I just posted this in the 1914 forum, then I saw this. However I believe this is the forum suited for the idea. I would message the mods but their profiles indicate they’ve been gone for a while. I apologize for my faux paus.
Played our first game of 1914 tonight and had a blast. Afterwards, we brainstormed some additional house rules (because gamers, I suppose), and one stuck out. Before I say this, let me note this is a very casual crowd.
Rule: A neutral minor power when attacked by one faction or the other sides with the one that did not attack it. If it is able to repel the invasion, it becomes a fully functioning member of the alliance it joined. It has IPCs, builds units, deploys them, and attacks.
Cause: Almost no reason not to attack some of these nations. Defeat means nothing- the scale of units involved means a small handful of units lost is not a true blow. The potential IPC gain outweighs the risk in all but a few instances. By making neutral powers a bigger threat, hopefully players will only attack those they deem important to a war winning strategy and not just as random acts of violence for IPC gain. This can lead to silliness with Switzerland and the Nordic countries along with Spain among others.
Mechanics: New factions get 6/8 IPCs plus whatever IPC total is on their territories. From this point we had some disagreement:
1- They are a fully active faction with no restrictions.
2- They can only attack the faction that attacked them and their territories.
3- They can only counter attack into the territories that the attack against them was launched
I like it! I think it gets at some important problems of realism and fun with a very simple rule change.
I think the size of the IPC bonus will have to depend on which game board you’re using – 6 IPC might make sense for the 1940 boards, but you might want to limit it to 3 IPC for the 1942.2 map.
I lean toward making activated neutrals fully operational, with no restrictions, because it can be cumbersome trying to remember who has attacked whom. If Italy invades Yugoslavia, and then Yugoslavia counter-attacks Italian Albania, and then Germany ‘liberates’ Albania, is Yugoslavia at war with Germany? I don’t want to have to keep track of that. If you must have a restriction, you might say that activated neutral armies can’t be brought more than 3 spaces from their capital – that way you avoid weird situations like Argentina sending troops to invade London.
That was the general idea I was agreeing with. For more information, this happened because the French in 1914 attacked Spain and lost. Spain joined the Central Powers and after the French attack…there was nothing in any French territory that bordered Spain. We all looked at each other and went, “…why would Spain not at the very last gobble up Portugal and some of southern France as a response? Why would Germany and the other powers not promise Spain everything short of a lap dance by the Kaiser’s wife to jump in and absolutely ruin France’s strategy?”
Even the threat of a Spanish attack could be enough since France would end up sending forces down. With those undefended territories, even one turn of Spanish domination could be a major CP strategic coup. On the other hand, a nation like Greece might not have a great chance at surviving but if it behooved the Allies to send troops from Africa or even Italy to aid them when they are invaded, maybe that gives them a chance to open up a new front. It relieves a little pressure from the Ottomans and even the AHuns initially, with the Allied gambit either failing and weakening them in another front or working and causing chaos for the CP. The Nordic countries actually matter.
Persia becomes a more interesting gambit. In our game, the UK player just attacked into Persia. He barely won after the Ottomans intervened. If one die had gone differently, Persia would have survived as a CP power and had the ability to hammer India.
The system isn’t perfect, of course. Ethiopia shouldn’t become an African superpower because Italy fails to take it, but it should have something. So for 1914, maybe European neutrals and Persia get 8 IPC+territories, Ethiopia gets 5 IPC+territories, and Afghanistan gets 3 IPC+territories? A small sheet would be enough and it isn’t too much math hammer, methinks. And if that is too complex, a flat across the board IPC rate works.
Who should play them? For 1914 my idea was that whoever takes control of that nation when they are being attacked would use them right after his main nation’s turn. IE; Persia is part of the CP. Ottoman player controlled it during the invasion. After the Ottoman turn, it is Persia’s turn.
As for WWII Axis and Allies games, 6 and 3 IPC makes sense.
I just posted this in the 1914 forum, then I saw this. However I believe this is the forum suited for the idea. I would message the mods but their profiles indicate they’ve been gone for a while. I apologize for my faux paus.
If you have any questions about the forums, you can message me for assistance.
If you have multiple players, who operates the neutrals?
Who should play them? For 1914 my idea was that whoever takes control of that nation when they are being attacked would use them right after his main nation’s turn. IE; Persia is part of the CP. Ottoman player controlled it during the invasion. After the Ottoman turn, it is Persia’s turn.
In this set up, the Ottoman player would play Persia’s turn.
Gotcha, thank you. :-)
