HBG's Global War 1939 FAQ

Please use this thread for any questions related to the rules or setup of Global War 1939 by Tigerman77 and HBG.

Please be aware there are two map versions, Original and Revised. You need to indicate which map you are using if your question applies, although there is almost no difference between the two as far as territories and zones.

The latest rules version is 5.0, but some problems listed below will require a version 5.1 to be released. I will indicate which pages need to be reprinted for those who have already printed 5.0. If you are using 4.1, please upgrade your ruleset to 5.0 from our BGG page:

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/113337/global-war-1939

@Yoshitako:

Page 16 -> naval planes & page 31-> Air Units
the targeting capability

in the nation description the you can choose the target ship on a 1 or 4-
in the air units description you just have to hit normal for the aiming

the rule on page 16 is old, page 31 is new

Page 16 is correct. Page 31 will be changed. If a 1 is rolled with the naval fighter, or 4 or less with the torpedo bomber, the target is selected by the owner of the firing aircraft.

@Yoshitako:

blurry Rules
1.
page 23 -> Germany
“germany starts the game in peace but is preparing to attack Poland and France”

Is that a must do? or can germany leave theme alone and attack other countrys like the Sowjet Union
and what is with UK ? is it allowed to land in london in the first round?

Germany is free to conduct it’s opening attacks as it sees fit. They must suffer the political consequences of any of these attacks. Pay special attention to the political rules for France and Poland, as well as Russia.

I’m not sure of your UK question… are you referring to Sea Lion? The German naval invasion of England? Yes, this is allowed G1 if you like. But again, pay special attention to the political rules. France and Poland immediately declare war. The US becomes likely to declare war, and if London is captured, the US immediately declares war. May not be in the best interest of the Axis, but is a legal move.

@Yoshitako:

page 27 -> com. & nat.china
“china is limited to placing a maximum of 3 units per territory and can build only infantry”

there are two ways to understand that.
have max. 3 units per territory.
or
set up max. 3 new produced units per territory.
Because that nat. china starts with 4 inf in Kwangtung (Setup 4.1)it must be the last one.

Correct. It is a restriction on new unit placement. China cannot pile a bunch of new infantry in one territory. They can only place a maximum of 3 new units per territory per turn during the place new units phase.

@Yoshitako:

Page 30 ->mech. Infantry
" mech get +1 to its attack value when when combined 1 to 1 whith artillery."
and
page 31 -> armor
“armor can be combinated 1 to 1 with mechs for a +1 to the mech inf attack value”

are the two rule cumulative? or can you use only 1?
the combination armor and mech is new and it is only in the armor descripion not in the mech.

Page 30 2.B. Mechanized Infantry: “They can be combined 1-for-1 with armor OR artillery for a +1 to its attack value.” Either or. The effect is not cumulative. If you have more artillery and armor than mech infantry, the extra matching bonus available is forfeited. Example: 5 mech, 3 art, 3 arm attacking. All 5 mechs get a +1, but none would receive +2 even though there are 6 eligible units with which it could match.

From Ghost One:

1. Under the suggested turn order to speed the game up, when you say Japan can move does that mean they take their turn or is it just moving units?

2. under the victory conditions its to easy for the allies to only have to get one axis capital before turn 10 to win -are Major IC destroyed when captured?

3.when Germany activates an axis minor does it get the ipcs represented on the board?

4.Who can and can’t attack strict neutrals?

5. can Japan attack only allied powers?

6. if Japan attacks Russia first does Russia get its full ipc income for the rest of the game no matter what its income should be?

7. Clearly define who AA guns work in the 1939 game. Do they roll a d12 or d6 and how many dice are rolled.

8.If Paris is liberated and all free french and allied controlled french territories return to being french do they return to being free french  if Paris is recaptured?

9.for lines of supply do pro-allied countries that are activated like Greece have Capitals. Ex, UK takes Greece and all Units are UK pieces and the territory is now UK. Does Greece have a capital that Keeps them in supply?

1. They can take their whole turn as long as it does not interfere with normal game play. If there is any doubt as to whether or not there may be a problem, just take it a step at a time. We included the suggestion as sometimes the opening rounds can be sped up in this manner to save a little time.

2. We are still discussing the IC capture/destroyed rule. I understand your finding is captured ICs is too strong for Axis?

3. Yes. The Minor also receives its income as listed in the Political Rules.

4. Strict Neutrals can be attacked by either side. See page 28 of Rules 5.0

5. Japan can attack any non-Axis Power.

6. No. The intent of the rule means Russia is immediately set to it’s full production (full value of all territories held) immediately, and for the rest of the game instead of having to build up to it per rules on page 25 (v5.0) where they are required to roll the 2d12 to increase income.

7. AA guns roll 1d12 for each attacking aircraft and hit on a 2 or less. Separate rolls by type of aircraft to determine hits.

8. Do you mean as opposed to going through the special Germany rules again for free vs Vichy? This is only done the first time Paris is captured.

