http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=18263&sid=e0ff05bf8847a91cc8ac7376492cad3f
"Some folks are saying that it takes too many rounds for some far flung units to get from one side of the board to the other. That it takes too many rounds for newly mobilized units to trek from the capital, their point of entry into the game, to the trenches that mark the front lines. Increasing the number of territories that a given unit type can be moved, say from 1 territory to 2 territories, or something like that, might help somewhat but it would not be the solution I`m looking for.
At this point Im ready to explore and possibly modify some well entrenched (no pun intended) previous movement game mechanics. As a game designer its kind of risky to suddenly be speaking about new ways of playing a just released game. Well, Im always looking for ways to improve Axis & Allies so when something like this comes up… Well, Im ready to at least experiment with it, and I`d like to include you in that effort. Oh, oh… Is Harris about to spring another Alpha 1 on us? Well not exactly. There are no plans to make any of this “official” or even suggest that it become part of the 2nd print run, but it is something that is worthy of investigation, and it might just be fun.
I intentionally don`t want to use the expression “railroad” as I begin to rethink and search for a new movement mechanic for the game. Still, some real world themed entity that can provide mass movement is needed.
Why not “railroad”? Well, in my mind railroads always have been in Axis & Allies. They were always part of each nations infrastructure. Roads and rivers were also always present but were not called out or represented in the game either. Well maybe there were in Axis & Allies Battle of the Bulge... In any case it was understood that they were just there they were part of the invisible infrastructure. With that said I dont want to suddenly call out a railroad system and present it as if railroads were something new to the game.
All this might just be semantics, but that kind of thing matters in the universe of Axis & Allies. I want to call this new game mechanic “Strategic Movement”. With this new system units would be permitted to move overland from one end of a player`s empire to the other. The mechanic would permit a player to move all or some of the land and air units located in a specified territory, from point A to a potentially distanced point B on the map. Thus the expression “Strategic Movement” Thank you Mr. Krieghund.
What Im about to propose here has not been extensively tested - Not at all!. Ive only experimented with it in two games so far. I must admit, however, that Im fairly excited about its potential. If you like... I invite you to try out what Im about to present to you. Let me know how it works out. There are of course other ways that this system could be designed. What I`m about to present is the way that seems to best stand up to the endless tests that the game can through at it.
To be clear… Im not in the process of changing A&A 1914\. I am, however, sharing with you a new possible way to play this game, and its pretty radical, I must admit. For the moment let`s just have some fun with this idea and see where it goes.
Oh… One more thing! While we`re at it how about all ships, no exception, can now move 5 (five) sea zones? This should get the US deeper into Europe in fewer rounds and reinforcements arriving much quicker as well. Faster ships coupled with this Strategic Movement system will most likely lead to fewer rounds of play and quicker victories.
How such a strategic movement mechanic works:
Strategic movement occurs at the very end of a players turn. Its made right after Phase 5 Collect Income. All normal movement, combat and income has been resolved at this point.
Strategic movements cannot provoke further combat or income adjustments during the players turn.
Any units in a selected territory that is controlled or contested by the turn player, including the player`s capital, can be moved to another of his or her controlled or contested territories providing that an uninterrupted continuum of said territories can be demonstrated.
Strategically moved units can include units that were just mobilized.
They could be units that have participated combat this same turn.
They could be units that are presently in contested territories.
It should be noted that moving all the units out of contested territory and thus leaving the territory with only enemy forces in it would result in the enemy power gaining control of the territory. This would require an income adjustment which a strategic movement cannot provoke. To avoid this situation a player must leave at least one unit in a contested territory when strategically moving units out of a contested territory.
Thanks
Larry Harris
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