National Advantages for Axis & Allies 1942 Ed.

National Advantages for A&A 1942 Version 1.1

By B. Andersson, Stockholm 2009

Veteran players may wish to vary the play experience and a less experienced team of players need a bonus to weight a victory towards the Axis or Allies. The following optional rules set out national advantages for each power in the game, simulating the historic strategies or benefits. A power may not share its national advantages with friendly powers. These national advantages do also apply to A&A Revised, but should not be used in combination with any weapons development (only A&A Revised).

If you want to use these optional rules, decide on the number of national advantages each power will get. Each player chooses that many advantages for his or her power. If you prefer, you can roll randomly that number of times for each power.

Soviet Union National Advantages

1. Partisan Resistance
When the Wehrmacht rolled into the Soviet Union in World War II, it got more than it bargained for. Soviet citizens fought fiercely against German occupiers, engaging in raids, sabotage, and intelligence gathering.
Once per turn you may end a battle after first round of combat and stay in the same territory as the enemy, whether on attack or defense, in any territory with existing Soviet control symbols shown on the game board (or red territory if you play A&A Revised). These units are locked in combat and can not move out of this territory before the opposing force is destroyed.

2. Red Army Conscription
The Soviet Unions most valuable asset was its vast manpower reserves, conscription got untrained and many times unequipped infantry to the front lines.
Once per game you may declare a mass conscription during the purchase units phase of your turn. Your infantry have a reduced cost of 2 IPC’s during this turn only, provided that only infantry are bought.

3. Scorched Earth
Whilst withdrawing from the front, the Soviets came to fight a war were they destroyed anything that might be useful to the Germans.
You may remove your industrial complexes during your mobilize new units phase in order to prevent them from being captured by an opponent.

4. T-34 Tanks
Soviet tank development was lead to a medium tank destined to become a war winner. It formed the bulk of Soviet tank strength and was more cost-effective than contemporary German tanks.
Once per turn you can build a maximum of two tanks for 4 IPCs each.

5. Lend-Lease
With the Ukraine lost and factories moving east, the Soviet Union could neither feed nor rebuild itself. The Allies came to its rescue.
During your mobilize new units phase, you can convert one U.K. and one U.S. land unit into Soviet units if they are in a red territory. Remove the affected units from play and replace them with the same units of your own color.

6. Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway spanned 10,000 kilometers from Moscow to Vladivostok, the longest main line in the world.
In the noncombat move phase, your infantry, antiaircraft guns, and artillery may move 2 territories per turn only among these territories: Russia, Novosibirsk, Yakut S.S.R., and Buryatia S.S.R.

Germany National Advantages

1. Jet Fighters
The jet fighter Me 262 gave German pilots a subperb fighting machine for which the Allies had no equal, significantly faster than conventional propeller-driven aircraft. Had it been built earlier, it could have had a major impact on the course of the war.
Your fighters defends on a 5.

2. Atlantic Wall
The Germans fortified the European Atlantic coast with massive defensive systems from Norway to Spain.
During any amphibious assault against Western Europe, Germany and Norway, all your infantry and artillery defend on a 3 during the first cycle of combat.

3. Tiger Tanks
The massively powerful King Tiger was virtually impervious to Allied tank guns and capable of dominating the battlefield.
If you attack with a tank, any enemy tanks defends on a 2.

4. Wolf Packs
Wolf Packs of U-boats prowled the Atlantic, working together to down Allied convoys. The only sure thing about a U-boat was that there was another nearby.
Your submarines attack on a 3 if there is more than one of them at the start of the combat cycle. When there are less than two submarines at the start of a combat cycle, this ability is lost. Wolf Packs do not improve defending submarines. Enemy destroyers do not affect this National Advantage. The submarines may come from different sea zones, but they must attack the same sea zone.

5. Blitzkrieg
German warfare combined the use of mobile units with the close support of airpower into a steel juggernaut emphasize speedy movement and maximization of battlefield opportunities.
When your tanks attack along with fighters, the tanks and fighters attack on a 4 or less. This pairing is on a one-to-one basis.

6. V2 Rockets
Guided missiles were one of Germany’s most important scientific achievements during World War II.
You have one free rocket attack per turn against an industrial complex, fired from one of your antiaircraft guns with a range of 3. Roll one die to determine how many IPC’s the enemy must surrender to the bank.

United Kingdom National Advantages

1. Radar
Britain’s radar alerted it to the threat of German planes crossing the channel.
Your antiaircraft guns now fire hits on a 1 or 2 instead of just a 1.

2. Joint Strike
The most powerful strike in the war was the joint Allied assault on Normandy. The planning required to launch this simultaneous invasion has never been equaled.
Once during the game at the start of a round (before the Russian turn), you may declare a joint strike. That round, you complete your turn as normal, except you must skip combat move, conduct combat, and noncombat move phases. On those phases of the U.S. turn, the U.S. player uses your units in his or her combat move, conduct combat, and noncombat move phases together with his own units. You and the U.S. player must agree on attacking casualties and on who takes possession of any captured territories, or the opposing player gets to choose. Antiaircraft fire is rolled separately against each nationality of air units; all anti-U.K. dice are rolled before any anti-
U.S. die is rolled. National advantages still only apply to the units of the power that gained the development or has the advantage. A joint strike may not be called off once it is declared.

3. Fighter Command
A radar and fighter control system was essensial for the Royal Air Force to win the Battle of Britain.
Your fighters on any territory of UK control containing an AA gun, and not under attack, may now defend adjacent territories or sea zones. They act immediately in these battles and must land in the territory the fighter is taking off from, provided they were not removed as a casualty.

