@Cmdr:
@JimmyHat:
Another major issue with mandating the tech, is little powers will have little chance to get techs, while US and Germany will be getting most of them. This is going to make playing ANZAC far less fun than Germany, and remember this is a multi-player game not 1v1.
Well, almost anyone should have a chance at free tech, and they can buy tech if they save up for 1 or 2 rounds (to get 4 dice at 8 IPC, ANZAC shouldnt need more than 2 rounds to get enough cash, neither should India - unless they are trying for it in round 1 and I don’t recommend that.)
I agree, USA, Germany and Japan will get the lion’s share of technologies, but then, Japan and Germany really need them to put the final touches on winning the game, America also could use them to kind of drive the game towards an end.
If anything, the free dice should light a fire under England, India, Australia and Russia to increase the pressure.
If the minor powers save up money to make research rolls, then they are already losing out on boots on the ground…needed to increase their income. The only real fix would be to reduce costs to them, or to make all tech rolls cost money but on a sliding scale based on a countries IPC level. Giving free techs is favoring the larger countries and when its game night everyone is going to want to play those countries.
Remember this is still basically an economics game, All countries should have a ‘fire’ lit under them to increase pressure(ipcs)
But back to my original reason for protesting the mandated tech. When we are playtesting all rules tech is now going to be a major factor, and this variable is going to make playtesting harder. Essentially it will take more tests to reach the same conclusion, no?