9. For this question, since it is an optional rule, I will defer to Tigerman for absolute clarification. However, here is how I play it: On the new revised map, one of the improvements that was made is the roundels are bold/bright in capitol territories and faded/ghosted for other territories. Greece is a bolded territory giving a supply line to all it’s other territories.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for all the great questions Wild Bill! And also, thank you to koba for all the help on the answers. I will be filling in as answers guy for Tigerman for a bit while he whips up his next masterpiece. See my official answers in red below:

@koba:

@WILD:

Bump, some unanswered questions above, I have a couple more.

Using 5.0 Rules, need a couple clarifications. Are the set-up sheets going to be updated to v5.0 (still v4.1), or do they need to be?

Not sure. I’ve asked too.

We may find after some minor rules changes that they need to be cleaned up. For now, use 4.1

Fortifications (pg30) sound pretty cool. I get that they all play a slightly different roll in their def of a said territory by the table given (I will take a closer look when my game gets here). Are you still in the development phase for fortifications?

A lot of the original fortifications have different facing rules. When I buy new ones they defend the entire territory.

This is correct.

1. I see that Fortifications roll 2-12d in def at 5 or less for the first round of battle, and all def inf (assuming it includes special inf too) also get +2 in that first round of battle. Where I get lost is after the first round what happens. The charts for all the powers have fortifications def @2*. So do they continue to roll at 2 or less once the first round is over, and do they roll just one dice at that point?

Fortifications defend in the first round of combat only. They are not taken as a casualty. If the territory changes hands, they are destroyed.

This is correct. All “special rules” for fortifications only last for the first round.

2. Russian elite inf, need to clarify intent (pg15).

“These are inf units that attack at 3 or less and def at 5 or less in original Soviet territories”

Does “original Soviet territories” apply to both attack & def values, or only def value. I ask because the Russian set-up page has attack value at 3, and def at 4*. The 4* I believe means def at 5 if you meet the requirements (orig Sov tt). The 3 attack has no *

I believe your assumption is correct. Defend at a 5 in original Soviet territories.

This is correct. Defensive bonus only.

3. I have a couple questions about air/navalbases, and NB AA being used to defend ships in air attacks in an adjacent sea zone.
   3a). If the naval base is inoperable (3 or more damage) NB AA can’t be used to def sea zone vs air right.

I believe if installation is inoperable, AA is inoperable.

This is correct. Non-op is non-op.

3b) If naval base was SBRed on that turn, but didn’t get shut down (only 2 damage), can the NB AA still def the sz. (would be pulling double duty).

Cannot see why not.

Yes.

3c) By rule you can SBR an AA gun to remove it from play. Is there any thought of if a base (air or naval) is inoperable at 3 damage or more that it also shuts off the built in AA gun?

Same as above. Base inoperable, AA inoperable.

This is correct.

3d) If you roll to repair a ship, do you have to follow through (I would assume yes). Or can you write it down to do it next turn, or even re-roll next turn?

I always follow through. Never considered otherwise. Good question for developers.

If you choose to repair a ship, you must roll and pay. It’s like the A&A research rule in a way.

3e) An airbase needs to be operational for a bmr to transport an inf, paratrooper, or commando right?

Sounds right to me.

That’s correct. A non-op base is as good as no base at all until it’s repaired.

4. SBR targeting AA guns (haven’t done this before, sounds kinda cool). After the AA gun fires, shouldn’t the bomber have just one round to to kill the AA gun rolling its attack value (8 or less). The last part of the sequence on pg9 seems kind easy/cheesy “If target is AA gun, it is destroyed”

I’ll leave that one to the developers.

The thought here is for every bomber that gets through the SBR process, it rolls to see how many hits it inflicts. It is assumed that every bomber will have some level of success as it is a potentially costly mission and must remain a viable option for rules sake. Since AA guns are single hit units, it is assumed it takes at least one hit automatically and is such destroyed. You are of course welcome to play it anyway you like!

5. Is there any thought to changing AA guns to how they work in Alpha+3.9. Roll three dice each, used as casualty etc…. Have you guys done this in games, and how did it go?

We’ll be trying that this weekend (funny you asked).

China is still confusing me (from pg27).

6a) The US and Nat China share a turn, but it doesn’t say they can attack at the same time (unlike Russia & Red China, or UK/Commonwealth that can fight/attack together). Can you flip flop them, and have Nat China go first, then next turn have the US lead the way? Or am I wrong on my assumption and they do attack move/attack together?

U.S. and China are separate. I think the U.S. goes before China.

Per page 4, Nat. China and U.S. take their turn at the same time. You could even build at the same time. The difference is they may NOT move and attack at the same time. The Russians/ Com. Chinese get this advantage but the Nat. Chinese/ U.S. do not. The U.S. player may choose which country goes first (Nat. China or U.S. This will be clarified in rules 5.1 when I release them.

