"The Big Bang Theory March 1,2018" Topic

To keep Bernadette company,Sheldon shows up with "the most complicated board game of all time,Campaign for North Afica" It looked like an old SPI big box game.
"I got it on e-bay.It smells like chili but all the parts are there"
Later – Sheldon "I have to roll for the weather" Bernadette "It's the desert. Wouldn't it be hot?" Sheldon(after rolling dice and consulting charts twice) "Yes"
Some of these writers must be gamers!

I have the game it really is that complicated. There is a chart that tracks fuel evaporation.

I wonder who's game it was.

Advertised by SPI as the first of their 'heuristically manual intensive' games.

Definitely aimed at logistics nerds.

Did any of the SPI playtesters actually ever finish a game?
Or were they too busy being heuristic?

There is a rule that Italian troops required additional water supplies so that they could prepare pasta.

There are a few great articles spread over the internet that discuss the absurdity of the game. In one of the articles a SPI designer says they never completely playtested the game and really didn't intend it to ever be played to completion.

The mere mention of the game can cause even the most hardened paper pushing grognard to buckle and groan.

I checked out a few on line articles on this game.
One was quite belligerent about those who did not appreciate its complexity, calling them "Nancy boys". His chest is apparently hairier than mine.

This of course begs the question that the complexity is accurate.
What if each assumption is off by 5%. And what if all the following decisions and assumptions are similarly flawed? Ever hear of "tolerance stackup"?
And then what if some assumptions are off by 25%? 50%?

Interesting to see the game featured.

As for the complexity and degree of simulation, it's a bold endeavour, but kinda misses the point because the player ends up being a composite of the various theater commanders and is also forced to play the role of the various specialists that deal with all these problems.

I can understand that if something goes wrong somebody in the hierarchy of command has to take up the slack, but I doubt that Rommel, Auchinleck or Montgomomery had to really concentrate on fixing the various problems, they were probably aware of them and issued orders to try to tackle them and the whole system of command would jump into action.

It's to wargaming what the notion is that a general should not sit in his headquarters, but should be standing on a tank, waving a sword, and leading the charge of anything from a corps to an army group.

I was intrigued that of the five players recommended per side to play, only one got to actually move units. What fun!

All that is true but.. the maps are really nice.

George Pearson said he used to, quite literally, show up with a brief case and spread sheets just to do administrative tasks (nor sure if supply, staff or whatever).

ought the game, spent TWO DAYS studying the manual,
Re-boxed everything and it has been sitting on the
shelf these 2-3 decades…dusty, too…

Thank you very much for posting. I have two copies, one punched and the other un-punched. The punched copy has a gazillion photocopies of orders, records of supply and such, indicating that at least two people once tried to have a go at it.

The game system could be a good platform for a company like Matrix to do a computer version. Their computer
re-boot of War In The Pacific is my favorite game of all time.

The Gamers once produced a game called DAK and later DAK II that showed promise if you really want to do the North African campaign in a very large board game. It also has beautiful maps and counters, but keeps the administrative aspects at manageable levels.

Copies of CNO still sell at inflated prices precisely because it is so complicated and hard to play. The value is derived from the notoriety of owning a game that cannot be played, which could explain why there are still a lot of un-punched copies around!

"…The value is derived from the notoriety of owning a game that cannot be played,…"

In that case, can I sell you a copy of the US Tax Code?

Ha! Ha!

I should have figured out a guy with the moniker "zoneofcontrol" would follow the boardgamimg threads!

I plead Guilty as charged.

My copy is up the attic somewhere. Counters unpunched :)

So it seems clear that the writers didn't pick a random game to make their point!

When Sheldon said he brought the most complicated board game ever I thought "Ya right. You have a copy of Campaign in North Africa" and voila…

Here is the link from BGG.

link

That was a good episode – shown in the UK last week !

Enjoyed the boardgame jokes.

"Playing Time: 60000 Hours" :)

Forgive this crass commercial pitch, but I've just listed a copy on Ebay:

auction

Found my copy in the attic the other day. Unpunched, unplayed :)

The punched copy referred to above went for $245. USD

Hey Scott, why don't we get booths next to each other at Cold Wars and set up a game for the weekend?

As long as it isn't Campaign For North Africa!