Balance (Series)

[Guest]

I didn’t know where to post this…

Which Axis and Allies games do you guys consider the most balanced, and least balanced? And for the very unbalanced ones, how do you make the game fun again?

[Guest]

What? more embellishments?  please stop with the ignorant teacher thing timerover. Rakeman is not taunting you here.

As for balance, all of the games have the ability to be won by both sides.  Given poor die rolls at the wrong time, it might be possible for either side to win easily.  If you have a significant difference in player experience or knowledge of the game, one side may also win very easily.  If one player is controlling the Axis and you have multiple Allied players, if they do not cooperate, the Axis will win easily.

Pacific is probably the most unbalanced, as the British player in India has very little defensive depth.  An all out Japanese attack will likely succeed in taking India before units moving from Australia or the US can intervene.  Part of the reason for some of my modifications to the Pacific game were based on that issue.  If anyone wishes to see my house rules for the Pacific game, you can check under House Rules, Pacific on the home site.

I have not played Europe, but having studied it, it does not appear to be unbalanced.  If anything, the German player may have the edge if playing against 3 Allied players.

[losttribe04]

I think A&A D-Day is in favor of the Germans.  Granted there are ways to correct that.  They can be as simple as changing the game from 10 rounds to 15.

Generally speaking though it’s hard to say.  How do you rank players?  The worlds best player may suck as the Allies and vise-versa.  Then how do you find to players of the same ability?

House rules are great because they can meat each group on their level.

LT

[Krieghund]

Pacific isn’t hard to balance.  There are two quick ways to do it:

1. Increase the number of Victory Points Japan needs to 24, and bid additional starting IPCs for playing the Allies.

or

2. Implement the following rules changes:

• Count the Japanese victory points at the end of the US’ turn (that way Japan has to take and hold a territory to get credit).

• Japan can win only on victory points - not on capital capture.

• No substalling allowed (attacking subs must fight one round before submerging).

• Kamikaze may not be used until “activated” - they are activated on the first turn Japan collects less than 30 IPCs of income (this makes them more of a game-saving “desperation weapon” than an advantage for Japan).

• Optional - Repair damaged battleships at the beginning and end of Japan’s turn only, not the end of each turn (gives the Royal Navy a little more punch).

Either way, you should be using the corrected set-up from the FAQ.

[Guest]

Actually, Krieghund, I have a very detailed set of house rules for A&A Pacific posted under the House Rules section of the site.  I am also experimenting with a card-based random events chart to reduce the predictability of the game.  So far, playtesting shows considerable promise, if used in conjunction with the house rules.

[Krieghund]

Yes, I’ve looked at them, and they look interesting.  However, they seem to me to be more geared toward historical accuracy than balanced play.  Are they fairly well balanced?

[Guest]

If the Allied players fail to cooperate, or the US player simply sits and builds, the Japanese player will likely win with either a capital victory or a Victory Points victory.  If they cooperate, a lot depends on die rolls, and how the Japanese player handles his opening move.  If he overcommits in one area, he is in trouble.  I suspect that with good players, the Allies will win most of the time.

[Guest]

@Krieghund:

Pacific isn’t hard to balance.  There are two quick ways to do it:

1. Increase the number of Victory Points Japan needs to 24, and bid additional starting IPCs for playing the Allies.

or

2. Implement the following rules changes:

• Count the Japanese victory points at the end of the US’ turn (that way Japan has to take and hold a territory to get credit).

• Japan can win only on victory points - not on capital capture.

• No substalling allowed (attacking subs must fight one round before submerging).

• Kamikaze may not be used until “activated” - they are activated on the first turn Japan collects less than 30 IPCs of income (this makes them more of a game-saving “desperation weapon” than an advantage for Japan).

• Optional - Repair damaged battleships at the beginning and end of Japan’s turn only, not the end of each turn (gives the Royal Navy a little more punch).

Either way, you should be using the corrected set-up from the FAQ.

Those are pretty simple fixes.

[Guest]

I prefer to have battleships repaired by an Industrial Center.  I do not require them to be moved there during the normal player turn.  I do give the Japanese infantry two hits to kill, based on their literal fighting to the last man ethos.

[frimmel]

@Rakeman:

I didn’t know where to post this…

Which Axis and Allies games do you guys consider the most balanced, and least balanced? And for the very unbalanced ones, how do you make the game fun again?

So far Guadalcanal seems balanced right out of the box. I haven’t noted any issues of balance yet. Thus far it has been pretty much a toss up– just like you want.

[Guest]

@frimmel:

@Rakeman:

I didn’t know where to post this…

Which Axis and Allies games do you guys consider the most balanced, and least balanced? And for the very unbalanced ones, how do you make the game fun again?

So far Guadalcanal seems balanced right out of the box. I haven’t noted any issues of balance yet. Thus far it has been pretty much a toss up– just like you want.

I actually have Guadalcanal  :-D my experiences do show it is very balanced, I only got to play a couple games though but both were pretty close.

[Lucifer]

@Rakeman:

I didn’t know where to post this…

Which Axis and Allies games do you guys consider the most balanced, and least balanced? And for the very unbalanced ones, how do you make the game fun again?

Of the games I played, the most balanced is definately POS, Pact of Steel  :mrgreen:

The most unbalanced is Classic  :|  but we never needed any bids 18 years ago, althought allies won most games.

[Guest]

@Subotai:

@Rakeman:

I didn’t know where to post this…

Which Axis and Allies games do you guys consider the most balanced, and least balanced? And for the very unbalanced ones, how do you make the game fun again?

Of the games I played, the most balanced is definately POS, Pact of Steel   :mrgreen:

The most unbalanced is Classic  :|   but we never needed any bids 18 years ago, althought allies won most games.

What makes strategy different in Pact of Steel?  Just wondering, I heard that there are some quite different strategies.  It looks awesome though, I have triple A just never tried PoS

[Lucifer]

Imo POS is not very different from revised, but it’s viable to wage war in the pacific, Italy is the 6th power. POS is good for multiplayer 2vs2, 2vs3. Also 1vs1 is fine, but I think POS will take longer to finish, as it is slightly bigger and a bit more complicated than revised. Tryit aganst AI just to learn the map, then play it in the lobby.
POS is generally the most popular game after revised in the TripleA lobby, so it shouldnt be difficult to find opponents.

[Guest]

Oh nice, Pacific war viable.  What makes it viable, the additional value of Australia?

[Lucifer]

Australia, NZ, Hawaii is worth more. I have seen/played some Pos games with decent players, they didnt always go 100% KGF.