Plastic Playing Pieces

please, we’d bloody beat you with the stock of our rifle to save ammunition  8-)

I think that you mean to say the following:

IPC - 1 or 2 less than a fighter  ( think 8 IPC)
Att - 3
Def - 3 or 2 if attacking fighter is present
Rng - 4

It doesn’t make sense to have altered defense when attacking.

This is an interesting unit, though.

Bardoly

Thanks for correcting my mistake.  You, IL and AG 124 got me thinking about this some more.  This can actually work both ways for Bombers and Fighter-bombers.

For example: If an attacking Bomber or Fighter-Bomber attacks a territory with no Fighters present then it attack with it’s full attack value but if defending Fighters are present then it’s value is reduce by one.  The reason is that we all know when Bombers & Fighter bombers attack with out fighter escorts, defending Fighter are more effective is disrupting the attack by breaking up formations and shooting them down.  Thus reducing the bombers ability to inflict damage.  However, if they are escorted by Fighters then there is no change.  Since defending Fighters are being engaged by attacking Fighters.

On the reverse, if Bombers are attack we know that their defenses are weaker against Fighters.  Thus their defense value is decreased.  But if defending Fighters are present, then it stays the same.

So here is how the rules would look like.

Fighter/Dive-Bombers
Att - 3 or 2 if attacking without fighter escort and defending fighter is present.
Def - 3 or 2 if attacking fighter is present and no defending fighter is present.

This would also apply to Bombers except for the defense stat.  Since a Bomber already defends at one, it can be reduced any further.

Something to think about.

On Medium-Bombers, I’m going to continue to stick to my guns on these.  I feel they have an important role to play.  On the labeling of bombers.  I consider the Heavy Bombers in the R&D role to be Super Bombers (B-29).  So we should have Medium, Heavy & Super Bombers.

THis thread inspiredme to do something about the number and color of the pieces untill someone makes complete high quality replacement pieces.  I want two sets please (maybe three).

I combined my AAE, AAP with AA50 pieces and I am in the process of painting the Chinese (dark emerald), Italien (light grey), Japanese (bright red) and Soviet (burgundy).

The other nations have the pieces of close enough colors to leave as is.

One thing that I don’t understand is why AH/WOTC didn’t standardize the colors for each nation. For example, I have German pieces in three shades of gray as well as black pieces. Why couldn’t they pick a color & stay with it in all the games?

@C_Strabala:

One thing that I don’t understand is why AH/WOTC didn’t standarize the colors for each nation. For example, I have German pieces in three shades of gray as well as black pieces. Why couldn’t they pick a color & stay with it in all the games?

They are WOTC after all, remember. Its not like we are talking about sane and rational people here.

Since we are sharing pictures of our pieces here is one of mine. (See below).

The colors that I decided to use were uniform colors that each country used.  I prefer military colors.  I really don’t care for the non military colors such as blue, red, yellow (Sorry IL, nothing personal) and so on.  I did a lot of research and found colors that came close to the actual uniforms as possible.  Of course every country used several different colors.  I chose ones that were the most common but at the same time showed enough color distinction between each country.  So here are the colors I selected. are as follows

US - Medium Green (Model Masters 4734)
GR - RLM02 Gray (Polly Scale F505075)
UK - Dark Tan (Madel Master 4709)
JP - Japan Uniform (Vallejo 923)
SV - Incomplete but plan to use dark brown

Later I will do IT (Green-Gray) & FR (Gray-Blue)

The pieces are a mix of A&A units with a few exception.  If you notice I have 2 carriers.  The larger one represents a CV and the smaller one a CVE/CVL (original A&A CV).

The DD is actually a Xenon (I hope that is right) CA.  It was smaller that the A&A DD.  So I use the A&A DD as a CA and the Xenon CA as a DD.

For the Heavy Bombers I use a combo of the original and new A&A 4 engine bombers.  For the Medium Bombers I used A&A 2 engine bombers and 1/700 scale models found at Hobby Town USA.

For Fighter/Dive bombers I used the original A&A fighters since they are smaller then the newer A&A fighters.

For Mechanized Infantry I used halftracks from GHQ.  I used the M3 for the US & SV, Sdk-25 for GR & JP, and the Bren Carrier for the UK.

Boy, for us color challenged persons, even the above painted units are a challenge.

I like primary colors the best or at least colors which are very distinguishable from

each other.

Differences in shadings which are so subtle, make it very hard to play at times.

@Constantinople:

Boy, for us color challenged persons, even the above painted units are a challenge.

I like primary colors the best or at least colors which are very distinguishable from

each other.

Differences in shadings which are so subtle, make it very hard to play at times.

I agree but I also think that’s what seperates this games units from the units in risk.

It’s trying to get the right balance, I guess; between playability and verisimilitude.

I personally don’t have a problem with the colours pictured, but I understand how some people might get confused.  Therefore, I think that FMG should keep this potential problem in mind when choosing colours in which to cast.  This is why I believe they should offer a variety of colours which can be chosen by the purchaser when ordering their molds (as Xeno games does); some people will want to match the current colours for whichever game editions they possess (as I will), others will want historical colours which match WWII-era uniforms, and others will want pretty much any colours which contrast deeply with each other.  A wide variety of interchangeable colours would certainly take care of this, and attract some customers who might otherwise hesitate to make a purchase - just something I believe should be kept in mind.

