Trisdin's A&A50 House Rules

[Young Grasshopper]

So this is what I have been working on for the last week, sorry Imperious Leader, no 1943 yet. I will begin posting with a “house rule set-up” which I have posted before in the past, but I placed it here again for quick reference (with a few modifications) followed by the house rules post.

As for the house rules…. I will be the first to admit that they are not all mine, some of you will reconize your own idea’s here as much as Larry Harris’s. This collection of rules is (IMO) the best of what I’ve seen here and the best of my groups idea’s however, most of the following is what I believe to be… my own spin on the game.

Some of you may disagree and argue that these house rules are not good at all, some of you may like them enough to add them to your own rules. I wish to here from all of you and any opinions you may have (good or bad).

I thank you in advance for reading.

[Young Grasshopper]

GERMANY  ( $ 31 )

Sea Zone 5 – 1 Cruiser, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 6 – 1 Battleship
Sea Zone 7 – 1 Submarine
Sea Zone 8 – 1 Submarine
Sea Zone 13 – 1 Destroyer, 1 Submarine, 1 Transport
Norway – 3 Infantry, 1 Fighter
Finland – 2 Infantry
North-western Europe – 2 Infantry, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter
France – 2 Infantry, 1 Fighter, 1 AA-Gun
Germany – 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 3 Tanks, 1 Fighter, 1 Bomber, 1 Factory, 1 AA-Gun
Poland – 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 3 Tanks, 1 Fighter
Czechoslovakia / Hungary – 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery
Bulgaria / Romania – 3 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 3 Tanks, 1 Fighter
Morocco / Algeria – 2 Infantry
Libya – 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank

SOVIET UNION  ( $ 30 )

Sea Zone 4 – 1 Submarine
Karelia S.S.R – 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1 Factory, 1 AA-Gun
Archangel – 2 Infantry
Baltic States – 3 Infantry
Belorussia – 2 Infantry
Russia – 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter, 1 Bomber, 1 Factory, 1 AA-Gun
Novosibirsk – 2 Infantry
East Poland – 3 Infantry
Eastern Ukraine – 2 Infantry
Ukraine – 2 Infantry
Caucasus – 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1 Factory, 1 AA-Gun
Kazakh S.S.R – 2 Infantry
Yukut S.S.R – 1 Infantry, 1 Artillery
Stanovoj Chrebet – 2 Infantry
Soviet Far East – 2 Infantry
Buryatia – 3 Infantry

ITALY  ( $ 10 )

Sea Zone 14 – 1 Battleship, 1 Cruiser, 1 Destroyer, 1 Transport
Italy – 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1Fighter, 1 Bomber, 1 Factory, 1 AA-Gun
Balkans – 2 Infantry, 1 Tank
Libya – 2 Infantry

UNITED KINGDOM  ( $ 43 )

Sea Zone 2 – 1 Battleship, 1 Cruiser, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 9 – 1 Destroyer, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 12 – 1 Aircraft Carrier / 2 Fighters, 1 Cruiser
Sea Zone 27 – 1 Transport
Sea Zone 35 – 1 Destroyer, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 41 – 1 Destroyer, 1 Transport
Eastern Canada – 2 Infantry, 1 Fighter
U.K – 10 Supply Tokens, 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank, 2 Fighters, 1 Bomber,
          1 Factory, 1 AA-Gun,
Egypt – 3 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter
Trans-Jordan – 2 Infantry
Belgian Congo – 1 Infantry
Union of South Africa – 2 Infantry
India – 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Fighter, 1 AA-Gun
Burma – 1 Infantry
Kwangtung – 1 Infantry
East Indies – 1 Infantry
Borneo – 1 Infantry
New Guinea – 1 Infantry
Australia – 2 Infantry, 1 Factory, 1 AA-Gun
New Zealand – 1 Infantry
Western Canada – 1 Infantry

JAPAN  ( $ 17 )

Sea Zone 62 – 1 Battleship, 2 Transports
Sea Zone 61 – 1 Cruiser, 1 Destroyer, 1 Tran / 2 Infantry, 1 Tran / 1 Infantry, 1 Artillery
Sea Zone 36 – 1 Battle Ship, 1 Cruiser
Sea Zone 52 – 1 Aircraft Carrier / 2 Fighters, 1 Aircraft Carrier / 2 Fighters
Sea Zone 48 – 1 Submarine
Japan – 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter, 1 Bomber, 1 Factory, 1 AA-Gun
Manchuria – 3 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Fighter
Kiangsu – 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery
French Indo-China Thailand – 3 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Fighter
Formosa – 1 Infantry
Okinawa – 1 Infantry
Iwo Jima – 1 Infantry
Caroline Islands – 1 Infantry

CHINA

Place 1 Infantry unit on each Chinese territory and 1 American fighter on Sikang.

