What house rules should I add to 1914

[Slip Capone]

@MasterMark26

Hey Mate, my group plays with the tournament rules as well.

At this stage we are playing with a bid of 12 to the CP.
We play for 6 game rounds not 5hr45mins as we have to play over multiple session due to outside commitments. This usually results in using the Economic Victory Points to declare a winner.

As for the rules themselves:
With our current experience level (limited (2 games, 2 in progress) with 1914 but experienced in AAA overall) the only house rule we could be looking at using is Ottomans Economic Collapse threshold from 7 to 8.

Here is a recent session report using the tournament rules with no alterations.

https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/33534/3-newbies-and-a-game-of-1914

[MasterMark26]

Thanks for the feedback! I’ll definitely try that in my next game.

[Slip Capone]

@MasterMark26

No worries mate. Always keen to chat 1914. Interested on your thoughts on the session report/game play.

If you haven’t played with the Tournament rules yet, I wouldn’t change the E-Collapse threshold until you see how the game plays out a few times.

I do recommend the set amount of turns and the bid of 12 as a starting point.

[MasterMark26]

Yeah for sure. I like the ottoman idea cause the Ottomans are really weak whenever we play with collapses

[Witt]

@MasterMark26 we play max build of 4 units in India and movement of two allowed for all ground units in friendly territories (not into combat).
If my opponent allows it, I would also remove a French Battleship and a TT from the Med.

[Private-Panic]

@Wittmann Having won with the CPs a few times with those house rules I think the further removal of those F naval units would tip the balance in the CP’s favour Witt. Let’s see what happens when we play on Sunday! I am happy to be the CPs and let you keep the F navy.

[Witt]

@Private-Panic Fine. Although, I doubt you will beat me. I am not one of your friendly, slow living, Derbyshire yokels.

[Private-Panic]

@Wittmann No! You hale from the heady fleshpots of Hereford!

[Witt]

@Private-Panic Hereford: a city, welcomes bumpkins. Until tomorrow, my friend.

[Arreghas]

@MasterMark26

A couple of rules that we use that make the game fun :

1. Cruiser cost reduced to 7
2. Submarine cost reduced to 5
3. Addition of trucks as land-based transports. Moves 2 Inf, 1 Inf+ 1 Art or 1 Tank 2 squares, cost of 5 IPCs. Can be left alone in an area without Inf but are defenseless.
4. Playing with statistical losses instead of dice-rolling (see my thread https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/34182/aa1914-playing-with-statistical-losses)

This has so far produced very fun games with more flexibility navy-wise. Trucks give you limited but quite useful mobility, which can become a strategy in and of itself.

We tried reducing tank cost to 5 but it gives it far too much value so we removed that.

I’m thinking some other rules may be fun as well, such as making Switzerland impassable. It’s been attacked every time in the last 3 games and although it makes for fun battles, it just feels completely wrong and rarely ever ends up being good for the CPs.

[MasterMark26]

@Arreghas thanks for the response
Here are some of my thoughts:

1. I like the cost changes. I think it will make the naval war a little more of a war of attrition which it was
   2: I’ve never really thought about trucks in WW1, but I am intrigued. One question was how you represent the trucks.
2. I like the idea with the statistical losses, and read the forum. I will certainly try this in my next couple games and see how it affects them
3. My current thought on tanks is to make them do more but cost more. Here’s what I’m at: Cost 7 or 8, Attack at 3, Defend at 1, Absorb one hit when attacking, and support on Inf when attacking.
   Again thank you for the reply, and I will certainly try your ideas in my next game.

[Arreghas]

@MasterMark26 Glad I could share the ideas !

For the trucks, I 3D-printed some models on Shapeways and added them to my collection after painting them. Here is the link to the model in my shop :

https://www.shapeways.com/product/RK9QJAH6V/wwi-truck-x12?optionId=128058468&li=shop-inventory

You can see the end result on the Plastic Commando’s YT channel once he painted them (and he did a great job) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADQnU6f0gKQ

There’s other options like gun-mounted trucks, which could be a hybrid mobile-artillery / AA battery, armored cars, and more ! So if you want to make things more interesting, feel free to be creative !

For your tank idea, I wonder if the increased cost would make them appealing. They sure would boost your offensive power by boosting your infantry, it’s just a question of would you be able to buy enough to make a difference. Let me know how it turns out !

Happy gaming, good sir !