Bonus Movement is Unrealistic Nonsense

@shadowhawk sorry, but i completely disagree unless your desire is to make a realistic simulator of world war 2 vice a war game.

To be clear in my definitions:

1. Realistic Simulator = completely faithful recreation of world war 2. All distances, locations, production capabilites, science would be included. Could also have politics, information control, fog of war, spies, supply lines, etc. Leaving anything out would affect the level of realism…

It would also be unplayable.
No one would want to dedicate the time to play since the outcome would be virtually impossible to change with the number of Soviet troops and production capabilites of the US.

2. War Game = set of rules related to warfare to enable both sides to have a chance of winning.

Axis and allies is based upon the conditions present in world war 2, but adjusts the reality of the situation (distances, production, poltics)
to create a game that maximizes the tension between the sides in a manner that allows both sides to win.

The brilliance of the game designers is that they made the game mechanics to allow the various countries to follow their basic strategies that were used in world war 2.
Russians = massive infantry
Germans = mobile land force
British = isolated groupings all over the map that need consolidation. Ship building and contested invasion of Europe.
Japanese = Initial fleet superiority that may give out over time to the US. Collect as much land before that.
US = out produce everyone.

The above tactics allow one to appreciate the sacrifices in personnel the Russians made to hold back the Germans (and perhaps the despotism of Stalin). The importance of carriers vs battleships in naval battles. Impact of subs on supply lines. Imbalance the scientific breakthroughs could cause (this last is so great that I don’t play with them).

So my hats off to the Larry Harris and the designers of the Global 1940 mods in that they made a good game that let’s one appreciate the broad strokes of world war 2 without making the end game a foregone conclusion.

@surfer 💯! Very well put sir!

@shadowhawk
Abstract means unclear - not the same …. So you can’t expect an abstract distance from London to NY to be the same as an abstract distance from San Fran to midway or whatever you wanted to compare distances. You can’t argue to have the same abstract anything.

@shadowhawk

Exactly.

@surfer

I do want a completely accurate World War 2 game, or rather, a simulator. Hell, down to the individual division and individual submarine.

I’ve tried to take charge of Japan and make a simulator this way by zooming in on the Pacific War and having a huge amount of Wikipedia articles showing exactly when each ship became available.

The result though, I feel was still subpar.

We’ll see whether the Axis ever had a chance (I feel like they did)

Do you have any ideas? Thank you!

@SuperbattleshipYamato Sorry. I enjoy Axis and Allies and the abstraction that is its relation to World War 2. Not a game designer.

I have played some war games (not world war 2 sims) that try to include more sophistication than used here, but I don’t really enjoy them.
Too many rules, too slow to play. But even those were based upon either a futuristic mech war or modern naval warfare where the opponents were not historical and the production / supply capabilities could be assigned in a manner that would make both sides (any side in more than 2 opponents) potential winners.

Any world war 2 simulator will force you into the conclusion that the only winning scenario for the Axis is to cause the US and/or Russia to remain neutral or quickly give up. Straight up fight is not going to win.

@surfer

Yes, fighting the Soviets or the US head on is death sentence. But as you mentioned, if you made them neutral, there’s still a chance. So it’s still possible to win in my eyes.

I also enjoy Axis and Allies for all its historical inperfections, but I’ve been looking for some. I have high hopes for Rise and Decline of the Third Reich, but I haven’t found a game for sale anywhere.

@SuperbattleshipYamato you all need to discover the amazing game that is Global War 36 by historical board gaming (.com) much more detailed “version” of an Axis and Allie’s style game with many more territories, sea zones, nations - A CLEAR 6 month turn game timeline ! Starts in July 36. It also include the Spanish Civil War and the Chinese Civil war an in depth income increase system for nations that don’t start at full war production. It’s got a great technology system A 3 Faction Game!! Basically it’s way better than any A&A game unless you are looking for something short or that can be played in one day. It’s available to play for free on Tabletop Simulator. You can use your Acis and Allie’s pieces to play it. Message me to ask for more information.there are also more unit types and treaties such as the Molotov Ribbentrop pact and Japanese Soviet non aggression pact . Also facilities : airbase, seaplane base, sub base, minor, medium and major factories, minor and major shipyards, minor and major naval bases. Fortifications and coastal guns

@TheVeteran

Awesome! I’ll get to it eventually.