UNITED STATES  ( $ 40 )

Sea Zone 10 – 1 Destroyer, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 45 – 1 Submarine
Sea Zone 50 – 1 Destroyer, 1 Transport
Sea Zone 53 – 1 Battleship, 1 Cruiser
Sea Zone 54 – 1 Aircraft Carrier / 2 Fighters, 1 Destroyer
Sea Zone 56 – 1 Battleship, 1 Transport
Eastern U.S – 15 Supply Tokens, 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter, 1 Bomber,
                      1 Factory, 1 AA-Gun
Philippine Islands – 2 Infantry
Wake Islands – 1 Infantry
Hawaiian Islands – 2 Infantry, 1 Fighter
Midway – 1 Infantry
Alaska – 1 Infantry
Western U.S – 2 Infantry, 1 Fighter, 1 Bomber, 1 Factory, 1 AA-Gun
Central U.S – 1 Infantry

[Young Grasshopper]

Trisdin’s Axis & Allies House Rules

Baltic Sea

-Surface ships may not pass through the Baltic Sea peninsula without control of Northwest Europe however, submarines and aircraft may pass through.

Nonaggression Pact
-Russia may not attack a German territory until Germany attacks a Russian territory.

Critical Strikes

Critical strikes are the same as suprise attacks or essentially any attack that removes a unit from the board without a cassualty roll.

Coastal Bombardment

During an amphibious assault, battleships and cruisers that are not involved in a sea battle may bombard enemy land units in the first round only, all hits from a bombardment are critical strikes.

Anti-Aircraft Guns

Aircraft may not deploy over territories with an enemy anti-aircraft gun, without being fired upon.

Air Superiority

During land battles all aircraft (bombers incl.) must engage each other in a dogfight before land combat is resolved. Attacking fighters receive a critical strike @1 on defending aircraft (grounded), bombers attack in a dog fight @1 and than may bomb land units @4 if they survive the ariel battle.

The sequence for a dogfight is as follows:

1- Anti-aircraft guns fire on attacking aircraft.
2- Attacking fighters conduct a critical strike (first round only) on all grounded aircraft.   
3- Casualties from critical strikes are removed from the board.
4- Remaining aircraft dogfight until one side lose all aircraft or attacking aircraft retreat.
5- Remaining aircraft (attacker or defender) may choose to engage the land battle or pull 
    out and deploy to a friendly territory (all aircraft must abide by the same choice).

In the case of an amphibious assault aircraft may not participate in a dogfight if they were involved in any sea combat leading up to the landing. The sequence order for an amphibious assault has been modified as follows.

1- Sea combat 
2- Coastal bombardment 
3- Ariel dogfight 
4- Land combat.

Strategic Bombing Raid

Each bomber that successfully drops their payload during a strategic bombing raid may now roll 2 dice than choose the best roll to damage the enemy factory.

Bombers conducting strategic bombing raids may now be escorted by fighters to protect them from enemy aircraft who may now in turn intercept bomber formations.

Bomber Escorts and Interceptors

During a Strategic Bombing Raid, each bomber may be escorted by one fighter.
Conditions for escorting bomber formations are as follows:

• Escort fighters must take off from and land on the same territories as the bomber they are escorting (range for escort fighters is increased to 6).

• Anti-aircraft guns receive 1 bonus dice when firing on escorted bomber formations   (ex. 3 bombers with 3 escorts = 4 anti-aircraft dice).

• All casualties from anti-aircraft guns must be applied to bombers first, an anti-aircraft hit after all bombers are destroyed must than be applied to an escort fighter.

• If all bombers are destroyed by anti-aircraft fire, their escorts must endure a round of dog fighting with enemy fighters before returning to a friendly territory no more than 3 spaces away (intercepting fighters may choose to engage a bomber formation or not).

• The nation defending may choose to intercept the bomber formation with any number of fighters positioned on the territory being bombed or allow the bombing without a fight.

• Escort fighters that did not get intercepted by enemy aircraft become unused and may not conduct a separate battle or deploy again within that turn.

• Intercepting fighters and bomber formations may engage in a dogfight for 1 round only.

• The nation bombing may choose the casualties they suffer from enemy fighters.

-  When flying home, escorts must land on the same territory their bomber does or if their bombers have been destroyed, escorts must land no more than 3 spaces from the raid. Intercepting fighters must land on the same territory they scrambled from.

• During strategic bombing raids, intercepting fighters receive a defence value of 4 while escort fighters receive an attack value of 3 and bombers receive a defence value of 1 (bombers may defend from intercepting enemy fighters as well as damage factories). Escorting fighters do not get a critical strike on grounded aircraft during a strategic bombing raid (air superiority rule only).

