Volko F. Ruhnke - 04:23am Feb 13, 2001 PST (#99 of 1849)

Wray's comments have led me to think of the following unofficial
variant, for those who prefer less chaos and more long-term control over
events:

A) Instead of a single draw pile, form three--one of all British events,
one of French events, and one of combined events.

B) To fill out their hands at the beginning of a season, players
beginning with the French alternate drawing a single card from whichever
of the three draw piles they choose (yes, French can draw from British,
etc.) A player can look at what he drew before drawing the next.

C) The "Surrender!" card does not trigger reshuffle. Instead, reshuffle
and form three new draw piles only when two of three piles are depleted
and a player is to draw another card.

D) Instead of the one-card hold limit, players may announce before any
Action Phase that they are going to hold the remainder of their cards
over to the next season. (They may still play events playable during
enemy Action Phases that season.) Also, players may hold cards as many
seasons in a row as they like.

E) When drawing to fill out a new hand, players must place any held-over
cards face down on the table. If a reshuffle is triggered, all held-over
cards are immediately shown to the opponent and then discarded to be
included in that reshuffle and the resulting new decks. (Players then
continue to fill out hands to the required number of cards.)

Just to avoid any confusion, the above caffeine-induced musings are
entirely UNofficial, UNtested, and UNedited. I post them merely to
illustrate how card deck mechanics can be modified endlessly to one's
tastes. Moreover, I'm not claiming that the above simulates anything in
particular.

(But if you end up trying these out, do let all of us know how it worked!)