I came up with something I hope will boost the pacific side of map like the Atlantic side of map. Its going great with the convoy raiding campaign working out great. More small battles through most of game.
In another thread I was mentioning about raising some islands to 5 icps to make either side at least go get an island or 2 in the Pacific side but kinda didnt do that. I posted a picture in House Rules thread about showing what groups of islands to have to try and get more small battles in the Pacific without just fleets looking at each other or 1 big battle sometimes for the heck of it, and not just have Fleets move here or there or park here or there and just have Japan mostly do land battles besides going for Dutch Islands.
So I made up 6 NOs for the Pacific side. Im not a huge fan of them but saw I had no choice in the matter to see if I could add them to game on the Pacific side but make it easier to get them then the normal NO rules where you need like 5 islands to get a NO bonus.
NO 5 icp bonus
Green group for Japan or US
Grey group for Japan or US
Orange group for Japan or US
Red group for Japan or US
Blue group for Anzac
Black group for Anzac
So I have 6 groups of 3 islands that have NOs. For each 3 island group you control you receive 5 icp bonus. Now in picture below I used colored tokens to show which islands are in a group. Also I gave Midway, Carolina and Solomon islands a value of 3 icps each.
Now If you look at setup that I have in my game with Midway, Carolina, New Britain and Solomon (some say why Solomon, because naval battles ) islands have 2 different color tokens where if you control one of those islands you can deny 2 NO. So Im hoping with Japan having a chance for 2 NO at home they need to control Midway. But then the US would just need to control Midway. So now maybe there will be more small battles at that area for both sides. Most islands you can hit from 2 sz away. Neither side can not just sit now. Other wise somebody going to get some money. Same thing in Carolinas. Japan holds that they can deny some NO down there. Both countries would need to leave small fleets near home to the North and down south they both need fleets. Or Japan would need to park in Manilla and could come from there if they get pushed out of Carolinas
and still protect Dutch Islands. But then US gets more money and maybe they get it in time before Germany gets the win the axis needs. If US goes to much in Pacific then Germany going to have a field day. Or is this going to be to much for Japan to control in the Pacific szs while not getting anywhere on land. Remember in my game Axis dont need Calcutta to win if Germany gets that extra VC. I need to watch for any balance issues where maybe the US may need a ship or 2 on setup. OR I change the NA for Germany Sub Interdiction from 10 subs max to 5 subs max. This should be fun anyway on first few games.
If you look at setup Japan in the Carolinas has to decide if they want to deny Anzac there NO or attack US Line Island fleet or do both.
Anyway I hope this is a starting point on the right track for a better Pacific side. Maybe some body would like to try it in there game also.
I also added two 3 island groups in Med. Italy pretty strong so I made the UK NO a little more easier. Closer to Cairo and making Italy have to go further to get islands.
Well will see how this goes. Cant wait to try out.