The sequence for strategic bombing raids is as follows:

1- Anti-aircraft guns fire on attacking bomber formations (1 bonus dice when escorted).
2- Casualties from anti-aircraft guns are removed from the board.
3- Intercepting fighters choose to engage and dogfight for 1 round or remain grounded.
4- Casualties from dogfight are removed from the board.
5- Surviving bombers drop their payload (best roll from 2 dice).
6- Surviving aircraft land on friendly territories.

Submarines and Destroyers

-  Bombers, fighters and submarines may not attack enemy submarines or be used as casualties from a submarine hit.

• Submarines require only 1 hit to sink enemy battleships and 2 hits to sink heavy battleships. Submarines always determine their enemy’s casualties due to their critical strikes however, destroyers may only be chosen last and not before transports (submarines automatically sink 1 transport per submarine each round before engaging destroyers).

• Destroyers no longer negate a submarines critical strike however, submarines may not submerge in, retreat from or pass through a sea zone containing an enemy destroyer.

• Destroyers receive a critical strike every round when attacking and defending against submarines.

The sequence for submarine vs. destroyer naval combat is as follows:

1- Destroyers (attacking or defending) conduct critical strikes on enemy submarines.
2- Remove submarine casualties from all destroyer critical strikes off the board.
3- Submarines (attacking or defending) conduct critical strikes on enemy ships and dictate all enemy casualties (destroyers to be chosen last).
4- Remove casualties from submarine critical strikes off the board.
5- Resolve combat between all other naval units within the sea zone.

Chinese Conscription

• During set-up, China will receive 1 Infantry to be placed on each Chinese country.   
    China receives 3 Infantry per round which must be divided among three territories.

• If China has only 2 territories remaining than their infantry production decreases to 2 per round which must also be divided among the last two territories. If China has only 1 territory remaining than their infantry production decreases to 1 per round which must be placed on the last remaining territory.

• Chinese infantry act in defence only and may not move once they have been placed on the board. Chinese Infantry are recruited and placed on the board at the end of each round. The American fighter stationed in China is controlled by the U.S and may deploy to, attack or defend any territory it wishes.

Capital Capitulation

• When a nation has lost their capital in combat, they are no longer required to relinquish all their money, instead they must give to the victors, the total amount of  I.PC.’s shown on the capital territory + $5, they may keep the rest.

Shipping Lanes

-American and British transports must ship supply tokens from Eastern America to Britain. British units without supply tokens assigned to them must be removed from the board.

1- During the set-up phase, place 10 supply tokens on the U.K and 15 supply tokens on Eastern U.S.
2- During the game phase, America produces 10 supply tokens each turn and must be placed on Eastern U.S.(before purchasing units).
3- At the Beginning of their turn (before purchasing units), Britain must spend 1 supply token per unit on the U.K (factory not included) and 1 supply token per naval unit in sea zones adjacent to the U.K ( transports not included).
4- Each unit not assigned a supply token must be removed from the board immediately (player’s choice of casualty).
5-British and American transports may transport 5 supply tokens each.

Paratroopers

• Paratroopers are now a normal function in the game and are available to every nation. Each bomber may transport one infantry and drop them into a hostile territory or deploy them on a friendly territory. When dropped into a land battle, paratroopers receive a critical strike (@1) before all other combat begins (first round only). Paratroopers may not retreat and must fight until their death. Paratroopers must originate from the same territory that the bomber transporting them, takes off from.

National Advancement Charts (new tech charts)

Each nation is given 1 research token which allows players 1 free dice to roll a six (before purchasing units) if successful, players than receive a dice to develop an advancement. The number rolled on a development dice will determine the advancement gained from that player’s national advancement chart.

Players may purchase additional research tokens for $10 each (during purchasing of units) in addition to their free token, increasing their chances of rolling a six. Players may purchase as many as they wish including none at all. Regardless of how many 6’s are rolled in 1 turn, players may only apply one. Once a 6 has been rolled on any number of research dice, players must relinquish all previously purchased tokens and start over next turn with 1 free research token however, they may begin to purchase additional research tokens once again during the purchasing of units.

Espionage

• After a successful research roll and before a breakthrough roll, players may choose to pay $5 for 1 spy dice to roll a 6. If successful the player may choose any enemy’s national advancement chart and roll a breakthrough dice. If unsuccessful they must roll a breakthrough dice on their own advancement chart.

Germany Advancement Chart

1. The Atlantic Wall

• Germany may multi-purpose anti-aircraft guns positioned on France or Northwest Europe as coastal guns to bombard enemy ships that enter adjacent sea zones. Rules for coastal bombardments function the same as strategic bombing raids (1@1). When an amphibious attack and the Atlantic wall can both bombard, players must roll 1 dice to determine who may bombard first, the player with the highest roll attacks first and if players are involved in a tie, they must reroll.             -German infantry on France and Northwest Europe also receive a critical strike (@1)before the first round of an enemy’s amphibious attack.

