Has anyone tried tweaking IPC values or implementing artillery, AA guns, or strategic bombing for this edition?
Yes on all counts. :)
I will depart a bit from the others who responded so far and suggest that you adapt your 1941 game.
1941 is an ideal mapboard to tweak. I favor it for its simplicity and ease of instruction. Basically its the only board out right now, that I think I could confidently teach a complete newb how to play in one evening.
Something about is just charming to me, even for all its flaws. First off, it’d be good to adapt because you already own it and are familiar with it, but also because, without tweaking, the game can get boring rather quickly. The upside of 41 is that its quick to set up and fast to play. The downside is that it emulates the experience of the original Classic grind, with slow infantry pushes and limited options on broader strategy.
My IPC tweak and correction for this board was very simple, add +1 ipc for each territory controlled. This money was added to the total at the collect income phase for each nation, but did not count towards the production value. So basically an influx of cash, but retaining the same production spread. The effect was to up the total money in play by about a third and to re-balance the game Axis vs Allies (since Allies begin with more territories under their control.) This was tested under both the vanilla Boxed set up, and also with the modifications by Krieghund. The proposal to give extra infantry in Russia, China, and an extra destroyer for America. While I found that I enjoyed both, it was definitely more fun with the extra infantry and destroyer than it was OOB, since this allowed for a stronger Allied start, and a more even game overall. However, even then, I found that the lack of artillery made the overall game length more drawn out than I had become accustomed to on other boards. For all its simplifications, the game just still felt like it was dragging. That is when I tried with Artillery, and since then I haven’t gone back.
Artillery is the key, if you can find some units from other boards or online, I say go for it. The traditional cost at 4 works fine, and the infantry boost ability provides a major shift in the overall attack defense dynamics. The inclusion of Artillery alone fixes most of my gripes with this map.
1941 can be fun if you are willing to play around with it a bit.
I consider it the most shuck-crazy Axis and Allies map of all time! You’re shuck-shucking all over the place on this map!
Unlike 1942.2 which eliminated shucks wherever it could, this board did the exact opposite. That creates a kind of wild logistical situation where it is much easier (at least in terms of the mapboard itself) to reverse direction in the middle of the game. Aircraft especially can be bounced around with a quickness.
There is an exploit on this map, that is unavoidable, I call it fighter camping. Basically it is a result of the fact that Berlin and Moscow are only 3 moves apart. This means that fighters from either side can defend one capital while simultaneously threatening the other. At first I didn’t like this aspect of the game. I thought it was exceedingly silly, especially as regards the Japanese push on Moscow (being able to camp fighters in Berlin and still use them in attacks against Moscow.) But now I am starting to see the novelty of the design. Its basically like a ticking time bomb. The first player who removes his fighters from “capital defense” to send them for “capital attack” sets off a round of cascading attacks from everyone. In practical terms, what this means is that you have to be ready to attack Berlin as soon as Moscow is attacked (immediately) or vice versa. I find that with the proper tweaks in place, this fact of the map’s territory division, has the potential to resolve games more quickly.
So yeah I would say give it go. I have played this board using pretty much all the units of 1942.2. The only units that gave me pause were the AAgun and the SBR of the bomber. At one point I was playing with no bombers at all. The only problem I found with AA and SBR, is there was not enough income/production on the board to properly implement it. I think if you want to try those abilities and units, its essential to introduce more money. Otherwise the effect of a single run can be so game changing (either on SBR, or if it gets shot down) that its hard to predict the overall effect on game balance. Or at least that is what I have found. I mean, the decision to strat bomb or attack with air against an AA gun is just so major. I would say, if you do want to include the anti aircraft artillery unit, then its best to just let players buy them, rather than including them in the starting unit set up. They can be very deadly on a lucky roll, since there are less aircraft overall with the starting units, and these are expensive and difficult to replace.
My suggestion is to just start by adding artillery, and see if you enjoy the effect on the gameplay. I find it much improved
