My take on technology house rules for 1940

After reading some threads on this board I can see that some people are opposed to the idea of technological research, others dislike the randomness of it. However when I first got A&A Pacific 1940 I was dissapointed to find that there was no technological research. I also enjoy the randomness of it because it may cause players to adapt their strategies based on the advantages they have available, instead of always going for the exact same technology and playing the exact same way.

To the end of reintroducing what I find to be a very enjoyable aspect of the game I have created the following house rules for technology. My guiding principles were a) Is this historically plausible and realistic, b) does it add value and enjoyment to the game, and c) is it balanced and useful in comparison with the technologies originally included in the game. However they have not been thoroughly play-tested, so please feel free to give me your input, suggestions, or most especially play-testing results if you chose to use these rules.

Thanks, and happy strategizing.

[Edit] Deleted to save space. See below for my latest version of these rules.

@Emperor_Taiki:

This looks pretty good. Assault rifles being that powerful is a bit of a stretch. I would take a garand or a lee-enfield into battle over a sturmgewehr any day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV5pSUlBz18&feature=related

Code breakers is cool, i dont really think it does well as a tech though, do you think you could introduce stuff like code breaking and commandos into the game some other way besides tech? Like have espionage rules. Because once the enemy realizes you have broken there code there should be someway for them to get a new one.

Thanks for the input. I tried to balance the seemingly overpowered effect of giving infantry an extra attack point by making it for the first turn only, but then that led me to question giving other units a permanent stat boost either so I applied the same system to most of the other +1 attack/defense techs, with the exception of submarines, which I don’t think are usually all that numerous or overly powerful in most games, especially since the introduction of destroyers. Giving jet fighters a permanent 4/4 or heavy tanks a permanent 3/4 or 4/3 for example just seemed like too much. But maybe that would be fine with the exception of the infantry, because infantry usually are far too numerous and inexpensive in the game to go giving them a permanent 50% increase in effectiveness on the attack. What are other people’s thoughts on this? Permanent boosts vs first turn only.

As for espionage rules, you’re right that maybe that would work better, but I’d rather not introduce a whole nother level of complexity to the game. I thought that using the already long established research structure to introduce it was a good compromise. Also just becaause you break a code doesn’t mean the enemy will necessary realize it. The germans never figured out that their enigma code had been broken. they just kept wondering how they had such incredible bad luck, or that the allies somehow managed to be everywhere at once.

Now that I’ve received my copy of A&A Europe 1940 I have a new version of my technology rules that I believe will work well in the Global, or individual 1940 games. Most of the ideas are my own, with a few things from vanilla rules or borrowed from Imperious Leader’s global 1939 rules.

As before my guiding principles were historical plausibility, playability, and added value, while trying to keep the added complexity to a minimum.

I would love any constructive feedback. Thanks.

Research and Technology

How to Research

A. During the purchase units phase of each turn, you may purchase researcher tokens for 5 IPC’s each.
B. For each token you possess, you may roll a die.
C. If a six is rolled, select one of the 5 research charts and roll a single die.
D. You receive the technological advance that corresponds with the number rolled.
E. You may chose to accept this advancement and discard all your researcher tokens, or you may reject it and retain your tokens until next turn, but no further rolls may be made this turn.
F. You may only receive one technological advance per turn. If you roll a technology you have already researched, roll again.

Land Unit Advancements

1. Advanced Artillery. Each of your artillery units can now provide greater support. One artillery unit can support two infantry or mechanized infantry per attack. Two infantry when coupled with one artillery unit each have an attack value of 2. When defending, if your artillery roll a 1, the enemy must select a non-infantry unit as a casualty if possible.

2. Assault Rifles. Your infantry and mechanized infantry have their attack value increased by 1 for the first round of combat.

3. Combined Arms Training. A mechanized infantry or infantry coupled with a tank may attack at a 2.

4. Heavy Tanks. The attack and defense values of your tanks are now 4 for the first round of combat.

5. Rocket Artillery. The attack and defense values of your artillery are now 3 for the first round of combat.

6. Dual Purpose AAA.  For each enemy tank or mechanized infantry that attacks a province where you have an anti-aircraft gun, you may roll a die, on a roll of 1, that unit is removed as a casualty following the first round of combat.

Air Unit Advancements

1. Jet Fighters. Your fighters now intercept enemy strategic bombing raids on a 3 instead of a 2, protect escorted bombers on a 2 instead of a 1, and may reroll their first die each turn when attacking or defending against enemy air units.

