Advanced Europe 1941 game

This is where I’m up to so far with the rules regarding the Axis Minor nations:

AXIS MINORS

The Axis Minors represent the nations that were either allied to or directly supported Germany and Italy during the war. These nations are:

Nation   Game Territories

HUNGARY           Hungary
SLOVAKIA        Slovakia
FINLAND         Northern Finland, Central Finland, Southern Finland
ROMANIA       Transylvania, Bessarabia, Ploesti
BULGARIA         Varna, Sofia
VICHY FRANCE Vichy, Toulouse, South Morocco, North Morocco, Oran, Maghreb, Tunis, Gabes

Axis Minor (AM) units cannot be upgraded by technology and cannot share technology with Germany or Italy. All AM unit models have varying levels of tech but they will stay that way for the duration of the game.

If the German player builds an Industrial Complex in any of the territories above, that IC will be considered to belong to the AM nations in whose territory it now sits (i.e. if Germany builds an IC in the territory of Ploesti, then the IC will belong to the AM). Any units produced at an IC in an AM territory will be AM units (use the grey German pieces; not the black ones) and will all be of the ‘Basic’ level technology. These units are placed in exactly the same way as normal.

Germany controls all AM forces during her turn in exactly the same way as her own German forces.  She may move them during the Combat and Non Combat Move phases, just like her own units. Germany may attack an enemy territory or sea zone with a mixture of German and AM units.

AM forces operate in exactly the same way as German units however, there is one exception: AM Infantry cannot be paired one for one with German Artillery. AM Artillery cannot be paired with German Infantry.

I am undecided what to do about the Vichy French fleets that were based in the Med at the time. So far I have not included them but I’m not too sure about what actually happened historically. Did these fleets actively seek out Allied navies and do battle with them? I would certainly appreciate any feedback with this, thank you guys.

Here are my rules for Convoy Zones. They’re pretty much the same as A&A Europe.

CONVOY ZONES

The Axis must capture the Allied Convoy Zones:

If an Axis Warship (not a Transport) moves into a Convoy Zone (CZ) and there are no Allied Warships present in it, then the Axis capture the CZ immediately and deny its IPC value to the Allied power that owns it. Place a ‘X’ marker on the CZ and adjust the IPC chart to show the loss to the power who owns the CZ (either Unit States, United Kingdom or Soviet Union). The Axis now control the CZ. If there is an Allied Warship present then the CZ cannot be captured by the Axis until the Allied Warship has been destroyed in the Combat phase. If the Allied Warship was a Submarine which submerged during combat, then the Axis cannot capture the CZ.

An Axis Warship may move into the CZ, capture it, and then move out of the CZ (providing no Allied Warship was present), all in the Combat Move phase. Even though the Axis Warship is no longer present in the CZ, it is assumed to have done its duty and moved on. It can, however, choose to remain in the CZ if it wishes (even if it had movement remaining). Again, place a ‘X’ marker on the CZ and adjust the IPC chart to show the loss to the Allied power who owns the CZ. The Axis now control the CZ.

The Allies must protect the Allied Convoy Zones from Axis capture:

A Convoy Zone must be cleared of all Axis Warships in order to be operational again. If an Allied Warship moves into an Axis captured CZ, and there is no Axis Warship present, it liberates the CZ. Remove the ‘X’ marker from the CZ and adjust the IPC chart to reflect the gain to the power who owns the CZ (that CZ is now operational again).

If an Allied Warship moves into an Axis captured CZ, and there is an Axis Warship present, then combat will ensue as usual. If there is an Axis Submarine present in the CZ then it may choose to submerge during the Combat phase as per usual, thus ending the battle, unless there is an Allied Destroyer present. If an Axis Submarine submerges during combat, then it is still in the CZ which therefore cannot be liberated until the Submarine either leaves the CZ or is destroyed.

That’s all for now.

Seasons

I’m thinking of adding another level of depth to my game with regard to the seasons of the year. One round of play will last for three months. The game begins June 22nd 1941, so we’ll call the first round of play SPRING 41. The second round will be SUMMER 41, the third round AUTUMN/FALL 41, etc.

Having play tested the game a little, the Germans are usually at the gates of Moscow by WINTER 41 which is cool.  :-) However, what I need are some ideas for varying effects on play that the seasons will cause. All I have come up with so far is:

Winter - Soviet Union Infantry get -1 on all dice rolls for attack and defence in red (original) territories.

