US vs USSR…HOT war this time though

Ah! This game is playing out very cooly! I’m on round 12 now…the US did take UK and Japan. It was great cuz it looked like USSR was definitely going to win (they were about 20 ahead on the industrial production chart), but they had NO navy. Which is reasonable because there was a lot more to gain without the use of navy. (for USSR, anyways). US has a good foothold in asia now, which they took through Japan. The US can’t seem to get a reasonable place in Germany from the UK though, the USSR is doing an excellent job of keeping it, while mainting their eastern front.

I think I may try the same idea, but with Japan vs. Germany next time.

Ah, so those troops can defend. I see now. :smile:

And another question, if I take a neutral capital like Japan, do I get that player’s money (if there even is any)?

Overall, I like this variant very much. However it seems as though USSR is at a weaker position since it really has to break into heavily defended areas before making a decent IPC grab. All USA can do is load in transports and take Africa in minimal time, along with Canada, which is a HUGE freebee. However, USSR does have the advantage in the way that it doesn’t have to build a transport fleet, making Europe a IPC jackpot. Another problem I see is Asia. USA has a huge advantage in Asia, in addition to more “freebee” islands. It would be interesting to see how you can balance this out. Maybe you can have a 4-player option with two other players taking the West and East sides of USA and USSR.

Hmmm…well you’ve given me a lot to think about TG! How do you think a Japan vs Germany would turn out?

And I can’t believe how blind I am. You pointed out that Canada is a freebie to the US. I haven’t even taken it with the US! I’m in round 13, and I haven’t taken it. LOL geez I can’t believe that.

SUD-No, I never really thought of implicating the cost to take a neutral territory, so I didn’t do that in this test. I think that’s a cool idea though, I’m not sure how much it would be though. I’ll try that after I play this game through. I also want to try a UK vs. Japan. Although UK could score pretty big on Germany very quickly…

I’ve almost played the whole thing (US vs USSR) through. I’m on round 17 now, and US is definitely going to win within the next few turns. US has been putting massive pressure on the west from UK, and on the east from an asian factory and Japan for awhile. But still, very slow progress! I’m not using any ipc victory, but figures for that could be come up with too.

I don’t there should be any cost invading a neutral country. Reason being is that you already have to deal with the forces mobilized there in the first place and that should amount to higher a high cost than 3 IPCs. And if you do make reparations, it cost the US heavily in Africa. Without these IPCs there’s no way to counterattack Russia in Europe.

Anyways, I did play test this game a bid using your rules and some of mine (such as only two tech rolls). And while the Russians were able to win this, it wasn’t as clear-cut as you think. What I suggest for this is to let America start out with a slightly larger Navy. This helps America a bit in reaching Asia quicker and gives America a fine chance of taking England to balance Russia taking Germany. Plus it’s really interesting to see the Navy vs. the Army and who will win. Remember, the Napoleonic Wars anyone?

Chris, haha can’t believe you didn’t think of attacking Canada. Of course the real surprise is Canada holding out like in the American Revolution and 1815. :grin:

Anyways, Germany vs. Japan also sounds interesting. I think that Germany would win due to the fact that Africa can give Germany a huge advantage. However, with Eastern Europe vs. Western Asia, it would be interesting to see what country comes out first in taking Russia. Key problems? I think that Japan or Germany can go all or nothing in taking America very easily, and same principle applies for Germany in Britain.

Good points. Specifically how much of an increase would you give the US navy?

I would probably limit it to maybe 1 or 2 extra transports on both sides of the Ocean. And maybe an extra carrier for the Atlantic. This way America has a faster chance of reaching trouble spots and conquering new territories. You don’t want to over do it by giving the US more air or land units, since it’s starting economy should balancing things out.

Try this Rule. Since Russia has an Obvious Advantage here, the US can attempt to Influence 1 Territory per turn. The US rolls, if the Die roll is equal to or greater than the Unit’s IPC value, the US gets it. They get a number of Infantry equal to half the IPC Value of the territory as a freebie. It costs 5 IPCs to make an attempt.

I like the rule. But how you would give infantry to any territory with an IPC value less than 2? Overall it can be a potent rule by insurrecting territories deep into enemy territory or taking isolated strongholds without wasting valuable resources. It’ll take some more play testing to figure this one out.