KISS AA50 Technologies Balanced (yet close to OOB)

@Mr-Kell Ah yes they do but you can’t get the infantry to Paris before Germany can but you can get the fighter so that adds on defense. If you pay attention to what I set up, it’s still pretty damn favorable for Germany, it just has to bring in the airforce to make it a victory.

Let`s say a word or two about Axis bid strategy in the Balanced mode version of A&A Global.

Usually, players bid for Axis, so well stick to them first. Which nation is the best for giving bid to it? Which are the best bids for each nation? Lets see…

I) Germany

Definitely the best option for the Axis bid. It plays first, it has numerous attack options on it`s first turn, and it has to defend against UK ships and air early on.

What are the best bid options for Germany?

1) A sub (or two)

A sub is the best bid for Germany. Germany faces 5 UK navies that can be striked on G1. Having an extra sub (or two) really helps, especially since 2/5 of that navies do not have a destroyer with them.

2) Land unit/s for striking France

An infantry or artillery in Holland Belgium and/or Western Germany, a mechanised infantry or tank in Germany and/or Greater Southern Germany can really help while attacking Paris on G1.

3) Land unit/s for attacking Russia

If Germany goes after Russia on G1, it is good to have an infantry or artillery in Poland/Slovakia Hungary/Romania.
A mechanised infantry or tank in Germany or Greater Southern Germany can be of help too.
Also an AA gun in Romania would be of help to move it to newly conquered Bessarabia.

II Italy

The next Axis power to which is good to give bid to it is Italy. Why Italy? Because it faces severe threats on land, air and sea from UK eary on. Also, Italy needs more transports and sea units to strike at UK faster and stronger. Let`s see what the best bid(s) for Italy would be…

1) 2 marines

A very good bid that helps Italy to strike Gibraltar, Malta, Crete, Cyprus early on. It also can be used for striking and/or taking (depends on Vichy) territories of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Syria. It gives wideness to the Italy early on.

2) 1 transport, 1 infantry

A similar bid that helps Italy to strike strong early on with more land troops.

3) 1 submarine or 1 destroyer

A ship more can aid in the defense of sz 97 that is sometimes attacked by UK on UK1. It can also help in later Italian moves, both for attacking and defending purposes.

4) Land units to North Africa

An infantry or artillery to Tobruk and/or mechanised infantry or tank to Libya can help a lot to strike Britain strong early on. The unit in Tobruk can also help to defend Tobruk on UK1. That seen, it is a good idea to put an AA gun there, to help defend on UK1, and in later turns, since UK has a powerfull RAF group near.

5) 1 fighter

A decent help from the air in attacking & defending against UK in the Med.

III) Japan

Japan is the last Axis nation that U will be bidding with. But, still it also can benefit from the bid. Japan does not need air units. It does not need more sea units too.

It needs more land units to strike China stronger. So, the bids would be:

1) An infantry or artillery

Put it to Kwangsi and/or Kiangsi to strike Yunnan and Hunan more stronger.

2) A mechanised infantry or tank

Put it to Kiangsu to strike Yunnan and Hunan more stronger.

3) An AA gun

Best to put is to Kwangsi and/or Kiangsu to move it to Yunnan and Hunan and prevent Chinese to take those territories (easily).
It can also be put to Jehol to move to Chahar for the same purposes.

“House Rules” changes or additions to Axis & Allies: 1914

To better balance play between the Allies and the Central Powers,  to improve historical accuracy, and to add a new Irish rebellion option. This is how I will play A&A 1914 henceforth, chez moi.

Germany Set Up
Add a German Cruiser and Transport to Sea Zone 24 and a German Cruiser in Sea Zone 26.

The Germans had a respectable navy operating in the South Atlantic and in the Pacific in 1914 and there were running sea battles between German and British flotillas during this time in these regions.  The game should reflect this, and it also adds a necessary element of tension in what is otherwise a complete sideshow (Africa) where the UK and France are not challenged at all.

