Railway

@bakerbei

Haven’t played 42 hardly at all. His other mods, 41 and 39, especially 41, seem very balanced. I think if you haven’t played it much, I’d just roll with no bid for starters.

Wouldn’t be enough. The Japanese could easily take all three of those islands on Japan 2, which means that the allies will only collect the money for one Turn. $11 in the pockets of UK Pacific is virtually useless in comparison to a $50-$60 Bid.

@SMichael23 Its not a solution if you magically give Italy this territory. If you want to model a problem, first get the facts straight with some research, then go into balancing it.

Aside from 1 ipc and 1 infantry, just increase Italy +1 and balance out the additional forces for both sides…

China is a road apple and a basket case. Japan needs to get thru that mess asap or they have no chance… If you hold back an already weak Japan in 42.2 you create a KJF scenario in every game.

Add italy fine, leave china alone and move the German air force out of UKR, give a bomber to Russia. Minor tweeks, then playtest

mostly good ideas, i would add axis minor allies with substitutions

The G40 Waffen-SS Assault Pioneer unit rule is now available at the top of pg. 1 on the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion thread.

@The-Captain

Sweet!

Game 1 barnee vs Trout and Mussolini Pizza Emperor

Game:1940

Axis: barnee
Allies: Trout and Mussolini Pizza Emperor

Game Thread https://forums.triplea-game.org/topic/4071/game-1-exp-trout-vs-beelee?page=1

Triplea Save 3ef1289d-386e-44a7-9f28-f5ea8ea38a03-exp-game-1-trout-f10.tsvg

This was Trout and his son, Pizza Emporer, first game using triplea. They have played several games against each other on the real board.

Details to follow

The Reich began with a full Wehrmacht build with the rest of their resources going to the U-boat Arm.

All of France was attacked, as well as the British fleets in 110 and 111. 106 was also attacked by 2 U-boats and Operation “Punishment” got an early start against Yugoslavia.
All of the attacks succeed, except for Yugoslavia, which was by design. The 110 attack was supposed to withdraw after 1 rd of combat to preserve the BB.

Unfortunately for the Kriegsmarine, their 110 Fleet was commanded by a Nazi Fanatic and refused to withdraw. Only complete and Total Victory was acceptable.
The first chance the British Royal Navy got, it was promptly sunk with their idiot commander drowning in the process.
The Kriegsmarine would be without a Battleship for the remainder of the war.

Late 1940 and with UK Air Defenses deployed elsewhere, Goring would begin the Strategic Bombing of London.
With heavy Ftr escort, 2 Bmbrs would evade the Flak and do 9 damage to the London Fctry.

Early 1941 and 1st and 2nd Waffen would form in Berlin with 1st Panzer deploying soon after.
The bombing of London would continue, with the Fctry now sustaining max damage.
The Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS would concentrate in Romainia and Slovakia.

The Soviets, Commanded by Pizza, would immediately begin to add the ideologically driven Commisars to the Order of Battle. The Red Army would start to concentrate in Belarus and W UKR. Far East Forces would begin to move west.

Commisars would continue to deploy through Late 1940 and 1st Corps would form and anchor the units in W UKR facing the brunt of the German Heer.
Belarus would remain heavily defended, with the Red Air Force now stationed there.
Caucasus and Novgorod would have substantial manpower deployed as well.

Nippon would begin construction of a Fctry in Shantung Early 1940 and complete a second one in Kiangsu Late 1940.
The IJA would press Chinese troops hard and by Early 1941, China would only control 3 Western Provinces.
The IJN would build a Harbor in Kwangsi.

Carolines would start to be reinforced via Air Trprt with a strong Fleet positioned there as well.
The new Harbor in Kwangsi would also have a signifigant Naval presence, with Yamamoto keeping the largest Fleet in Home waters.

The USN, Commanded by Trout, would launch their Biggest BB ever in Early 1940. The USS Iowa. Her sistership, USS Missourri would soon follow.
The Philippines would be fortified.
In Early 1941, two more Battleships would deploy, although not of the massive size of the Iowa class, they would strengthen both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets.

The UK, under orders from Pizza, upgrade the S African Fctry to Hvy Ind and begin to plant Landmines along the India/Burma border.
A monster attack by the Royal Navy and Air Force, sink a large part of the Regia Marina, despite a full scramble by Italian and German Air.