• Coastal guns receive 1 dice per surface ships including transports (@1)

• The invading player always chooses their own casualties.

• Costal guns also become anti-aircraft guns when enemy aircraft attack.

2. V - Rockets

• Germany may launch 1 V-Rocket from each anti-aircraft gun towards an enemy factory no more than 6 spaces away. Rules for V-Rockets function the same as strategic bombing raids.

• Anti-aircraft guns may launch 1 V-Rocket each per round.

• Enemy anti-aircraft guns receive 1 dice per rocket (@1).

• Enemy fighters positioned on the targeted territory receive 1 dice per rocket (@1)

• Successfully rockets may roll 2 dice than choose the best roll to damage factories.

3. Wolf Packs

• When 2 or more German submarines attack within the same sea zone, their critical strike increases to 3.

4.      Blitzkrieg

• German tanks may pass through an enemy occupied territory without engaging in combat first. If a German tank moves 1 space into a battle they may move 1 space again during the deployment phase also, all German tanks now attack and defend at 4.

5      Jet Fighters

• German fighters attack and defend at 5.

6.     Rommel

• The attack, defence and movement capabilities of German land forces in Africa are increased by 1 (aircraft and naval ships not included), German transports operating in the Mediterranean may now carry 1 extra infantry per transport.

Soviet Union Advancement Chart

1.Russian Winter
-For 1 complete round, all enemy units on Russian territories may not move and all enemy units may not deploy into or attack Russian territories. Russian winter begins at the end of the Soviet Union Turn.

2. Industrial Relocation
– Russian factories may move a maximum of 1 territory each during the deployment phase of each round.

• Russian factories must always remain on Russian territories.
• Factories may not be moved if they have been captured by an enemy.

3. Salvage Engineers
– Russia receives 1 free tank per battle won involving enemy tanks being destroyed or (if there are no tanks destroyed) 1 free artillery per battle won involving enemy artillery being destroyed.
-  The tank or artillery unit must be placed on the embattled territory immediately after the battle has been won or the enemy has retreated.

4. Russian Spies
-Russia may choose any nation’s advantage chart to roll on (not just their enemy’s).

5.Trans-Siberian Railway
– All Russian infantry, artillery and tanks may move from Russia to any Russian territory in the east.

6 Zubov
– All Russian land forces attack, defence and movement capabilities are increased by 1.

Italian Advancement Chart

1.Political Cooperation

• Italy may place new units in Germany and Germany may place new units in Italy.

2.Advanced Artillery

• All Italian artillery support 2 infantry each per attack. Two infantry coupled with one artillery unit, each have an increased attack @2.

3.Naval Engineers
– Italy receives 1 free cruiser from the French fleet and must be placed in sea zone 13.

4.Production
–Factories may produce two additional units beyond the listed value also, Italy may remove two damage markers at a time for the cost of 1 IPC (half price).

5.Moral

• During the collect income phase, Italy may roll 1d6 to collect that many additional IPC’s.

6.Long Range Aircraft
– The movement capability of all Italian fighters has increased to 6 and all bombers to 8.

United Kingdom Advancement Chart

1.A.S.D.I.C
-All critical strikes conducted by attacking or defending British destroyers against enemy submarines are automatic hits.

2.Food Rations
-Each supply token may now be used to supply two units stationed in the U.K. instead of 1.

3.Lend Lease
-During Britain’s turn when they are purchasing units, they have the choice of receiving 1 of the following for free ( all units are British pieces but must be placed in Eastern U.S ).

1- 1 Infantry, 1 Artillery and 1 Tank
2- 1 Infantry and 1 Destroyer
3- 1 Fighter

4.Radar
-Anti-aircraft guns hit incoming enemy aircraft @2.
-Radar negates all critical strikes by incoming enemy aircraft on British grounded aircraft during a dog fight (any territory).

5.Ace Pilot
-Britain receives 1 free fighter with a national token underneath it, to be placed on the U.K.
-During a dogfight or while escorting a bomber formation in a strategically bombing raid, this fighter receives an automatic critical hit.

6.Montgomery

• The attack, defence and movement capabilities of British land forces in Africa are increased by 1 (aircraft and naval ships not included), British transports operating in the Mediterranean may now carry 1 extra infantry per transport.

Japan Advancement Chart

1.Kamikaze

• All Japanese fighters may sacrifice themselves to sink enemy surface ships.
• Kamikaze fighters may reach battles without needing to reserve a space to land.
• Japan is not required to use kamikazes but must declare it when they wish too.
• Kamikaze fighters attack enemy surface ships in the following sequence.

