Got Gold

@Imperious-Leader I was trapped in an unhealty relation to a woman that did not respect a real mans urge to play A&A, but I’m back now. Still waiting for my gold badge, that was paid for a week ago. Miss the Message Boards from the 1990’ies now that was action.

@Narvik

ANZAC AND UK PAC TURN 22 - WINTER 1945

COMBAT
OPERATION CAPITAL - INVASION OF BURMA
India: 4 Inf, Art, Tank, BMB (UK) + 4 Inf (Punjab) + 2 Inf (Gurkha) attack> Burma: 3 Inf (JAP) + Inf (BU)
Loss Allies: 1 Inf + Loss JAP: all units

BATTLE OF RAMREE ISLAND
1000 japanese soldiers retreat into crocodile-infestet mangrove swamps.
Only 20 survive.
This is known as the worst animal attack ever recordet. If it’s true. Historians differ

Burma switch side and join the Allies.
1 Inf (BU) join the Allies.

@CWO:

…. and two American fighter units represented by two different sculpts (though their cost and characteristics in the rules were identical).Â

Correct, One of the designers said he could not live with an Army P 38 Lighting as a carrier based plane, so they gave us 6 carrier based fighters too. Those were the days…

@Requester45:

I totally agree with all of you, however Vann is right when he says that it’s probably to appeal to the younger crowd.

I am 50 and it appeals to me, man, so dont blame the age.

Oh, and since many of you wont buy it, I will buy 10 copies, just to support WOTC.

Yes, my way to honor and respect the veterans is to buy as many copies of A&A Zombies that I can afford, and store in my basement.

Enough

I paid years ago and start to get tired of waiting, anybody know how long to this game is actually coming to my home ?

In this blog I compere the real WWII to a game of A&A.
In this blog one Round is 3 months. Rounds follow the seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.
This blog start with the Fall-Round, that would be september 1. 1939 in the real war, and end after 24 rounds with a summer Round, that would be september 2. 1945 in the real war. This 24 Rounds represent 6 years and one day of war.

A&A is known to be a game of Grand Strategy, that involves both military, diplomatic and economic stuff. Each Turn is split in two, a diplomatic action between the players (National Leaders) in the Game Room and the military campaigns on the A&A 1940-map. To make it simple I just list the purchase, combat moves and non-combat moves. I skip Collect Income but might edit it in later, since it is complicated with GDP, military outlay, revenue from occupied territory that just was schorched, burned, bombed but also different and nation specific cost of units. USSR had cheap infantry but real expensive ships. USA had cheap ships but real expensive infantry. It’s complicated.

Since 9 players will make 24 Rounds, (=216 Turns) and each Turn is split in a Game Room post and a Map post, this Blog will be 432 posts long. Some posts will have a image, but don’t worry I scaled them down to 700 kB and also I will be a Gold member every year as long this Blog run.

What do an A&A unit represent? This question has intrigued the community since back in 1984 when the MB Classic game was made. There are no logical answer to that. In this Blog I keep it simple and abstract.
One Battleship unit is 100 000 tons of battleships, between 1 or 4 real life ships.
One Carrier unit is 60 000 tons of carriers with 200 aircrafts. It is impossible to combine CV-air with land based air so I keep them separate.
A Cruiser is 30 000 tons, a destroyer 20 000 tons, a sub is 20 000 tons, a Tranny 250 000 tons (that is what it takes to transport to land units of 100 000 men each across the Atlantic) and a Convoy is 100 000 tons of merchant shipping with a value of 1 IPC, just to have a number. This may change when I start working on the economy and Collect Income phase.

When purchased a FTR and TAC is 1000 aircrafts and a S.BMB is 500, but on the map this is reduced to 500, 400 and 250 because in the real war old planes were replaced by new ones continiously.

Land units are tricky, they are both men and stuff. An Infantry unit is 100 000 men and weapons, based on the average Division Slice of an average Triangular Division.

The Combat Arms (frontline soldiers) would be like 14 000 men (40 %), the Combat Support ( Artillery, Engineering, Signal, Securitsy etc) is 6000 men (20%), Service Supply (Logistic and Supply chain) is 7000 men (20%) and Service Support (Maintenance, Quartermaster, Paymaster, Transportation etc) is 8000 men (20%) for a total of 34 000 men with equipment.

Tank unit is 1000 Tanks of all sizes and 50 000 men. Artillery is funny because it belongs in the Infantry Division but in this game it is separated into its own unit, so I figure 3000 or 4000 art would make a decent unit. Same with Mech, usually in an Armoured Division, but for this Blog 100 000 men with veichles is a Mech unit. AA unit is 1000 AA guns. Fort unit is 50 000 crew +100 heavy guns in casemates. Blockhouse unit is 50 000 crew +1000 heavy machine guns in bunkers.