2. Long-Range Aircraft. All your aircraft have their range increase by 1.

3. Heavy Bombers. Your bombers may reroll their first die each turn when attacking enemy land or naval units. When conducting a strategic bombing attack they may roll 2 dice and select the higher.

4. Air to Surface Rockets. Your fighters and tactical bombers may reroll their first die each turn when attacking or defending against enemy land or sea units.

5. Forward Air Controllers. When your Tactical Bombers are in combat in a province that contains at least one friendly ground unit, they may make targeted attacks against enemy ground units.

6. Airborne Infantry. During your combat move phase, for each operational airbase you control, you may move up to 2 infantry from that zone up to 3 spaces to an enemy controlled territory. They must stop at the first enemy territory they pass over. If the territory contains an enemy anti-aircraft gun, the airborne infantry are subject to AA attacks as normal.

Sea Unit Advancements

1. Improved Torpedoes. The attack value of your submarines is now 3 instead of 2.

2. Stealthy Submarines.  Your submarines retain all their special abilities, regardless of the presence of enemy destroyers.

3. Angled Flight Decks. Your aircraft carriers may now carry up to 3 fighters or tactical bombers, and may still launch and recover up to two after being damaged but not destroyed.

4. Naval Radar. At the start of combat, after any pre-emptive attacks, but before any other combat dice are rolled, your ships may attempt to retreat to an adjacent sea zone. Roll a die, on a 1 or 2 you are successful, on a 3+, you fail and combat proceeds as normal.

5. Super Heavy Battleships. Your battleships can now suffer 3 hits before being destroyed. After the 2nd hit, they are reduced to an attack and defense value of 2 until repaired.

6. Advanced Sonar. If your enemy possesses the Stealth Submarines technology, your destroyers cancel the effect of that technology (Restoring the status-quo). Otherwise, your destroyers may make a pre-emptive attack against enemy submarines with an attack value of 2 prior to the first round of naval combat each turn. Only submarines may be taken as casualties from this attack. Thereafter, your destroyers may reroll their first combat die when attacking or defending against submarines.

Strategic Advancements

1. Radar. Your antiaircraft gun fire now hits on a 1 or 2 instead of just a 1.

2. Strategic Rockets. Your antiaircraft guns are now rocket launchers. In addition to its normal combat function, during the strategic bombing raid step of your Conduct Combat phase each turn, each of your antiaircraft guns can make a single rocket attack against an enemy industrial complex within 3 spaces of it. This attack does 1d6 damage to that complex. Any target may only be attacked once in this manner.

3. Code Breakers. Once per round, after an opponent declares an attack on a territory or sea zone you occupy, but before any combat dice are rolled, you may roll one die. You may then move that many of your units into or out of the territory under attack. The units moved must have normally been able to make such a move without passing through any hostile zones. Air units moved in this manner must reserve enough movement points to be able to land at a friendly territory or aircraft carrier as normal at the conclusion of combat. (You may assume that all territories that are currently friendly will still be so at the end of the turn.)

4. Commandos/Partisans. Once per turn during your combat move phase, you may place a free infantry unit in a territory that is occupied by an enemy, but is not one of their national provinces. This special commando unit conducts a surprise attack which gives them an attack value of 2 for the first round of combat. Afterwards it is treated as normal infantry unit for all purposes and may retreat to an adjacent friendly space. The territory chosen must be: One of your national provinces, OR a coastal province or island, OR adjacent to a province you control, OR within 3 spaces of an airbase you control.

5. Patriotic Fervor. During general combat in your national provinces, you may disregard the first casualty inflicted on your forces.

6. The Bomb. Once per turn you may purchase one nuclear bomb for 15 IPC’s. The bomb must be deployed at a major industrial complex you control, connected by friendly land zones to your capital. It may move 2 zones over land per turn, or be loaded aboard a transport ship or bomber aircraft and carried with that unit during the non-combat move phase. In order to be used, the bomb must be loaded onto one of your bombers at an operable airfield. The bomber may then launch a strategic attack against an enemy territory as normal, but with the following exceptions. No other bombers may be part of this raid, but any number of fighters may escort it. If the bomber is not shot down, it will roll 4 dice instead of the usual 1 against its strategic target. In addition, roll one die, the opponent must then remove that many units from the target territory. Also, during that player’s next turn, they will not collect any IPC’s for the territory that has been hit by the bomb. The bomb may never be dropped on a territory containing friendly land or sea units. If a land territory where an un-deployed bomb is present is captured by an enemy player, that player takes possession of the bomb. If an aircraft or transport carrying the bomb is destroyed, it is also destroyed.

