@Imperious:
why? Perhaps they will include something more? or a surprise?
I wish this was the case.
You know… If I was Avalon Hill, and had the wherewithall to release another version of A&A so soon after Revised (2004), I would want to make sure it was not just a simple upgrade, but rather something that just totally blew the socks off of anything before it!!!
So far, I’m not getting that. Meh, you got Italy and China as playable in the game. Meh, you got a new Cruiser unit. Meh, you’ve thrown in some National Objectives. You know, a lot of these are nice, but where is the Grand Strategy?!? Where is the World at War?!? Where is the game of Global Warfare?!?
This is how I see the game playing out…
Subs are still too vulnerable and do no convoy damage, so Germany will forego navy and just attack Russia
Russia as always, will fight Germany
Japan will seek to expand and India is the most ideal target
UK will see India as undefendable (ICs are so expensive), and will build up in SZ 6 to hem any German sea units in and trade Norway and NW Europe
Now that KGF is on, Italy will try and do it’s best to expand in Africa while helping vs. Russia
US, to support KGF most quickly, will ignore Japan, and buy BMBRs and bomb Germany and Italy into the stone age (-20 and -12 IPC/ROUND). Tranports and troops will eventually follow
on following rounds, Japan seeing they are ignored will seek to expand quickly while rushing to put some back pressure on Moscow
Basically, the game is KGF with JTDTM playout all over again and nothing is fixed. We’re back to the playout we had in Revised and Classic. This game as is still has some serious flaws, and I honestly hope that the delayed release is an effort to fix things. The board and the molds are fine, but they should certainly be able to make some last minute changes to the manual to save this game and give us the proper global playout and increased strategy we deserve.
Last minute changes I would love to see…
1. Some Convoy Raid Rules - ideally, the more subs, the more damage, but even something as simple as this would be nice…
National Objectives:
Germany: At least 2 SUBs in North Atlantic (SZs 1,2,3,6,7,8,9,10,11,12) = 5IPC
Germany: At least 4 SUBs in North Atlantic (SZs 1,2,3,6,7,8,9,10,11,12) = 10IPC
Japan: At least 2 SUBs off US W coast (SZs 44,53,54,55,56,57,65) = 5IPC
Japan: At least 4 SUBs off US W coast (SZs 44,53,54,55,56,57,65) = 10IPC
USA: At least 2 SUBS off Japan coast (SZs 58,59,60,61,62,63) = 5IPC
USA: At least 4 SUBs off Japan coast (SZs 58,59,60,61,62,63) = 10IPC
This would at least encourage the possibility of a German naval campaign as well as Japanese and American Pacific campaigns
2. Cheaper ICs (15–>12IPC)
-would encourage UK ICs in Aus/India again more likely to give global playout (and less likely for UK KGF)
3. Interceptors as either standard or Tech
-Let defending FTRs in SBR territories get a single 1@1 shot each to shoot down Rockets or SBR BMBRs
-if Germany gets multiple ICs at game start (which they should), I’d say make it standard, otherwise make it at least a Tech to give Germany some chance of countering a cheap SBR+/-HB strategy
4. Make Techs Directed
-Random Techs are for kids. There should be no place for Random Techs in a game of Grand Strategy. Make players outsmart their opponents, not outluck them.
5. Give SUBs some added survivability
-they are still too weak. Presence of a single DD basically makes them autokilled. Either let them at least dive after 1 round of combat regardless of DD presence, or make DD’s have to roll a profiency roll to detect them in the first place
-added SUB survivability will go a long way to encourageing a naval campaign. Right now, they’re still pretty useless… even at 6IPC.
I think just these 5 simple changes will make this game more like the Global Playout Grand Strategy game it should be, rather than the old KGF and JTDTM we have seen too many times before :-(
