Jinx GW36 Great Britain Reference Sheet 2.3.2

Hello,

I have been working on my prototype reference sheet for over six months now. At times I’ve thought it was finished and subsequently; used the template to make all of the remaining nations. But then I would see something I could improve or add and tweak the process would begin from scratch.
Even now, the reference sheet is still in the process of being tweaked. Specific parts I need to change are marked with the crossed out text or unfinished script.

I find myself constantly running out of space to explain certain aspects of the game. My desire was to have a reference sheet that explains the unique concepts of the mod, and yet provides a source of easy referral for all the units in the mod. Yet with every addition, the reference sheet begins to look like a manual rather then a sheet. Yet I find their inclusion seemingly necessary and to be at hand for each player. Some additions are simple and can be stated briefly, yet some new aspects are quite simple and don’t show up too often in the game, and yet take up a lot of space to explain.

I must split up the PDF into multiple parts, due to its size, color, and pictures.

Politics. The first double sided page:
Page 1: Alliances, War, and Lend Lease.
Page 2: Victory Points, Turn Phases, the Turn Order, and four key concepts of the modified game.

At the bottom of the Alliances table, I shall explain the process of forming alliances using up the crossed out space.

At the bottom of the second page; please not and feedback on Turn Order.

In regards to making the game @Munck:

flow

, I have been attempting to rearrange the turn order in such a way as to maximize the flow of the game. I think the reason designers have implemented turn order in the way they did is because it represents historical accuracy, Germany blitzes into unprepared France, so they should go before France. Japan surprises USA in Pearl Harbor, they should also go before USA. Italy was surprised at Taranto by the British (which was noted on by the Japanese) therefore Britain should go before Italy.
But from a 1936 start, the world is still at peace so we can nearly completely rearrange the order. Except for one thing: can-opening. The process in which one nation attacks a territory (Britain regains Cairo, unlocking the Gates of Gibraltar), followed by a second nation sucker punching a second territory (USA lands in Rome).
So we do not have complete free range reordering the turn order.

In my reference sheet; note the little marks above each nation: AXIS, ALY1, ALY2, COM. If there are four players, which I believe is the minimum amount for maximum flow, is this turn order one which would allow the most players to always be the most productive; planning their moves, purchasing, choosing technology etc. Does it allow maximum flow without too much can opening?

Is this one better?
Germany, Communist China, FEC, Nationalist China.
ANZAC, (Italy), Soviet Far East, Soviet Union, France, (Japan).
(Japan), Britain, (Italy), USA, Canada, South Africa.

Moving on from that, I need to find additional space for three other unique aspects of the modification.

Combat Round Limits, based on Terrain and

Page 3 & 4 of the Great Britain Reference Sheet. Income, Industry, Infrastructure, and Defense.

Page 3: Peacetime Income Boosts, Wartime Income Bonus. Nation Specific Special Units. Elite Status.

Page 4: Tables: Facility, Bases, Nuclear, Resources, Railworks, Fortification, Defensivework.

I shall first speak a little about Income and Bonuses.

You may have noted that Great Britain’s income has been reduced from Vanilla. It is due to the inclusion of both Canada and South Africa as minor powers (South Africa barely squeaking in, and only included because of how close it actually came in not joining WW2 on Britain’s side).
In this game, I intend for each minor nation (at least those with +3 IPP map income) to have their own reference sheet and wartime bonuses. I had a lot of fun in previous games making Romania or Canada into a fairly prominent power, and with a planned 10 wartime bonuses for each major power, and five for minor nations, it would be in the economic interest of major powers to have allies, no matter how small.

Britain was fairly difficult in finding good Wartime Bonuses for, that where not tied to “Preserving the Empire” and “Recovering Lost Territories”, Britain did not have too many aggressive policies. So I studied a lot of history, and I think I came to a decent compromise.

Preserving the British Empire. I don’t much care for it. Its been done. I keep it there for now because I have another idea that might work.

Mosul and Kirkuk Oilfields. I might do something else with Oil, but I like what I have with this. Iraq would (as historically) depart from the British Camp and move towards the Axis (the Golden Square). Forcing the British to Invade to recover the lost bonus.

Cape to Cairo Railway. Cecil Rhodes would be happy. :-)

Highway to India. Debating keeping the Bonus at 2 IPP. But the wealth really isn’t in the canal, but in the convenience of the canal. I also don’t want too much money coming into Britain via Wartime Bonuses.

