Opening:
We played the first turn and a half with 5 players last night. We will continue the game with starting with the Allies second movement next Tuesday. Here is our first play report:
Questions that arose during play:
Can Russia use its Nation Specific power to convert naval units? The argument in favor was that Archangle and Leningrad have Industrial Complexes and should be able to convert 1 sea unit in the adjacent sea zone. Especially Archangle that also has a port. The argument against was that the rules specifically state the unit must be in a maroon colored location. Only the land spaces are maroon. We rules that Russia could not convert naval units. The unit that was to be converted was the French destroyer.
If Japan attacks Hong Kong on the first turn using air units, do the British AA guns hit on a 1 or a 2? Japan’s nation specific rule on the first turn causes all British units to defend on a 1. However, the UK nation specific rules says their AA on tan territory (Hong Kong) hit on a 2. We ruled that that the AA guns hit on a 1 the first turn.
If a Kamikaze only attack sinks a Carrier, what happens to the airplanes on the Carrier? We ruled that the airplanes from the carrier are now on CAP and must land on the allies turn according to CAP rules.
Feedback and Concerns:
In a 5 player game, the rules suggest that the Russian player also play China and the French. I suggest that the British play the French. The reason is that most of the French units are located near the British and move in conjunction with the British. In our game the Russian player kept asking the British player “Where would you like this French boat?” While we ended up dividing China and French how we liked, I recommend the rules put the French with the British in a 5-player game.
There is concern about the Rocket technology being too powerful. The Germans advanced 1 step on the Rockets in the first 2 turns of the game. This put them 1 roll away from developing rockets. The concern is that the amount of damage is limited to the territory value per rocket attack, not for the turn. This means if the Germans develop rockets, they can buy 9 rocket enabled AA guns per turn. This could remove 9 x 3.33 (average roll against Moscow and England) = 30 income per turn. Then the next turn they buy more, and not its 60 income per turn. By 3 turns, the majority of Russia and UK income is eliminated every turn by the rockets. It appears the Axis would simply win the game with German rockets. I recommend that rocket attack damage is limited per territory per turn, not per rocket attack. Or allow only 1 rocket attack to be launched from each German territory so you don’t have 20 rockets in Germany pounding England. This change would put the rocket technology development advantage in line with the other powers.
There was some concern that the simultaneous play was not any faster than going in order and might even be slower. When playing in turn order each player may actual move faster because they have down time to think. For example, after the Japanese move, the American, British, and Chinese players have some time to study the effects and develop their Pacific plan. On their turn, they already know what to move, and therefore do it quickly. With simultaneous move, after the Japanese move it is now the American, Chinese, and British turn. They need some time to study the effects in the Pacific, but also the effects of Germany and Italy’s turn in Europe. On the other hand, all the allies are moving simultaneously. It may be that our first turn and a half was slow because it was our first play at this game. We will know better after next week’s continuation.
Game play summary:
$12 Opening spend - The Axis put 4 Japanese infantry in French Indo China. The goal was to ensure the Burma road was cut on the first turn to eliminate USA support of China.
The Allies put 4 Chinese infantry in Szechwan to prevent a quick defeat of China.
Germany - Germany moved everything to the Baltic states in turn 1 to prepare for an attack on Leningrad. Unfortunately, they also exposed some hardware on the central eastern front, allowing Russia to kill 4 pieces of German hardware on turn 1. They also destroyed most of the Allied Atlantic fleet. They also landed 2 units on northern UK along with 4 aircraft from Germany to destroy the fighter and bomber in northern UK. On turn 2 they consolidated their entire fleet in sea zone 17: Battleship, destroyer, 2x Escorts, Transport, and 11 submarines. The USA and UK are in a quandary to figure out how to destroy this and get much needed relief to Russia. On turn 2, the Germans reinforced the Baltics and are now in a position to destroy any Russian troops in Leningrad on turn 3. Russia will likely retreat from Leningrad to preserve their troops.
Italy - Italy bought 2 transports on the first turn for a total of 3 transports in the Mediterranean. They have used this to move Italian forces to Africa. Italian advancement in Africa is slow, but steady.
Japan - Japan stretched itself thin on the first turn trying to maximize their first turn national advantage. The focus was on destroying USA and UK navy. They took about 6 income the first turn from Hong Kong, the Philippians, and other small locations. On turn 2, they changed their focus to the Islands in South East Asia and boosted their income another $10 to about $33. Do to unfortunate placement, the Japanese lost a Battleship on the first allied turn.
USA - On the first turn the USA moved everything possible to Hawaii to prevent any Japanese advance. USA moved air units and bought bombers in the Atlantic to prepare to clear the Germany navy.
UK - On turn 1 the UK built 4 blockhouses on islands near south east Asia. This assisted in their defense, and reduced the amount of income Japan could conquer the first two turns. In the Atlantic, the UK retreated its surviving navy towards Canada to eventually be rebuilt. UK built strong on India and is planning to continue to build tanks and infantry to defend their only Asian strong hold.
Russia - Move everything to Leningrad to defend it the first turn. It will likely have to retreat out of Leningrad the second turn or suffer the loss of a majority of their units.
China - China slowly retreated in an attempt to preserve units for the eventual defense of Szechwan.
French - On turn 1 they flew the fighter in England to Leningrad to assist in the defense. It will be converted to Russian on the second turn. The rest of the French units moved in conjunction with the British.
Humor:
China’s first technology development roll scored an advancement on Super Submarines.
Other Feedback:
New Units - Everyone liked the new units, especially the mechanized infanty and air transport. They are unique and have a purpose as opposed to many other variants where its difficult to figure out why they have so many units. The mechanized infantry and air transports add a very unique strategic and tactical depth to the game. There were minor grumblings that the USA really didn’t get to use the new units.
Convoy boxes - Everyone really liked the functionality of the convoy boxes. They are unique and challenging to the Allies, and provide increased strategic options for the Axis. This might be one of the most new fun features of the game.
Placing income on the Industrial complex - this is another popular feature. It creates an an enjoyable planning challenge as well as providing your opponents an indication of what is being produced at each industrial complex.
Air only attacks hitting subs on a 1 - A good rule, but probably the most confusing. I got the most questions on this subject during game play. It just seemed challenging to remember.
Supply - Supply rules were popular, but viewed as slightly time consuming and cumbersome. So far the supply rules have had minimal impact on the game other than for convoy boxes. I’m wondering if removing the supply rules would change the game at all?
Neutral territories - This rule was not popular. Our gaming group has a strong preference to putting neutral units on the neutral territory. It is viewed as easier to analyze a stack of neutral units than to remember the math formula for attacking. It also allows for neutral territories of the same value to have different defenses. Another A&A variant had the unique idea of placing an AA gun in Spain to increase the risk of air flight between France and Gibralter. I think this is a good example of some of the unique game play effects that putting units in neutral territories can provide.
Craig