In the Pacific I used Convoy Disruption Rule OOB because Japan didn’t use convoys, but the Battle of Atlantic was very different, so I use the convoy rules from A&A Europe 1999 ed and also from the A&A North Africa convoy rule. As long as I use rules from the A&A univers I guess I can mix. After all, A&A is the game of House Rules. Larry Harris Tournament Rules is prof of that.

Please don’t clutter down this Blog. This Blog will raise a lot of intriguing historical cases to be discussed, but lets take that in the History part of this Forum. Next post will be the 1939 set up

As Ceasar said, while it is a good idea for the playability and balance, its far from historical truth.

According to International Law for that period, and that is the Haag convention of 1905 and 1907, a country that declare neutrality at the start of a world war, can not take part in any kind of warfare or let other partys use their territory. The Law says the neutral state must have a strong military force to protect and defend its neutral territories.

Based on the International Law, all neutrals should have strong Infantry/Fighter defense for self protection, stronger than the OOB set up, and even maybe let them grow with one additional unit every second turn, if that dont make it too complicated.

The OOB rules for neutrals dont model the historical truth, it models the collective safety mechanic that the League of Nations tried to implement after WWI, but was abandoned in 1938, when every neutral minor country in Europe reverted back to the Haag convention from 1905/07. Attack one member, and you attack them all. I love that idea, and maybe it would have worked, but no matter how beautiful the idea is, it was in fact abandoned in 1938 because UK and France denied the League of Nations to punish Italy and Japan after the attacks on true neutrals Ethiopia, Albania and Manchuria. PM Chamberlain said in his speach that the collective safety mechanic was dead, and that each neutral minor had to depend on their own military defense, or join the Western Allies.

Still, the idea of collective safety for neutrals is not dead in A&A. Attack neutral Spain, and all the neutrals of the world will attack you. Sorry but its not the historical truth, not for the first years when strict neutral Ethiopia, Albania, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Finland, Romania, The Baltic States, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Belgium and Netherlands all were attacked, and all this were strict and true neutrals, its not like they were pro something that would have justified the attacks, but the truth is that the rest of the true neutrals did nothing, strict neutral Sweden did nothing when its brothers Finland, Norway and Denmark were attacked, why would neutral Sweden do something if true neutral Bolivia in South America, or true neutral Zimbabwe in Africa, or true neutral Mongolia in Asia got attacked ? I just cant see the reason. A neutral is a neutral, when your brother get stabbed you turn your back to it, you dont suddenly join any fight, because then you are not neutral.

@Karl7:

Pacific 2001  – not listed

Correct, Pacific 2001 and Europe 1999, the two best A&A games, currently out of print, too sad.

Pacific 2001 was the first game with convoy zones, naval bases and air bases, and my favorite, the CAP, Combat Air Patrol, the current scrambling is by far not that good.

And the best, they were playable, you could play it every where, you did not need a dedicated basement like when you play G40, or a 6 feet table. Also, the map was focused on the spot where the war actually happened. No Africa and no South America. Too sad its out of print

Have you considered using Kickstarter ?

@DoManMacgee I agree so far. I don’t play Tournaments so at some point we will not agree. But basically all versions of A&A should be easy to learn. A&A is not a hex and counter game. I miss the Classic Rulebook, it was 4 pages if I remember correct.

Lets take the Road Movement rule. In North Africa anything with wheels can move 5 spaces on a road. I love it. But in Stalingrad only Tanks and Mech can move 2 spaces and 2 additional spaces if they start at a road, but Assault guns and Rocket Launchers can not move 2 additional spaces. Now that don’t make sense since the Panzer III and the Stug III had the same range and the same speed limit. And also the ZIS 42 halftrack was the excact same as the ZIS 42 Rocket Launcer. I guess its because of game balance. But for playability all motorized vehicles should be able to Road Movement. So this rule beats me for sure.

I also noticed there are 6 spaces between Grain elevator and Tractor Factory. So it takes a Tank 3 Rounds to move between those points. A Round is 2 weeks. So it takes 6 weeks to drive 15 miles, or 25 km. I am awere it was a lot of rubble and debris in the streets of Stalingrad, but I walk 15 miles, or 25 km, on my feet in 'bout 3 hours. OK, lets give this to game balance and playability, it’s just a game after all. But it does bother me.

I need to start posting in the Stalingrad Forum. Hoper you have some inputs.

