Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion

[The Captain]

@nolimit

The Style/Font is Times New Roman with shadow effect. Very simple.

In 1993 we started working on the House Rules Expansion - we bought all 3 expansions from Gamers Paradise - as well as several other variants for use with A&A Classic. So, yes - back then, we found some inspiration from Phillip Schwartzer & his play group - they did a great job. We wanted to show our gratitude by reviving some of these recognizable symbols in our introduction.

It is gratifying to see that it worked:+1:

As new A&A variants were released, the need for modified house rules increased. This was a big challenge - and it brought us tons of fun - and took countless amount of hours…

[Nolimit]

@the-captain Well All youse guys Hard work certainly shows, I’m on 23 pages of reading it and am Very impressed with it so far(with the minor exception of Brit commandos+US Marines)- You really should post these Expansion rules on your YouTube channel where it can Really shine for the Community, assuming you have a channel but if not then it should be No problem for you to start your Own channel! Perhaps one day we can try them out over the YouTube!!!

[The Captain]

@nolimit

I truly appreciate your comment:+1:

And I think you’re right about YouTube. Wouldn’t that be great - so that everyone can have fun and challenge on a massive scale. Let’s get back to that later.

[Nolimit]

@the-captain https://youtu.be/NTfO4CFGSzU
Here’s a YouTube video of mine from a while back, I partly talk about how Gamer’s Paradise shaped my gaming!!!

[The Captain]

@nolimit

Just watched it - fun & great video.

[Nolimit]

@the-captain 🤗👍

[SGT-Pitbull]

I started playtesting the expansion in the development phase back in 2003. I haven´t seen any expansion, that big, on the market that have been that thoroughly tested.
Many of the included expansions chapters I used along with the classic, revised 2004 and anniversary edition too.
My personal favorite is for sure the:
Soviet Guards
Waffen SS
Super heavy battleships
Commandos/Marines
Revised Strategic Bombing
and
the Cost of all units that make all units shine through the new cost/benefit balance.

[MonsieurMurdoch]

I’ve been reading through the rules and it looks awesome! A lot of hard work has been put into this! :) My favourites have got to be all the special Waffen units as well as the ME 262.

I have one quick question about the German Takeover of Italy rule: Why do none of the Italian ships become allied? After the armistice, Italian royalists formed what was called the Italian Co-belligerent Navy, which fought alongside the Allied powers.

[The Captain]

@monsieurmurdoch

Thanks for your comment:+1:

The German Take Over Of Italy rule comes into play only when certain circumstances are fulfilled.

Those circumstances are certainly not in favor of The Axis since Africa is now cleared of German and Italien troops.

If any Italian Naval Units are still on the game board at the time of the Take Over they are confined to The Mediterranean Ocean.

When we started play testing the Take Over Scenario we did have some Allied components in these rules, such as some units would join The Allies and some would remain on the side of The Axis.

But it seemed that the rule was to complicated to handle during the heat of the battle - and obiously not “attractive” enough for The Axis - unless the rule was sufficiently advantageous for Germany.

So we came up with restrictions of placement of The Italian Navy and and an economic consequence for Germany. This rule was still faithfull to History - and easy to play with.

It made the difference - and from then on players started using the rule, as soon as things started to go wrong for The Axis in Africa.

Hopefully, you’ll experience this when you and your play group play with the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion.

[MonsieurMurdoch]

@the-captain
This makes sense, I can see how the German player would choose not to use this option beforehand.
We’re actually going to be playing a game today! We won’t be using all the house rules as once, just to help us pratice them, but we will select a good majority of them to play with!

[The Captain]

@monsieurmurdoch

Great - I guarantee that you’ll have fun. Looking forward to hear about your first game impression.

[MonsieurMurdoch]

@the-captain
Hello, here is my verdict of the rules, and it is they are not awesome…
… they are incredible!
Unfortunately we had limited time, so we chose to only play Europe and Sections 2 and 4. Here’s a report of what happened:
1940 Early- Germany bought an Elite infantry and 5 Waffen infantry in Berlin plus Heavy Industrialized their factories. They also bought tanks ;) . France fell to Waffen supported German forces and Normandy also fell.
Germany also managed to sink the British fleets in 110 and 109 and aligned Finland.
Russia too industrialized their factories, moved their armies back, and also bought tanks (the looming tank race approaches…)
The US bought a super battleship as well as transports.
Britain attempted to retaliate against the German ships sitting in 112, but the Germans scrambled and the British rolled crap (forgive my language). Britain also tried to launch a Taranto raid, and again rolled crap (again, forgive my language). The only Italian ships they destroyed were the destroyer and cruiser in 96 and the cruiser in 97. They bought fighters and factory for Egypt.
Italy saw their chance and both sunk the remaining British fleet composing of 1 carrier with a fighter and 2 cruisers. Only the battleship and bomber survived They then launched an amphibious assault against Egypt and captured it. They also moved their tank to Romania through Bulgaria and then moved in the infantry.
France sunk the Italian battleship and transports with their Mediterranean fleet.
1940 Late- Germany bought another elite, a super battleship, a battleship and transports (hoping to land in Scotland, establish a factory, and force a surrender). German subs attempted to attack the remaining British fleet of 1 battleship and 2 destroyers in 118, but lost everything. Germany also tried to launch an air and small amphibious assault against the UK, but lost nearly everything. Germany captured S. France and the Waffen moved back to Berlin to prepare to invade Russia next turn.
Russia bought more tanks ;)
The US upgraded their infantry to Marines and bought an elite, some destroyers and some transports.
Britain moved all their remaining armies (last turn the British player had foolishly moved some units down south) to the Congo and made heavy their S. Africa factory. The fleet moved towards Gibraltar.
This is where we had to end off. If we had more time, we could’ve probably gone through all the rules. Even though we played a small percentage of the total rulebook, I can say with 100% honesty that I would always choose to play a with these rules!

