Okay, I’ve been mulling this over for a while. I have the second version of the 1939 map, and I’ve been thinking of making some house rules for a start date of Summer 1941. This is primarily because I want the game simplified enough to be playable and make it easy to teach new players. I’m not a fan of the diplomatic stuff. I just want to get straight into the action. I also want Vichy/Free French dispositions already settled. But I don’t want a 1942 start date, because a lot of strategic decisions were already made by that point, and players (especially the Germans) are locked in to making a lot of the same mistakes they did historically. (Yes, I know getting involved in a land war in Asia is the big one, but there’s no getting around that. LOL)
The idea is that the U.S. would be in the war by the end of round one, so there would be no need to track U.S. entry status. The war in North Africa is still going on, and the Axis have another turn (maybe two) to try to win it before the U.S. tips the scales. I’d also simplify the units. No differentiation between tactical bombers and navy tactical bombers/torpedo bombers. A tank is a tank, and they all have the same attack/defense, regardless of nation. Same with all other combat units. No SS, Guards, etc. Still going back and forth on whether or not to have the economic prices standardized across nationalities, or maybe keeping the cost differences to discourage, say, massive Japanese tank armies rampaging across Asia all the way to Moscow.
That said, I’d still want airborne units, along with transport aircraft to carry them (as opposed to having them dropped from bombers or abstracting the transports). And marines. Both would operate in a similar manner. When dropped by air, paras get a +1 to attack on the first round of combat, after which they operate like regular infantry. Marines work the same way when making amphibious attacks. Also, tanks, mech infantry, and artillery have the same attack as regular infantry on the first round of combat when making an amphibious landing. Each nation limited to building one marine and one paratroop per turn.
Factories have no limit on the number of units they produce each turn. Instead they are limited to a multiple of the number of IPCs printed on the area in which they are located. This will allow a bit of flexibility, but should prevent the construction of things like capital ships in places that weren’t historically capable of making them. Small factories can produce up to 6 times the printed IPC value of the territory, and for large factories it’s 10 times the value. A large factory can only be built in an area worth at least 4 IPCs. Example: a small factory in Calcutta could produce 18 IPCs worth of units per turn. A large factory in Turin could produce 40 IPCs worth of units.
I’m still tweaking the starting forces and dispositions. I’m also toying with the idea of combining the turns of some countries. My current thinking on turn order is:
Germany/Italy/Vichy/Minor Axis
Russia/Communist China
Japan
Britain(both maps)/Free France/USA/ANZAC/Nationalist China
USA can enter the war on turn 1 regardless of what anyone else does. This will allow Pearl Harbor and the invasion of the Philippines, as well as the opening salvo of Barbarossa.
I’m sure I’m missing some of the implications of these changes. If anyone has any suggestions or sees any glaring oversights, please let me know. Thanks in advance.
