The updated OPERATION FELIX-HEINRICH includes the revised SetUp of units in Spain that are described in the G40 Strict Neutral Expansion rulebook.
G40 Halifax Rules
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Great posts Black Elk,
thanks for the support and all the great reading material…
I think it’s done…
time to take it to the convention,
8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)
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Sorry if I’m a bit late coming in on this, but I have a couple of thoughts on the Russian DOW/Japan/Mongolia situation.
First, I don’t think Russia should get their VC/Capital bonus until they are at war with Germany and/or Italy. Japan should not count in this regard. Remember that even with the OOB Russian NOs, they did not come into effect until Russia was at war in Europe. Also, because of Russia’s size, they were treated differently from all the other countries in terms of being at war. If they are at war on the Pacific map, they were still neutral on the Europe map and visa versa.As for Mongolia, I do like your idea of if Russia makes an unprovoked DOW against Japan (either by attack or moving units into China) then Mongolia turns Japanese. If Japan attacks Russia, Mongolia turns Russian.
I like this better than the current version where if Japan attacks, Mongolia becomes Russian but if Russia attacks, Mongolia simply stays strict neutral. So Japan gets punished for aggression but Russia doesn’t? -
KNP,
I think it will be more than OK to give Russia the bonuses based on the following math:
Round 1 with National Objective bonuses (J1 DOW)
Germany -10
USA -20
China -6
UK -5
ANZAC -5 (sometimes 10)Ratio is 1:3 (if you consider the extra Japanese income vs. Japanese bonuses a wash)
Round 1 with Victory City bonuses (J1 DOW)
Germany -25
Japan -25 (+Mongolia)
Italy -10Russia -20
USA -20 (+ 2 Dice)
UK -20
Commonwealth -10Ratio is less than 1:2 (if you consider the Mongolia vs. dice bonuses a wash)
So if we analyze this data correctly, giving 20 IPCs to Russia turn 1 may not be enough for the Allies,in fact… we may need to consider removing the Japanese air units again.
The only thing that is giving the Allies a chance against the extra Axis cash, is the Russian bonuses, and the overall increased production capabilities for the Allies.
Here is another reason to leave it for now… Imagine you are Russia turn 1 and in order to collect $20 bonus IPCs, you have to declare war on Japan giving them the Mongolian armies.
A tough choice leading to a fun scenerio!
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…and here’s another way of looking at it.
In a regular G40 game:
Japan can dominate the Pacific theater with only one 5 IPC National Objective no sooner than round 2 and more likely round 3.
All this while the Allies are collecting 20 for the US, 6 for China, and 5 (maybe 10) for ANZAC.
Also, with or without a single UK economy, Calcutta is producing at least 5 infantry on India.
In a Halifax game:
Japan will get 15 IPCs in bonuses turn 1 without a DOW (5 more than a G40 game), and 25 IPCs in bonuses when they make their move, where not much has changed for the Allies.
So… we give Russia 20 (which they surly must spend toward Japan), and 2 dice rolls for more American money (which could end up snake eyes).
I think I just talked myself into removing the Japan planes again…
I’m loving these bonus adjustments, should be really fun to play.
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…and here’s another way of looking at it.
With Germany not losing bonuses for attacking Russia, and Russia gaining their VC bonuses R1 anyway, we are surly to see an eastern front battle a lot sooner (some of the most entertaining games we’ve had were when Germany and Russia were fighting early). The only reason Germany should not attack G1 is so Japan can have Mongolia, but I can totally see them invading G2 for sure.
This just keeps getting better and better.
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Yeah I think we should be at a pretty even split now Axis vs Allies. Or at least, it seems that whatever starting balance we end up with, it’s probably going to be more exciting. The UK bonus and more effective Commonwealth should also go a long way towards this end. I think play testing should reveal a balance even better suited to dynamic gameplay than OOB. If it does end up tilting one way or the other, I think we’ll be in a good position to fine tune things once we see the actual situation play out a few times. I would save further modifications to the set up until then.
Basically under the new rules we should see entirely new purchasing strategies develop, on account of the extra loot in play and the extra production from the Majors. Whatever the balance both sides will have more to work with at purchase, which should provide new challenges and a fresh feel when compared to OOB.
As for theater restrictions or theater specific rules, I’d try to get rid of these whenever possible. The whole point of global is to unify the two mapboards into a single game, just like the UK and India, Russia should receive the same treatment rules-wise on the Europe and Pacific side of the board, if we can. The less “exceptions” to the general rules we have the better, or at least, that’s what I’ve always felt.