Home Front Advancements

1. Increased Factory Production. Each of your major industrial complexes can now produce two additional units beyond its normal value, and your minor industrial complexes an additional one. For example, an undamaged major industrial complex can now produce 12 units or a major industrial complex with 10 points of damage may still produce 2 units. Also, when repairing a damaged industrial complex (removing damage markers), you can remove two damage markers at a time for the cost of 1 IPC (half price).

2. War Bonds. During your Collect Income phase, roll 1d6 and collect that many additional IPCs.

3. Improved Shipyards. Your sea units are now cheaper to build. Use these revised costs:
   Battleship 17
   Aircraft Carrier 14
   Cruiser 10
   Destroyer 7
   Transport 6
   Submarine 5

4. Improved Aircraft Assembly. Your air units are now cheaper to build. Use these revised costs:
   Fighter 9
   Tactical Bomber 10
   Bomber 11

5. Underground Factories. When one of your industrial complexes, air bases, or naval bases is subject to a strategic attack, it receives only half the amount of damage rolled, rounded down.

6. Mass Production. When you purchase two non-infantry land units of the same type during the same turn, reduce the IC cost of the 2nd unit by 1.

Now with historical narrative, for those history nerds like me that care about such things.

Land Unit Advancements

1. Advanced Artillery.
   A nearly universally battlefield maxim, held since the turn of the century, is that infantry should advance only after an extensive artillery bombardment has been used to soften up the defenders. New tactics for the employment of artillery such as rolling barrages and blocking fire to the flanks of an advancing unit as well as improvements in optics, ergonomics, mobility, crew training, radio communication with forward observers, and even rudimentary ballistic computers allow artillery to be more accurate and provide greater support to advancing infantry than their Great War counterparts.

2. Automatic Rifles.
   Portable fully automatic weapons such as the BAR, Bren Gun, PPsH-41, and StG-44, provide infantry squads with a greatly increased firepower during an attack. Entire Soviet divisions were known to be equipped with the short range but brutally effective PPsH, giving them unmatched close quarters firepower, while the German StG-44 was the world’s first true assault rifle, and is generally thought to be the inspiration for the ubiquitous AK-47.High ammo consumption, increased maintenance requirements, and reduced accuracy and range mitigate their advantage during prolonged static engagements however.

3. Combined Arms Training.
   Infantry and armor, when properly trained and coordinated to work together, make a very effective team. A spearhead of tanks provide the shock and firepower to break through an enemy defensive line and penetrate into vulnerable rear areas, allowing infantry units to rapidly advance behind them and mop up isolated pockets of stunned defenders. Germany used this basic tactic to great effect during their famous Blitzkriegs of 1939-1941. However the Soviet army soon learned this tactic as well, and used it to equal success after regaining the initiative in 1943.

4. Heavy Tanks.
   Throughout the war, each side strove to create tanks with bigger and more powerful guns, which then necessitated the addition of more armor to protect against the increasing size of enemy guns. This led to increasingly powerful and correspondingly heavy tanks throughout the war, particularly on the eastern front. While the firepower and armor of tanks such as the King Tiger made them virtually unbeatable at long range, their lack of mobility made them vulnerable to being flanked, and high fuel requirements combined with mechanical unreliability meant they didn’t have the endurance for extended engagements. More German Heavy tanks were lost due to mechanical breakdowns or abandoned after running out of fuel during the last years of the war than were destroyed by enemy ground fire.

5. Rocket Artillery.
   Rocket artillery such as the Soviet Katyusha and German Nebelwerfer quickly began to supplant conventional artillery in the later years of WWII. These weapons were not necessarily more deadly than a regular artillery gun, but their very rapid initial rate of fire as well as the distinctive shrieking sound of the rockets proved to be exceptionally demoralizing to soldiers on the receiving end of their barrages. These weapons soon earned nicknames among the troops facing them such as Stalin’s Organ, and Screaming Meemie.

6. Dual Purpose AAA.
   During the North African campaign, the German army soon realized that the high velocity and long range of the 88mm FLaK gun made it an exceptional anti-tank weapon. It was often able to knock out entire enemy tank units before they could even get within range to fire. It was easily the most feared weapon of enemy tank and mechanized troops throughout the war. Later variants of the gun were specifically designed to be used in an anti-tank capacity, or even incorporated into armored vehicle chassis.