1- Kamikaze fighters must designate targets (assign each fighter a surface ship).
2- Defending ships fire at kamikaze fighters (ships may only fire at kamikaze fighters designated to them).
3- Kamikaze casualties from defending ships are removed from the board.
4- Kamikaze fighters automatically sink their targets and themselves. (it only takes 1 kamikaze fighter to sink a surface ship however, it takes 2 kamikaze fighters to sink a battleship).
5- All other naval units conduct sea combat.

2.Chinese Surender

• All Chinese and allied Units on Chinese territories are removed from the board. Japan may than place 1 free infantry on territories that just surrendered.

3.Tokyo Express

• All Japanese destroyers may be used as destroyers or transports (Japan must declare what all destroyers will do before their combat phase).

4.Banzai Attacks

• All Japanese infantry attack @2. (3 if supported by artillery)

5.Heavy Battleships

• Japanese battleships must get 3 hits before sinking.

6. Yamamoto

• The attack, defence and movement capabilities of all Japanese naval forces (fighters included) are increased by 1.
• Infantry, artillery, tanks, anti-aircraft guns and bombers are not included as forces under Yamamoto.

United States Advancement Chart

1.Atom Bomb

• 1 American bomber that is stationed on an American factory may transport an atom bomb to drop on 1 enemy territory.
• A bomber transporting an atom bomb must be represented by placing an American token under it.
• A bomber targeting a territory with an enemy factory must abide by all rules of a strategic bombing raid. A bomber targeting a territory without a factory but have defending aircraft must abide by the rules of a dogfight.
• When an atom bomb has been dropped, all units within the bombed territory are destroyed including any factory or anti aircraft gun.
• If the bombed territory was a nation’s capital, that player must relinquish money to the game pool in the amount shown on the territory. Player’s may rebuild their capital’s factory on their next turn however, they may not build units from that factory until it has been there a full round.

2.Mass Production

• During America’s turn when they are purchasing units, they have the choice of receiving 1 of the following for free.

1- 1 Infantry and 1 Cruiser
2- 1 Artillery and 1 Bomber
3- 1 Tank and 1 Fighter

3.Hell Cats

• All American Fighters operating from aircraft carriers attack and defend at 5.

4.Amphibious Marines

• American transports operating in the Pacific (up to India) may carry an extra infantry per transport.
• All Infantry operating in the Pacific (up to India) attack @2 (3 if supported by an artillery).

5.Heavy Bombers

• Each American bomber attacks and defends with 2 dice.
• During a successful strategic bombing raid, American bombers apply both dice to damage enemy factories.

6.Patton

• The attack, defence and movement capabilities of all American forces in Europe are increased by 1.

• Aircraft and naval ships are not included as forces under Patton.

• Russian and British territories are not included as Europe however, Italian territories are.

[Young Grasshopper]

I have modified air superiority, coastal bombardment and Italian advancement chart slightly…… Cheers.

[Young Grasshopper]

WOW…. Almost 100 views and no comments! come on members, tell me what you think.

[ogrebait]

@Trisdin:

WOW…. Almost 100 views and no comments! come on members, tell me what you think.

Well, I can’t speak for the others, but here’s what I think.

You have obviously put a lot of thought and effort into this alternative set-up, and I wouldn’t mind trying it out. In the absence of a lot of playtesting, however, it would be hard for me to render an opinion on what works and what doesn’t work in this modified rule set. That could also be said for some of the other A&A variants being circulated, and therein lies the rub….

I have been in and out of the gaming world for decades, and I am a relative newcomer to A&A. Over the years, one of the biggest obstacles I have found to pursuing this pastime is finding both a game I enjoy and a critical mass of other gamers to play with. It is of marginal benefit to invest a lot of time, energy and occasionally money into acquiring and learning a game which only a handful of people in the world are willing to play. I currently own four “official” A&A variants, but the only one that I regularly play is AA50, in part, because of the difficulty in finding people interested in the other games.

I certainly don’t mind experimentation, and I’ve suggested a few changes myself. However, without some clearinghouse to determine what rule sets should become the defacto standard, then all these “house rules” have the tendency to further fragment a relatively small population of players. My humble suggestion (which would admittedly be difficult to implement) is to first establish a method to propose, test, and semi-formally “bless” modified rules so that there is some standard that the A&A community can rely on. The closest thing we have to that right now is either the folks at WOTC or Larry Harris’s Game Design site, and both have their limitations.

That being said, if you or someone else would like to have a go at giving your rule set a test drive, let me know. Due to the demands of my life outside of gaming, I’m generally not a fast player. However, if you don’t mind a leisurely match, I can accommodate a trial run and give you some feedback.

[Young Grasshopper]

Thankyou for you’re feed back. I understand the importance of playtesting as I have designed a board game myself and the obsticals that arise during hundreds of hours of play have almost competely changed my design from it’s original form.

As for AA50, many posters here would likely agree that modifying the game into you’re own house rules could be viewed as a hobby more that a playing alternative. That being said, there are many omissions in AA50 that many believe the game can not be without, for example: escorts for bombing raids, the addition of the atom bomb and merchant shipping in the Atlantic.

