Gold mine for new pieces.

A possible timetable for nations joining:

Based on 1 turn = 3 months, starting August 1914

TURN ONE:

AUSTRIA (CP), GERMANY (CP)

RUSSIA, Serbia, FRANCE, Belgium, BRITAIN, Montenegro

TURN TWO:

TURKEY (CP)

TURN FOUR:

ITALY (?)

TURN FIVE:

Bulgaria (CP)

TURN SEVEN:

Portugal

TURN EIGHT:

Arab revolt

TURN NINE:

Romania

TURN ELEVEN:

USA

TURN TWELVE:

Greece

Of course any neutral attacked before the scheduled date automatically joins in against the alliance that attacked it.

Too late for USA joining?  Got to give the CP a chance…

I’m not suggesting that every county can be bid for: Turkey would never join the same side as Russia; USA is not likely to attack UK and France.

Most countries (bar Italy) would have a “pro” stance towards one alliance, preventing it from joining the opposition.

I Should’ve added:

TURN EIGHT:

Arab revolt

Regarding pieces - another of my old hobby horses - tank salvage

A high proportion of tanks were captured intact, due to high breakdown levels. Captured tanks can be immediately pressed into service, so maybe each power should have a few tanks of the opposing model.

The vast majority of tanks used by the CP were captured allied units.

Step 1 – Check for New Alliances:
Check to see if any new powers enter the game.  Their forces are immediately set up, and their money is added to the nation that controls them.  This is stated on the set up table.

1. Serbia and Montenegro start as Russian Allies. 5. Romania joins the Allies on turn 6.
2. Italy joins the Allies on turn 3. 6. United States joins the Allies at the end of turn 8.
3. Bulgaria joins the Central Powers on turn 4.                                              
4. Portugal joins the Allies on turn 5. 7. Greece joins Allies turn 9

Too bad Larry said the map only extends to New York and not LA. I was hoping for a Mexican player that could join the Centrals!

@oztea:

Harry Turtledove writes a lot of alternate history that includes a south/North stalemate and it’s implications during WWI and WWII.

And they are awesome

@Emperor_Taiki:

Too bad Larry said the map only extends to New York and not LA. I was hoping for a Mexican player that could join the Centrals!

That would be Awesome!

That would be the expansion map that might include some boxes for the pacific.

If the game has NO’s, The US player should be required to maintain a garrison or lose 5 IPC.

More importantly, the game needs Cavalry and Railguns. Irregular Miniatures or Peter Pig makes a 6 MM Railgun, that is AA size.

Cavalry would have to be 1/72 scale

1/72 is too big. Risk (latest addition) cavalry don’t look too bad.

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=1070

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=1566

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=1026

Some of the 1914 infantry can be used for WWII, for example German infantry (if its the steel helmet type) will be ideal for WWII Chinese Nationalists, Austrians for Chinese Communists, French inf (early type) for Yugoslavs?

@Imperious:

Step 1 � Check for New Alliances:
Check to see if any new powers enter the game.  Their forces are immediately set up, and their money is added to the nation that controls them.  This is stated on the set up table.

1. Serbia and Montenegro start as Russian Allies. 5. Romania joins the Allies on turn 6.
2. Italy joins the Allies on turn 3. 6. United States joins the Allies at the end of turn 8.
3. Bulgaria joins the Central Powers on turn 4.                                                
4. Portugal joins the Allies on turn 5. 7. Greece joins Allies turn 9

I recognize this from many years ago…  :-D

And you will AGAIN, officially soon…

Just wait. And yes. :wink:

I’m hoping the infantry will be early war types; then I could use WWII pieces for late war Elite/Veteran/Stormtrooper units (2-2, promoted not bought).

I suspect it’ll be a mixture: pickelhelm Germans, steel helmeted Brits. The French could be the same sculpts as the WWII version already produced.

But please, not another new shade of brown for Austria…

My impression is that the game as produced will be a little light for some folk here; it won’t seem complete to me without cavalry, bombers, destroyers and at least 2 types of artillery. And, above all, rail transport. I hate to think of the Germans having to build stacks of tanks because the infantry can’t keep up with the armoured rattle towards Moscow…

I agree, which is why they shouldn’t be bought simply because they can move faster than art & inf. At a strategic level they should move at the same rate (i.e. 1 overland, u/l by train), but then this is true for WWII as well.

Tanks should be an expensive breakthrough weapon, produced purely to boost attacks blocked by defensive attrition.

There’s even a good case for tanks being 4 in attack and 0 in defence, but probably it’ll be 3-1.

A possible bonus ability is to negate barbed wire defences. One of the main objectives of artillery bombardments prior to massed infantry attacks was the clearing of paths through wire. If the tanks go through first, assume they clear paths for the infantry on subsequent turns.

Maybe armies can construct wire defences on any internal border? Until it is cut, attacking infantry fight at a disadvantage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbed_wire#In_war

Tanks: Attack at 3, Defend at 3, Move 1, Cost 6
    Only Britain, France, Italy, Germany and the United States may have tanks.  Each tank negates the effects of two entrenched infantry. For example, If you’re attacking with 3 tanks then up to 6 defending entrenched infantry no longer fire preemptively (ignore step 4: defending infantry fire in step 5). In combat, rolling a 6 cause’s one tank to suffer a mechanical breakdown and the unit must retreat from combat. Entrenched infantry are still effected that combat round.

How can a tank that’s broken down retreat?

I think such units are simply abandoned and left on the field; they cannot be taken as casualties, but are recovered by whoever wins the battle.

Most tanks used by the Central Powers were obtained in this way:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-R28717,_Frankreich,_deutsche_Panzerschwadron.jpg

I would also make tanks take a breakdown roll before a battle - those that fail simply don’t participate in the attack (you cannot cancel the attack due to breakdowns).

For this war, make this 1-2 = breakdown.

In WWII, it would be just 1

For German tanks in the Russia winter make it 1-4…

I cannot see that WWI tanks are any more than sitting ducks in defence; its generous giving them 1. The whole point of building them should be to break the stalemate by using them in massed attacks - if you give them the same ability in defence it simply reinforces the stalemate.

The introduction of tanks should foreshadow the mobile, attack dominated warfare of WWII.

Only Europe (not Turkey) and North America should be able to build ANYTHING other than infantry & cavalry. Maybe artillery in Bombay.

Tanks and Bombers really should be techs; certainly not available in 1914.

Thinking that Zeppelins might be balanced by Allied sea planes?

This is Axis and Allies where a turn is 4-6 months.

IN the stated rule, the tank is rolling for breakdown. Nothing says “it moved, broke down and retreated by osmosis”

Rather, The tanks frequently break down, so the roll is combined for combat. If you roll a 6 the tank is not in combat and the retreating motion assumes it broke down BEFORE THE BATTLE, even though this is combat phase.

So to not have people rolling dice in different phases, we combine all the incidentals including tanks that didn’t get into battle. IN terms of Axis and Allies, you have to move into a space to do battle and each combat round is a different battle within 6 months, so everything is exceedingly consistent.

Otherwise it would be stupid:

Tanks rolling for breakdowns during any movement? This is not AAM son.

They only roll before combat or, if you prefer, during. It seems simpler to do it before battle.
I was going with your suggestion that 6’s disable tanks, the crucial distinction being that if they breakdown on the battlefield, rather than before reaching it, they are liable to capture.