@barnee
The Paratrooper unit has one primary task:
- To serve as a highly flexible unit for use in a Surprise Attack.
The Historical Movement Capability of a Paratrooper unit is reflected by the Paratrooper unit’s ability to move 2 spaces by air - on it’s own.
The secondary tasks are multiple - these are some of the most important:
- To reinforce other units that are Cut Off from own lines of supply (fx. Strategic Rail Movement)
- To pose a threat of attack deep into enemy rear areas
Paratrooper unit’s are Elite Formations.
This is reflected by their Combat Factor in both attack an defense.
For Game Play & Balance reasons, the Paratrooper has an increased Combat Factor only during the first round of combat.
The Major Strength of a Paratrooper is it’s Movement Capability - this represents a major threat to enemy positions that are either lightly defended - or even undefended.
The number of Paratrooper units on the game board is limited to a certain number for each Nation.
The purpose is to reflect the Historical Aspect to some degree - and to keep the Balane Of Play intact.
We’ve play tested the Paratrooper unit in many variations for more than 20 years.
With the introduction of Global 1940 (1st & 2nd E) the Final Transformation of the Paratrooper unit came to an end.
The result is now included in the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion.
Looking back on the developement of this unit - which is always represented on the game board - I can still recall the tons of fun & challenge we found on our way during this process.
Back in February 2014 to commemorate the 70 years anniversary of The Battle Of Monte Cassino we introduced the Waffen-SS Paratrooper unit.
This was the last chapter of the Paratrooper Unit Developement.
Since then, a few Optional Rules wich include the Paratrooper unit have been play tested.
One of them is the Monte Cassino Rule. This rule gives the German player an option to reinforce Southern Italy with Fortifications - from Early 1944 - and have Paratrooper & Waffen-SS Paratrooper units defending in them.
Based on years of play testing as well as hundreds of games played with the Paratrooper unit rules as they are now, I’m convinced that the final outcome is both balanced - and faithfull to History at the same time.