Removing the railways and roads would probably work if you put in some sort of other strategic move. Â Another simple option might be to just say that infantry and artillery can move two spaces during non-combat, however that might prove too unbalancing. Also, the idea of having SBRs affect this tactical move ability is an interesting one, and might actually make SBRs more usefull.
As for the starting position of the eastern front, I stand by my suggestion to pull it back a tad, especially if Germany gets to move first. Â Ideally Germany’s starting setup would put them in position to be breathing down Russia’s neck at the end of turn one, but doing so would leave Germany spread a tad thin. Â Also, I don’t we need to get super hung-up on making sure the entire map ALL starts in the same month of 1941. Â The turn order itself can signify the passage of time, and thus I think the European Theater can reflect a slightly earlier period than the Pacific Theater. Â As for Italy, after looking at the new map a bit more, I don’t really regret the changes to Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland as much. Â Giving Greece to Italy makes up for it enough, and I think Italy still has a lot of play options at its disposal.
As for the turn order, it could possibly be changed from what I have listed. Â Whatever its changed to, though, there’s a few considerations that I think need to be followed. Â First off, the turn order should always alternate between an axis player and then an allied player. Â That would keep things more fair by not allowing either side to have two powers move back to back. Â Secondly, USA should always have its move after Japan, assuming that the starting setup for Japan is right before Pearl Harbor. Â Here’s a few other possible turn orders that I think would work well…
1. Germany
2. Russia
3. Italy
4. United Kingdom
5. Japan
6. United States
The benefit of this turn order is that all the real important stuff in the Pacific Theater doesn’t happen until the very end of the turn sequence. Â This helps justify having the European Theater start at a slightly earlier date. Â The downside of this order though, is that Italy gets to move before the UK, which depending on the setup might allow Italy to make more initial gains than would have ever been historically possible. Â However, with Italy’s territories changed the way you have them on the new map, I think this turn order might work better than the one I originally had listed.
1. Russia
2. Germany
3. United Kingdom
4. Japan
5. United States
6. Italy
This turn order would be closer to regular AA:Revised. Â (The new order I put together for my map originally was based on combining the turn orders from AA:E and AA:P.) Â If you went with this setup, I would still pull the eastern front one space back towards Germany, however don’t give Russia the front line power in its starting setup to have a realistic chance of pushing Germany back any farther on its first turn. Â Instead the Russian player could either gamble on pushing Germany back, or he could reinforce his front lines and try to balance how many reinforcements he can put on the road to Moscow without leaving the road to Stalingrad wide open. Â It would give both Germany and Russia more gameplay options on their first turns. Â Having Italy go last probably wouldn’t be too bad either, and with the UK going before Italy, you could give Abyssinia and/or Italian Somaliland back to Italy and put the UK in a position to take them on the first turn if he chooses to.
1. Germany
2. United Kingdom
3. Italy
4. Russia
5. Japan
6. United States
This order would allow the Russian player to see what both Germany and Italy are going to do before having to make his move. Â It would also put the allies in a better position to see how the UK if fairing before deciding what tactical routes to commit to. Â The UK would still go before Italy, which could justify giving Abyssinia and/or Italian Somaliland back to Italy, and the Pacific Theater would still be kept at the very end of the turn order.
So, anyone else have any comments on which of these turn orders, or any other turn orders they think would be he best? Â To be honest, I think we should try to settle on a turn order sooner rather than later, cause I think the turn order can greatly impact the allocation of starting territories.