AA50 National Advantages

Hi, sometime ago I started a deck of National Advantage/Events Cards to play with AA50 so it’s easier to remember what advantages each member has. I’ve used them in my games and so far, they work fine, the game feels a lot more WW2. I redesigned some of the old advantages and added some new ones. What do you think?

The deck has 54 cards, 9 each major power and 3 for Italy, China and 3 optional events/rules for Free French.

Would need some help regarding the card texts and opinions on whether or not some of the advantages should be used.

I use naval and air bases as well as interceptor/escort rules…

U.S. Advantages:

• Marines – Your infantry attacks on a 2 in the first cycle of the land combat portion of an amphibious assault.

• Superfortresses – Your bombers are immune to antiaircraft fire. An enemy antiaircraft gun can roll one die against only each attacking fighter. (If no fighters are in the attacking force, the antiaircraft gun cannot fire). When conducting strategic bombing raids your bombers have a defense value of 1.

• Air Supremacy – After you finish you combat move phase, if no enemy air units are present in a land combat, you may designate a number of fighters to conduct a strategic attack. These units attack in the opening fire step of combat and cannot participate in the remaining land combat. Infantry units cannot be chosen as casualties.

• Mighty Industry – During purchase units phase, each second unit of the same type you order, costs less 2 IPC’s. This advantage does not apply to infantry, industrial complexes, naval and air bases.

• Airborne Rangers – You may designate one bomber to carry one infantry each turn. The bomber and the infantry must embark from the same territory but it must stop in the first hostile territory it enters during a turn and drop off the infantry, ending its combat movement. This infantry has first-strike ability at an increased attack factor of 2 during the first cycle of combat and the bomber may still attack during the Conduct Combat phase, but it cannot make a strategic bombing run in a turn that it transports infantry units. The infantry units may retreat normally to a friendly adjacent space during combat.

• Seabees - Your aircraft may land on islands captured on that same turn. Additionally, naval bases and air bases cost only 8 IPC’s. Repairing these facilities costs 4 IPC’s.

• Escort Cruisers – Your cruisers act as sea AA guns. Before battle roll 1 die if you have at least one cruiser in the hostile sea zone.

• Capital Ships - Your aircraft carriers require 2 hits to destroy: if hit once, turn it on the side to mark its damaged status. If a carrier survives a combat having taken one hit, it can be repaired by a visit to a friendly operative naval base. A damaged aircraft carrier can’t conduct air operations, which means that no air units can take off from or land on it. Any guest units that are on board the damaged carrier as cargo cannot leave attack or defend until the carrier is repaired.

• Dogfighters – Your fighters attack on a 2 and defend on a 3 (3 and 4 respectively if you have Jet Fighters) during escort and interceptor roles only. This advantage is lost if the opponent develops Jet Fighter Technology.

Japan :

• Tokyo Express - Each of your destroyers may act as a transport for one infantry. These destroyers follow the same rules for loading and offloading units as transports do.

• Kamikaze Attacks - Your air units may make a combat move without having to land in a friendly space afterward. You must declare during the combat move phase that an air unit is making a kamikaze attack. Each such air unit attacks during the opening fire step of combat, and only an enemy sea unit can be chosen as a casualty. That air unit automatically becomes an opening fire casualty in addition to any other casualties inflicted in this cycle of combat.

• Kaiten Torpedoes - When you have a defending submarine in a sea zone that borders an orange territory or island group you control, you may designate it as a kaiten torpedo. It defends on a 3 (4 if you have the Super Submarines development). The submarine automatically becomes an opening fire casualty in addition to any other casualties inflicted in this cycle of combat.

• Dug-In Defenders – All your infantry on islands are immune to shore bombardment (you may select infantry as hits but these don’t become shore bombardment casualties) and defend on a 3 in the first cycle of the land combat portion of an amphibious assault.

• Lightning Assaults - Your transports may make more than one amphibious assault per turn: They may move, attack a coastal territory, and then attack a second coastal territory adjacent to the same sea zone. They still must stop their movement in the first hostile sea zone they enter. A transport’s capacity is unchanged; it still cannot load or offload more than one land unit plus one infantry in the turn.

• Most Powerful Battleships – Your battleships are 3 hit units. Ignore the first hit on battleships each turn.

• Ohka Bombs – Your bombers have a special attack during the opening fire step of combat when they participate in a sea battle. For each of these units you roll 1 die and score a hit on a result of 1. The casualty must be an enemy sea unit and is immediately removed from the battle. You may then decide to retreat or maintain the unit for the combat phase.

• Naval Night Fighting - Once per game, after combat movement phase but before conducting combat, you may chose a sea battle to take place at night. During the first round of this sea battle, whether you are attacking or defending, each of your battleships, cruisers and destroyers fire twice (roll two dice) but only assign one hit.

• Shared Technology – Each turn, during your research technology phase, one of your researcher tokens may attempt to develop a German technology. Rolls of 5 or 6 score a breakthrough.