Air Unit Advancements

1. Jet Fighters.
   The German Me-262 was the world’s first jet aircraft to see combat. While it was not especially agile, and its engines were temperamental, it had a speed advantage of more than 150kph over any allied aircraft, which allowed it to attack virtually with impunity and then escape out of range. When flown by a skilled pilot, the allies were often unable to shoot them down except by attacking them during their approach to land. The USA and England both had prototype jet fighters in the works, but neither reached operation prior to the end of the war.

2. Long-Range Aircraft.
   When fighting an enemy halfway across the globe, the range of aircraft can prove to be a vital factor. A variety of methods may be used to increase the range of aircraft. The Doolittle raiders simply lightened bomb loads and removed defensive machineguns to reduce their weight and increase fuel efficiency. The Japanese designed their aircraft to be light and fuel efficient from the start, but often lacking in armor. The P-51 used droppable fuel tanks under the wings, and other aircraft such as the B-29 simply added bigger fuel tanks and a pressurized cabin so they could fly at higher altitudes where the thinner air means less drag and increased fuel economy.

3. Heavy Bombers.
   The simplest way to inflict more damage on your enemy during a bombing raid is to carry more bombs. This necessitates bigger aircraft with more powerful engines and a considerable industrial base to produce them. German war planners felt that the war would be won by decisive lightning attacks of combined ground and air forces, and so they never developed a heavy bomber aircraft. The prevailing theory in the USA however, was that a war would be won by overwhelming strategic bombing attacks against centers of gravity such as enemy factories and transportation hubs. The UK felt that simply decimating civilian population centers with massive air attacks would undermine the enemy will to fight. These schools of thought produced aircraft such as the B-17 Flying Fortress and the Avro Lancaster, and culminated in the excellent B-29 Super Fortress.

4. Air to Surface Rockets.
   Dive bombing a small moving target such as a tank or a ship with conventional bombs is an exceptionally difficult skill for a pilot to master. The advent of aircraft-mounted armor-piercing rockets which fire straight ahead of an aircraft allowed for a much easier way of attacking individual surface targets. Additionally, these weapons were light enough to be mounted on almost any fighter or tactical bomber aircraft. By the end of the war, all sides were using some variant of these weapons, with the Germans even introducing crude guided bombs and rockets such as the Fritz X and Hs 293.

5. Forward Air Controllers.
   Small targets such as a tank or bunker can be very difficult to locate and distinguish from the air. Forward observers on the ground or in light reconnaissance aircraft equipped with radios that can communicate with tactical bombers can dramatically increase their effectiveness by locating and identifying targets and vectoring aircraft to the exact location. The US and UK both used limited forward air control to direct airstrikes from the North African campaign on, especially from the Normandy campaign until the end of the war.

6. Airborne Infantry.
   The theory of dropping combat units of light infantry behind enemy lines using parachutes or gliders had been around for a number of years, but the German Fallschirmjagers were the first to fully embrace this idea, mounting successful operations in 1939-1941. The allies subsequently rushed to create their own airborne forces, including such famed units as the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions.

Sea Unit Advancements

1. Improved Torpedoes.
   Advances such as quieter electric propulsion that left no telltale trail of bubbles, magnetic proximity detonators, passive sonar homing, and improved warheads lead to torpedoes that were much deadlier than the primitive models used by many nations at the start of the war.

2. Stealthy Submarines.
   Snorkels for diesel engines and improved batteries and electric propulsion systems such as used on the German Type XXI and XXIII U-Boats mean that submarines could stay submerged longer and travel faster while submerged, making it much harder for them to be detected by enemy ships and aircraft. An uncompleted project known as the Walter Propulsion System would have even allowed diesel engines to operate submerged using hydrogen peroxide as a substitute for oxygen.

3. Angled Flight Decks.
   Though not historically put into use until the early 1950’s, angled flight decks allow aircraft carriers to conduct launch and recovery operations simultaneously, and presents much less risk of a landing aircraft crashing into others parked on the flight deck. Many WWII vintage carriers such as the US Essex class were refitted with this type of deck.

4. Naval Radar.
   Though rare at the start of the war, by its conclusion, many ships were equipped with Radar which allowed them to detect approaching enemy aircraft and surface vessels. Armed with this knowledge, a skillful taskforce commander might be able to evade a superior force.

5. Super Heavy Battleships.
   If a 16” gun is good, than an 18” gun is even better. This is the school of thought which dominated pre-war ship design. Larger guns necessitate larger hulls to support them, which in turn requires bigger engines and more armor. Imagined to be virtually invulnerable due to their superior firing range and armor, Super Heavy Battleships would be the ultimate masters of the sea. Though the Japanese Yamato class was the only example of this type actually built, other nations certainly entertained the idea until it became obvious that modern aircraft had rendered the idea of battleship duels obsolete.