I agree too, the eastern front has a lot of potential. What seems to work against it OOB, seems to work for it here in Halifax. I’m pretty stoked for my next game! And after action reports from the people who give this new scheme a try
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Just to reiterate why this adjustment has me so intrigued…
1. It takes the two seperate Europe and Pacific games and brings them together more seamlessly than the OOB second edition rules do. Not only have we simplified the factions in play (by getting rid of one, and expanding another), but we have also simplified the rules pertaining to them.
2. We have dramatically streamlined the overall economy. Taking 30 complex Objectives down to just one basic system that is universal and super easy to understand.
3. Virtually everything we’ve done has a visual/aesthetic coherence. From the roundels, to the factories, to the Cities. All the critical information is displayed more or less directly on the gameboard itself, making it much easier to read at a glance.
4. We give each player, regardless of Side/Nation new strategic options with the promise of more engaging gameplay for all.
5. We have finally given VCs a real influence on the gameplay mechanics, bolstering the NAP and DoW concepts in the process.
Glorious :-D
Ps. I feel reasonably confident that I could take a player who knows how to play Classic Revised or 1942.2 and teach them how to play Global using these Rules. Most of the main obstacles in the learning curve are overcome with this Halifax set up. Basically all a new player has to do now is familiarize themselves with the new unit roster and a couple simple rules about cities and mongolia. Everything else is intuitive and should come very naturally to players who have experience with say 1942.2. This makes me happy
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Gave New Zealand their fighter back… NOW IT’S FINISHED!
3 play test games this weekend… new YouTube video to follow.
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Nice! I actually prefer NZ with the 2 fighters anyway. It’s one less line in the set up changes, one less thing players have to do to get Halifax up and running. If you want to add the Ontario fighter, that’s fine since these rules are about making Canada part of the Commonwealth. But I really dislike adding/removing units from the starting set up as a way to achieve game balance.
I have made the case to Larry and others elsewhere and so I guess I will make it again here… it’s better to change the starting money or potential income, than it is to change the starting units. If preplacement bids should have taught us anything over the years, it’s that changes to the starting units can torpedo the first round battle balance all over the place. Especially when the change is “official” like the case with the 1941 starter board, when the official set up doesn’t match the boxed materials, it just smacks of poor planning in the original design or rushing to the finish before the design is completed. Its important to preserve historical analogy or constancy along at least one dimension, and to me this should be the starting unit set up (the stuff actually printed on the set up cards). Adjusting the money is one thing, adding or removing units in the field is another. I am far more amenable to rules that alter starting cash or income, rather than rules which ask players to redesign the starting unit set up.
The former (the money) seems inherently amorphous anyway, but that latter (the starting units) should be concrete. Otherwise you might as well concede that these games don’t relate to the situation of forces at the start date in any meaningful way at all. Or that the balance on round 1 battles (which is supposedly designed a particular way for a reason) is in fact irrelevant. So that’s my argument, and the reason I’ve never liked unit adjustment (preplacement bids etc) for game balance. It’s like opening Pandora’s box.
If there is an imbalance in any A&A game it is almost always an economic imbalance (an IPC spread), which people then try to influence indirectly by messing around with units. Instead of just dealing with the issue directly by adjusting starting IPCs or potential income (bonuses) in the first round. Recall in past games the Germans blasting their way through Egypt on G1 to get Axis +X ipcs in Africa, or how just a single sub can sink entire Armadas, and things of that sort. You can try as hard as you want, but you will never convince me that consistency with OOB income trumps consistency with OOB starting Units hehe. Boots on the ground, or ships in the sea, seem fixed and hard, in a way that a 5 dollar bill is not. :-D
When balance can be achieved without altering the unit distribution in substantial ways (e.g. to break some round 1 battle), but achieved instead just by adjusting the starting/overall economy, this is vastly preferable.