Summer - All Infantry (except Italy) get +1 on all dice rolls for attack and defence in all the territories of North Africa, ranging from South Morocco to Suez Delta.

No penalty for Spring. Maybe something that will affect Tanks? Perhaps Air units may suffer some penalty in Winter due to poor visibility… I’m giving this some thought. I would appreciate any ideas guys, thank you.

AIR BASES

Minor Air Base COST: 5 SIZE: 3 UPGRADE COST: 5

Major Air Base  COST: 10 SIZE: 6

Air Bases have two sizes (3 and 6) which represent how many air units can be stationed there. Minor ABs can hold up to 3 air units, and Major ABs can hold up to 6 air units (any mixture of Fighters or Bombers). If an AB is damaged then it can it can hold one less air unit for every Damage counter on it.

Fighters stationed in a territory with an Air Base (AB) may defend in any normal battle or Strategic Bombing Raid (SBR) against all installation types in that territory, as well as in any adjacent territory (one space away). Fighters stationed in a territory without an AB may only defend in any normal battle or SBR (against Naval Bases and Industrial Complexes) in that territory and they may not defend at all in adjacent territories. Bombers stationed in a territory with or without an Air Base may not defend in either that or any adjacent territory, in any way.

Air Bases can be attacked, damaged and even destroyed by enemy Bombers conducting a SBR. Any enemy Bombers that survive defending Anti Aircraft Gun and Fighter fire will then roll for damage. Place Damage counters equal to the total rolled onto the AB. The size of the AB determines how many Damage counters it can receive. If an AB ever receives more Damage Tokens than its size, it is destroyed. For example, a Minor AB has a size of 3 and therefore can receive up to 3 Damage Tokens. If it ever receives 4 or more, it is destroyed. If this happens, remove all the Damage counters from the AB and replace them with a Destroyed counter.

Damaged Air Bases can be repaired during the Purchase New Units phase for the cost of 1 IPC per Damage counter. Pay the desired amount to the bank and remove that number of Damage counters from the AB. Destroyed ABs cannot be repaired; they must be rebuilt and the cost for this is either 5 IPCs for a Minor or 10 IPCs for a Major AB. Remove the Destroyed Token from the map; the AB is now fully functional and undamaged.

Any Bombers stationed in an AB which is under attack by enemy Bombers conducting a SBR against it can be chosen as targets by the enemy when rolling for damage (each Bomber stationed at the AB is counted as 1 damage). For example, an undamaged Major AB, which has 1 Bomber stationed there, is under SBR attack by 2 Bombers. The attacking Bombers survive the defending Anti Aircraft Gun fire and proceed to roll a combined total of 5 points of damage. The attacking player can distribute that 5 damage as they see fit. In this case, they select the Bomber stationed at the AB as 1 point of damage and use the other 4 points to damage the AB itself.

Fighters and Bombers must be assigned to an Air Base in order to conduct attacks during the Combat Move phase. If an air unit is in a territory without an Air Base, then it cannot move during the Combat Move phase. It can still move during the Non Combat Move phase. However, having an air unit stationed in a territory without an Air Base prevents that unit from being hit during enemy SBR and so it may be safer to do this if required.

INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES

Minor IC COST: 8 UPGRADE COST: 7

Can produce: Militia, Infantry, Artillery, Anti Aircraft Guns, Fighters, Transports, Submarines, and Destroyers

Major IC  COST: 15

Can produce: ALL OF THE ABOVE PLUS: Tanks, Bombers, Cruisers, Aircraft Carriers and Battleships

An Industrial Complex (IC) can be built on any territory that your Power has controlled since the start of your turn. Minor ICs may only be built on a territory with a value of 1 IPC or more. Major ICs must be built on a territory with a value of 3 IPC or more. There is a limit of one IC per territory. The cost to upgrade a Minor IC into a Major IC is 7 IPCs.

Newly purchased land and air units must be placed into the territory with the IC. Sea units can only be placed into a sea zone adjacent to the territory with the IC, so long as there is a Naval Base on the territory coastline that touches the sea zone.

For example, the IC in the territory of North Italy is adjacent to two sea zones; SZ 27 and SZ 28. However, as the Naval Base in North Italy is sitting on the coastline that touches SZ 27, newly purchased naval units can only be placed into SZ 27. If the player controlling Italy bought another Naval Base and placed it on the coastline touching SZ 28, then he/she would be able to place new naval units into SZ 28 as well.