some upper-mid level German Wehrmacht Bureaucrat.

To answer why I’m not playing the Soviets? Me as Stalin is less appealing then me as some worn thin German dude who’s trying to sort it all out.

The thing that really draws me into DC:B is that interpersonal relationship and the fact that I have to manage these personalities. This feels real where in some ways War in the East just feels like a massive spreadsheet grinder. Sure I might be able to command all of the details, but it’s kind of fun watching the Train Nazi throw a tantrum.

I’m coming for you Train Nazi.

And here it is! The First Turn.