What I have done is created a document apart from my post here where I have cut and pasted the AA50 pdf rules from the internet and have added my rules to encompass everything. This way, I believe I could introduce the new rules to a friend who has never played the game before and I could play the game the way I envisioned it. This requires some deception however, it is a good way to test the rules without people questioning you’re changes and it could also be subject to tweeks the newcomers feel it should get (sorry Larry).

I can’t create a link right now but I could email you my modified rulebook if you like (it took alot of work but I believe it was worth it due to the great results).

Thanks again for you’re comments

[Upside-down_Turtle]

@Trisdin:

WOW…. Almost 100 views and no comments! come on members, tell me what you think.

I know how you feel.  No one comments on my house rules either.

I’m new to the game, so I like to stick with the basics and not modify the game so much.  My house rules tend to be simple things, like letting destroyers bombard, since I think it’s stupid if a battleship and cruiser can, but a destroyer can’t.  The most complicated thing I’ve come up with is my nuke rules.

Players like Imperious Leader have been playing for what must be a hundred years.  :-D They have websites dedicated to countless Advanced Axis and Allies games with Larry Harris himself, with battle sequences involving 10 and 12 sided dice, weather, terrain, you name it.  When Imperious Leader posts something, it gets a lot of attention and respect.

Me?  Even A&A miniatures looks a bit too complicated for me.  Besides, I can’t afford all those games…yet.  I’m just a simple turtle.  You’d think with our low center of gravity we’d be able to stay upright more often.

Comments:

I think you meant to spell “Zubov” Zhukov.

I don’t like the National Advancement chart. It’s partially because I’m very comfortable with the AA50 tech rules, so much so I’ve come up with several variants of a 3rd Breakthrough Chart.

In terms of play testing, I know from experience the Nuke advancement for US won’t work.  I tried one game where nukes were on a 3rd breakthrough chart.  All the US did was turtle and do tech roles, then game over.

I like the supply tokes idea and how you can move them, but only if you can attack them, thus disrupting supply.  Certainly, it can help in terms of stacking limits.

[Upside-down_Turtle]

@ogrebait:

@Trisdin:

WOW…. Almost 100 views and no comments! come on members, tell me what you think.

Well, I can’t speak for the others, but here’s what I think.

You have obviously put a lot of thought and effort into this alternative set-up, and I wouldn’t mind trying it out. In the absence of a lot of playtesting, however, it would be hard for me to render an opinion on what works and what doesn’t work in this modified rule set. That could also be said for some of the other A&A variants being circulated, and therein lies the rub….

I have been in and out of the gaming world for decades, and I am a relative newcomer to A&A. Over the years, one of the biggest obstacles I have found to pursuing this pastime is finding both a game I enjoy and a critical mass of other gamers to play with. It is of marginal benefit to invest a lot of time, energy and occasionally money into acquiring and learning a game which only a handful of people in the world are willing to play. I currently own four “official” A&A variants, but the only one that I regularly play is AA50, in part, because of the difficulty in finding people interested in the other games.

I certainly don’t mind experimentation, and I’ve suggested a few changes myself. However, without some clearinghouse to determine what rule sets should become the defacto standard, then all these “house rules” have the tendency to further fragment a relatively small population of players. My humble suggestion (which would admittedly be difficult to implement) is to first establish a method to propose, test, and semi-formally “bless” modified rules so that there is some standard that the A&A community can rely on. The closest thing we have to that right now is either the folks at WOTC or Larry Harris’s Game Design site, and both have their limitations.

That being said, if you or someone else would like to have a go at giving your rule set a test drive, let me know. Due to the demands of my life outside of gaming, I’m generally not a fast player. However, if you don’t mind a leisurely match, I can accommodate a trial run and give you some feedback.

What, you mean like an Axis and Allies think tank?  A guild, or a league?  By the term “bless”, I’d say you wanted to establish a Church of Axis and Allies.

Yes, it certainly might be a good idea to form a free association of game testers which may endorse certain optional rules, and I’ve thought of the idea myself.  Still, I think the danger lies in this being too successful.

Things are very libertarian right now in terms of House Rules.  So what if small groups form exclusive social domains for certain house rules?  If someone comes up with a stupid or sucky rule, it only effects those who play it the one time.  And if they like the rule, so what?  I certainly wouldn’t want to impose defacto house rules on anyone.  It only stifles creativity.

And besides, House Rules are named so because they apply only in your house, and they change from house to house.  By definition, rules endorsed by an A&A Guild wouldn’t be House Rules, they’d be Guild Rules.   Just as the home is sacred, the rules of the home are sacred, even rules pertaining to games; especially rules pertaining to games.  That’s why, in some way, all House Rules are sacred, precisely because there is no one authority, and there are so many which contradict each other.