Late 1940 and the UK launches a CV loaded with SeaFires. India continues to produce LMs.
Italian units are defeated in Kenya, and the last of their Navy is sunk in 95 SZ

Early 1941 and not to be outdone by the colonists in America, a BB launches into Canadian waters to join the Aircraft Carrier there.
No combat takes place.
A steady stream of Tanks are now flowing out of the S African Fctry.
Egypt faces strong Axis forces in Alexandria.

Edit 2-11-25

Italy would sink the UK ships in 97 and finish off Yugoslavia in Early 1940.
Late 1940 Paratroopers would start to deploy and LCV s would begin coming off the production lines.
Greece would be conquered. N African Forces would concentrate in Alexandria.
Early 1941 No combat would take place. The North African Forces would withdraw from Alexandiria to Tobruk.
Paras and LCVs would stage in Greece and the Med would be free of Allied Ships.

ANZAC pretty much just chills, although Britain would take Custodianship of Celebes. ANZAC would take care of Java though and heavily fortify it.
A Carrier Group would form off New South Wales in Early 41.

Early 1940 and the Free French Fleet in Toulon attacks the Italians in 95. They are soundly defeated.
They just chill for the next year trying to help fortify British positions.

End Early 1941

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Income

Axis 146
Allies 185

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Edit 2-12-25

Late 1941 and Germany attacks the Soviet Union. A large Air and amphibous attack, including Paratroopers, strikes Caucasus. The Soviets would fight heroically and despite all defenders being slain, they would maintain control of the vital Territory. Stalin would award the defenders “Hero of the Soviet Union”. Unfortunately for them, posthumously.
The GIB Naval Base is destroyed and the Kriegsmarine sails to 112.
Italian North African units receive minor reinforcements via Air Trprt.

German attacks occur all along the Eastern Front in early 42. The Wehrmacht concentrates in Novgorod led by Army Group North. U-boats and Luftwaffe units sink the British Med Fleet in 98.

Late 42 sees minor combat in Archangel. AG North withdraws form Novgorod to Poland and reforms as AG Center due to a massive buildup of Soviet Force in Belarus.
North African forces are withdrawn, sans an AA unit. American Naval units enter the Med.
4th Waffen forms in W GER.

In early 1941 the Soviets were attacked by Italian fascists. Stalin orders the formation of 9 Guard units in late 1941. A German Fallschirmjager unit in Rostov is destroyed. The Red Army concentrates in Bryansk. Cacusus is reinforced from Volgograd.

Early 1942 and full Conscription takes place. Multiple counterattacks occur, primarily to the South. The main Red Army force has now moved to Belarus.

Late 1942 and the Soviets have suffered a Sneak Attack by Japan during early 1941, with Central Asia and the Soviet Far East losing large amounts of territory.
The Moscow Fctry is moved underground and Mass Tanks begin to roll off the assembly lines.
Major combat takes place all along the Eastern European Front. Novgorod is liberated, as well as Caucasus, which was taken by Italy six months earlier.
The Far East is using a strategy of trading space for time, with no combat occurring.
1st Tank forms in Moscow in attempt to begin repelling the Japanese invaders.

Japan begins late 1941 by investing heavily into their Army. China is completely subjugated. The Navy remains in Home waters, as well as continuing it’s large presence in 36 SZ.

In early 1942, the mighty Yamato would be launched. Major fortification of Caroline Islands would take place.
Tojo would convince both the the Army and a more reluctant Navy, that the time to strike the Soviets was now. Framing it as a preemptive defensive strike, Hirohito would agree.
However, he wasn’t done and using his Powers of persuasion, urged war against the Western Powers as well. His view would prevail. The world was now at war.

Massive attacks in to a lightly defended Soviet Union would all succeed. The Navy’s success would be just as great, with the Philippines, Borneo and Singapore all falling.
Th e Army would also take Hong Kong, Burma and Shan State.

Late 1942 and IJA would again take large swaths of undefended Soviet territory. Including the prized Tank factory, Tankograd.
A heavily escorted Bombing run on India would have disappointing results. One Bmbr would be shot down and the raid would do limited damage.

The IJN would take Celebes, DNG and a minor attack by a DD would take the Northern TTy of Austrailia.
A Fctry would be constructed in FIC and the Army would deploy mechanized units to their mainland China factories.

