The War Game - Massive Axis and Allies Variant

[dezrtfish]

@Imperious:

Jeff is working on something for that. His original intention was to keep them out of the game and only allow the neutrals under German occupation to have any play.

The neutrals should have their own armies. I have some house rules for them and ill post that soon when the forum goes up.

I will probably come up with my own neutral armies, I also think there should be a diplomatic conquest for the us in S.America.  In the game I played the US invaded all of the neutrals in the West Hemi and gained a huge chunk of cash.
@Imperious:

I would stay away from advanced rules until you got your strategy down.

I agree completely, afew games at least
@Imperious:

on the lend lease remember only USA can do it and they are limited to 1/3 of their total income… the first 15 IPC spend can be infantry but the 16th IPC onward must be ‘hardware’ —no infantry…

Yes, but around turn 5 the us economy was at 170 or so and they were giving 50+ to Russia. So that’s an additional 3 Inf and 2 Arm each turn…  Also Russia was buying artillery with lend lease and that rendered my (German) airforce impotent on the eastern front.
@Imperious:

USA can play a strong role against Japan. Also, you have to keep the German and Italian navy ready to counter the allies as they approach Europe… keep buying those subs and destroyers.  USA can upgrade the factory in Alaska and build a huge 1 turn fleet to attack Japan. Watch that.

The US slowly built a Pac Fleet, but it realy had little effect, like I said they were dumping serious money into lend lease.

Also I did build the med fleet and used it to suprize the UK, now the speek German in London. :)
@Imperious:

Get some more D12’s and use the long box to roll. Its perfect for a dice roller

I really think the game is a great value for what you get. Especially for such a small time company.

And now you also have nice tiger tanks for Bulge and for house games.

I agree need more dice and it is more than worth the cost.  You should suggest that Jeff post here, I tried to email him but it didn’t go through.  I’d like to see starting placement for a 1939 version with maybe some special diplomatic rules for declarations of war.

[Imperious Leader]

Yes, but around turn 5 the us economy was at 170 or so and they were giving 50+ to Russia. So that’s an additional 3 Inf and 2 Arm each turn…  Also Russia was buying artillery with lend lease and that rendered my (German) airforce impotent on the eastern front.

The Americans are limited on what they can send to the Soviets on the first turn. Thats posted on the log in sheet thats on the site. I remember some money going to UK, China and Soviets… about 24 to the soviets… also USA usually can send about 49 bucks total to her allies.  Germany also can lend money to Italy, but Italian units cost more

[Flashman]

I’m not suggesting that Lende-Lease to Russia is unrealistic; US aid undoubtedly made a huge difference on the eastern front.  But in game terms doesn’t it mean that Germany either

a) bangs it’s head against a red brick wall that gets rebuilt with American cash every turn, or
b) is forced to go all-out to KO Russia early on at the expense of other fronts, or see the Soviets get too strong

The main point of the Soviet Xenophobia rule is to prevent the UK/US from piling up that huge infantry stack in Karelia to defend Russia.  If they can just buy units for Russia the problem comes back in another form.  As IL has admitted, Russia is better defended by being bigger (in terms of areas) so that it’s not a simple question of each side building up the biggest stack possible to take/defend Moscow.

On the subject of start time of 1942 depicted in the photos, there appear to be some anomalies.  Italian East Africa not UK occupied?  Algeria German occupied, but not other French colonies?  Why isn’t the strangely named “West Africa” (Niger and Chad) UK occupied?
Phillipines Japanese occupied, but not Burma?  No Japanese in Peking? Or is that a British opium salesman standing there.
Maybe it represents the situation in some strange 13th month of 1942 when everything went haywire.

Sweden is worth HOW MUCH?!  That’s more than the combined Volga-Don-Caucasus region!!!

Spain is worth Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman were just desert.  Not even much oil at this time.

At least India is given a respectable value, even if it is shorn of Pakistan and needs at least two more divisions.

What is that rebel flag doing in the north west corner of the board?

[Imperious Leader]

China has only 2 ships (potentially) a sub and a destroyer… so no they cant build a BB or CV even if they wanted too.

I’m not suggesting that Lende-Lease to Russia is unrealistic; US aid undoubtedly made a huge difference on the eastern front.  But in game terms doesn’t it mean that Germany either

a) bangs it’s head against a red brick wall that gets rebuilt with American cash every turn, or
b) is forced to go all-out to KO Russia early on at the expense of other fronts, or see the Soviets get too strong

This is not what happens… Soviets fall in 4-7 turns… in fact they only last longer about 20% of the time. Thats one of the flaws i pointed out regarding not enough Russian territories to retreat to.

The main point of the Soviet Xenophobia rule is to prevent the UK/US from piling up that huge infantry stack in Karelia to defend Russia.  If they can just buy units for Russia the problem comes back in another form.  As IL has admitted, Russia is better defended by being bigger (in terms of areas) so that it’s not a simple question of each side building up the biggest stack possible to take/defend Moscow.

Soviets still play even of Moscow falls… but everything west of Moscow has most of the income so basically their are much more limited once Moscow falls.

On the subject of start time of 1942 depicted in the photos, there appear to be some anomalies.  Italian East Africa not UK occupied?  Algeria German occupied, but not other French colonies?  Why isn’t the strangely named “West Africa” (Niger and Chad) UK occupied?
Phillipines Japanese occupied, but not Burma?  No Japanese in Peking? Or is that a British opium salesman standing there.
Maybe it represents the situation in some strange 13th month of 1942 when everything went haywire.

Yes… the map represents 1939 so that can be played… the 1942 scenario is the world with germany having overrun most of Europe. West Africa is under vichy control.

