Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion

@barnee

Hi barnee,

Once again - thanks for your commitment to the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion.

Concerning Soviet Tank units vs. Infantry & Mechanized Infantry units:

The Red Army Conscription Infantry usually marks the High Tide of Soviet Infantry unit production.

From Late 1942 the Soviet War Effort is focused mainly on Tank production and specialized units, such as Paratroopers, Mines, Elite Infantry, Guards - and Partisans.

Since the Axis can only win the War if the Soviet Union is constantly put under extreme pressure, the Soviets are fighting a defensive battle.

For this battle, the Soviets need a massive amount of Infantry & Tank units.
Mechanized Infantry are redundant for this kind of battle.

The Soviets must use the Strategic Rail Movement Capacity with skill - to move Infantry and other “Slow Moving” units to the frontline.

Paratrooper units are much more flexible and have a stronger Combat Capacity than Mechanized Infantry - so even though they are limited in production numbers, they would always be chosen for production rather than Mechanized Infantry.
This is the case for most Nations.

The rule describe below is also eligible for Battleship units.

This includes Naval Offshore Bombardement.

In other words: a damaged Battleship unit cannot conduct Offshore Bombardement since this action takes place during (before) the attackers Combat Phase.

Note:
Damaged Carriers can not attack.
A Carrier that is attacking and then taking
one damage hit can still attack in this
Combat phase – after this attack is over
the Carrier cannot attack until repairs have
been made. On the other hand they can
defend while damaged.

@barnee
Yes, the Landing Craft unit is a Land unit - so it would block Soviet Partisan units.

Do you have an example of this situation - where an Axis poxer has a Landing Craft unit left alone in an Axis controlled original Soviet territory?

You can leave the Landing Craft unit behind and move you other Combat Units forward.

The Landing Craft unit would be hindering Partisan units to spawn in that territory.

The Rules Clarification has been updated.

The update adresses:

• Violation of Non-Aggression Treaty
• Carrier Based Fighter units
• Landing Craft units

@barnee

German Type XXI U-Boat units are “invisible” to the enemy during the first round of combat.

In other words:
When a German Type XXI U-boat unit attacks enemy Naval units, the Type XXI U-Boat unit can withdraw - undetected - after the first shot, without enemy units returning fire - including enemy Destroyer units.

If the Type XXI U-Boat unit should choose to stay in the “enemy occupied” sea zone after the first shot, then the enemy Naval units can return fire - also after the first shot.

Usually the Type XXI U-Boat units are produced by Germany only when the Allies have the upper in the Atlantic and Mediterranian Oceans, since the Type XXI U-Boat units have better chance of survival than regular U-Boat units.

@barnee

The initial House Rules Expansion play testing for Global 1940 (1st edition - and the later 2nd edition) began the day after the game was released (as soon as we got hands on the G40 game)

At that time, all islands in the Pacific were given an Increased IPC Value.

As play testing commenced it was obvious that not all islands were equally “attractive targets”.

We then studied deeper into the History of those islands to determine their Historical Tactical & Strategic Values.

It seemes that the OOB IPC values mostly indicate a Strategic Value (oil, iron core and other natural resources) rather than a Tactical Value (is the island suited for occupation as part of the fighting and further advance in the Pacific etc.).

Basically, we wanted to add an Increased Tactical Value - which is why the Pacific islands with an Increased IPC Value still have 2 IPC Values (the OOB IPC Value and the Increased IPC Value - this is explained later).

We agreed to gradually change the Increased IPC Values as our play testing went forward - and also agreed that by Play Testing Game No. 50 we should be able to determine the final Increased IPC Value for all islands in the Pacific.

By Play Testing Game No. 36 we also added Increased IPC Values for the islands in the Mediterranian & Atlantic Oceans.
After a few games it was obvious that this was only an advantage for the Axis - so the plan was dropped.

Finally, after Play Testing Game No. 53, we were able to determine the Increased IPC Values in the Pacific - and by that time we also concluded that losses inflicted due to Convoy Disruption should be according to the OOB IPC Values. This is why those islands have 2 IPC values.

The Final Outcome is the one that today is represented in the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion.

@barnee

Yes - Cruiser units and Battleship units can support any amphibious landing - same rules as OOB.

@barnee
Heavy Bomber units are operating under Strategic Bomber rules.

The differences between Heavy Bomber units and Strategic Bomber units are:
Heavy Bomber units:

• 2 dice in both attack and defense.
• immune to enemy AAA fire
• expanded flight range
• cost

During a Strategic Bombing Raid, Heavy Bomber units also have 2 dice - and each dice roll is added “2” in the same way as for Strategic Bomber units, to determine the losses inflicted by the Strategic Bombing Raid.
This is also the case when Heavy Bomber units attack other facilities (Air & Naval Base).

See more details at pg. 59 in the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion.

Attacking Landing Craft units can be send into combat - without cargo.

Example:
If your Landing Craft units have to pass through an enemy Minefield, you might want to consider using some of your empty Landing Craft units as cannon fodder if they are struck by a Mine.

Remember that if a Landing Craft unit is hit by a Mine, the units inside the Landing Craft unit are also lost.