Houserules AA1941

Hello, first post on aa.org! Did post this too on BGG, with some editing.

Just bought AA41, played Classic a zillion hours way back, was looking to scratch a wargaming itch and 3a-41 fits juuuuust fine. Friends (mostly poker and PS4 fiends) love it (“Like Risk on steroids”).

Still, the first two sessions were nowhere near to completion, but that’s only logical. 1st game I played all three Allies against two opponents, 2nd game I played both Axis.

In the 1st game Germany was reluctant to attack, so Russia buffed up Moscow pretty up to the max. If we had another hour, there was to be a 20 against 20 unit monster battle.

Second game, I took Moscow in four rounds, but UK put up very fierce resistance. So when we called it a night, it was pretty much a draw, with me having the initiative, but by no means was capturing another capital a cakewalk.

Now “they” say that you could play this game in two hours tops. I highly doubt it… I’m no expert, but I’m no noob either and my group will adapt very quickly. So I suspect we’ll have some long nights and I’m looking for ways to shorten them up.

Plus, I also did a solitary run and boy, it was something… I quit after three nights… it was a Slugfest to end all slugfests… anyway.

So I was thinking, what about some houserules, to fiddle with the setup, some transport rules, other small stuff and, most importantly, add a couple of special one-time use tokens. So here we go. Mind you, I have not tested anything, these are just some thoughts, am hoping on some feedback on how these might work out. The goal is to speed up gameplay, create epic decisions, shorten the game.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

• Reduce transport cost to 4 IPC’s …or… allow more troops to move (3 inf, 2 inf + 1 tank, 2 tanks)

• Destroyers can transport 1 infantry

• Special tokens (one-time use):
  o “Charge!”: all infantry attack with 2
  o “Rally the troops”: all infantry defend with 3
  o “Double shifts”: +50% IPC’s for player at start of round (purchase phase)
  o “Bombs away”: player attacks enemy capital with bomber(s), for every hit(s) (4 or less) 2 IPC’s are deducted from target
  o “Not today”: defender is allowed to retreat entire army at start of combat, evacuates attacked territory. Attacker must move entire force into conquered territory (except aircraft). Great for some luring into a Cannae-style ambush.

• Optimizing production: IC’s “grow” each turn with +1 IPC, to a maximum equivalent of the capital IC-value (so India/Australia can grow to maximum 3 IPC (London)). When conquered, they revert to old value and can grow again under the new administration.

• Soviet-Japanese Non-aggression Pact: Neither the Soviet Union nor Japan may attack territories controlled by the other until either Germany or Russia has been captured by an enemy power.
    > Or for the first five turns
  This last one is ofcourse a suggestion by mr. Harris.

• Buff Soviet-Union at start: +1 tank and/or +1 fighter (Lend-and-Lease), only for defense (SU-player has to pay 1 IPC to lender(s) after cashing at end of Turn One), so were are talking about non-Soviet units

• Battleship bombardment during amphibious assault: roll Fives or Sixes with one dice to hit, no defensive shot.

• Destroyer bombardment during amphibious assault: roll Sixes with one dice to hit, no defensive shot.

• “War Bonds”: Each player nation rolls two dice at collect income and adds that to their total ipcs for the round, with a maximum of ten OR the ipc amount one player already has collected.
    > or you draw cards from a deck > numeral values are IPC values, face cards go from 11 ipcs (jack) to 14 (ace)

• Turkish tollbooth: pay 1 ipc per naval unit to the bank to pass thru the Bosporus/Dardanelles

Now I understand that this is not the most popular AAA-game, but I hope someone will respond.

Anyway, good gaming to all.