AS i keep saying look at the set up sheets the game starts in like Jan-June 42…Japan has already taken some places but not others.
As i pointed out before the territories are 1939 borders. IN the first half of 1942 they were getting started. Since the turn represents the entire first half of the year everything you mention is safe from criticism and all other issues are play balance.

Sweden is worth HOW MUCH?!  That’s more than the combined Volga-Don-Caucasus region!!!

its neutral so dont worry about it. When you buy it you can change it to 1

Spain is worth Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

its neutral so dont worry about it. When you buy it you can change it to 1

Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman were just desert.  Not even much oil at this time.
its neutral so dont worry about it. When you buy it you can change it to 1

At least India is given a respectable value, even if it is shorn of Pakistan and needs at least two more divisions.

The next version will have India with 10,000 ports and 5.5 million territories and 200 IPC

What is that rebel flag doing in the north west corner of the board?

What?

[Imperious Leader]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKmfmMN_x0Y

There is a movie version coming out eventually. Right now this offers a small token of what may follow.

Both the play and the game were created basically simultaneously.

[tekkyy]

omg
I once thought about making a video for our project too lol

[Flashman]

Scenario 1942 - January, right?

Why have the Brits given Abyssinia back to italy?

If that Brit inf in Peking isn’t an opiium salesman, what is he?  And where are the Japanese?

What are all those British units doing in Eire?

Those rules modules; have they been removed or am I looking in the wrong place?

[cyan]

your right IL. :lol: :lol:  i thought you were exgagrating. central us looks elongated but other than that everything looks perfect on the war game’s map. flahman’s map is looks very hand drawn.

[Flashman]

Thank you, oh Imperious Leader, for not answering any of my questions.  Except one.  Wrongly:

So no Brits in Eire?  This chart is wrong, then:

http://www.thewargame.com/SetupCharts/SetupCharts1942.htm

as are the setup photos, so please ask Jeff to remove them from the site; they are very confusing.

Same thing regarding Italian units still in East Africa long after the last one surrendered.

I’m aware the map is 1939, apart from no Japanese yellow in “Peking”, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai and south Sakhalin.  Doesn’t effect any of my questions.
Anytime from January to June 1942; still no sign of an Italian comback in Somalia…

As to the general topography, I still think the point of having a map this big is defeated if Europe is so small you still need to use those hated blow-up boxes we all thought we’d seen the last of.  The central strip of the map running from Karelia downwards is too compressed, leadng to European Russia being too small to accomodate those extra territories even you admit are needed to stop the German-Soviet conflict being more than a simple slogging match.  Also makes the middle east too small; probably prompting the addition of Sinai to Jordan that looks so wrong.

As I’ve said before, my maps are schematic; they are drawn simply to illustrate a lot of information.  I’ve never said they’d actually be printed out as I’ve shown them.

Good job I downloaded those modules already, then!  :wink:

And Spain is worth whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?   :-o

[tekkyy]

You two should work things out lol.
Be clear extra clear about wording.
And one question at a time.
Maybe.

[Flashman]

OK, lets give it a try:

Why do the setup photos and unit sheets have British units in Eire when the Irish leader De Valera refused to allow the Allies to use even Irish port facilities, despite Churchill’s offer to hand over control of Northern Ireland after the war?

[Imperious Leader]

Why do the setup photos and unit sheets have British units in Eire when the Irish leader De Valera refused to allow the Allies to use even Irish port facilities, despite Churchill’s offer to hand over control of Northern Ireland after the war?

Allied mechanics were allowed to retrieve crash landed Allied aircraft. That infantry unit represents this. And since an infantry unit has no set military designation ( division, brigade, corps etc).

Besides northern Ireland and Dublin were bombed twice by Germany.

[Gewehr]

……  :-o …WOW!!! Yea I know I’m late on the subject…but Wow! This is like a dream come true of a board, the perfect gift. My birthday is this wensday and I got a $185 PSP, I MUCH rather of goten this monster of game! That is if I can find an unused table/tables in my house that it would fit on…  :-o  :-D

I feel like a kid in a candy shop…with only a penny to buy anything.

[tekkyy]

Had a browse of the website.
If there are misprints should quickly add some side notes.

Hope he makes back his investment soon and continue to do what he had planned for the project.

I think some small improvements to the website would help. Say it would be nice to add yet further photos.
Imagine photos of a HUGE dinning table with everything setup and all manuals etc laid down…with players dressed up in army hats :mrgreen:

[dezrtfish]

I’lll have to look at my charts when I get home, I don’t remember any troops in Erie.  There were troops in East Africa, but if yo udon’t like them don’t put them there.  As I said before the map is worth the cost of this game.  And I’ve played it, Europe gets crowded, but there is enough room for everything.

[Gewehr]

Europe always gets crouded, atleast whenever I play AAR.

[Imperious Leader]

The Republic of Ireland was adamantly neutral and the “mechanics” you mention are hardly equivalent to a corps.

I already told you the infantry don’t represent any specific label of military organization. In the case of Eire its just those Mechanics and potential volunteers.

So I hardly think Eire can be considered less neutral than for example Spain

nobody said anything about their neutrality.

[Admiral_Thrawn]

I see on ebay you can already buy just the pieces for “The War Game”. A pity because you should buy the game, if you have the money, to support the guy who put out an awesome product.

[Flashman]

Here’s a link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Axis-and-Allies-Army-Pieces-from-The-War-Game_W0QQitemZ280140764908QQihZ018QQcategoryZ2558QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Seems land/air, and naval pieces sold separately.

Presumably the lists reflect the actual breakdown of units in the game.

[Imperious Leader]

There you go… now you can no longer complain about Chinese battleships because they don’t have any. Too bad for you.