I think Larry Harris, Imperious Leader, and their associates all have the right idea.  They make their own games, then sell them for money.   :-)

[ogrebait]

Well, if someone wants to create “house rules” to use only among a close group of fellow players, who am I to object?

However, if someone is looking for broader acceptance among the gaming community with the hopes that these changes will be accepted and used among a larger group, then there is a significant obstacle as long as there is no established process to vet the proposed changes. Trisdin’s modified rules might make for a great game, but if he and half a dozen gamers are the only ones who use them, then they are of limited utility outside that group.

I have enough problems with my puny reptilian brain keeping up with all the differences in the “official” A&A games. If I am going to learn all the nuances of a complex A&A variant, I would at least like to know that I will actually be able to use them on a semi-regular basis. I’m not knocking Trisdin or anyone else who has tried to come up with a better mousetrap, but I just see a lot of people going in a lot of different directions without any mechanism for the broader A&A community to arrive at any kind of consensus on what that better mousetrap looks like.

[Upside-down_Turtle]

Say, this is supposed to be about Trisdin’s House Rules.  I’ll start a new thread, and we’ll move the conversation there.  Look for “Axis and Allies Guild”.

[Young Grasshopper]

@Upside-down_Turtle:

@Trisdin:

WOW…. Almost 100 views and no comments! come on members, tell me what you think.

I know how you feel.  No one comments on my house rules either.

I’m new to the game, so I like to stick with the basics and not modify the game so much.  My house rules tend to be simple things, like letting destroyers bombard, since I think it’s stupid if a battleship and cruiser can, but a destroyer can’t.  The most complicated thing I’ve come up with is my nuke rules.

Players like Imperious Leader have been playing for what must be a hundred years.  :-D They have websites dedicated to countless Advanced Axis and Allies games with Larry Harris himself, with battle sequences involving 10 and 12 sided dice, weather, terrain, you name it.  When Imperious Leader posts something, it gets a lot of attention and respect.

Me?  Even A&A miniatures looks a bit too complicated for me.  Besides, I can’t afford all those games…yet.  I’m just a simple turtle.  You’d think with our low center of gravity we’d be able to stay upright more often.

Comments:

I think you meant to spell “Zubov” Zhukov.

I don’t like the National Advancement chart. It’s partially because I’m very comfortable with the AA50 tech rules, so much so I’ve come up with several variants of a 3rd Breakthrough Chart.

In terms of play testing, I know from experience the Nuke advancement for US won’t work.  I tried one game where nukes were on a 3rd breakthrough chart.  All the US did was turtle and do tech roles, then game over.

I like the supply tokes idea and how you can move them, but only if you can attack them, thus disrupting supply.  Certainly, it can help in terms of stacking limits.

Yes ,you are right. Zhukov (how embarassing). I am very uncomfortable with the A&A50 tech rules for a lot of reasons that I won’t get into here, so we agree to disagree.

As for members owning every version of A&A and playing every night, some guys are just playaholics and thats ok, I will never have that kind of experience but my opinion is that if you are creative and wish to tweek the game with you’re own rules…. Go for it, even if you never get a chance to play them.

I havn’t looked at you’re house rules yet turtle but I will read them and comment as I understand that it is difficult getting feed back from people. Right away though, I’m not sure I like destroyers bombarding as they are smaller ,faster and loaded with depth charges. Their deck guns have ok power and range but not for pounding a coastline from miles away.

I’ve heard about A&A minitures but know nothing about it… I might check it out.

[Upside-down_Turtle]

Thanks.  perhaps commenting on any of my house rules would be bad at the moment.  they’re still a work in progress.

destroyers historically bombarded all the time.  sure, they weren’t the U.S.S. New Jersey, but they got the job done.  Larry Harris just doesn’t like an 8 IPC ship to have too many abilities.

[Emperor_Taiki]

I like how Russia starts with more tanks and not at war with germany
but why should escourt fighters have their range increased, A&A aircraft range is already unrelaistic enough and i dont see how stratgic bombing gives you more fuel capacity

and what happens if i am the US and using a spy dice and roll a chinese surrender, do i destroy my own units.

I also like the old techs and think if every tech is nation specific your missing out on parts of history. WHy not keep the old tech, and then just give each nationa 3 or 4 nation specifc advancments

obviosly the atmoic bomb is cool but the Germans were working on one too and before the US, if anything the atomic bomb should be a german tech and the US have to spy to get it.

I think it is also cool that indivdual genrals are represented, but i think it would be better if they were on the board and not just a tech

overall i think it is good even if I dont understand some rules and i will ask my group if they want to play these next game

[Young Grasshopper]

Escorts have increased range simply because they would never be able to reach an enemy factory and get home with a maximum 4 spaces. If escorts can’t reach the target area and have enough to reach a friendly teritorry, than SBR’s would be even more rare.

