Technology

I don’t think a special rule about retreats is necessarily cool enough for the tech chat.

Who would be happy with “oh boy, I can retreat better!”
We could allow battleships to repair in open water, or fire at 5 on the first roinds

Extra transport capacity may be the way to go.

Stormtroopers is still up in the air.
It seems like IL wants special stormtrooper pieces.
Gas attacks already reduce defenses, stormtroops need to modify an existing piece not add a new onethat some people might not have.

Naval combat is infinite rounds

Stormtroopers don’t have to be a ‘piece’, you just place a token underneath these ala HBG. Cost would be determined.

Smokescreens were not used in wars before. They are an invention. Besides, war bonds is not tech either…just scraps of paper printed as a promise to pay off when the war is over.

If naval combat is more than one round, smokescreens would save inferior navies. The amount of ships represented in this version is underrepresented…all the more to have a mechanism to reduce the carnage. Heck UK has like one Dreadnought by England WTH? It should have like 3-4 and Germany 2.

Smokescreens is a better name for it. My thinking was that in sea combat, if Germany calls off an attack, its ships remain in the same sea zone, waiting for the British to hammer them. Smokescreens could allow the Germans or any player, to withdrawal to relative safety, like they did after Jutland. They didn’t just sail around the North Sea hoping not to run into the British again.

Separate pieces or special markers are for the other game. Techs in A&A don’t add units, they modify existing units.

Edit: A game which, by the way, I am very much looking forward to. :-)

Here’s the placeholder iteration of the Tech Chart:

E1 - War Bonds - During your collect income phase, collect an additional number of IPCs equal to 10% of your National Production Chart level, rounded up.

E2 - Improved Shipyards - Naval units cost 1 IPC less.

E3 - Increased Production - Tank and Fighter costs are reduced by 1 IPC.

N1 - Smoke Screens - When breaking off a sea battle, attacking ships may retreat to a single adjacent sea zone from which at least 1 of the attacking ships entered battle.

N2 - Battle Cruisers - Cruisers attack at 4 or less, but still defend at 3 or less. Additionally, cruisers may perform offshore bombardment at 3.

N3 - Anti-Sub Warfare - Your Cruisers prevent enemy subs from submerging in combat or moving through them at a 1:1 ratio.

A1 - Anti-Aircraft Guns - Artillery may target fighters before combat begins, hitting at 1, limited to the number of artillery available or the number of fighters present, whichever is smaller.

A2 - Advanced Aviation - Fighters attack and defend at 3 or less.

A3 - Aerial Photography - If you have air supremacy, your artillery can support 2 units instead of one.

L1 - Wireless Communications - During combats where friendly forces are also in the contested zone, roll a die. Up to that many friendly artillery are used to boost your attacking forces on a 1:1 ratio, but may not participate in combat.

L2 - Chemical Warfare - In one attack this turn, roll a die: 1-4 that many infantry do not roll defensively; 5-6: No effect. If used against you, halve the number of immobilized infantry.

L3 - Stormtrooper Tactics - Attacking infantry with artillery support roll at 4 or less.

Changed radio to wireless given the era of the game, but didn’t change the tech.

Renamed proposed naval wireless communication tech to Smokescreens, but its under review.

Stormtrooper Tactics could be replaced with another land tech, but it was these tactics, combined with an increase in the available number of troops, that really broke open the stalemate on the Western Front, so I hate to leave them out.

But does a special retreat mechanism have enough utility to warrant being a tech?

How often and what powers can even use a tech like this?
With naval combat being so rare is it ever going to be used?

It might be better to have smoke screens just let you ignore the first hit against you in naval combat.
Or rather……get rid of smoke screens all together.
Maybe a tech to help amphibious invasions or something.

I still like a tech that allows transports to hold 3 infantry to reflect how cruise ships were converted into military transports.

I don’t see much naval warfare after the first couple turns unless the CPs want it.

But does a special retreat mechanism have enough utility to warrant being a tech?

War Bonds…

Everyone can use extra IPCs but how often do you go into a combat expecting to get banged up and have to retreat?

Perhaps war bonds could be replaced with something that lets yo mobilize in any original territory worth 3 or more.