U.K.:

• Joint Strike - Once during the game, on your turn, you may declare a joint strike. You complete your turn as normal, except you skip your combat move and conduct combat phases. (Any of your units may move on your noncombat move phase.) On the U.S.’s turn, the U.S.’s player can move any of your units during his or her combat move phase and conduct combat with them, as if they belonged to the U.S. You and the U.S.’s player must agree on attacking casualties, or the opposing player gets to choose them.

• Enigma Decoded - Once per game, when Germany finishes its combat move phase but before its conduct combat phase, you may make one special move. You may move any number of your units from an adjacent space into any one friendly space being attacked by Germany. Alternatively, you may move any number of your units from a space being attacked by Germany into an adjacent friendly space, but you must leave at least one unit behind. This special move otherwise follows the rules for a noncombat move. If your units survive, they remain in the space to which they were moved.

• Mideast Oil - If an air unit you own lands in Anglo-Egypt, Trans-Jordan, or Persia during your noncombat move phase, it may then move an additional number of spaces equal to its normal movement.

• Flying Boats - Your tactical bombers may attack submarines independently of destroyer presence.

• Fighter Command - Your fighters on the United Kingdom may scramble on adjacent sea zones as though the territory was an island. You still need an airbase on the United Kingdom in order to scramble fighters.

• The Great Liberation - The first time the following territories are captured from the Axis by the Allies, place one UK infantry there: Norway, Northwestern Europe, France, Balkans and Poland. If the UK is the power that captures one of these territories, place another UK infantry there.

• Commonwealth Troops - During your mobilize new units phase, you may place one of your infantry for free in any tan territory with an income value higher than 1 IPC if you control it. If the territory chosen is Eastern Canada or India and Australia you may place one tank or artillery respectively instead.

• Night Bombing Raids - UK bombers may choose to conduct a night bombing raid. The strategic bombing run may not be subjected to the “interceptors” rule but may still be targeted by AA guns as normal. In addition, strategic bombing raids conducted in this way suffer from a -1 penalty to the die roll. This may result in a roll of ‘0’.

• Precision Raids – Each of your tactical bombers roll two dice when performing strategic bombing raids. You may choose the best result.

Germany:

• U-Boat Interdiction - During the collect income phase of the U.K. and U.S. turns, subtract 1 IPC from the collecting power’s national production total for each of your submarines on the game board.

• Atlantic Wall - During any amphibious assault against a gray territory, all your infantry defend on a 3 during the first cycle of combat.

• Panzerblitz - If your attacking forces destroy all defending units in a territory in one cycle of combat, any of your surviving tanks in the attacking forces may move 1 territory during the noncombat move phase.

• Wolf Packs - If at least three of your submarines make a combat move into a single sea zone, they attack on a 3 (4 if you have Super Submarines). They may come from different sea zones, but they must attack the same sea zone.

• Fortress Europe - Your artillery in gray territories defends on a 3.

• Tiger Tanks - Every third tank you have in each combat cycle attack or defend on a 4.

• Advanced Research – You choose a turn to start with 1 researcher token. This turn you may choose only the following technological advances for a scientific breakthrough: Rockets, Jet Fighters, Super Submarines and Radar. When this turn ends, you may keep the researcher token for free and try any scientific breakthrough of your choice.

• Pocket Battleships – Your cruisers attack on a 4 during the first cycle of combat.

• Submarine Pens – Your submarines may submerge, after one cycle of combat, in sea zones with German operational naval bases even with the presence of destroyers or flying boats.

Soviet Union:

• Russian Winter - Once during the game in your collect income phase, you can declare a severe winter. Until the start of your next turn, your infantry defend on a 3 in red territories.

• Mobile Industry - Your industrial complexes each may move 1 territory during your noncombat move phase. They cannot move during the combat move phase. If they are captured by an opponent, that opponent cannot move them.

• Salvage - If you win a combat against attacking tanks in a red territory and at least one attacking tank is destroyed, you may place one free tank in that territory.

• Lend-Lease - During your mobilize new units phase, you can convert U.S. land units, other than infantry, to equivalent Soviet units. The conversion only takes place on Archangel or Karelia S.S.R. and if you control the respective territory. Remove all the affected units from play and replace them with the equivalent Soviet units.

• Trans-Siberian Railway - Your infantry, antiaircraft guns, and artillery may move 2 territories per turn only among these territories: Novosibirsk, Evenki National Okrug, Yakut S.S.R., Stanovoj Chrebet, Buryatia S.S.R. and Russia.

• Katyusha Rockets - Your artillery attacks on a 3 during the first cycle of combat.

• Guard Tank Regiments - One of your tanks in each city (Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad) defend on a 4.

• Great Patriotic War - Once per game you may declare a mass conscription during the purchase units phase of your turn. Your infantry have a reduced cost of 2 IPC’s during this turn only, provided that only infantry are bought.