6. Advanced Sonar.
   Improvements in active Sonar, Hydrophones, and radio direction finders made it much easier to locate and track enemy submarines by war’s end. These technologies were particularly put to use by the allies to decimate the German U-Boat fleet.

Strategic Advancements

1. Radar.
   Used extensively and to great effect by the British during the Battle of Britain, radar installations allow early detection of incoming aircraft, allowing accurate prediction of numbers, altitude, and direction. Combined with an efficient air defense control structure, it makes it much easier to intercept enemy air raids.

2. Strategic Rockets.
   Rockets that can be launched without aircraft and strike enemy targets hundreds of miles away is a powerful idea. The German V-1 and V-2 rockets were revolutionary weapons that were the precursor to the cold war space and arms race. Their strategic impact on WWII was probably more in the realm of propaganda than anything else, but nevertheless they inflicted significant damage on London throughout the later years of the war.

3. Code Breakers.
   Good intelligence often makes the difference between a victory and a disaster, and being able to intercept and decode your enemy’s radio messages provides a huge advantage in being able to predict and counter their plans. Operation Ultra is the best known, and was a Top Secret effort by the western allies to decode the famous German Enigma code. Its success is regarded as having been a decisive factor in the allied victory in Europe.

4. Commandos/Partisans.
   Small guerilla attacks against important or vulnerable targets behind enemy lines are a tactic that was employed by all sides during the war. Whether conducted by elite commando units such as the British SAS and German Brandenburgers, or ad-hoc groups of resistance fighters as were common throughout most occupied countries during the war, these attacks could be used to throw an enemy off balance or as a distraction to draw away resources from the enemy front lines.

5. Patriotic Fervor.
   Most of the combatants during WWII employed various types of propaganda and appeals to the national pride of their population to convince them to fight “to the last man” in defense of their homelands. While in many cases inhumane and ultimately futile, they were often successful in exhorting soldiers to fight far beyond the point when a reasonable person might have surrendered.

6. The Bomb.
   Early in the war, Germany pursued the idea of using nuclear energy to create a weapon. Fear that Germany would reach the solution first drove the US to commit immense resources to their own “Manhattan Project”. Ironically for both sides, the Germans were never really anywhere as close to success as the Allies feared, and many Jewish scientists that were driven from Europe by the Nazis were instrumental in developing the bomb for the Allies. Although the strategic impact and morality of the Bomb in WWII is debatable, it was undeniably a quantum leap in weapons technology.

Home Front Advancements

1. Increased Factory Production.
   Various measures from streamlined production processes, larger factories, 24/7 operations, strong-arming labor unions, or just programs aimed at improving worker morale were used throughout the war to improve productivity of vital war industries. The most successful were the US, who by war’s end had produced hundreds of tanks and planes for every one built by Germany, and Russia, who’s factories were known to continue to operate as combat raged meters away, while tanks would drive directly off the assembly line and into combat.

2. War Bonds.
   War is expensive business, and whether in the form of a government backed monetary “investment”, propaganda aimed at wringing out more labor and other sacrifices for the “motherland”, or outright “appropriation” of the needed funds and resources, every nation sought the total commitment of their civilian population to the support of the war effort.

3. Improved Shipyards.
   Many methods were used to streamline and speed the construction of warships. Among the most dramatic examples was the American Liberty Ship, which was a class of supply ship whose hull was formed from prefabricated sections which were then welded together rather than riveted. Over 2700 were built by war’s end.

4. Improved Aircraft Assembly.
   Using labor and mass production techniques learned from building automobiles, the US auto industry was very successful in producing aircraft at an unheard of rate. One factory operated by Ford Motor Company produced 650 B-24 Liberator aircraft per month, an average of 1 plane every 54 minutes.

5. Underground Factories.
   Immense underground factories, hardened submarine pens, and bunkered aircraft shelters were built by Germany to protect from increasingly devastating allied Air Raids in the last years of the war. Ultimately though, these measures were too little, too late, to have a real impact on the outcome of the war.

6. Mass Production.
   Henry Ford first introduced the idea of assembly line mass production as a way to cheaply produce huge numbers of vehicles. After the outbreak at war, the American automobile industry quickly applied this expertise to the production of tanks and trucks for the army. The Russians simply relied on their huge pool of available labor and natural resources to churn out vehicles at a rate that Germany couldn’t hope to match.