Safe Convoy Routes. I don’t like the title, but I like the effect.
I’ve been reading a book about General Alanbrooke and WW2, and I was struck at the emphasis that was put upon securing the Mediterranean so as to reduce the necessity of sending convoy ships all the way around Africa to India or Cairo. With a safe passage through the Med, many ships became available, and it allowed a cross channel fleet to attack and support an liberation force in France. So the thought on that War bonus is that if every land/island adjacent to British convoy lines is in friendly or neutral hands, Transport ships will cost 1 IPP less. A quick glance on the map tells me that Italian African colonies and Sicily and Sardinia are the only ones that do.

Operation Alacrity. A historical plan, rendered unnecessary when Portugal allowed the Allies to use its ports.

War Plan W. A historical plan that was not activated.

Imperial British Colonies. British Scramble for Africa. I like this one a lot. It works on so many levels! There are only about two territories that can be gained naturally this way, Ethiopia and Italian Somaliland.

Unless.

The British declare war on Portugal. +2.
The British declare war on Nationalist Spain (if they win, which they may want) +4.
The British declare war on Liberia (and USA) +1.
and lastly, the big one: The British declare war on France +12, (+3 from its territories with value).

That’s almost worth breaking an Alliance with the French. It effectively almost doubles British income, but it would move the French into the arms of the Communists (probably), or Vichy France into Axis.
As the British, perhaps after Paris falls, I would probably employ that strategy.

I like this also because it doesn’t actually take a dime from the nations attacked, it is all generated “locally” so to speak. :-)

Imperial British Caribbean Colonies. The name is a mouthful. This one is not as good as I thought it would be, and will probably not be utilized. Britain would only get one IPP from the Dutch, but the other two would cause 2 war penalties, gaining only 2 IPP in the process. So this one will go. But I like the concept.

Economic Trade with Democratic Nations. This would set the Allies against the Comintern, so that every time the Communist attack a neutral nation the Allies would glare across the table at them. Causing diplomatic wrangling and debates. I don’t quite like the title though.

That concludes Wartime Bonuses. Peacetime Income Increase is not too special, and mostly vanilla.

Pages three through six are planned to be at the elbow of each nation, these two double sided pages will have the most information packed into them and be the actual reference sheet of the playing nation.

Much of the spreadsheets info has become comprehensive to me through time and the many hours I have put into it. It seems like absolute common sense to me, but I realize others look at it with fresh eyes. Therefore I shall endeavor to explain some of the design of the tables and charts.

In order to condense as much information as I could into these pages, I have added highlighter to text for greater speed in selection and understanding of benefits of specific units.

Yellow highlight is used to identify the greatest strength of a specific gamepiece.
Teal highlight is used to identify that a technology is needed to unlock the gamepiece.
Green highlight is used to identify what technology will boost (or reduce) the value of a gamepiece. It will also identify what values will be changed.
The one instance of Dark Green highlight is used in the same way as Green highlight, but specifies a second technology will improve the same gamepiece.

I shall explain the column header keyword for the values.

A-A means Anti-Air attack/defense.
HP means Hit-Points
A means Ground Attack
D means Ground Defense
v-S means Attack/Defense Verses Ship
[Arrow] means movement points
CAP means Combat Air Patrol movement points
OR means Operational Range, which is a unique feature for ships for our game, explained within the document.

As you will note across these two pages; there is a lot more money to be had. From Wartime Bonuses and also a new way: Factories.

Yes that is new. Nations can increase their economies beyond wartime bonuses and territorial gains and become mighty by developing a strong industrial base.

I could go into detail about the other new units introduced in this page on Income, Industry, Infrastructure, and Defense.
But there are too many additions, and I hope the tables and charts speak for themselves in simplicity and readability.

Some ideas where borrowed from Struggle of Europe and Asia, others from HBG, but a few of them are mine. I do not intend to take credit for what is not mine.

Thank you all for reading, and please feel free to comment.

GW1936 Great Britian 2.3.2 Page 3 & 4.pdf

Page 5 & 6 of Great Britain Reference Sheet. Army, Air and Navy.

I’m not sure if anyone is interested in this reference sheet. I suppose it will be these two pages that will stand out in peoples minds if anything.

These pages will probably be the most viewed in reference by me and my group, and even though the new units may leave one overwhelmed initially, I attest that players will become completely accustomed to them after a time. My earlier draft of my tweaks is not very fancy or full of artwork, and just a simple table with a few pencil notes added later, but we have played enough to enjoy the ins and outs of this version, and actually the Air War concept has been adopted by another small group of local G40 players (those that I couldn’t convert to GW36). I believe at least the Air War portion improves the game significantly, and I believe its natural concept will be eventually adopted by HBG. (Apologies if that seems arrogant, but the natural concept is not my original thought and often is found in many other ww2 boardgames)

These pages leap right into the tables.
I will not go into the specifics of every unit, but will again only passingly mention my mentality for the units still in development or unique.

