(Classic) Armored Cavalry and Troopers - Rules for two ground units for Classic

[Midnight_Reaper]

Here is 3 of n for discussion of my Classic House Rules

Armored Cavalry (Light Armor)
Unit Name     IPC Cost ATK DEF MOVE Notes
Armored Cavalry   4      2     1      2     Subject to same rules as Armor, excepting different values for Attack, Defense, Cost, and unit specific special retreat rules.
Armored Cavalry - Light armored forces, used for scouting the enemy and to add mass to Armor attacks. Can Blitz. Can also retreat from battle early.

Cavalry Withdrawal: After one round of battle the Defender may withdraw one surviving Armored Cavalry unit to any adjacent friendly territory. After the second round the Defender may withdraw a second Cavalry unit to any adjacent territory (this can be a different territory from the first round). The Armored Cavalry unit always gets its defensive shot in before it withdraws. If it withdraws it must do so before the Attacker starts the next round of battle.

Troopers (Heavy Infantry)
Unit Name IPC Cost ATK DEF MOVE Notes
Trooper          5       2     3     1     Subject to same rules as Infantry, excepting different values for Attack, Defense, and Cost.
Trooper - This is a heavy infantry unit, composed of veteran infantry troops and a larger-than-normal artillery sub-command.

My rules for Cruisers, Paratroopers, and Cargo Planes are my spin on things many other people have commented on about or added to the rules for Axis & Allies, whether the classic or a more modern edition. But my inspiration for Armored Cavalry and Troopers comes from one person: Ralph Boerke. I was reading about Axis & Allies on the internet roughly 18 or 20 years ago and found his website with his thoughts about making Axis & Allies a better, or at least a more interesting, game. While his website is gone, you can still find what he had to say on the Internet Wayback Machine (archive.org/) at “www.kw.igs.net/~tacit/aanda/expansions/risk.htm”.

His thesis: Why not combine the Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery from Parker Brothers’ Risk with the rest of Milton Bradley’s Axis & Allies? (And yes, these ideas date from before Hasborg bought everybody up.) The result: Ralph Boerke’s rules for Troopers, Armored Cavalry, and Artillery. (I’ll discuss what I hath wrought with his Artillery in a separate post.)

I’ll let Mr. Boerke discuss his idea for himself:
@Ralph:

Troopers: I call these special forces. German Waffen SS, British Commandoes, Soviet Guards, US Marines and Japanese Imperial Marines. They are better than normal Infantry and cost appropriately a little bit more. They defend very well and attack a bit better than regular Infantry. Almost a reverse of the Armour unit!

Cavalry: This is the mechanized force and the slightly mechanized forces that were developed to go with the Armour into battle. They attack fairly well but are bad at defense. They have the range to follow the Armour. These are almost a reverse of the Infantry unit. They can Blitz as well.

Mr. Boerke also gave some ideas for where to place his Troopers, Armored Cavalry, and Artillery at the start of the game. I plan to discuss my thoughts for a revised initial placement of units in another post.

As for what to use to denote these units on the board? Well, Mr. Boerke told us to use Risk pieces. He said that a couple decades ago, but as Risk still comes with Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery pieces it is still an option. Other options include: Half-track and Machine Gun pieces from Table Tactics’ Central Powers A&A expansion (also many years out of print), Infantry and Tank pieces from Eagle-Gryphon Games Attack! (It’s an option, I didn’t say you had to use it.), good old HBG has Infantry and Light Tank units from all five powers in A&A Classic, and there are other ways to get your elite/heavy infantry and light tank/armored car fix on.

-Midnight_Reaper

[Midnight_Reaper]

Another option for denoting Armored Cavalry on your game board: Jeep pieces from Table Tactics’ A&A Accessories expansion. While it is many years out of print, those who have that set could certainly use it that way. At least the colors would match with A&A Classic color scheme, for the most part.

-Midnight_Reaper