By the way, Black Fox, why doesn’t your painted Japanese fleet possess any CVL/CVEs (i.e. MB CV molds)? I don’t see one pictured in your image.

talking about changing the colours of the units is all well and good, but you have to keep in mind that if we change the colours of a nation, then we have to replace every piece that nation comes with in the standard game (instead of just adding to)

I like the colors.  If I didn’t, nothing a can of spray paint can’t fix.

By the way, Black Fox, why doesn’t your painted Japanese fleet possess any CVL/CVEs (i.e. MB CV molds)? I don’t see one pictured in your image.

AG124 - I somehow miss placed it when I took the picture.  Only to find it later in another box when I was putting it all way.

When I first started this project I intended copying the colors of the original A&A pieces with the exception of the Japanese since it’s colors were too close to the UK.  So I started to research Japanese uniform colors to find a good contrasting color.  This lead me to researching everyone else’s uniform.  It turns out that the original piece actually do a pretty good job matching those countries uniform colors.

Anyway, I found this Japanese Uniform paint, which is a Khaki/Green and it matches one type of Japanese uniform very well.  I really like this color and it makes a nice contrast.  With the UK I originally chose a Khaki color but it blended a little too well with the original A&A map colors so I chose a brown UK uniform color (commonly used in Europe).  With the US I decided on the Medium Green which I thought offered a better contrast.

Boy, for us color challenged persons, even the above painted units are a challenge.

Constantinople, for those of us who are not color challenged can you give us a better explanation of your problem.  For example what specifically about my colors are difficult for you.  I think this might be useful information for FMG.

I think that FMG should keep this potential problem in mind when choosing colours in which to cast.  This is why I believe they should offer a variety of colours which can be chosen by the purchaser when ordering their molds (as Xeno games does); some people will want to match the current colours for whichever game editions they possess (as I will), others will want historical colours which match WWII-era uniforms, and others will want pretty much any colours which contrast deeply with each other.  A wide variety of interchangeable colours would certainly take care of this, and attract some customers who might otherwise hesitate to make a purchase

I agree with AG124.  This would be the best solution for all if it is economically feasible to do.

From reading the post, there seems to be 2 primary camps.  Those that prefer military colors and those that prefer primary colors.  My choice of course would be for military colors.

Tin-Snip also makes a good point.  If FMG can not replace all the pieces then it would probably be best to match colors that are currently being used.  Not my first choice but perhaps the most practical.

@ TG Moses VI - Yes, this indeed what FMG is planning to do; replace the entire existing nation sets with new ones.  It remains to be seen how many of these new molds will be unique, and how many will have to be shared; FMG is obtaining a price quote first before relaying this information back to us.

@FieldMarshallGames:

…My Goal so far is the following:  (I am still working with factory on cost)

1. To make a FULL set for each Nation in AA50.  Better quality and greater quantity than provided in the stock game.  These can fully replace the stock units OR complement them.

2. To add two additional colors for expansions ie; BLUE for France and one other color with general sculpts to be used as Neutrals or other nation as required by expansion.

3. To add some new SPECIAL Expansion units to the game.  “Why would some one buy this?” Something new will give the set greater appeal to the general public and and help pay of the cost of the production investment.

…

@FieldMarshallGames:

…Once I get a decent quote on cost of this project I will finalize the unit types and numbers.

we’ll just have to see if the goal is actually practical and affordable for FMG then. fingers crossed

All I can say is that I hope FMG can afford quite a few new molds; I am trying to draft up a list with only 48 new molds, but I can’t get it down past 75 so far (and that is with such corner-cutting measures as cutting out unique molds for the entire Soviet navy, a Japanese halftrack and transport aircraft, and a lot of the Italian Navy). My list also assumes six new unit types; mechanized infantry/half track, rockets, commander, self-propelled artillery, transport aircraft, and bunker, shared molds for IC, AA, rockets, and bunker, and doesn’t include France and a neutral set. I just can’t cut it down much more without any sense of satisfaction. :-(

@TG:

If every country kept their colors EXCEPT for Italy, I would be more than happy.  Italy and Russia still look too much alike.

I’d be fairly happy with that colour arrangement too.  The brown used for Italy in AA50 isn’t easy to distinguish from the AA50 maroon/purple Russian pieces, and it causes even greater confusion once you start mixing in the dark brown Russian pieces from the original A&A edition and the brownish/olive-green US pieces from the same game.  My own preference for Italy would be light grey.  The colours used for the five main combatants in AA50 would be fine to keep as they are, but it might be a good idea to find another colour for the lime green AA50 Chinese infantry pieces.  Anything greenish will tend to be associated the US pieces.  This was the same problem that the lime green British pieces had in AA Revised: the sculpts were clearly British, but the colour was closer to the American medium green than the usual British tan.

CWO Marc