6b) Nat China- “May liberate or capture any Japanese held territory” Does this mean they can go into original Russian or Mongolian territories that Japan has captured like Olgiy (Mongolia), Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, or even all the way to Moscow as long as the Japanese have left them a trail of conquered territories to get there? I’m talking about the Nationalist here, but would pose the same question for the Red Chinese too. I know that the original FEC (UK) territories (except Hong Kong) are off limits for the Nat Chinese under any circumstances, but the Russian/Mongolian are fair game as long as they are liberating from Japan?

We play it that Chinese cannot go outside of China whether Japanese held or otherwise except for the French colonies listed.

For now, it is played the way it is described in the rules. Let us know if we need to change this to a more restricted rule. We wanted to remove China’s unrealistic restriction of not being allowed to leave China.

6c) I’m unsure of the Red Chinese income (couldn’t find it on the Russian set-up sheet, or on pg 27 of the rule book). From pictures of the map it looks like 3 IPCs to start. Is it a fixed 3 IPCs, and any conquests go to Russia, or does their income fluctuate as they gain/lose territories?

Red China gains/loses IPCs depending on territories held. Rules state Communist China will take over unoccupied Nationalist Chinese territories whether it is Communist Chinese or Soviets walking in.

This is correct.

6a) The Chinese tiger gets +1 in attack & def. It can’t attack if the B-road is closed? � Why not just a reduced attack value, or is this to show fuel shortages? Maybe it will revile itself to me when I play later this week, counting down the days (should get map in a day or two).

Will leave that one to developers/

From a rules standpoint, consider it an incentive for the Japanese player to push for the Burma Road. From a historical perspective, I think it has more of a political motive than a logistical one.

I’m sure I’ll have more questions WB

PS I did up an attack and def combat chart for 12d that I will share when I figure out how to upload it. It might help some newcomers to the game.

Awesome. That will be cool to see.

Wild Bill. I hope I was of some help.

Please see answers in red:

@dcandf5:

Hey i got some questions…

If paris is liberated, do all vichy france controlled territories and units revert to free french or france as a whole? I would think so…

How about using Germany’s Vichy chart again to see who comes back to the Allied side? Otherwise, yes revert all back.

If japan attacks dutch east indies when holland is in german control does this cause a provoked declaration of warer with uk/anzac/commonwealth? I understand that all those dutch territories become pro allied because germany attacked holland. Just need some clarification

No. Japan would not provoke war with the U.K. in this case. Assuming no other provocations are made, the UK player could not declare war on Japan until turn 3.

Communist china does not collect income correct? all ipcs generated by them go to the soviet union. and soviet union can purchase infantry for communist china. is this correct?

No. Com China collects their own income and purchases their own units. But it is all done at the same time as Russia. Both of these powers should be played by the same player.

Thanks a bunch! :)

@koba:

This question refers to HBG Battle Marker Optional Rules 6/1/12

Do the option 1 minefields defend like AA guns? For every land unit roll one die or is it one die per minefield?

You roll one die per minefield at one unit. It is then expended whether it “hits” or not. You must use each active minefield this way until either minefields or targets run out.

@WILD:

Thanks Variable and koba for your help, I have a pretty good understanding and intent for most of the rules and how things work. I also like that it is a work in progress to a point.

Where is this " HBG Battle Marker Optional Rules 6/1/12" located that koba mentioned? Would like to check it out for the future.

Download it here:

https://historicalboardgaming.3dcartstores.com/assets/images/HBG/HBGMarkers/HBG Marker Rules.pdf

@WILD:

I got my game yesterday, and have set-up the board. It looks great. I see that pro neutral (axis/allied) get to add one inf every two turns if still neutral. Just wanted to make sure that the strict neutrals don’t get this too. I have seen some setups on (game geek ?), and there are more units on the South American territories. I also caught a post from like march that said the neutrals (strict), might get tweaked, hows that going?

PS just saw the Swedish navy WOW, the allies better do whatever it takes to keep Moscow, or the Germans get a Sea lion fleet.

Edit:
Couple quick question. Are any of the the minor axis powers (once activated) able to attack Yugo or Hungary (before at war w/Russia), or does Germany & Italy have to do the heavy lifting there. Was mainly asking for Romania that isn’t tied to either pro allied territory.

The Axis wouldn’t attack Hungary, they are Axis Minors and are activated by Axis units as usual. For Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria– they cannot leave their respective country until they meet the condition specified on pages 23 and 24. If one meets the condition specified, it can be treated as a normal Axis unit and activate/attack other countries.

2nd question, is the blitzkrieg move also allow you to double hit with units in sea battles, or is it only for land battles. Can you position yourself in the 1st impulse to hit sea units (Brits) in the 2nd impulse using subs and air etc…?

Yes. Actions are followed per page 14.

3rd you are allowed to use newly built units bought in the first impulse to hit stuff in the second impulse right (say a couple bombers)

Correct.

@WILD:

When a fortification says it def from any sz, does that include a paratrooper and air units flying in from across a sz?

I would think yes

Correct. If a fortification lists a particular boarder or sea-zone it defends against, it is a coastal fortress or border fortress. The others, including the new ones that are built, are inland and must be attacked by any enemy units.