Late 1941 for the Americans would see them continue to build their Navy, launching two new Battleships. GIB would be liberated.
The Pacific Fleet would remain in Pearl Harbor and they would persuade Brazil to join the Allied cause.

Early 1942 and the US, stunned by the cowardly Japanese sneak attack, would conduct no combat. The Atlantic Fleet would sail to 91 off GIB, while a strong Task Force would enter the Med denying Italy an important Objective.

Late 42 and the Islands of Sicily and Sardina would be taken, with the USN now having a large presence in the Med.
The PHI would be lost and the Pearl Fleet would sail to Queensland.

Edit 2-15-25
Late 1941 and Britain continues to launch ships off Nova Scotia. The Army deploys additional units in Africa and India.
They move into Alexandria in force. The Canadian Fleet joins the Americans off Gibralter.

Early 1942 construction begins on a new GIB Harbor. The North African Army continues to drive the Axis Forces west as they take Tobruk.
A CV with 2 Seafires deploy into Canadian waters.

The London Fctry would be moved underground in late 1942. They would continue the back and forth with the Japanese in Burma. The Italian Army would finally be caught in Libya and soundly defeated.

Italia would conduct a Paratrooper, Amphibous attack against Caucasus in late 1941, supported by their Bmbr. While the Soviets would put up another Heroic defense, they would be defeated with a single Artillery unit taking control.

After a successful Russian counterattack in early 1942, the Italians would once again take control of Caucasus with another Amphib attack.
A FlakTower would be constructed in late 1942 in Rome after the Americans conquest of both Sardinia and Sicily. The African Army would be destroyed in Libya.

ANZAC would conduct no combats in late 1941. A Battleship would launch from New South Wales.
Early 1942 a CV would join the Fleet making it a fairly formidable force. The lack of attractive targets would prevent any combat.

France would continue to chill, garrisoning numerous TTys in North Africa. Their Ftr squadron would remain in England.

End Late 1942

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Income
Axis 180
Allies 196

Screenshot from 2025-02-15 14-40-04.png

I refer you to my comments on the linked post.

The OP said it - virtually all adjacent industrialised areas were linked by rail. In the game, only a few routes over mountains and through jungle would not have such connections.

So the only use for markers I can see is for damaged links via interdiction i.e. bombing. Otherwise assume all tts are connected by rail. I never really understood the implication in the original game design that soldiers marched to the battle zones and that tanks drove there.

Generally I favour unlimited non-combat rail movement between friendly tts. It’s much simpler and doesn’t need counters or record keeping. One dynamic it changes is the relative value of armour, since this now travels at the same rate as infantry - the speed of the trains carrying them.

The other main counter argument is the relative movement of ships and aircraft. If a turn allow a train to rail artillery from Berlin to Moscow, how far should a ship be permitted to travel in the same turn? Should ships have any limit on their movement range? My solution is that every ship must demonstrate that it passes from, through or to a friendly port to refuel every turn. What’s to stop Japan loading up 10 transports and dropping them off in California? Why, the US Navy of course. The same thing can be applied to aircraft; rather than a maximum range peer turn, they must demonstrate fuel stops at set intervals on a turn. These idea also require more rules regarding enemy interception, radar range and so forth.

In general these rules mean many more units getting into battle per round. There is much less of units stalling in “mid move”, something that virtually ruined 1914 for the Central Powers until the revised rules came along.

So where we at on these markers?

[u][b]Rail Station:[/b][/u]

Cost: 12-15 Attack: - Defense: - Move: -

These can only be build in controlled areas that contain a factory and only one per territory. If placed in an area that contains a major factory they can move 10 units, and 3 if placed in a minor factory, and they must start from Rail Station. If the factory is damaged the  rail movement is equal to placement value.

Rail Stations have a fixed AA defense of 1 roll like AB or NB.

In order to move units you must also build Rail Markers to indicate direction of travel.

[u][b]Rail Markers:[/b][/u]

These markers cost 6 IPC each and allow land units to move from rail station along whatever path of Rail Markers have been built. They can be damaged by SBR up to six points. the first points reduce the number of land units that may move to a total of 6. ( if the Rail Station starts with a major factory you may still move 4 units) The distance is unlimited as long as you built a connected line of Rail Markers. Rail markers have no fixed AA gun defense. If the enemy captures the area where a Rail Marker is present, it is destroyed.