Fauna
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FAQ
Can the elephant ever win
against the mouse, or the polar bear against the dog?
No.
In these cases the smaller animal always wins (as stated in the
rules, in fact).
If I don't like my cards,
can I renounce my move and replace all my 7 cards from the draw
pile?
No way.
You can pass on moving, but in that case you may discard and replace just
one
card (as stated in the rules).
The
only way to get more than one new cards at a time is by playing several
identical
dead animal cards as jokers.
Playing
well with supposedly "bad" cards is, in fact, one of the essential challenges
in "Fauna"!
Can I play groups of different
dead animal cards jointly?
No,
they must be for the same animal (see previous question).
Can I launch suicide attacks
with my animals against superior enemy pieces, in order to gain more joker
cards?
No.
You can only initiate conflicts between animals if your own piece is going
to win.
Can
I use "man" cards for moving the woman and vice versa?
Of course
not, what a silly question! The "man" cards are for moving the man, and
the "woman" cards are for moving the woman (now here's a surprise!).
That
elephants are afraid of mice is a widely spread popular myth. But White
West Highland Terriers winning against polar bears? You must be kidding!
I am,
actually, but only ever so slightly. The inuit (eskimos) have been using
specially trained dogs for ages as effective "dissuaders" against overly
obtrusive polar bears. One of these dogs accompanied Helen Thayer on her
incredible solo-trip on foot to the North Pole in 1988:
"Her
only companion was Charlie, a black Canadian Eskimo Husky who had been
a valuable polar bear dog for the Inuit of Resolute Bay far above the Arctic
Circle in the Polar region of Northern Canada. Charlie's only job was to
walk at Helen's side to protect her from polar bears. He did his job well.
He saved her life at least once. They were confronted by seven polar bears,
one at a time, throughout the almost month long journey of 364 miles."
Read
the whole exciting story and more about Helen's other amazing exploits
here:
http://www.goals.com/thayer/expfrm.htm
How does the ELO-formula work?
It's
the formula used in Backgammon, e.g. by many online Backgammon sites and
the Backgammon program "Snowie".
Check
out Q-Gammon Barcelona's website (in Catalan, I'm afraid) at
http://qgammon.enricijoana.net/qgrre.php
for
the sordid mathematical details.
The
main distinctive feature of this formula, as opposed to the one used in
Chess, is how it handles matches. In Chess, regardless of the eventual
winner of a match, each game is calculated separately. In Backgammon (and
Fauna) *the winner takes it all*, i.e. it doesn't matter if you
win a three point match by 3:0 or 3:2: You'll gain ELO for a 3-point win,
and your opponent loses ELO for a 3-point loss.
Who are the pretty cat and
the cute Westie on the cards?
Her
name is Gatona, and she lives in Barcelona with Fauna-fans Olga
and Jorge. His name is Snoopy, and he lives in Willich-Anrath with
Fauna-fans Jutta and Norbert.
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