@Argothair said in [AA50/Anniversary] Modular Map Overlays - Splitting Australia, the Balkans, and Sea Zones; adding Cairo, Malaya, Singapore, Rio, Cape Town, Recruitment Centers and tons more!:
tell Imperious-Leader no,
lol
@Argothair said:
…The whole premise of this project is that it’s possible and useful to add a few more carefully chosen territories to create a middle ground between AA50 and Global.
I would say there is a part of this project that is very focused on mechanics- certainly the collaborative portion between you and I. In that sense, this is true. However I also have a lot of fun here seeing historical and ahistorical things become possible, and even more just enjoy the outlet for my creativity in the service of this community.
But along those first mechanical project lines:
That said, not every request to add territories to AA50 will make sense.
…this is certainly true.
but Vodot is too much of a softie…
Haha, this is so true that I’m doing this work with my therapist right now… Watch me equivocate in this very post!
@Titus said:
I think Vodot likes making the overlays/modifications
…and this is also definitely true :)
Regarding these changes in particular, mechanically, the Azores have been interesting as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” for axis aircraft, with Malta a corollary for the UK. But yes- both these and the Maldives are gravy. like a lot of what I’ve done in this thread. :)
@vodot said in [AA50/Anniversary] Modular Map Overlays - Splitting Australia, the Balkans, and Sea Zones; adding Cairo, Malaya, Singapore, Rio, Cape Town, Recruitment Centers and tons more!:
even more just enjoy the outlet for my creativity in the service of this community.
I’m really glad you’re enjoying it. I’m enjoying your outputs. :)
@vodot I just finished the game we started on the updated map and it went well! Besides me being too agressive and loosing germany to the uk 4 times over 5 rounds of play and eventually resigning… The map changes were great, Italy grew to a really strong power and was able to contribe a lot to the game. I will write up a post with my optional rules in depth to try to show it off. I think the game feels way better with a expanded economy.
@Titus I can’t wait to read the writeup!
Yes, I find Italy in particular far more fun to play with these simple changes.
I rarely find Italy able to balloon to great power status, even with these changes, but the explanation is probably in the fact that you lost Germany to the UK. It’s the UK’s job to rein in Italy, but a knockout blow to Germany is always the highest UK priority.
Malta, Azores, and Maldives :)
I set Maldives at the intersection of SZ 31, 32, and 35 to make them as interesting as possible. 1 IPC because I would imagine removing Ceylon as redundant.
@vodot Excellent!!! Azores should be within flight range of Eastern Seaboard for a Bomber. This gives a reason for axis to capture so they can SBR New York
@Imperious-Leader yep, smack in the middle of SZ 11 would be 3 spaces from EUS, Brazil, and ECAN. More than just SBR, it’s a good central point of threat for the Axis… on my map, transports here could drop troops at 5 different victory cities (Rio, D.C., Ottowa, London, Paris). I also make Neutrals less risky to capture with my G40 Lite rules.
Ships at SZ 32 off the Maldives, for that matter, can reach 4 VCs (Cairo, Cape Town, Calcutta, Singapore). Similar to the US getting a big force at the Carolines in a traditional AA50 game— nightmare for Japan; or either the US or Japan unconstested at Midway with some of my changes to the Pacific Coast/Hokkaido/Aleutians.
@vodot
I had the map printed on .04 Styrene. Turned out sweet
@Titus awesome!!
Here is the map file if you want it!
@barnee no means yes to me
Adding two new full-size maps with the latest:
v10: G40 Lite including France, aligned Neutrals, Canada, ANZAC, and all the recent additions up to 11/18/2025
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mBgt6KSM7oIE3uNmuESPSU2F1AhicYMG/view?usp=sharing
v11: AA50 with all the recent additions up to 11/18/2025.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NIKcU-L3Hzh2jpF113TMyvAaE1GNZEQg/view?usp=drive_link
@vodot I made a fully custom map using the changes I used from this thread. I made it using Inkarnate/Gimp.
UPDATE 11/22/25 added VC and some shadows to make text more readable.
full quality download
@Titus wow! looks awesome! what was your process? FYI the “full download” link appears to be for your “normal-style” map, not this new version.
@vodot Fixed, thank you! I used the web app inkarnate which is a D&D map maker tool which is incredibly useful for that purpose and others. I can import “stamps” so I imported the aa50 map to trace the landmasses and borders. The tool has lots of built in map making features so I didn’t have to do much for that just selecting settings/painting. I exported the finished map and added the text and roundels in gimp. Inkarnate is sweet for map making and I used it to make the Battle Deck cards as well.
Just realized I totally forgot capitals LOL.
@Titus Awesome, I’m always looking for new tools and shortcuts.
Some love for Soviet naval mobility: the Baltic-White Sea Canal and the North Sea Route!
Provisional Rules:
White Sea Canal
If the USSR controls Leningrad, during the non-combat movement phase the Soviet player may choose to have up to one naval unit with IPC cost <9 take the “White Sea Canal” between Sea Zones 4 and 5(b). Taking this route requires 2 movement points, neither Sea Zone may be hostile, and the unit that takes it must be eligible to move during noncombat movement.
North Sea Route
If the USSR controls both Leningrad and the Soviet Far East, during the Soviet player’s turn he may choose to have up to one naval unit take the “North Sea Route” between Sea Zones 4 and 63. This move can occur during either the combat or non-combat movement phase. Taking this route requires 2 movement points, and a unit taking this route must be otherwise eligible to move in the movement phase in which it takes the route.
Unless they are being transported by the transiting naval units, all land and air units completely ignore the presence of the White Sea Canal and the North Sea Route.
Neutral VCs fascinate me, so here’s another: Istanbul on the Bosporus!
@vodot If we’re just spitballing changes to the map, perhaps we can finally have French Madagascar aligned to the correct nation - Germany.
Operation Ironclad and Battles of Madagascar only began in the summer of 1942, before this they were part of Vichy France. I am kinda surprised only War Room is the only Larry Harris game to get this correct.
By the way, what you are doing is really impressive! Good work!