Movement: ENTRAIN
Once a turn, before resolving combat, a player may move any number of pieces from one single space directly along a path of contiguous spaces to his capital, as long as the capital is uncontested and the route is not blocked by hostile or contested territory.  Any sea spaces involved also must be free of all enemy naval units and also contain at least one friendly Transport ship.  This movement must end in the capital; units may not stop elsewhere en route.

This reflects nations’ abilities to transfer troops rapidly along a rail system from front to front, as happened regularly during the war, particularly for the Germans for their big 1918 offensive after their Eastern Front stabilized; the current game, with its slow movement rates, makes this impossible.

Submarine Sneak Attack
Submarines always have a “first shot” ability when attacking or defending and then the option to submerge after any round of combat.  Submarines as defenders only hit on a roll of 1.  Hits by submarines are inflicted before returning fire.  Submarine versus submarine combat is considered simultaneous, as per normal combat.

Similar concept to “regular” A&A (WWII).  I don’t know why the 1914 game doesn’t allow for “sneak attacks.”  It was even harder to detect or avoid enemy subs in WWI than WWII.  And Germany badly needs this equalizer.

Swiss Mobilization
If  Switzerland’s neutrality is violated, it mobilizes 6 units (1 artillery and 5 infantry) hostile to the invaders.  Switzerland’s IPC value remains at 1.

Switzerland preserved its neutrality through two world wars by deterring attackers who would have faced a nation fully in arms and prepared to resist from many mountain strongholds and fortresses.  The Swiss should be much harder to subdue than this game provides and a special rule is in order, especially given the game board’s layout that makes Switzerland an overly tempting target out of proportion to to geography.

Russian Revolution
The Russian revolution rule is always in effect, not merely an optional rule. If the Revolution occurs, Russian IPCs are returned to the bank, not awarded to a player, but the Central Powers DO get credit for “capturing” a capital (Moscow).

The Revolution knocks Russia out of the war and it’s silly to punish the Central Powers by denying them credit for this.

Revolt in Ireland
No non-British Allied land or air units are permitted in Ireland. The German player may invest a total of 3 IPCs during each Purchase Units phase in hopes of fomenting an Irish rebellion – similar to the technology tables in early edition A&A, 3 IPCs spent buys ONE immediate die roll THAT TURN only (i.e., the spent IPCs are not retained or carried over to succeeding turns).  Having any German ship adjacent to Ireland at this time provides a +1 to the die roll for this check. If a modified roll of 6 is rolled on a die, Irish nationalist republicans revolt.  Irish rebellion is also automatically triggered by any German land unit present in Ireland at the end of a German turn.+

If Ireland rebels, immediately place two infantry figures in Ireland under the control of the German player; these represent Irish rebel forces hostile to Great Britain.  If Great Britain loses control of Ireland or Ireland is contested, at the start of each British player Purchase Units phase the British player forfeits as many IPCs as there are enemy units in Ireland directly to the German player, up to a maximum of 8.  If Great Britain loses control of Ireland and Ireland is not contested Ireland becomes controlled by Germany and Germany receives its IPC value. At the start of each German turn that Ireland is controlled by Germany or contested, another Irish rebel infantry figure is placed in Ireland, up to a maximum of four rebel infantry units. Only infantry units are raised as Irish rebel units but there is no limit to other nation’s units that can be moved to Ireland.  Irish rebel units may not leave Ireland. Ireland will only revolt once in a game.

This rule simulates the complicated political situation existing in Ireland during WWI and the historical “Easter Uprising” of 1916. Because German submarines were often used to smuggle weapons and personnel to Ireland during this time, and German invasion prospects encouraged the Fenians,  the presence of German naval units increases the chances of rebellion.  The USA and France traditionally sympathized with Irish republicanism and their governments were not likely to agree to their militaries forsaking the war against Germany to suppress Irish nationalism.

IDK if even 1 IPC bonus per working Convoy SZ can remain manageable.
US 9, UK 8, Japan 7, Germany 2, URSS 1.