4. Commonwealth Troops
The British Commonwealth Troops served in all theatres in World War II - from Europe to North Africa to South-East Asia.
During your mobilize new units phase, you may place one of your infantry you just purchased in any territory with existing UK control symbols shown on the game board (or tan territory if you play A&A Revised) with an income value higher than 1 IPC if you control it. If the teritory contains an industrial complex, you can mobilize nomore units than the income value of that territory.

5. British Commandos
In World War II the Royal Navy Commandos spearheaded British amphibious assaults in Europe and Asia. These commandos were vital in any major amphibious as well as smaller operations.
Your infantry attacks on a 2 in the first cycle of the land combat portion of an amphibious assault.

6. Colonial Garrison
World War II represents the height of the United Kingdom’s colonial empire. Two decades later the Commonwealth was a shadow of its world-spanning former self.
You begin the game with one additional industrial complex in in any territory with existing UK control symbols shown on the game board (or tan territory if you play A&A Revised) with an income value of at least 1. (You still can’t have more than one industrial complex in a territory.

Japan National Advantages

1. Tokyo Express
The Japanese High Command used destroyer convoys to ferry infantry. Allied forces at Guadalcanal dubbed this the “Tokyo Express”.
Each of your destroyers may act as a transport for one infantry. These destroyers follow the same rules for loading and offloading units as transports do. Destroyers are still allowed to conduct combat when transporting and unloading.

2. Kamikaze Attacks
A terrifying development was the Japanese suicide tactics as a desperate means of slowing the Allied advance. The Japanese used pilots who only knew how to take off and dive into their target with an aircraft full of explosives.
During Japan’s turn, at the start of any sea combat in sea zones 58, 59, 60 or 61, the Japanese player can attack one Allied surface sea unit (not a submarine) with Kamikaze. This attack occurs before the first round of combat, and any casualty is removed before the battle begins (if a battleship is hit once, turn it on its side - if two 1’s are rolled, the battleship is removed from play). If a carrier is selected as the target, any fighters aboard that carrier are assumed to have been launched before the kamikaze attack and may defend in the air normally in the ensuing battle, whether or not the carrier is sunk. The aircraft used for the Kamikaze planes are not represented on the board. To make the attack, the Japanese player indicates which ship is being targeted and rolls two dice. For each “1” rolled a hit is scored. Only one Kamikaze attack may be made per turn.

3. Long Lance Torpedoes
The Japanese Navy possessed superior torpedoes in comparison with its Western counterparts, possessing an unequaled combination of speed, range, and hitting power.
During the first cycle of combat only, your destroyers and submarines attack and defend on a 3. In succeeding cycles of combat, your destroyers and submarines fire as normal.

4. Yamato Class Battleships
Dreadnoughts or leviathans like Yamato and Musashi were the largest and most powerful battleships the world has ever seen.
Your battleships each fire twice (roll two dice, imply shore bombardment).

5. Fukkaku Defenses
The Japanese introduced the tactic of endurance engagements intended to inflict maximum casualties. This tacic called Fukkaku included bunkers and pillboxes connected by tunnels.
All your infantry on islands defend on a 3.

6. Banzai Attacks
_A fearsome rallying cry of the Imperial Japanese Army, “Banzai!” meant, “May you live ten thousand years.”_
When you move only infantry into a contested space during the combat move phase, you may at that time declare the intended attack to be a banzai attack (for an amphibious assault you may also include offshore bombardment support). If you do so, all those infantry attack on a 2 for the first round only. You may not withdraw from any banzai attack, regardless of whether it is amphibious or not.

United States National Advantages

1. War Economy
The U.S. mobilized its economy for war on a scale never before seen. Every resource of the country was tapped for the war effort. Rationing, war bonds and Rosie the Riveter became iconic parts of the American culture.
During your collect income phase, roll one die and collect that many additional IPC’s.

2. Chinese Divisions
The Chinese had three hundred divisions in 1942. President Roosevelt spent much of the war trying to get Chiang Kai-Shek to do something with them.
During your mobilize new units phase, you may place one of your infantry for free in one of the following territories if you control it: China, Sinkiang, or Kwangtung. This free unit is in addition to the group of units you just purchased.

3. Airborne Rangers
The Rangers specialized in airborne, light-infantry and direct action operations to lead the way for the army.
Each of your bombers can act as a transport for one infantry, but it must stop in the first hostile territory it enters, ending its combat movement. Both units must begin their movement in the same territory. The infantry is dropped after any antiaircraft fire is resolved, so if the bomber is hit, the infantry it carries is also destroyed. The bomber may still attack during the conduct combat phase, but it cannot make a strategic bombing run in a turn that it transports an infantry unit. The infantry unit may retreat normally to a friendly adjacent space during combat. However no retreat is possible if no land units attacked from an adjacent territory, and bombers cannot be used to move infantry in noncombat movement.

4. Mechanized Army
With its fleet of trucks, the U.S. Army was the most mobile force of soldiers in World War II.
Your infantry and artillery have a move of 2 during noncombat move phase. The combat move of your infantry and artillery remains at 1.

5. Long-Range Fighters
The twin-boomed P-38 long range enabled it to escort bombers deep inside enemy territory.
Your fighters´ range increases to 6.

6. Superfortresses
The B-29 Superfortress carried the biggest standard bomb load of any wartime bomber.
Your bombers roll one additional die each when conducting a strategic bombing raid.