Along these lines, we should admit how hard it is to balance an A&A game, and include within the rules our own official “Options” which allow players to tweak the income potential. This is something that was lacking in both 1941 and 1942.2. Those games had no strong options to introduce money (or even tech.) My first resource is always the official rulebook, before I try to alter the unit set up, I always look first to the official “options.” To see if one of those might work. (Which would be like what you did there with the US Warbonds.) I like that. But we should consider a few options. The problem with g40 is there really aren’t any to choose from (except maybe autotech), since the OOB NOs were all designed into the balance as critical and interrelated for the game to function. What we did was to fix all that and give a solid baseline with the City Objectives that remain constant. But this wouldn’t rule out some form of NO or National Advantage on top of this as Optional, if such a thing can correct balance issues before unit adjustment I’d go there first. Basically this is a roundabout way of saying, it would be nice, if a bid is required, to establish that it not be a preplacment bid, but rather some form of direct income adjustment. In other words the old style of bid, to starting income rather than starting units (which provides us with more useful information anyway, ie how much money is really needed to cover the spread, not which battle needs to be broken which is what preplacment shows you! Haha). But before we even get there, let’s assume no Bid until balance is determined.
So far all we’ve done here is take factories already in existing locations and substituted new abilities/restrictions for them. Likewise for the combat units, with the exception of the Ontario fighter, all we have done is substitute Canadian units for existing British ones. Everything thus far has been substitution rather than addition, which is why I like it. Players can set the board as normal, and then just make a few simple substitutions, instead of throwing their set up cards in the trash haha. At least we are keeping one fairly important thing constant, the basic set up and values of combat units.
Can’t wait to hear the results and to see the new video! Also my first draft delta deck arrived today. Those cards look way slick! Look forward to the next run, with the Dominions :)
Great work
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One last modification to the Halifax rule document in post #1…
South Africa is now part of the new Commonwealth nation.
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Guys please don’t take this the wrong way, I think your Idea’s are pretty awesome.
When I first found this thread I was really excited to try G40 with a unified UK, and the Commonwealth expanded (new CAnzac). WE got a much needed new mid level IC, and things started to roll.
I know that some tweaks to the NO’s were to be expected as it went into the testing phase. After just a couple games YG thought that the UK/CAnzac were to weak economically (toyed with adding S Africa to Commonwealth) and probably needed more obtainable NO’s. I figured that we might see a no German subs in the Atlantic NO for the UK again, maybe even allow CAnzac the same NO (Canada took over much of the convoy duties). Maybe keep both Anzac NO’s intact etc….
Now you’re scrapping out the original NO’s in favor of a VC based bonus, and changing the Mongolian rules etc… This went from a simple variant to the G40 game to a game that no longer resembles the original G40 game IMO. I guess that I’m more of a purest then I thought, because I wanted to play Halifax with the G40 rule set. I will still do that, but the way you’re trending it probably won’t be your finished product. Plus I also figured that once you got this thing up and running you might start a thread over at Larry’s site and get some feedback from him. It would fair better w/o major changes to the existing rule-set IMO.
Don’t get me wrong, I think that the VC bonus is worth looking into, and I have passed on my thoughts about a Capture bonus (multi round), and Liberation bonus (one timer) to Black_Elk. I’m assuming he started a separate thread for that so it wouldn’t side track Halifax (but looks like it may have anyway). I just think you’ve went beyond the scope of Halifax. You’re pretty much looking at another Delta project here IMO.
Anyway, I would love to play just Halifax, then maybe look into playing a new version of Global with the other stuff that would include Halifax later.
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I understand completely Wild Bill, I’ve got no problem creating 2 options.
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@Young:
I understand completely Wild Bill, I’ve got no problem creating 2 options.
Cool, just need some more test runs, get cracking (we need this yesterday mister lol)
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@WILD:
@Young:
I understand completely Wild Bill, I’ve got no problem creating 2 options.
Cool, just need some more test runs, get cracking (we need this yesterday mister lol)
LOL… You just reminded me of Nick Nolte in “The Thin Red Line”.
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@Young:
I understand completely Wild Bill, I’ve got no problem creating 2 options.
DONE!
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Gonna play option 1 for all 3 games this weekend, easier to sell it to the group than #2… gonna be a great test.
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Made last minute refinements, going off to war now for 3 games in 3 days with the following Halifax rules… wish me luck.
G40 HALIFAX RULES
A special thanks to knp7765, afrothunder12, Black_Elk, and Wild Bill for their contributions to the development of these rules.
New Production Unit Profiles:
Industrial Complex:
Produces up to 10 units
Maximum damage 20
Unoperational at 10 damage
Capable of building all units
May never be purchased
Immediately downgraded to a Minor Factory once capturedMajor Factory:
Produces up to 5 units
Maximum damage 10
Unoperational at 5 damage
Capable of building all units
May never be purchased, or upgraded to an Industrial Complex
Immediately downgraded to a Minor Factory once capturedMinor Factory:
Produces up to 3 units
Maximum damage 6
Unoperational at 3 damage
May only build units that cost 10 IPCs or less
May be purchased at a cost of 12 IPCs
May be placed on any territory with an IPC value of 2 or greater.
