*edited in some more commentary. I also agree with LHoffman below, about a good ballpark for the average amount of cash that enters play in a given turn.
:-D
Yeah I think that’s an excellent idea. For a tech section, something focused on “Politics and Neutrality” could easy fill out with a half a dozen options in this game. Vichy rules. Russian Japanese NAP rules. The change to pro-side after a capital falls. Those could certainly make the grade. Maybe the commonwealth too? I’m sure there is plenty to draw from here. I like the roll, it makes for a fun level of randomization, similar to regular battles but with a fun specific theme.
Not to shift gears again, but I’ve just been thinking once more about Objectives. This was discussed a lot early on, and I was happy to see the Russian objective tweaks included. But there are are still quite a few of these that leave a lot to be desired. 28 total objectives, 14 for each side, but how many are really doing the trick? I’ll post the full OOB list below (tripleA wording), but I just want to single out some of the NOs related to France right now to pick on them.
Instead of a thematically boring objective for UK like “+5 for control of ALL starting territories” (which is framed more around Axis doing stuff to deny the NO, rather than UK doing stuff to achieve it) why not give UK +5 if Allies control Normandy? This would immediately take care of the issue with Germany ignoring that tile.
Similarly why not give the Americans +5 for having units in Normandy instead of France? Then you’d have a potential +10 swing for D-Day. Something like that would actually motivate the Allies to really make a serious landing (not just Dunkirk’ng around) and would similarly give Germany a reason to develop a serious Atlantic wall.
Further, the Objective which grants France 12 ipcs in free units, once Paris is liberated, just seems like a waste of space to me. A one time bonus for 4 infantry units is pretty paltry. There is no windfall here for the Allies at that late stage in the game. Why not give the Allies something for taking France, that actually offsets the loss of production that occurs when Paris is restored? Under OOB liberation rules, the Allies are basically penalized for reclaiming Paris, meaning they’re not going to do it until they already have such an overwhelming advantage that the loss of Normandy or Southern France (together worth more than France itself, both in production and income) no longer matters.
Instead of 1 time bonus, why not just give the French +10 for control of France, so they can actually function in the endgame? This would motivate Allies to liberate Paris, or Germany to reclaim it via counter offensive, because the bonus would be recurring, not just a one off.
Getting right down to it, I propose we reduce the total number of NO’s for each team from 14 each to 12 each.
From 28 total objectives down to 24, with the dual aim of both simplify the tracking and making them more impact-full.
Which others should get sub’d out, and what do we replace them with?
Now is the time for specifics, because we are on the cusp.
Lets get a list to replace the one below. I highlighted the NO’s that I think could be sub’d out for something more focused, or with more thematic historical weight. Edited in a quick commentary in brackets for each nation.
OOB Objectives:
National Objectives Germany
5 PUs if not yet at war with Russia.
5 PUs for each German controlled territory: Volgograd or Novgorod or Russia.
5 PUs if Axis controls the Caucasus.
5 PUs if there is at least one German land unit in Egypt, whether or not it is controlled by Italy or Germany or Japan.
5 PUs if Germany controls both Denmark and Norway and Sweden is not allied-controlled or pro-allied.
2 PUs for each German controlled territory: Iraq or Persia or Northwest Persia.
[A lower value bonus for control of far flung territories, seems less interesting to me than one themed around the final defense. Perhaps a bonus relating to Italy itself or the Balkans or France?]
Russia
5 PUs if Russia is at war, sz125 has no Axis warships (all sea units except transports), Archangel is Russia-controlled, and there are no allied units in any originally Russian territories.
3 PUs for each originally German, Italian, or Pro-Axis neutral territory that Russia controls.
10 PUs one time only, the first time Russia conquers Germany (Berlin).
[All three are problematic. sz125 bonus too wordy and insignificant. +3 bonuses are gamey in bizarre ways (Africa mid east weidness for example) Berlin bonus seems redundant. Already somewhat address in HR package, but could perhaps still use something. Possibly NAP related.]
Japan
10 PUs if not yet at war with USA, has not yet attacked French Indo-China, and has not declared war on UK or ANZAC.
5 PUs if Axis controls all of Guam, Midway, Wake Island, Gilbert Islands, and Solomon Islands.
5 PUs for each Axis controlled territory: Hawaii, India, New South Wales, and Western United States.
5 PUs if Axis controls all of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Celebes.
[Outer perimeter needs work. Also NAP]
UK
5 PUs for UK Europe if UK Europe controls of its original territories.
5 PUs for UK Pacific if UK Pacific controls both Kwangtung and Malaya, and is at war with Japan.
I think both of these could be reworked, to be more interesting. Perhaps with D-Day theme for Europe. Burma theme for UK Pacific.
ANZAC
5 PUs if the Allies control Malaya, and ANZAC controls all of their original territories, and is at war with Japan.
5 PUs if the Allies (not including Dutch) control all of Dutch New Guinea, New Guinea, New Britain, and the Solomon Islands, and is at war with Japan.
[This one and the UK Pac objective above, put’s huge emphasis on Malaya, at the expense of other possibilities]
Italy
5 PUs if no Allied ships are in the Med: sz92,…,sz99.
5 PUs if Axis control at least 3 of: Gibraltar, Egypt, Southern France and Greece.
5 PUs if Axis controll all of: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Tobruk, and Alexandria.
2 PUs for each Italian controlled territory: Iraq or Persia or Northwest Persia.
[having a VC for Persia/Iraq seems less interesting to me than one that was more sand and sea Med oriented]
USA
10 PUs if USA is at war and EUS, WUS, and CUS are American-controlled.
5 PUs if USA is at war and Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Hawaiian Islands, and Johnston Island, and Line Islands are American-controlled.
5 PUs if USA is at war and Mexico, South Eastern Mexico, Central America, and West Indies are American-controlled.
5 PUs if USA is at war and the Philippines is American-controlled.
5 PUs each turn the USA has one land unit in France.
[Having an objective bonus for control of the continental US and West Indies seems kind of redundant. Would be better to have another Pacific or Europe themed objective. Or make the zero island thing in the Med/Pac more a feature of US objectives here]
China
6 PUs and may build artillery if the Allies control India, Burma, Yunnan, and Szechwan.
French
12 PUs worth of free units in France the first time France is Liberated (The engine will give you 4 infantry automatically. Use edit mode if you want something other than 4 infantry by deleting the infantry and replacing them with what you really want).
[Needs more to be compelling, I like a flat +10 for Paris, recurring instead of a one time bonus]
Here is a quick example of an approach from a while back that adds many more objectives, with ideals compiled/drafted by Oztea
http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=7408
I like some of the wordings in there. Though I would prefer less total objectives to manage. I think fewer objectives at higher values in some case would be better than many more objectives at lower values. With 24, we could at least say with simplified it by the raw numbers. The game is already pretty complex, but this is one area we could maybe streamline.
