Review of my first played Global War 1936 V. 3 game

Hello,

Most light cruiser types are available from HBG, but some will need painting. Apart from the ones at setup, we don’t tend to build many new ones in our games. Some players paint the tip of their ships with different colors to distinguish them. I don’t but we get used to the different models over time.

I don’t recommend changing the rules of the games after only one game, but I get your point that the Comintern player has much to do until he is at war.

Our South American pieces also gather dust, but the game is also based on history, so you can’t expect Japan to invade Brazil !

Keep at it. It’s a great game.

Kind of echoing @Noneshallpass here, but I think you can make the ships work in different ways. As he pointed out, a lot of people will paint the tips different colors to differentiate, or you could use different color chips. I’m more like you two though and like a unique sculpt.

I think you can find most of these on their site. Look at the 3D printed units section too. Some nations have battlecruisers there. True, you’d need to paint them, but their there.

You could also get a little creative. Use the neutral nation cruiser as a “light cruiser” if needed, and use the A&A OOB cruisers as your Heavy Cruisers. Maybe use the OOB battleships as your battlecruisers, and buy the HBG battleship types for your fast and regular battleships? Just thinking out loud.

I’m with you of course on South America. But as @Noneshallpass said, it’s based in history, and there wasn’t much happening there. I will say though that the Latin America expansion is the way to go to get them in. I plan to use that every game for the very reasons you mention, I want to get that part of the world in the game!

As for the USSR, I kind of get what you’re saying. But at the same time, there’s a lot for them to do. The Chinese and Spanish Civil wars will certainly be fun to play. And you of course will need to be prepared as the USSR. Border clashes with the Japanese are in play too.

Don’t forget that the USSR can attack minor nations starting July 1939. So while that won’t bring their income up, it’s still something to do if the Axis have left them alone.

The maximum time the USSR might spend at 8 IPP is 6 turns. So, it’s not too crazy I suppose, especially since those early turns will go a bit quicker with less combat movement and battles to play out. But if the Axis are going out of their way to make sure the USSR doesn’t increase at all until July 1939, I’d be surprised to hear that is fully a good thing for the Axis!

I think there’s enough side stuff happening to keep the Comintern player involved, but maybe that’s just me!

I’ve used the BB from classic game as Heavy Cruisers. Can file a bit and paint.

The last game I played I was the Comintern and I actually found it pretty interesting because you had to come up with a strategy to win while at the same time pretending to cooperate with both other sides to keep them from attacking you. To clarify what’s been said here, the Russians can declare war on anyone (except CCP) starting in 1939. Of course you have to be careful with that because you will certainly want to raise your income before unleashing the Germans on you. It will be a huge mistake for you not to declare war on Germany before they declare war on you because then they get to tee off on you for one turn. You can negate that powerful tool at their disposal if you declare first. I like to take the opportunity to take key minor powers that will hamper the Allies, knowing that if they aren’t as free to declare war on you as you are on them.

The game that’s played above the board between the players is the most fun if you are the Comintern. Finding a way to kick them in the nuts with a smile on your face and a kind word for them is a skill that you need to be successful. That’s something that simply doesn’t exist in Axis and Allies. The sides are drawn and the enemy is clear before the game even begins in A&A. The other option is to let the least experienced player to play the Comintern because the mechanics of the game are easiest with them. There won’t be a lot of naval battles, amphibious assaults, convoying, and strategic bombing they have to do in the game. They can learn by watching the other players while they concentrate mainly on simple ground and pound.

As far as options for cruisers being limited, that’s just another sad fact of the pandemic we are all dealing with. The plastic comes from China and it’s been quite a challenge getting those units available for a number of reasons. At some point in time there will be all the units but for now you either have to go with 3D printed or mark your units in some way as has been mentioned already here. Each of the units in the game have their place but it takes time to learn what works best for each nation based on need and income level. I’m still learning with each game how best to use these units. Until my most recent game I didn’t buy Medium Bombers but the lightbulb went off for me mid-game and now I love that unit. I love the fact that it isn’t obvious even for very experienced A&A players how to use all of the units best and that their traditional strategies won’t work in Global War. I’m glad you like the game and I look forward to hearing more insights from you as you continue to learn.

You don’t have to change the rules to give Warlord territories to the CCP. If the KMT attacks a Warlord, then all his territories turn to CCP:

“If a warlord is attacked by either Chinese faction, it and all its remaining land zones and units align to the other Chinese faction if unconquered by the end of the Combat Phase.” (KMT and CCP National Reference Sheets v.3.3).