Well, there’s no reason we can’t decrease the number of convoy zones. The point should be to simulate a few of the most important, most vulnerable commerce lanes, not to put a convoy box in every single sea zone that saw merchant traffic. Just off the cuff, here’s another possible distribution of convoy zones for 1942.2:

USSR: Archangel, Soviet Far East
Germany: Baltic, Central Med
UK: English Channel, Central Atlantic, Eastern Med, Persian Gulf, Cape of Good Hope
Japan: Tokyo Bay, South China Sea, Java Sea, Coral Sea, Leyte Gulf
USA: Solomon Islands, Pearl Harbor, Caribbean, New York, Brazil

That should produce a less crazy income swing. If you think that’s still too much, you can relocate income from land territories to adjacent sea zones, instead of adding fresh income. E.g., Borneo drops from 4 IPCs to 3 IPCs, but the Borneo Sea Zone is now worth +1 IPCs if its convoy is undamaged.

@Frederick:

Hi Ryuzaki_Lawliet, you could….

A. add more inf to Russia.

B. add to the German navy in some areas.

Those are some thoughts I have right now.

I’ll probably do this. Give me about a week to try and mess with the default setup.

Maybe 4 or 6 more submarines should be good for Germany, with a Transport and Cruiser near Africa to provide more options for their stuff there. No starting US units save for 1 Infantry. Maybe.

its another house rule that I had dug up in another forum that allows artillery to “shell” or bombard an adjacent territory for 1 ipc per shot

@Imperious:

The OOB rules for AAE describe fighter escorts and defense.

Jet fighters is another matter altogether, not in AAE

I was talking ONLY about how it was done in that game, while ADDING the part of jet fighters so they have an advantage by a factor of 1 in both cases.

uh yeah but your post actually referenced rocket attacks which do not appear in AAE, verbatim or otherwise, hence my confusion

@Imperious:

But fighters defending in the target of a rocket attack, could be given a roll of 2 or less for each plane. That could make sence.

NUCLEAR BOMB

A Nuclear Bomb is the only technology that can be targeted.  In order to research nuclear bombs, you must buy research dice, as opposed to tokens.  You buy dice in pairs, costing 10 IPCs per pair of dice.  You roll each pair of dice separately.  If you roll a 3 or less, you succeed.  Only one Nuclear Strike may be performed per tern.  There are three types of nuclear attacks that can be conducted:

Strategic Nuclear Strike

This attack is carried out on Industrial Complexes, and requires either Rockets or High Altitude Bombers [see my 3rd breakthrough chart].  These attacks follow the same rules for rocket attacks and strategic bombing runs, however, a successful strike results in the total destruction of the Industrial Complex, and the Industrial Complex is removed from the territory.  A new Industrial Complex may be built.  Only one bomber at a time may conduct a Strategic Nuclear Strike, and is immune to AA Gun fire.  It may be accompanied by escorts and intercepted.  An intercepted bomber that is destroyed does not trigger a Nuclear detonation.

Tactical Nuclear Strike
A tactical Nuclear strike is similar to a Strategic Nuclear Bombing Run in that it is done during the opening fire stage of combat, yet it is done against units as opposed to Industrial Complexes.  Only one bomber may perform a Tactical Nuclear Strike per turn.  One d6 is rolled.  The number on the die is the number of hits scored.  (example, a roll of 5 removes 5 enemy units from play).  Rockets may not conduct a Tactical Nuclear Strike.

Armageddon Nuclear Strike
This is a special attack that involves turning an entire territory into an impassable Nuclear Wasteland, and requires both Heavy Bombers and High Altitude Bombers.  A set number of bombers is required to perform this strike.  The total number of bombers in an Armageddon Strike Force must be equal to the IPC value of the territory to be nuked.  (for example, nuking Central United States requires 6 bombers).  If a bomber is shot down before it can drop its payload, the mission cannot be carried out and must be aborted, and no nukes are dropped.  When a successful Armageddon Strike is completed, remove all pieces from that territory, and place an upside-down control marker on it.  That territory is now considered impassable, and no income can be collected from it by any player.  This strike may not be done on territories with Victory Cities.  An island territory with no IPC value does not require Heavy Bombers to turn into a wasteland.