@DoManMacgee you were a playtester OMG I have so many questions. Will make a thread in the Stalingrad forum soon, but just mention very fast, since we are doing this anyway, a few years ago there was this talk 'bout streamlining the rules for all A&A games, both global and theater games. That has not been done. North Africa and Stalingrad got very different rules. Now that was a missed opportunity. Why a new supply-rule? Now we have 3 different supply rules, one for Bulge, another for N.A and yet another for Stalingrad. Also all games are scripted. The old D-day game was the worst, so boring to play. I get it if you are playing competetiv in Tournaments and want a fast game, fast to set up, fast to play. But 99% don’t play competetiv. We, the people, are die-hards plastic piece junkies with a military power fantasy. The beauty of the classic A&A MB 1984 edition was it was not scripted. Anything would go. German battleship in Indian Ocean? Sure, why not. A&A should not be Memory Game the historically correct re-enactment simultasion. Ok, enough rant, will make threat in Stalingrad forum soon

@DoManMacgee Thank you for feedback. Much appreciated.

As we speak I’m working on a WWI Blog, and also the new A&A Stalingrad game, and reading books about WWII economy, so this blog will not be edited anytime soon. I also have OCD when it comes to accuracy and prefection, so I need time.

I actually did consider using the HBG map, but had to turn it down for several reasons. First, HBG is fanbased and not official. I want to use the official A&A maps, pieces and rules as far as possible. Also, living in Europe I am not aware of legal issues when using stuff from other companies in Blogs. It feels more safe to stay to the official A&A franchise. I’m not rich and can’t afford a law suet (spelling? English is not my first language) Also I’m conserned bout the visuals. The A&A maps looks good. I don’t like the glossy colors on the HBG maps. Most of all I want to mix the A&A 1914 and the A&A 1940 global maps, somehow, But again, legal issues? I can do so much in my basement with friends, but an official Blog? I dunno man.

The problem with “in-game rules” or OOB (out of box) rules, is, as far as I am conserned, I don’t love them. This rules are designed for game balance, playability and ease of play. My 5 years as soldier and studying military history for 40 years, make my stomach turn upside down when reading the rules. Very few of the rules make sense. Take the new Stalingrad game. Now that was a missed opportuinity. A regional map with plain steppe terrain perfect for maneuver warfare with Blitzkrieg, Deep operations, breakthroughs, flanking, hit and run, and a city map with urban warfare, and the designer ruined it. Both maps have typically trench warfare and attrition. I love the supply rule, and units beeing out of supply when encircled and under siege, just as in a real war, but for some reason the designer ruined all the possibilities. We can only fix it with a lot of House Rules. And that is what I am working on as we speak.

@DoManMacgee Oh no, it’s not finished, it’s in progress. I need to figure out the Collect Income too, and that is not easy. We have the GDP that change all the time, and also the Military Outlays change from month to month. I don’t even know for sure how many aircrafts were made because the estimates differ from source to source. Some say US made 30 000 aircrafts but no more than 2000 were operational at any time, so where did all the planes go? And the estimates of casualties on the Eastern Front differ one million men give or take. In my Blog that is like 10 Infantry. I can’t make an accurate historical correct Blog if I don’t know the correct numbers.

This Blog have surprisingnly many wievs but not so much diskussion. Lets look into how I solved the US entry. In the real war Japan dow’ed USA, and then Germany dow’ed USA some days after. But the Turn order in A&A, which I follow strictly, is Germany, Japan, USA. Also a dow should be made in that players turn. That left me with a few choices:

-Round 10 winter 1941/42. Jap dow US. Next US attack Germany. Round 11 spring: Germany dow USA. Now attacking nazis is not bad, but this was not historically correct. Germany did in fact dow USA before strict neutral USA started attacking the Axis.

to solve this I could let Germany dow USA in Round 9 fall. Also not historically correct, since in fact Japan dow’ed USA before Germany dow’ed USA. A very importent point is that Japan would’nt dow anyone before the german attack on Moscow was resolved. IF success Japan would attack USSR far east, but if failure Japan would attack USA.

To change the Turn order was never even considered. That would mess up everything.

My solution was, as you know, to let all Axis players dow USA simultaneously on Japans turn. My rational for this is the Berlin Pact, signed in Berlin september 1940 by Germany, Italy and Japan, and later the other Axis, and this pact was an agreement to dow USA all toghether at the same time. One for all, all for one. I don’t see any other way to do it. A slight violation of the OOB rules yes, but also the less of many evils. But I am surprised it was no questions. All wievers just accepted my solutin. I miss that kind of discussions. I guess you have to be a super nerd of a history buff to engage in that. And I figure the casual A&A players are not. They just want a good time playing a board game

@DoManMacgee

Thank you so much for taking time to go through and liking this blog. I guess we both love history.

I can’t take credit for the idea. The Classic A&A MB edition was publised in 1984, and from 1995 online homepages on the WWW had become common. I remember there were lots of homepages about A&A, like Don’s Essays and Thrasher, and a dude made a blog almost exactly like this, but with MB Classic and start in 1942 and each Round was 6 months. It was so well done. Unfortunately I can’t find it, it’s propably lost. I loved it so much I wanted to do the same. Now his blog was really well done, and my blog is just the beta test. I was hoping for some discussion and feedback before I make my homepage. So far I understand that I have to make better pics. To represent historical events visually is important. Nobody read a lot of text.