• Scorched Earth - When you are attacked by Germany, if a land combat takes more than one cycle of combat, the Axis power collects -1 IPC for that territory the turn they capture it. This advantage only applies to original red territories.

Italy:

• Commando Frogmen – During your combat movement phase you may deploy frogmen commandos from a destroyer or submarine on a hostile sea zone. This unit has a special attack before any battle occurs. You roll 1 die for such unit and score a hit on a roll of 1. The targets must be enemy sea units in the same sea zone. You may retreat after such attack before conducting combat.

• Strategic Airbases – All your aircraft may scramble on sea zone 14 as long as you have an operational air base present on Italy.

• Libyan Express – Each time Italy or Libya is attacked by the Allies you may move a number of infantry units, from the other territory, equal to transports available in sea zone 14. Alternatively, you may retreat a number of infantry units, to the other territory, equal to transports available in sea zone 14. For each cycle of combat you may move one infantry per transport.

China:

• Burma Road – If Burma is a friendly territory, China receives another infantry for free during mobilize new units phase. This unit must be placed in Yunnan. Chinese forces may enter Burma territory anytime during the game.

• Flying Tigers - At the beginning of the game, China has a U.S. fighter unit located on the map. This represents the American volunteer group—the Flying Tigers. This fighter is considered part of the Chinese forces for purposes of movement and combat. If it is destroyed, the U.S. player cannot purchase a new fighter unit for China.

• Guerrilla Warfare - If Chinese Infantry survive at least one round of combat when defending against a Japanese attack, then these units may choose to melt away into the countryside. For all intents and purposes treat this like when submarines submerge. The Japanese occupy the province and, on the next Chinese turn, the Chinese units are back in play. The Chinese player must either have these units attack the province or move on to another province. These units may chose to attack provinces behind the Japanese lines, causing chaos in the rear.

Free French (reworking these):

• Free French Forces – At the end of each turn, after the U.S. player has finished his collect income phase the Allies may attempt diplomacy to gain the support of Vichy controlled French West Africa and Madagascar. Each turn you may roll 1 die for each territory: a roll of 1 results in all the French units in that territory and adjacent sea zone to join the Free French Forces (Allies).

• Army of Africa – The first time the Allies liberate Morocco-Algeria, you may place one infantry and one tank in that territory during mobilize new units phase. You may choose either the United States or United Kingdom as the controlling powers. If the sea unit in Casablanca is not destroyed, it joins the Allies. With the liberation of Morocco-Algeria, both French West Africa and Madagascar territories join the Allies.

• Liberation of France – The first time the Allies liberate France all the remaining French units (on non occupied territories) on the board rally to the Allied side if the Allies manage to hold France for one entire turn. The German or Italian player may attempt to capture the French Fleet in Toulon during their respective combat movement phase if France is Axis controlled; but doing so, the entire remaining Vichy French units join the Allies. Roll 1 die for each french sea unit present in sea zone 13 and on a roll of 1, the unit is captured; any other rolls result in the destruction of the unit.

As to the air and naval bases you can print some simple symbols, there are lots of those on this forum. The rules are similar… you may also leave those out of the game. Also, some cards mention tactical bombers… I got them from www.historicalboardgaming.com

Air bases allow +1 movement during noncombat phase, allow interceptor rules for fighters and on islands allow the defense of adjacent Sea Zones.

Naval Bases allow +1 movement during noncombat phase and repair of battleships.

Both can be damaged and destroyed during strategic bombing raids but both have AA defense. Rolls of 3, 4 or 5 damage the base, a 6 or more destroys it. The damage is not cumulative, after a bombing raid the base is either operational or damaged or destroyed, no chips here, just turn on the side to show a damaged base.

The decision on the number of National advantages is up to you and the group. If you intend to play with Free French rules you need at least to use one card - Liberation of France. The Chinese must also play with one that already comes with the game - Flying Tigers. 6 cards per major power is the maximum…more than that and you will probably forget some advantages. Each player may draw randomly or choose any decided number of cards or you might just give more experienced players less advantages or try to balace the game allowing the Axis or Allies to have more or less advantages. The number of cards is the same till the end of the game.

Some advantages seem to be major advantages and others minors… you may seek to balance that also allowing only 1, 2 or 3 major advantages per player.

I designed them all… a real pain to find suitable decent images ;) The advantages, some are well known, some are adapted to AA 50 and others are my own design.

Yes, these are for free download. I cannot sell them of course, you’ll have the chance to download and print them.

Each card dimensions are 2.6 x 3.5 and not the usual 2.5 x 3.5 inches… so that can be a problem as all the online print services print 2.5 x 3.5 inch cards… and a different corner angle too.

I can convert them to the regular size if no other option comes up…

But, before placing them for download, what do you think of the advantages?

I’m thinking of making the cards available in a template for this online print shop…

http://superiorpod.onprintshop.com/index.html

Has anyone ever required their services? Other?