Quote from: Akrasia;302545The A&8 alternate history actually sounds pretty cool.

I wonder how fares Canada, er, British North America, in this timeline?

A wild and dangerous place:

Quote from: RPGPundit;302648Deadlands is a FUN game, I don't know if I'd call it "funny".
But it really fails utterly to stand up as alternate history.
At least it has the "supernatural powers did it" excuse for that fact, though. I assume Aces & Eights does not?

Also, Deadlands totally whitewashes southern racism and slavery just because the authors clearly thought that the confederacy was "really cool".


RPGPundit

Dude, you can play a zombie cowboy mage who cheats gods at poker! I did mean funny. As in, you read it and go "Uh?" (art and layout help), and then [beavis&buttheadvoice]"Cool!"[/beavis&buttheadvoice].
But you do have to keep in mind I wouldn't know history if it bit me, too. So ok, I get it. Probably why I'm totally threadjacking here. Sorry, guys, I'll shut up now.

Quote from: GameDaddy;302411Looking through this here, I'm not sure how Cuba ended up being Confederate though...

In real history:

Cuba petitioned to be a state in the 1850s, but Congress would not admit it or consider it because it would have added yet another Slave State to the country.

If they were dealing with a Confederate government, that would not have been an issue.

The starting date is 1868.

Here's the basic explanation for 'why an alternate history' from the book itself.

While you're free to run your campaign in any setting (historical or otherwise), the official setting for Aces & Eights is the Shattered Frontier.  This is where most of your campaign will unfold. It's also the default setting for any future Aces & Eights supplements and adventures.

The Shattered Frontier is based on the American Old West, but with an alternative history spin. Simply put, events took a different turn at key moments in history, resulting in a very different political landscape.
Why an alternative history as opposed to a historical setting?  The benefits of an alternative history setting are manyfold.  

For one, it frees the players/GM from history and allows them to fill in the blanks and write their own. No worry of a player pointing out, "Hey! No fair. Smokeless gunpowder wasn't invented until 1886!"

It also prevents players from acting on knowledge their characters wouldn't have. "Gee, I think I'll look for gold over here near Cripple Creek. I've got a funny feeling about that spot."  

Most importantly, it adds a bit of mystery to the setting.  It gives that feeling of embarking into the unknown that would otherwise not be possible.
For those players and GMs who prefer a real history setting – no problem. The rules themselves apply to both approaches and the library (or the internet for that matter) is filled with material covering every aspect of the American Old West in minutia.