Hey there!
I’m excited to see this expansion! It’s nice to see Canada represented on the board. While it can certainly be argued that they are not big enough to warrant inclusion, Canada did have it’s parts to play in the war. Plus, if the Netherlands can be playable, it’s only right Canada can be as well. I’m also all for more nations on the map. Would love to see something similar done with South Africa, and the Axis minors (Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland) as well.
In terms of actual impact on the game, I don’t think it will be much at all.
Besides their light infantry units, Canada can essentially only build one land unit per turn the whole game. True, that rule doesn’t include naval or air units, but with Canada making at best +9 IPP’s a turn (unless they capture territory), they aren’t building large amounts of those either. I think you’re kind of at a wash at this point with the negative impact of UK money being taken away and forced to cross the Atlantic, and adding bonus income to Canada, which still needs the means to get to Europe.
From there, I think the further changes are a wash too. The Germans effectively get 4 free submarines. That’s pretty nice for them. I could truly see that altering some initial builds for a German player. It may allow them to focus a bit more on some air or land forces, knowing they have subs waiting.
On the flip side, the fact that Canadian allies can build an aircraft at -2 IPP’s each turn is potentially pretty big. Again, I know they still have to travel from Canada, but when you consider that the UK, ANZAC, USA, Free France (and the Netherlands, if that Expansion is being used) all get that, that’s +8-10 IPP’s income Allies-wide a turn.