The U.S can’t roll for a chinese surender because that advantage only exsists on the japanese chart.

I have gone through the trouble of typing the whole rulebook with my rules added, I could e-mail you the document if you like and than you and your group could make changes to it.

[generalyk]

I wanted to study your rules a bit before I commented it’ll be awhile before I can playtest them.  Here are some thoughts though.

I like the setup, especially 1 fighter, 1 bomber for Russia & UK forces in Borneo, New Guinea, and East Indies.

I like the Baltic Sea rule, I have a similiar rule in my house rules.  Did you decide to drop any ideas concerning Gilbraltar & Turkish Straits?

You & I have been talking about SBRs, your escort fighters attack @ 3, interceptors defend @ 4.  I’m sure you’ve come across SBR rules that have the attack & defense values reduced.  The most common one I’ve come across is escort fighters attack @ 1, interceptors defend @ 2.  The people I play with decided to have it escorts attack @ 2, interceptors defend @ 2, bombers dogfight @ 1 before bombing run.  I’m just wondering if you’ve tried it, if not it might help with increasing SBRs.

I like the ‘shipping lanes’ rule how does it play out for you?  It reminds me of something vaguely similiar proposed by a gentleman by the name of Jim Lee.  His post is in these house rules much further back, I’m just not sure how to find it & attach it to this post.  He suggested not using the paper money, place coins on the board for income & a nation had to move the coins to factories to purchase units.  That’s how we’ve been playing up here in the chilly, wet north country.  Anyway, you gotta do some extra planning to get your supply lines & convoys organized and once organized you gotta protect them pretty hard cause any disruption can lead to 1-2 turn setbacks.

We used a dogfight rule like yours, except for the first round strike on grounded aircraft (I don’t think I could sell that part to the other guys).  We decided to drop the dogfighting to streamline the combat round.  Now we use random casualties.  If interested in that let me know.

Your techs are more like National Advantages.  There is nothing wrong with them but I prefer techs that are available to any nation.  Is the Atomic Bomb designed to be a game ender?  If not, then maybe roll 2d6 or 3d6 and the total would be the number of land units destroyed.  However, the defender does have an opportunity to intercept & shoot down the A bomber.  Anyway I like it.

Emperor_Taiki is correct to a point however, the Germans were nowhere near as far as the Americans were with atomic research and the German A Bomb was totally screwed after the heavy water plant in Norway was bombed and what remained of their heavy water was sunk on a ferry in the Baltic Sea by commandos, I’m a little fuzzy on the details, its been awhile since I saw that on the History Channel.

All in all your house rules are nice work. :-)

[Young Grasshopper]

Thanks for your imput.

I included the critical strike on grounded aircraft to give the attacker reason to get involved in a dogfight seeing how deffending aircraft hit @4. The critical strike is @1 and for the first round only, I believe attackers shouldn’t get a disadvantage for being agressive. Without the critical strike, players ask themselves why should I attack with my valuable aircraft and get all the odds against me.

I don’t enjoy changing the attack and defend capabilities of any units, I believe the game is difficult enough without trying to calculate all the different changes for any given senerio. for example: Fighters attack @3 except when escorting and except in dogfights and except on carriers and except….ect.ect.ect. (you get my point).

I am still tweeking the merchant convoy rules when transporting supply chips however, this is a major aspect of my rules and it must be handled with care to balance the game. On one hand, the allies have enough to do, what with keeping up with with the axis agression during the first 4 rounds and on the other hand it is too much of a factor to just ignore the importance of the merchant shipping lanes. For example: if I were the supreame commander for Germany during the war, I would never have shiffted towards bombing London or even think about opperation Sea Lion when they were so close to starving the little Island. Non the less the rule is still a work in progress… any Ideas?

I might think about a rule for the Gibralter however, I don’t want to limit the Italian fleet entering the Black Sea. That would only limit them to Africa and I want the Italian player to have options.

As for my Tech charts, I believe that if your going to have the kind of game ender like a nuke just for historic reasons, I would prefer to limit it to one Nation (U.S) and still leave it to chance of getting that advantage. As for Nations limited to thier own charts, I have found in my games that players really think hard about what Nation they wish to play at the begining of the game because they want to play with some charts but don’t want to be up against others. One aspect that I have found very important is giving each nation one free chance per turn to get a tech, this way techs are always a factor in the game while still rewarding others for buying extra chances.

I have a book where I have cut and pasted the Axis and Allies rules into a word document and have added my own rules to make everything more compleate to the newbies I play with. It took alot of work and I think it looks nice, I could e-mail you a copy if you like and that way you can edit it to your own house rules, the good thing is that most of the work is done for you. Just send me a personal message with your email address… I think you would like it.