[The Captain]

@monsieurmurdoch

I truly appreciate your feedback:+1:

It seems that you and your play group had fun - and challenge.

As you gradually get more in depth with the first 4 Sections you’ll most likely discover that your Overall Strategy needs carefull planning - especially during the first 3-4 rounds of play.

I’m looking forward to hear more.

Thanks, once again:+1:

[General 6 Stars]

@monsieurmurdoch

Did you use the 2nd edition g40 map ?

[MonsieurMurdoch]

@gen-manstein
Yes

[barnee]

@The-Captain finally read through all the rules. Very impressive. The fact you guys have been playtesting for ten years, even more so. A couple questions.

Do land mines kill/hit all land units ? Including Tanks ?

Can the Oberst-Gruppenführer blitz with the Panzers ?

No Artillery boost for the commisar correct ?

Once again, Nice Job :)

[The Captain]

@barnee

Hi Barnee,

Good to hear from you again. Thanks for your comment:+1:

1. Landmines destroy everything (land based units that passes through the minefield). So, yes: Tank units are destroyed if struck by mines.
2. A Waffen-SS Oberst-Gruppenführer unit cannot make a blitz move, not even when moving together with a Waffen-SS Panzer unit.
3. A Soviet Commissar unit cannot be supported by artillery.

Please note:
A Waffen-SS Oberst-Gruppenführer unit can be supported by a Waffen-SS Artillery unit - as long as both these Waffen-SS units are not part of a Waffen-SS Army. This is because the Waffen-SS Oberst-Gruppenführer unit operates under Waffen-SS Infantry rules.

[barnee]

@the-captain right on. So, just to double check, any units in a Army/Corps don’t get outside support of any kind ? Or give support to units not in the Army ?

Thanks

Edit
Also, can you give an example for Para NCM here “…can move into a friendly Capital by air during
Non-Combat Movement.”

They can only NCM by air if it’s to an Allied capital ?

Another one :) If Lend Lease units do battle and are slayed before being converted, do they still count as part of the Lend Lease total ?

Can US Escorts escort UK Transports ? The Trprts/would follow w/e the US went ?

In an Army Group, Only 1 Army can still be active out of the two correct ?

Thanks again

[The Captain]

@barnee

Hi Barnee,

Paratroopers operate under infantry rules, with the exeptions mention on pages 18 and 19. If a paratrooper wants to move into any Capital by air - this Capital must be friendly.
Ex.1: During NCM the German player wants to reinforce Axis troops in Rome with paratroopers from Western Germany. The paratroopers can move directly from Western Germany to Rome.
Ex.2: During NCM German paratroopers wants to move into Axis controlled Rome from Nothern Italy. They can choose to do so by air - even though this space is adjecent to Rome - og they can move by land.

German paratroopers wants to reinforce Axis Forces in Africa during NCM from Axis controlled Rome. Since Rome has an Air Base, these paratroopers can move up to 3 spaces by air - and can fly over enemy controlled sea zones.

Lend-Lease: UK and US units cannot take part in any combat on the UK and US players turn before being send to the Soviet Union - prior to the first comming Soviet turn where these units are to be converted into Soviet units.
Once the Lend-Lease units are landed in an original Soviet territory (and Soviet controlled) these units can defend if attacked by Axis Forces - before they are converted into Soviet units.

UK and US Transports and Escorts can be part of the same Convoy - if they are in the same SZ. They cannot move together, since they belong to different powers.

Army Group: This is the single largest and most powerfull formation of combat troops anywhere on the game board. The Armies within the Army Group are restricted to the same rules as when several friendly Armies are in the same territory. In other words: only 1 Army can obtain its ability to fight as an Army when multiple friendly Armies occupy the same territory.

Another example:
If 2 German Army Groups occupy the same territory - and each German Army Group attacks different territories from this territory - then both Army Groups attack as Army Groups - and each get 2 extra dice rolls at “4” in each round of combat as long as the Army Group is intact.

Thanks for your comment:+1:

[The Captain]

@barnee

Also - you’re right about units inside an Army & Army Corps.

All units withing a Waffen-SS Army, Soviet Army Corps, Panzer Army and Tank Army cannot interconnect with any units outside each type of Army.

Please note:
In a Waffen-SS Army that contains Waffen-SS Artillery and Waffen-SS infantry - the artillery can support the infantry inside this Army.