The defender is at the mercy of the attacker. Due to limited technology in this day, it was much harder to coordinate orders to pursue the retreating enemy. The smokescreen was used alot in this war because it worked to mask the retreat, like Cavalry did in the age of Napoleon. It was a development in this war.

The Germans perfected a fleet maneuver which they trained for called Gefechtskehrtwendung, which allowed them to turn sharply as a whole fleet and this didn’t require elaborate communication between ships. The Allies didn’t have this training maneuver.

Having limited ships makes losing them even more devastating, so a tech to allow them to retreat would be of benefit.

Like trench raiders, this is specialized training and the result is the ability to retreat.

Possible smokecreen replacement:

Blockade/Commerce Raiding - Instead of engaging in combat, each battleship or cruiser in an uncontested sea zone adjacent to an enemy territory may roll 1 die. For each roll of 1, the enemy power must surrender 1 IPC to the bank.

I know it’s not really a tech, but it’s a way of giving powers a reason to want ships dead.

@Imperious:

The defender is at the mercy of the attacker. Due to limited technology in this day, it was much harder to coordinate orders to pursue the retreating enemy. The smokescreen was used alot in this war because it worked to mask the retreat, like Cavalry did in the age of Napoleon. It was a development in this war.

The Germans perfected a fleet maneuver which they trained for called Gefechtskehrtwendung, which allowed them to turn sharply as a whole fleet and this didn’t require elaborate communication between ships. The Allies didn’t have this training maneuver.

Having limited ships makes losing them even more devastating, so a tech to allow them to retreat would be of benefit.

Like trench raiders, this is specialized training and the result is the ability to retreat.

Don’t forget how we winced when we realized that the damaged Italian dreadnought was going to have to sit in the same sea zone as the Austrians until Italy’s next turn. Smokescreens could help mitigate this.

@wove100:

Blockade/Commerce Raiding - Instead of engaging in combat, each battleship or cruiser in an uncontested sea zone adjacent to an enemy territory may roll 1 die. For each roll of 1, the enemy power must surrender 1 IPC to the bank.

After some thought, I think this is better as a house rule.

Since submarines do not have first strike capability, the obvious replacement for smokescreens (if it needs to be replaced) is:

Super Submarines - During sea combat, submarines fire before all other ships, whether on attack or defense. Casualties from a submarine attack are destroyed before they can return fire.

(Modified to enhance clarity).

Super subs sounds great.
Easy to implement. Useful for CP
The other naval techs, battle cruisers favors both teams.
ASW favors the allies.

War bonds is the only clunky one left.
10% is very un-larry.

An alternative tech? Or bring back dice.

Also, each 3 techs should follow this scheme.
One tech the allies prefer, one the CPs prefer, one both can use.

The more I read this thread, the more convinced I am that I’d prefer:

About 6 unit techs, each represented by new pieces, or if you prefer counters placed under the unit.

and

A pack of event cards, including tactical events such as gas attacks, smokescreens, naval maneuvers etc.

The last is more balanced, as each side would have its own pack containing roughly the same or exactly balanced cards. It would be luck of the draw when each tactic becomes available. The pack would also contain a number of political event cards.

I do not want to have to remember which of 8 powers have which of 57 techs at any time.

@oztea:

War bonds is the only clunky one left.
10% is very un-larry.

An alternative tech? Or bring back dice.

Also, each 3 techs should follow this scheme.
One tech the allies prefer, one the CPs prefer, one both can use.

We can go back to the die roll for war bonds. I don’t think there’s many alternate economic techs out there. On Increased Production, should artillery be 1 IPC cheaper too or should it just be tanks and fighters?

Or, violate the 3 econ, 3 naval, 3 air, 3 land paradigm in favor of 2 econ, 3 naval, 3 air, 4 land. That way we can dump war bonds and add:

Advanced Tank Strategy - When you have 2 or more tanks in a battle, tanks attack at 3 (4 with artillery support) and defend at 2.

Not strictly a tech, but definitely a breakthrough, a way of representing the First World War strategy of using massed tanks to force a breakthrough in the enemy lines.