Balancing 1914

@Flashman:

Surprised you haven’t corrected the Prussia-Poland and the Bulgaria-Greece borders.

My guess is that on this map Germany will take Paris most of the time; making Switzerland impassable may be the only way to balance Paris being nearer.

I did not want to change too much of the OOB-map because I dont know what was the intention behind this unhistorical borders (also Finland/Norway etc.)

What I can tell from 2 games we played this map is that Germany allthough they threw everything into the West could only manage to contest Paris (actually for the first time ever in A&A1914) but couldnt manage to capture it because of arriving Americans. Maybe it was bad luck on dices…

This scnario keeps Great Britain on focusing more on the Western front than putting all their forces into the Near East wich gives the Ottomans time to breathe. I also like that Russia goes faster to Revolution just in time for the US entry…

Dont forget that Switzerland is not that easy to take with 3 IPCs…

But possibly worth it given the strategic location. My inclination would be to make it 4 to reflect the terrain.

Yes thats true I corrected Switzerland up to 4 IPC.

I suggested a rule once concerning limited India builds:

India can build four units (IPC worth of India)
This can be increased by +1 for conquering Afghanistan and +2 by conquering Persia. This way it isn’t four builds from the start and Britain really has to do something to get those builds and it will be ultimately limited to 7 builds.

Nice tavenier.
I think sorting out India’s production(lessening it), will greatly help balance.

As I suggested elsewhere, allow units to be placed in any controlled homeland tt up to the IPC value in number of units.

For the UK, India (and Canada if you wish) counts as homeland. I don’t like more than this for India, as it should be naturally limited to the capacity of India and the Pacific colonies, representing the flow of manpower from these areas. Britain should not be allowed to teleport units to India out of home production.

@Flashman:

As I suggested elsewhere, allow units to be placed in any controlled homeland tt up to the IPC value in number of units.

Goes this together with the OOB-movement or are the PTR still needed?

I would say keep PTR movement, but not in Africa or Persia.

OR allow unlimited movement within original tts; for example France can place limited units on the border but can move from Paris to anywhere in France.

An absolute OOB change is canning the Russian Revolution rules.  Not only does it make the game formulaic, but it also ignores everything that happened in a political sense in World War I in other countries.  The collapse rules are better but they need to be modified a bit because not letting a nation try to retake its capital on its own turn (or enough points to avoid not getting money) leads to crazy suicide attacks where only one guy needs to survive to sink, say, Italy or the Ottoman Empire.

I also think a limit on builds in India would make a LOT of sense.  That and also perhaps limited ability to build in Africa.  Add the 2-movement options from the tournament rules and you’re there.

My suggestions were playtested several times with OOB Rules:

Set Up:

5 additional Infantry and 3 Additional Artillery in Hannover.
1 German Cruiser in SZ 26.

Map:

Switzerland is worth 3-4 IPCs

Russian Revolution:

RR occurs if Russian Homeland-tts (Look for definiton in the PTR) worth 10 IPC are occupied by the CPs after the Russian Players Turn.

Russia is required to immediately surrender and leave the game at that time. It no longer has a turn, and all of its land, air, and sea units are removed from the board. Control of any territories that it was contesting is established, if necessary, using the rules for moving all units on one side out of a contested territory (see “Land Units”, page 15 of the rulebook). It also loses control of any territories that it controls, including its homeland territories. If units belonging to other powers on the same side are in these territories, control will likewise be established using the rules for moving all units on one side out of a contested territory; otherwise these territories will be uncontrolled (place any national control marker on it face down to denote this status) until another power moves into them. If a territory originally controlled by the surrendered power is captured by one if its former allies, the capturing power takes control of it. Russias IPC treasury will be claimed by the first enemy power to gain control of its capital.

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare:

USW takes place in SZs � 2,3,4,7,8,9,15.

German player roles one dice for EVERY Sub that is in one of that SZs when it comes to collect income for the British player.
The result will be split up between BE and US. (If its an odd number, the Brits suffer more)
If US loses income for a second time, it will enter the war. (Generally US declares war R4, so beginning USW in R3 won´t change that)

I am new at posting but I have hammered out a good way of balancing the game so that CP players have a 50% chance of winning, with minimal changes from the original rules and setup:
1. Switzerland is always impassable
2. Britain can only build 4 units on India
3. Italy is neutral First Round
4. Both sides use railroads for all internal movements. Railroads (with unlimited transport distance) are assumed to exist wherever territories connect friendly uncontested territories. The Central Powers have the Interior Lines strategic advantage of shuttling troops from Front to Front, but the Allied Powers are able to transport reinforcements to the Fronts when they arrive from Britain or USA.

This works; we have played it out and it is the balance that the game needs, in my opinion.

Couple of questions:

Can Austria attack Italy R2, or does Italy declare war on its own turn?

You cannot use rail to move units into combat, correct?

I would also point out that there were no railways in Africa or Persia, so restrict rails to Europe. Berlin-Baghdad railway was not complete in 1914.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Railway

To avoid the unhistorical Austrian attack the turn Sequence should be changed into

1. Italy
2. Austria
3. Russia
4. Germany
5. France
6. Britain
7. Turkey
8. USA

with Italy beeing neutral and unattackable R1 so the game still starts with Austrias march into Serbia.

Like these changes a lot. I would like to add making the entire continent of Africa impassable (except Eqypt), remove its IPC and units completely.

To Flashman: Yes, A-H may attack Italy in Round 2. Italy sides with Allied Powers and does not need to declare war. Correct on no rail movement into combat. Historical accuracy aside, rails in Africa probably will make no difference; we will have to play that out and see.
To Chacmool: No need to alter the sequence, really. We wanted to keep the changes to a bare minimum.
To Oddbjoern: Play it and see if the changes make it a more difficult challenge, equalizing advantages. We haven’t played with Africa impassable, but it sounds like a possible option.

I always missed the Schlieffenplan in this game…

I think about a special Rule for GE in Round 1.

First they must call out, that they will play the Schlieffen-Plan.

They must use all troops in Alsace and Ruhr for the initial invasion of Belgium.
If this attack is succesfull, they´ll get the chance to invade northern France in the same turn.
Troops of Munich/Kiel and Hannover were allowed to move into Belgium.

Something like that.

I actually prefer the central powers and find them to be strong. Allies always have logistical issues.

As long as the central powers slam Russia hard and fast get him out of the way, the game becomes super easy to play for the central powers.

What happens after the Russian Revolution? 1 front war. You do not play with that optional rule? Axis get MOOCHA MOOLA!.

So after Russia it is just Germany and France doing their thing. Hungary and Italy doing their thing. Then that other axis power gets annoying in Africa.

That is the game.

I am not a huge fan of Turkey’s situation, which is why it is so necessary to deal with Russia first as Germany and Hungary. Otherwise add Russia to Turkey’s problems and Turkey is done for.

The countries that are braindead easy to play are France and Italy.

Everyone else has stuff going on. Except for USA, which is barely in this game.