It looks interesting – I’m also unhappy with the way France is treated in most A&A games, although I’m not sure that reincarnating France to slowly fight over west Africa is a good solution – does it really matter who controls French West Africa or French Madagascar? They’re usually of very little strategic and economic importance.
Tactical bombers could be a lot of fun if done right, although I find it very odd that they are allowed to bomb airbases / naval bases but not factories. Bombing air/naval bases is a very niche move that rarely pays off – I would like to see tactical bombers that can do at least some damage to factories, and strategic bombers that are of little or no use in regular combat.
Hard to comment on your national advantages without seeing the full list, but your cards are beautiful; I like the design. The French national advantages you display seem balanced.
I don’t think airbases will have too much effect on Anniversary; the map is already pretty accessible by air. You can fly from London to Moscow in one turn even without an airbase, for example. Airbases might possibly put the Italian fleet at slightly more risk if it ventures away from the central Med, and they might be of some use in the south Pacific.
The naval bases will dramatically change the game, especially in the Pacific. US and Japan are now one turn’s move away from each other, which requires you to garrison your home territory much more assertively. The Caroline Islands are now in range of India, and India is now in range of northwest Australia (although if you’re coming from the Sydney sea zone, you still can’t quite make it to India). Overall I like the effect of these changes; they help simulate the fog of war by providing more options.
In the Atlantic, the USA is now one move away from France, which I think will cramp Germany’s style a bit too much. Historically, the USA had no ability to invade France in June 1941 when Anniversary starts, or even in December 1941 when the USA joined the war – the north African landings weren’t until November 1942, and northwest Africa was much, much more lightly defended than France. In practical game terms, Germany is very short on infantry in the first two rounds of the 1941 scenario, and being forced to either leave 3-4 infantry behind in France or reserve 3-4 infantry in Germany to counter-attack an American landing in France will seriously slow down German expansion possibilities. That’s one way to balance the game, but it’s not my favorite – I’d rather see the Axis expand well out of the gate and then be contained later in the game by big Allied national objectives, as in Balanced Mod. Maybe I’ll make some balanced mod NOs for the Allies in Anniversary!
