Behind the Urals: 1942.2 Russian starting Factory Rule

Black_Elk

I’ve mentioned this rule a few times in various places, but thought I’d start a thread here safe keeping. It’s a pretty simple change, but I think it does a lot for game balance, and could potentially eliminate the need for an Allied bid. Here is the adjustment…

The starting Factory in Karelia is moved to Vologda.
The starting Factory in Caucasus is moved to Kazakh.

That’s it! Everything else remains the same. The goal is to provide a more reasonable production spread at the center of the game map.

This HR is like other rules that can achieve a similar effect, such as Russian mobile factories, or Scorched Earth factories, but I find that the simple set up change is easier to implement than a rules change for how factories behave. They work just like they always do OOB, except they are in a different location, behind the Urals instead of on the front lines.

The basic thrust is that it is now somewhat more challenging for Axis to immediately stomp on the two smaller Russian factories. The new Soviet starting production for building purposes is 12, but these factories are not immediately threatened, allowing the Allies to trade Karelia and Caucasus with less fear of Germany stacking the captured factories with Japan flying in defensive air support. The starting factory in Kazakh also makes for a more entertaining spawn location for you starting armor. It can still reach India in one move, but also has a line on Coastal China to threaten Kwang.
:-D

Here is how it looks…
And here is a tripleA save with the 2 Russian factories edited to their suggested locations…

This factory rule can be combined with the Russian bomber bid at Moscow if desired, for a more agressive Soviet game.

Frederick II

Russia can now get their troops to Japan faster and Russia should watch Japan now because they can threaten those ICs easier when they expand in asia. I like this because it’s so historical.

Young Grasshopper

Great idea Black Elk!

Argothair

I like the idea – my main concerns are that (a) it appears to eliminate the threat of a Russian march to Berlin, and (b) it makes it impossible for Allied navies in the Atlantic to directly liberate a Russian factory.

Russia can defend Kazakh against Japan even though Kazakh is only three moves from Tokyo and the Japanese start with twice as many units in the region as Russia. The problem is that the Russians will have to siphon so many troops from the Barbarossa front that the Russians are not going to make any progress at all to the west even if Germany is weakened by, e.g., strategic bombing or by a failed Sea Lion or by over-investment in conquering British Africa. At most, Russia can trade Karelia and West Russia and the Caucasus – they’re not going to be able to build up any momentum to the west. So in that respect I see the setup change as forcing everybody to play a KJF-oriented strategy, rather than as giving people more options.

Also, in the endgame, it often happens that the Allies take Berlin and Japan takes Moscow. When that happens, I make it a priority to ferry troops from, e.g., Italy to the Caucasus, or from France to Karelia, so I can liberate a Russian factory and use it to produce Allied ground troops close to the front lines. With Russian factories all located east of the sea, though, my navies can’t reach – I have to unload in Karelia/Caucasus, and then march from there to Vologda (2 spaces away from the sea!) or Kazakh (where Japan surely already has the ability to recruit new troops).

I think there’s nothing wrong with moving the factories to Vologda/Kazakh as a kind of fun what-if alternate scenario, but I predict that it will not have the same complexity or replay value as the OOB setup.

Black_Elk

Nice feedback!

I can see the logic there, as it’s an endgame I’ve definitely played out before, but I just read it the other way. Where it’s usually German momentum rather than Russian momentum that ends up being so decisive to the gameplay.

The endgame advantage to Allies of those coastal factories existing seems somehow less compelling to me than the strong Axis endgame advantage they provide. And if it’s mainly about recovering factories post Moscow collapse, then I feel that strays even further from any kind of historical dimension to the thing.

I suppose what I’d like to see is a production spread that makes it easier for the Russians to hold the center, and which forces them to confront Japan by making this easier to do. As opposed to the Japanese walk in that A&A usually produces. Generally Russia is forced to abandon both Karelia and Caucasus to defend Moscow. Likely they would be forced to do the same with Kazakh and Vologda, but until that point they’d have a stronger incentive to try and hold in the face of a Japanese advance. Post Moscow collapse, having 2 interior factories instead of 2 coastal ones presents a logistical challenge for Axis. They will have more production than they can really spend for ground (with Moscow already contributing 8 production). But usually what Axis is a way to achieve Naval parity with Allies during the deep endgame, more than they need inland production for ground.

In the case of Super J (post Moscow, post Berlin), As Axis, I think I’d rather have a factory at the ready in Karelia or Caucasus as Axis stolen from Russia, than a pair in the Asian interior farther away from the action in Europe and the Med.

I just see that factory shift as producing a substantially different kind of gameplay than OOB. I don’t think it requires KJF, but it makes totally ignoring Japan much harder to justify.

