@allboxcars:
Well, historic importance and having a claim to an empire really don’t signify into whether or not a country is a major power in WW2 or in A&A. Neither Spain nor Portugal will be major powers and I’ll leave it up to you to posture that America has an Empire.
In terms of contributions to the Allied effort, Canada far outstrips France and in terms of game play, well if Paris Ontario falls before Paris France then there’s a serious problem.
heavily edited from original post for simplicity and clarity’s sake
Empires have nothing to do with it, I was merely stating what historically made a nation considered “great” or a “major player” as far as European thinking went. And as far as Spain and Portugal, they were “neutral” (completely different than any of the other nations being discussed) and since A&A doesn’t include any other neutral countries as separate countries, that’s a moot point altogether regardless of their level of historic influence or affluence in Europe.
Most ideas for Axis and Allies come from a historical perspective and are then usually adopted or shot down only after they are considered from a gameplay perspective. This idea is the same thing. You can’t argue that Canada has better merit than France from a gameplay perspective with a historic argument like “Canada contributed more than France”. If you were lookng merely from a gameplay standpoint, it’d make more sense to add another power to Africa or the Pacific than adding Canada, but that would ruin the historical basis of Axis and Allies.
So, since we have to consider both the historical and gameplay points, let’s look at the countries in question again… (using my own arbitrary scoring system that whoever wants to can argue, but it’s for effect)
France:
Napoleonic Empire, considered to have the “best” military in the world at the time, plus a major political and economic power in Europe (which is still true today, but beside the point)
Historic “individuality” points - 3
Gives Germany something to do before USSR or US join in the war, and gives the Allies another country when liberated
Gameplay “individuality” points - 1
Italy:
Ancient Roman Empire, also a big economic and political player in Europe(though not as much as France, UK, or Germany): enough to be considered one of the “big 3” Axis nations
Historic “individuality” points - 2
Gives the “Axis team” another player opportunity, opens up the Africa battle a little more by having Italy more focused on Africa leaving Germany more focused on Europe
Gameplay “individuality” points - 2
China:
Large focus of Japan’s “expansion” was focused on China, non-colony sovereign nation under “influence” of several competing nations (USSR, US, UK, and Japan)
Historic “individuality” points – 2
Gives Allies an anti-Japan/Pacific-focused nation, plus “speed-bump” to keep Japan from getting to Moscow as fast, while not allowing for silly American ICs in China
Gameplay “individuality” points – 2
ANZAC:
Former colony of UK and part of Commonwealth (major influence by UK), but coordinated more with the US against Japan in the Pacific where they could be more directly influential on the war as opposed to Europe
Historic “individuality” points – 1.5
Gives the Allies a second anti-Japan/ Pacific-focused nation (an area of the war most people agree needs more development in A&A)
Gameplay “individuality” points – 2
Canada:
Former colony of UK and part of Commonwealth (major influence by UK), coordinated mostly with UK’s “Europe first” strategy, but still contributed greatly to war effort
Historic “individuality” points – 1.25
Gives the Allies another Europe-focused nation with limited influence on Pacific theater
Gameplay “individuality” points – 0.5
Now let me throw in some other nations that could be added to the game also, but never will be…
Hungary:
Offshoot of Austro-Hungarian Empire from WWI, but no longer a major player in Europe and followed Germany’s lead
Historic “individuality” points – 1
Gives the Axis another playable country since there will be twice as many Allied countries in 1940 in comparison to the Axis
Gameplay “individuality” points – 0.75
Romania:
Not much influence on Europe, followed Germany’s lead
Historic “individuality” points – 0.75
Gives the Axis another playable country since there will be twice as many Allied countries in 1940 in comparison to the Axis
Gameplay “individuality” points – 0.75
Philippines:
Protectorate of US attacked by Japan
Historic “individuality” points - 0.10
Gives Allies a third anti-Japan/Pacific-focused country, though easily taken by Japan
Gameplay “individuality” points – 0.75
Final Score:
France – 4 points
Italy – 4 points
China – 4 points
ANZAC – 3.5 points
Canada – 1.75 points
Hungary - 1.75 points
Romanaia – 1.5 points
Philippines - 0.85 points :wink:
Having Canada as a separate power at some point in the future or as a house rule would be cool and most certainly viable (and it looks like we might still get some kind of exclusive Canada rule of some kind with the specific Canadian roundels), but my point was that to compare Canada to France or Italy and suggest that Canada should be an individual power before France or Italy doesn’t make much sense, either gameplay-wise or historically.