May be upgraded to a Major factory for 10 IPCs*There are only two conditions in which a nation may upgrade a production unit:
*1. The original owner of a territory containing a minor factory may upgrade it to a major factory for 10 IPCs, but only if the minor factory in question was already downgraded from a major factory or Industrial Complex due to capture.
2. Once they are at war, the United States may immediately upgrade all their major factories to industrial complexes free of charge.
New Single UK Economy:
The British economy is no longer split between London and Calcutta, instead, the United Kingdom collects only one income for all territories owned on the map with London as it’s capital. The UK must relinquish all IPCs each time an Axis power captures London, however, the UK may retain all IPC’s if Calcutta is captured, as it is no longer a capital city.
New Commonwealth Nation:
All territories with an ANZAC and Canadian roundel on them, as well as South Africa and South West Africa will now be know as the British Commonwealth. This new nation will replace ANZAC in the game round sequence, and all British beige starting units on Canadian and South African territories must now be replaced with ANZAC gray pieces (including the sea units in sea zones #106 and #71).
The Commonwealth nation does not have a capital, and as long as the Commonwealth controls Ottawa and/or Sydney, they may collect an income and build units. However, if both Ottawa and Sydney are under enemy control, the Commonwealth must immediately relinquish all IPCs to the bank, and remove their roundel from the income tracker until at least 1 of these two original victory cities are liberated.
If you are using a G40 2nd Edition map, you must put a commonwealth roundel on Western Canada, as well as South Africa and Western South Africa.
New National Objectives
All national objectives for the United Kingdom and ANZAC have been removed, and are now replaced with the following:
United Kingdom National Objectives:
5 IPCs if the Allies control Gibraltar, Egypt, India, and Malaya
5 IPCs if there are no Axis Submarines in the AtlanticThe British Commonwealth National Objectives:
5 IPCs for control of all original Commonwealth territories
5 IPCs if the Allies control all original Dutch territories in the PacificNew Rule Modifications
Setup Adjustments:
- All minor industrial complexes now become major factories
- The major industrial complex in India now becomes a major factory
- Add 1 Commonwealth fighter to Ontario
American War Economy:
During each collect income phase in which the United States are at war, they may roll 2 dice and collect the amount shown in IPCs.
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Okay, maybe I missed something but I am not understanding why you messed with the US Production facilities and their DOW.
Your rule states that upon the US DOW on the Axis or an Axis DOW upon the US, the US can upgrade ONE (1) of their major factories to an industrial complex.
All three US factories are supposed to upgrade to industrial complexes upon the US entry into the war. This is supposed to indicate the US ramping up from peacetime production to wartime production.
I mean, we all thought that the US wasn’t making enough money so you gave them the War Bonds so the US would have more money to spend. Then you nerf their production like this? Suppose they choose the EUS factory to upgrade to an IC, then on the Pacific side they will not be able to compete with Japan productively because they can only produce 5 units per turn there. Even if they build minor factories in Mexico and Alaska, the units they can build there is still limited.
Are you thinking people will upgrade the WUS factory to an IC? In which case the US could produce 10 units on each side as the CUS and EUS would produce 5 each and both territories feed into SZ 101. So do you just not want the US to be able to produce 20 units into the Atlantic?
I think you should remove that stipulation. This is just my opinion and these rules are yours so it is up to you. I will say that we will not be using that part in our games. -
@Young:
Gonna play option 1 for all 3 games this weekend, easier to sell it to the group than #2… gonna be a great test.
I agree that ppl would be more inclined to play Op#1 (at least in the beginning). That was my point, and I’m glad to see you re-focus in that direction (for now). Think its important to get a viable (dare I say basic) scenario up and running before you introduce the other things that were mentioned.
I was also wondering about the US restricted to only one upgrade (knp outlined it well)?
Looking forward to hear your game reports YG
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No problem guys, thought it would be an interesting choice for the Americans, but I can see how it’s unnecessary. Went back to this…
2. Once they are at war, the United States may immediately upgrade all their major factories to industrial complexes free of charge.
Thanks for keeping me on track, my goal is to get an endorsement from Krieghund, and the tweaks have to be minimal for that to happen.
What do you guys think about the rest of it?
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