Alternatively moving the Karelia factory to West Russia instead of Vologda could also be interesting. Though that might have other drawbacks, and Vologda was empty and worth 2, so I just went there haha.

ps. Watching “Soviet Storm” with its amusing music, silly CGI, and super high production values… crispy digital green-screen and the finest acting talent haha, has inspired me to once again revisit Russia with ideas to make the A&A play more interesting.
:-D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhXKlYnSWjA

I know I’m not the only one who finds that the Japanese conquest of Moscow, again and again on most A&A boards, is getting a little stale. I’ve even taken to dividing the game into two distinct kinds of “endgame”, the initial Endgame (the final rounds leading up to the fall of Moscow) and the Deep Endgame (how things shake down after Moscow falls.) Basically the scripted collapse of the center, and the way that effects everything else in the game, seems pretty distorting. With no NAP, and no way for Russia to fend off Japan, the game feels more one dimensional than it might otherwise. The whole Air Wall dynamic relates to the fact that Germany can advance so quickly, and then make up their production and shore up their logistics on the back end, via captured Russian facilities. I think it would be entertaining, if possible, to change the production spread in Russia through some simple means, so that the play around the center would involve a bit more back and forth, and where the fall of Moscow (if it occurs) would be truly decisive and equate to Axis victory, not just another inevitability. The factory tweak alone might not really achieve this completely, not the full on storm haha, but it could be a start.
:-D

Black_Elk

ps. How’s this for an idea?
A more adaptive and open HR…

Russian Factory Rule:

1. Remove one of the smaller Russian factories, and add a replacement Factory to any Soviet territory you like.
Option: scorch the earth! The selected factory unit is removed from play with no replacement.

2. Remove the two smaller Russian factories, and add 2 replacement Factories to any Soviet territories you like.
Option: scorch the earth! Remove one or both of these factories with no replacement.

Basically gives a kind of fun dimension to the thing that can change from game to game. This is similar to a bid, as players will be challenged to deal with different placement options on R1. You could preserve a coastal factory, or remove it, or set it up somewhere for a forward offensive, or just put it somewhere out of the way, that’s relatively safe, but only worth 1 ipc. Stuff like that. With all options on the table.
:-D

The historical rationale would be the same provided in other Russian mobile factory, or scorched earth rules, but it would be a simple 1 time event for Russia, before the game begins (not an alteration to the normal production facility’s rules/abilities.) This would give you a way to try different production concepts at the center of the gameboard, while still observing the same simple rules formulation. Perhaps there is a factory strategy that could overcome the need for the Allied bid?

Any thoughts?

I think something like this could be entertaining. You could still give Russia a bid on top of this desired. Or restrict this bid to a single unit, such as 12 ipcs for a bomber, or 10 for a fighter. Or 8 for a naval bid? Baltic destroyer to mess with the G1 attack against the British? 6 for a tank. 3 for a lone infantry unit etc. Basically only letting in one unit, at whole unit’s value, with the remainder ipc saved for purchase.

Something like that might be novel. Basically a Ruskie boost, with features similar to the normal bid process, but confined to the Red center of the map.

Different strategies might be like…
Move the factory to Archangel, Evenki, or Yakut.
Or move the factory as to Kazakh, or Novos or Vologda.
Maybe try for some kind of crazy Bury + Kazakh type strategy, or Evenki + Yakut for wily KJFs? haha
Basically anything that makes sense, or just scorch one of the factories so you have less to defend? I think it would be an fun approach.

Normal Russian production is 14, initially I offered I suggestion of 12 (Kazakh and Vologda)

Here below is a 13 approach (preserving the Caucasus factory for forward position against Germany)… There are a number of these you could try, but this one shows Arch.

Or there are also 10 and 11 production combinations that could be tried as well. Here is another one, this other example has both factories at 1 ipc locations up north, Arch and Evenki in this case…

I think the rule could allow for some interesting choices by the Allies to keep things feeling fresh. Arch is kind of cool as a location because its a permanent blocker, and since it still preserves the coastal aspect. Its value to Axis is not as great if captured and it’s farther for G to march. Yakut might also have promise, for a turtle-up tactic in the far east against Japan. Many choices, and here you’d give players the option to determine the type of game they want to play. Maybe sometimes they like to keep Caucasus active vs G, other times they might want to position against J. Basically you give the Russians a bit more initiative to shape the overall Allied game, whereas now that’s almost all on UK, and the fighter wall to “save Moscow.” I favor tweaks to the center, since that seems to be the heart of it, and I can see how even minor shifts in the production spread here, could open up new possibility for either side.

Der Kuenstler

I like your ideas because in 1942 the factories in Leningrad and Stalingrad were either leveled or workers starved to the point where they weren’t producing much. the factories moved to the east, away from any axis bombing, were really cranking things out.

Navalland

The whole problem lies on Japan’s absurd overpowerness. No matter what house rules are present, Japan will always take Soviet far east and China. Allies have nothing to prevent it.

Why Japan’s role is always trying to rescue Germany via marching to Moscow? Why Japan always outproduce Germany and USA? It is neither fun, nor historical plus it totally deprives Pacific front and two ocean going approaches for USA.

Typically USA esablish a pipelines in North Africa while abandons Pacific, Britain in N.Russia, Germany turning into surviving mod waiting Japan to recue. I’m really sick of to see the same thing.

The solution is make Germany 2 times stronger than Japan considering 1942 borders, make Soviet far eastern and Chinese territories less valuable (Making two territory worth 1 with Nos), Hawaii factory with 2ipc value, then rebalancing.

Behind the Urals: 1942.2 Russian starting Factory Rule

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