Again, thanks for giving me feedback

@Narvik

How risky was the real WW II game for the players?

Lets look into the 9 playable powers:

3 players died in Round 23, all in april 1945.
Adolf, the german player, commited suicide because he lost the game.
Benito, the italian player, was hanged because he lost the game.

FDR was winning the game, but died of natural causes just before cashing in. An intriguing fact is that if Wendell Willkie had won the election, and become the US player, he too died during the game, in Round 21, oct 1944. So either way a vice had to finish the game. In this case Truman.

Also two ANZAC players died in office during the game. Michael Savage died in Round 3 and John Curtin in Round 24, the last round. ANZAC was played by 6 different players, starting with “Pig Iron Bob” Menzies and finishing with Ben and Fraser.

The first UK player, Neville Chamberlain, resigned in Round 3 and died in Round 5.
The most famous UK player, Winston, resigned in Round 24, the last round, and was replaced in the Victory Parade by Clement Attlee. Now that must have been disappointing to Winnie.

None of the 5 french players died but 4 of them was arrested and spent some time in prison.
Both Daladier and Reynauld were locked up at Itter Castle prison already in Round 4.
Petain and Pierre Laval got locked op in Round 21 for switching to the Axis.
de Gaulle would pop up and play France the last round, rejecting the Allied victory and keep a solo game going in the old french colonies all over the world.

Of the main 9 players only Stalin, Tokyo Kid and Chiang would play from Round 1 to the final Round 24.

Of the minor neutral non-playable powers, a lot of players would be arrested after the game, for being war criminals. Others would be assassinated during play.

Poland, the first to fight, lost 2 great players:
Ryds-Smigly in round 10 and Sikorsky in round 16.

Metaxa, playing Greece, was possible poisoned in round 6.
Tsar Boris III, playing Bulgaria, was possible poisoned in round 16.
Stauning, playing Denmark, died in round 11.
Ulmanis, playing one of the Baltic States, died in GULAG in round 13, and Smedina in round 21.
Szalasi, playing Hungary, was hanged in round 23.
Quisling, who tried to play Norway unofficial after the worlds first solo coup by a radio speech, and with no back up what so ever, and even during a german attack, in wich the german player Adolf nor any of his officers was prepared for this, is hanged in round 23.

In China, the ROC- player Wang Jingwei is killed in round 21. The other puppet players to Japan, Prince De and emperor Puyi, spent some time in GULAG, but survive a short time after round 24.
KMT-player Chiang survive round 24, but are soon to be replaced by Mao, playing CCP.

The dominion players Will King, playing Canada, and Smuts, playing South Africa, are in the game from round 1 to round 24. Now that pretty much sums it up. Hopeful we won’t see this much drama on a Con, a Turnament game in our basement with casual friends.

@Narvik

FRANCE TURN 24 - SUMMER 1945

Charles de Gaulle become PRESIDENT of France for job well done

Winners of the A&A Global 1939 Tournament game is:
The Allied Team: Clement, Truman, Stalin and Chiang- the Big Four

@Narvik

ANZAC AND UK PAC TURN 24 - SUMMER 1945

Aus: Curtin dies in office. Ben is the new ANZAC player

Subas Bose, the Free India player, is assassinated

Tokyo Kid signs the surrender abord USS Missouri in sz 6.
D. MacArthur is supreme commander in Japan.

Unfortunately I miss a MacArthur figurine so Patton step in. Will edit later
Martha Gellhorn and Capa far right
Also the cleaners have startet to put away the game. Next holiday this basement will be used for the A&A 1914 game. But that will be another Blog

COMBAT
OPERATION CAPITAL
India: 4 Inf, Art, Tank (UK) + 4 Inf (Pun) + Inf (Gur) attack> Shan State: 2 Inf (JA), Inf (Siam), Inf (Free)
Loss Axis: all units

Tranny to sz 43 + Inf (UK) Inf (ANZ) amp> Borneo; Inf
Loss Jap: all units

BATTLE OF SURABAYA
TF 37: CA, DD, Tranny to sz 42 + Inf (UK), Inf (ANZ) amp> Java: 2 Inf (Indonesia)
Loss Indonesia: all units

@Narvik

ITALY TURN 24 - SUMMER 1945

Tito back down. Trieste (town in Italy) is not worth a new world war.

NON-COMB MOVE
N: It: 2 Inf (Yugo) to Yugo

@Narvik

UK TURN 24 - SUMMER 1945

Winston resign, Attlee new UK player.

King is re-elected as the Canada player

UK take over Syria and Lebanon from France

British Somaliland: Sheik Bashir start a rebellion against UK rule

NURENBERG TRIALS BEGIN