A few thoughts and questions about the battle board mechanics:
Did anyone get if an artillery can promote an infantry AND a tank, or just one of either?
Can anyone see a particular reason for casualties to be removed one by one alternately?
Not sure I’m happy with artillery being hit by infantry; generally art would only be captured by inf after the enemy inf have been overrun or routed. It would be logical for art rolls to be made first, with all units viable targets, but for inf and tank rolls then to hit “front line” units only, then going on to the art. But that’s just me over-egging the pudding.
Speculation:
If ships can “hide” in port, can they be captured if the port tt falls? Perhaps the defender can try to scuttle ships before combat rolls.
Wonder if aircraft can observe for ships after air supremacy battle; up Battleships to 5, Cruisers to 4?
Would it be logical for fighters to be able to intercept enemy aircraft if they fly over a tt?
In regard to the question of leaving a “spoiling” infantry in a tt to block enemy movement, perhaps if you withdraw units from a contested area you must withdraw ALL units?
Also think it’d be nice to have “chicken” and “racial brothers” rules for infantry, linked to nationality and morale levels. For example, Austria defending Galicia with all Polish infantry is asking for trouble…
Gunboat Diplomacy?
Whereby a dreadnought can occupy an enemy land tt by moving into its port (if the tt is undefended?); perhaps it gets a chance to bombard defenders, and if they are eliminated it can move in and impose “contested” status?
Just an idea.
Also, if ships can indeed be “in port” there would have to be a “blockaded” status, whereby enemy ships in the adjacent SZ(s) can bombard the port, or force the occupant to come out and fight.
Anyway, battleships could be a lot more fun than before. Or, indeed, the Movie.
Infiltration tactics/pass throughs/over-runs
Something that gives a player a way round the spoiling tactics of leaving just one infantry in a contested tt to block enemy movement. Wheather or not this is allowed when withdrawing, it will inevitably happen that on occasion a single infantry will be left contesting a tt with a large stack.
So, instead of the attacker having to engage his entire stack of 10 units to wipe out the lone defender, allow him to bypass with infantry (and tanks?) and attack an adjacent tt so long as he retains enough units in the contested area to engage the enemy unit.
So, for a single defender, the attacker need leave only 2 units behind to attack it, while moving the rest of his force through to move/fight elsewhere.
A further development of this would be that if after all combat rolls, as a result of over-runs, enemy units are left in contested areas but have nowhere to withdraw to (i.e. surrounded) they are considered captured. Maybe they get one turn to try breaking out?
Captured POWs are treated as eliminated, but captured tanks and artillery can be converted to your own units.
I don’t think artillery should be able to participate in sea born invasions. They can be part of the force, and be taken as casualties, but shouldn’t be able to fire or promote other units. Of course invasions may well be accompanied by war ships, so the invaders get shore bombardment instead.
An idea for alternative artillery:
This makes the piece more powerful, so would probably bump up the price to 5. The idea is to recreate the artillery barrages that began most large assaults.
The combat sequence is:
1. Determine air superiority, winner promotes all artillery
2. Attacking artillery fire
3. Defender removes casualties
4. Surviving defending artillery fire
5. Attacker remove casualties
6. Surviving attacking artillery promote infantry & tanks
7. Make combat rolls for surviving non artillery units
Out of Supply
I’m not going to suggest complicated supply rules, just a thought about armies that become isolated from friendly capitals.
To use an obvious example of Serbia. Suppose the opening Austrian moves involve a successful invasion of Romania, but the attack on Serbia is resisted.
This leaves Serbia as politically part of Russia, but isolated from it by neutral and enemy held tt.
Should the Serbian army suffer a penalty from this lack of supply? I would suggest that OOS armies would be most authentically represented by a shortage in artillery shells. So:
Units in OOS armies may not be “promoted”.
This more severely effects attacking moves, but OOS armies defending can dig in and defend well enough.
Give them an entire game round to re-establish supply, otherwise such armies must surrender.
I’m assuming here that a contested Romania does not make Srerbia OOS, supplies will still find a way through.