We do it regularly in our games. You only need one KMT unit to attack the Warlord and you can even retreat after the first turn to obtain the desired result. If you are lucky, no unit is lost in the process.

However, in the end, I don’t think you will get much more play out of the CCP with this strategy because the Japanese will just be pressured to attack and destroy the CCP sooner that it might have otherwise.

This is a very complex games with many rules and exceptions (as this Forum often shows). I would bet that you missed out on a lot of rules in your first game (I have played over a dozen and we still make mistakes). It’s much too soon to be tweaking the rules of the game. You should try to master them first.

Yes, CCP can try to influence any Warlord according to the CCP National Reference Sheet, provided that it is in an adjacent territory :

“During the Place Units & Collect Income Phase CCP may make one influence roll on a Warlord land zone adjacent to a CCP possessed land zone. If the roll is less than or equal to the total number of land zones the CCP Possesses, all remaining land zones and military units of that warlord align with CCP immediately. CCP may spend IPP up to the amount of the influence roll to increase the chance of success. Each IPP spent adds +1 to the influence roll.”

If you don’t pay to increase the chance success, then it’s a very low chance proposition on the first turn (1 out of 12). If you spend your IPPs, you can bring it up to 1 out of 6 (for 1 IPP) or 1 out of 4 (for 2 IPP).

I agree with you that it you don’t succeed on the first or maybe second turn, chances are that a Japanese attack will have turned all the Warlords to KMT. I think that is meant to happen in most games.

I would not presume to tell you how to play your games. House rules can be fun. It’s just that I find it premature to change the balance of such a complex game after a single playthrough. That being said, try it and let us know how it goes.

All of this is making me so bummed this pandemic is making me unable to play this game!!!

Your idea to give CCP 1 warlord land zone (not the whole warlord) is not unbalancing the game at all. It eliminates the possibility of CCP being whiped out by KMT early in the game, which was an actual possibility in the Chinese civil war. But it takes away the suspense if CCP is going to make it as a minor power eventually turning into a major power. If eliminated USSR has a lot more to do to try and get CCP back into the game. Feel free to house rule! I do it ALL the time!

@alphaaeffchen
Sea units …. Please do no skimp out on the cruisers, use a tech token for battle cruisers, a regular sculpt for heavy cruisers and a nation roundel for light cruisers if you must.
WW1 era ships … they are a must in the game as cheap fodder units (that cannot be replenished/rebuilt) a TBD can be represented by a destroyer with a tech token if you absolutely don’t have enough sculpts and a coastal sub can also be represented by a regular sub with a tech token (until
A nation develops Advanced subs (never seen this researched and the unit purchased)

@alphaaeffchen
Regarding South America , our group has played the Latin America at war expansion and decided to play next game with OOB rules for SA as the expansion is just a bit tedious and we want to speed up the game and focus on the main parts of the war and take more turns quicker.

@alphaaeffchen regarding USSR, Germany should at least annex Romania giving UsSR a D12 income boost, also July 39 to begin regular D12 rolls fir income boost is not “super late”

@alphaaeffchen more USSR comments … what in the world Low luck in 1936 game based on a D12 system, really? Why?
Also… try this as Russia, attack Romania in July 39 and see what happens , I did it it was fun, I got carried away and pushed further into Europe conquering Italy, but I did this without consulting with the allies who turn declared war on me and together with Germany kicked my ass back to Russia .

@alphaaeffchen sorry… easiest to read a bit and then type a response to what I read when on my phone.
CCP… it is quite a big deal if CCP shall become a major faction, it is very unwise to give them a free warlord at the start of the game. This will put the Chinese civil war into their hands likely unless Japan attacks turn 1! That is wild … no thank you! Japan shouldn’t be forced into attacking China on turn 1….

In our current game CCP became a major power on their third turn I believe and Japan mistakingly did not hit China in the first couple turns of the game, this lead to Japan getting ousted from Manchuria early on.

@alphaaeffchen the diplomacy expansion is really fun (my favourite) it would add some variation to the USSR options early on for sure

@alphaaeffchen
Most of the expansions consume a lot of pointless time, making the game take much longer for not much benefit, but it’s whatever you and your group enjoy. Our groups next game will be played with only 3 expansions: diplomacy, fighting railroads and turkey at war