New World Order - variant with Revised rules on a new, giant custom map

Has anyone played this NWO scenario using a physical map and pieces, F2F or by email?  Which map(s) would work best with this set-up?

Is the scenario set-up (and/or are the starting assumptions) markedly different from that of the official games?

This map is clearly based on post 1945 boundaries, which grates with a 1939 scenario. Particularly noticable with Poland & Yugoslavia, but also Bessarabia/Moldova should have a Black Sea coastline.

If you want to do a game based on WWII start with map of Europe from 1939, not 1945.

In 1939 USSR was more in the Axis than the Allies.

Off topic but these stats in the screen shots would do quite well for D6 stats when using HBG custom units. Many have posted various rules for D6 stats with limited success.  However these stats may be more accepted with precedence and provenance from tripleA.

Thanks, Veqyrn.  :evil:

@Flashman:

This map is clearly based on post 1945 boundaries, which grates with a 1939 scenario. Particularly noticable with Poland & Yugoslavia, but also Bessarabia/Moldova should have a Black Sea coastline.

If you want to do a game based on WWII start with map of Europe from 1939, not 1945.

In 1939 USSR was more in the Axis than the Allies.

I don’t know my WWII or European history that well, but thanks for the advise.  Are there any good WWII A&A Europe maps out there with a 1939 point of view that would be good fits for this set up?  Would any of IL’s wonderful maps fill that bill?

Thanks!

yes look up my global 1939 game which came out before global 40

here:

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=18439.0

Thanks IL!  I was sort of wondering about using that one, or one similar to that one, for this variant.

@ErnieBommel:

Replay value and balance had precedence over historical accuracy in NWO. A truly historical setup on this level of abstraction is doomed to lead to one-dimensional gameplay. The map is an hommage to the charms of the Larry Harris A&A game mechanics, not a history simulator.

options
means
variation
means
high replay value
means
increasing depth of strategical challenge within the community
means
unlimited challenge and fun

Too many games today leave the player with the disappointing discovery, that while seemingly full of choices, the game boils down to one simple optimal approach.

In NWO, there is a multitude of interconnected hotspots, each with a fine balance of its own. There is no optimal trajectory solving the game for you. If you let your concentration slip in one theater of war for a turn only, if your opponent anticipates your subconscious wishes better then you do his, he will exploit that and win. Still, the map allows for a relatively intuitive gameplay for beginners.

A hidden plus of NWO is that it inherently attracts a pleasant and mature selection of skilled players.

Thx to Veq for the post and call me me shameless ; )
ErnieBommel (retired)

As someone who’s played a number of NWO games, I want to voice my agreement with every positive thing that’s been written about this map.

Maybe there are those here who have played Risk. Then at some point, you went from Risk to Classic or Revised. And realized you could never go back. Once you go from Classic or Revised to this map, you will experience exactly that same reaction.

I’ve played this map at least 40 times, and I cannot recall any two games being the same. Very high replay value. Also, this map’s element of pure strategy (as opposed to tactics) is very strong. Every major nation except the United States will generally find itself fighting on at least two fronts; sometimes more. “What are my objectives for this front?” you need to ask. “Am I trying to create a static situation; or do I want to advance? What’s the best way of spending as little as possible on my static fronts, so that I can get away with spending as much as possible on the fronts where I’m supposed to be advancing? How can I force my opponents to spend as much as possible on their defensive fronts; so as to distract them from their offensive fronts?”

One example of this kind of thinking is the naval situation in the Eastern Mediterranean. Britain has several options.

1. Build no new naval units there. This saves money; allowing it to throw more money against Germany. The more money Britain throws at Germany, the more Germany gets distracted from conquering Russia.
   2a) Build a comparatively immobile defensive fleet. This fleet will have a mix of British and Colonial French ships. It will also contain lots of torpedo boats (the perfect naval cannon fodder unit). Torpedo boats can only move one space a turn; making it very difficult to shuttle the fleet back and forth between Cairo and the Aegean. The need to continuously add to the fleet each turn means that your fleet will probably be anchored to one particular sea zone the rest of the game.
   2b) Build a mobile defensive fleet. Same as 2a), except without the torpedo boats. This gives you more flexibility; but it’s a somewhat more expensive option than 2a).
2. Build an offensive fleet intended to threaten Italy’s Eastern Mediterranean fleet. This is your most expensive option. It also forces Italy to spend a lot on naval units to counter your spending. This could represent the eastern half of a Kill Italy First strategy. (With an American invasion of Spain and American naval supremacy in the West Mediterranean representing the western half.) The problem with spending this much money against Italy is that Germany will be relatively free to go after Moscow. But in this map, Rome and Moscow are of roughly equal importance. If they both fall at about the same time, the game will continue. That’s when things really get interesting! :)

Following up on an old topic, are the initial setups for this A&AR variant written down or posted anywhere accessible?  I don’t have the TrippleA app, so I can’t just look it up on the NWO map.

http://www.triplea-game.org

The best solution to the problem is to download TripleA. The above link will let you do exactly that. Not only will this engine allow you to play Larry Harris maps, it also allows you to play a good selection of player-created maps. Some of them are significantly better than any of Larry’s maps, at least to me. (Including New World Order, Rising Sun, and Domination 1914 No Man’s Land.)