Rules Q&A

@Krieghund

Thank you for clarifying!

what are the flaws of p40? what are the flaws of the origial pacific?

@Texas:

I am certainly not suggesting to buy another game JUST for the chips.  But if someone happens to have both, the chips are interchangeable.  In some long A&A games, more chips might be handy.  You could also use the Warlords black chips as 10s or to mean something else.

Multicolored mini poker chips rock. I use the crap out of them in my own game designs. In Pacific I use orange and yellow chips to indicate damage on installations. I match colors with counters in A&A minis land and naval to use as backings for the micron thin counters, or just by color in very large battles when I run out of counters.

@Texas:

Of course, it might be more trouble than it is worth to sort them or whatever.  I know some gamers combine game parts from different games into a big “pool” of game equipment.  I usually keep games and their parts separated, so it will take a bit of extra effort to dig out two games to play just one game but wanting extra chips.

Back in the day a friend of mine had a bad habit of “pooling” game equipment. He had a huge collection (thousands) of the airfix/revell 1/72 world war 2 soldiers all mixed together in a freaking tackle box. Most unpainted. It took hours to sort through them when we wanted to table top battle or “enhance” the original A&A. Not a fan of pooling.

@Texas:

Anyway, it was just an FYI.

Thank you for adding another board game to my want list…

Yoper:

“But spelling mistakes are different from people actually having troubles understanding certain ideas or concepts in the rules.”

Yes, they are different, but both fall under the jurisdiction of the editor(s).  That being said, I agree that “Trying to put forth a rule (like the political rules in AAP 40) in a way that is clear to all is a tough task.”

From what I’ve read, it seems that people should also apply some common sense - especially those who’ve been playing A&A games for many years.  I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read of someone wanting a clarification - only to wonder why it needed to be clarified in the first place.

As to the spelling mistakes… well that’s just plain shoddy workmanship.  No, it doesn’t effect gameplay, and I’m still going to have fun playing the game. But if people are shelling out a fair amount of money for a game - they expect a higher quality product, one that doesn’t have spelling errors (which is something that might be expected from a garage based game publisher - not a major manufacturer).  And there is the element of presentation as well, in this kind of medium, it’s important.  And c’mon, consider the demographic of your buyers… we’re talking about guys (mainly) that go through great lengths such as painting the pieces, inventing pages of optional rules, making new maps etc.  Of course spelling mistakes are going to leap out at the average A&A enthusiast!

You stated, “I would like you (or anyone else) to give me a list of all the spelling mistakes in the rulebook.”  I’m not about to be an unpaid editor/proofer, but the point is that if there is one… that’s one too many.  It’s not that difficult to publish something without spelling mistakes - its done everyday.  And a lot of these publications don’t even have the benefit of more than one editor. Perhaps I’m a bit retentive in regard to the spelling issue, but I am obviously not alone in this stance.

BTW - I too don’t think anyone should be pointing fingers at the wardog or Larry Harris, it’s not like they design and produce the whole game themselves…

@The:

cool, thanks. And I knew that the U.S. technically wouldn’t earn any money with the Western U.S. taken, but I was really referring to the Global game where the Western U.S. wouldn’t be the capital.

Well there will be a new set of rules for the global game. It’s hard to say the impact that’ll have, though it’s good to get the question out early so them who make the rules will address it correctly.

@skinny1:

I was thinking with the size of the new global 1940 game if anyone thought of using the set up cards from AA50 to use on the new boards for 1941 and 1942 scenarios?

I don’t know how well the setup cards from AA50 would work, but it would be awesome if a group of dedicated players with a good knowledge of WWII history playtested and came up with a '41 and '42 scenario.   better yet…

apparently Larry continued development of AAR after it was published, and released a series of “Larry Harris Tournament Rules”, and eventually Spring 1942.  Seeing as how I can’t imagine them coming out with a bigger game than 1940, I imagine this one will be around for a while, and I would think it will surely be reprinted at some point??.  I’m sure it’s a pipe dream, but wouldn’t it be awesome if LH and the team developed a '41 and '42 scenario… and who wouldn’t love some National Advantages too!?  If in some years they reprint the set of 2 games with 2 new scenarios, NA’s, a polished rulebook (destroyers at 9 IPC sub. ed.  :wink:), some minor tweaks (like AA42), etc, it would once again be a must-have even for the die-hard fans that already have a copy of the current Pac40.

This is a great place.  It has helped rekindle my interest in A&A.  I seem to be generally returning to board games (especially “conquor the world” types) after many years diverted into miniatures gaming.

My thanks also to all you who have played so many games and know the answers to questions and offer help so freely.

I’m pretty sure BILL is right. Japan will be able to take the Dutch colonies without consequence. Otherwise there would be nothing neutral (except China) for Japan to attack and no need to keep the US out of the war for the first few turns.