Partisans.
Partisans will play an interesting aspect in the diplomatic prewar game. The concept is that a faction could potentially start a civil war in neutral nations using partisans.
Doing so would of push the nation away from the faction, but if the uprising would be successful and civil war would be won. The reformed nation would support the faction in return. Why would this matter? Well, because each nation will theoretically have a few war bonuses that could make it worth more to a faction then if they had annexed it.
Partisans would also be used to disrupt an occupied nation, and be a constant nuisance to the occupying force.

Commanders
Commanders (includes Admirals) are only found in the Infantry Class section, which may pose a problem, but because they cannot be purchased anyway, perhaps it may yet work out to have them placed there. Their description will be a bit vague for now. I’m considering SS’s version of having 1, 2, and 3 star generals who will allow 1, 2, and 3 rerolls respectively.
For those that want the combat round limits, commanders could help improve the situation, or negate the opposing commander. Or shut down a front entirely in the bad weather/winter + mountain/jungle/city + no opposing commander.

Poison Gas
This is quite a bit different in this game from HBG’s expansion and more attuned with an TripleA version.
Poison Gas is a suicide/ammo unit that bypasses enemy defenses and attacks in the pre-combat phase. Its cost is high enough that it is not always beneficial to use them unless the enemy is wedged in somewhere or is a high value target.
I found HBG’s version either boring, or a little too extreme (if I remember correctly; one doubled all casualties given that round).

Anti-Tank Gun
I have given anti-tank guns and tank destroyers an ability to first strike vs armor and mech and target select. Which makes Tank enthusiasts pause a little in their headlong rush.
I see I may need to change the wording on their first strike to “First Strike vs Armor and Vehicle”. As it currently is; perhaps a tank force would actually wish to keep a few light armor around to absorb those anti-tank hits if no Mech is present.

Mobile Infantry
I changed the name of Cavalry to Mobile Infantry.
It irritated me to no end to hear players comment on horses charging into battle and that the use of cavalry to this degree was ahistorical (someone will think of Poland), and pre-assume that therefore they shouldn’t be purchased.

The fact is that “Mobile Infantry” unit can actually be extremely useful if employed aggressively and I believed the name change would be more in line with the intent of the design and promote a psychological reciprocation into their being purchased.

Armored Cars
Armored Cars have received a few odd looks, but the fact they can blitz 3 territories may actually make them quite decent to have a few handy in the Russian Steppes or Africa. I may drop the price down to 3 though. Or even A1 D1 M3, C3.

I see the PDF version messed up the flag a bit in the first page.

Airforce

Yeah! So these units are going to be interesting. I don’t think I will explain them as I havn’t tweaked them in forever. (I did bump fighters and jets down by 1IPP, not sure if I should).
They’ve got a bit of stuff going. That’s for sure. This is where A&A players just about have a heart attack  :-P.

The Atomic Bomb is a bit crowded with info. But all the info is there somewhere.

We’ve changed Scramble and added Night Strategic Bombing (NSB may need to be tweaked, hasn’t been tested yet. Could be to much of a loophole or too strong or too weak)

Navy
Pretty easy stuff navy, nothing too strange except Raider/Sub Tenders, increased capacity for Carriers (due to the dynamic air war), and a good anti-air unit in Light Cruisers.

There are also good bombarding platforms in Pocket Battleships (I may tweak down their vs. Ship stat to 4. But mostly vestiges of WW1 and probably wont be purchased.

Super Battleships…may need to be tweaked. Due to their cost, not many players have tested them out. But from what I have seen, many players have countered a Super Battleship with a couple planes and done just as much damage or better. So I think its at a good value right now.

The most significant thing about the Navy is the Ship Operation Range. Which I have attempted to explain sufficiently.

Detaching Squadrons prevents blocking ships, (G40: no more will the mighty American/Japanese fleet see victory slip away at the sacrifice of only a destroyer.)
Man, that used to frustrate me. Why would a squadron of destroyers hold up a carrier and battleship fleet with hundreds of escorting ships? The admiral could just move past. Its a toss up between using Detach or Naval Blitz, which would work quite well too. But the reason I’m currently leaning towards Detach is because ships would have to be left behind to deal with the threat, reducing the strength of the attacking fleet anyway.

Well, and that concludes these pages.
Last pages are Technology, where I have it neatly laid out and simple.
Following that is only setup and a possible government cabinet expansion.

Cheers!

GW1936 Great Britian 2.3.2 - Page 5 & 6.pdf