Re: Field Marshal Games Pieces Project Discussion thread

Does anyone happen to have any red xeno game pieces that they would like to sell?

One idea I had that is similar to this is to play each of the Theatre games (Guadalcanal, Battle of the Bulge, D-Day) and then have the winner of those sub-games gain some advantage the following Global Session, at the appropriate juncture in the game.

So if Japan wins Guadalcanal, you put Japanese units and ships there, either at game start, or later, and if the US wins, vice versa
The winner of Dday gets bonus units before/after first atl landings
b o b winner gets help defeating/protecting Germany

Only problem is these games are sorta wonky and I don’t have B.o.B.

@John:

@Yavid:

@Imperious:

What we need is a master list of WOTC pieces and HBG/FMG pieces by type, then formulate stats but all separate

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=33356.0

done I don’t have Anniversary and don’t know the units that came with that game so they are not on the list.

I pmed you the list. I hope that helps you, buddy! :-D

Thank you very much I updated adding the units from AA50 I did run into a couple questions for you and pm them to you.

The combat system is quite different from A&A, so it would be difficult to replace cards with extra pieces directly. Dice work differently from A&A as well.

Cards are used throughout the game sequence; for additional movement, combat bonuses, special actions and reinforcements. Building combos of cards on your hand is part of the strategic element in the game.

All 170 cards in the game have authentic pictures.

Hey All,
I’ve had time to play a couple of games of the new Fortress America. Aside from the new pieces, the game is pretty much the same as the older version. Here are the most noteable differences:

The USA’s Partisan cards are spelled out quite a bit clearer than the old ones. These tell you EXACTLY what territories, units and actions are involved. Most of the cards are really the same as in the old deck, except of course one that deals with Colorado Springs, which wasn’t in the old game, but the new cards seem to spell out what you are supposed to do in more detail. They even tell you to discard the card after you are done.
After I compared the new and old cards, I can see that some of the old cards could have been misread. Specifically, the MAJOR AIRLIFT card. With the old game, I always played it by taking ALL US units anywhere on the board and moving them as I wished. The new MAJOR AIRLIFT card specifically says that you pick ONE territory and can move the units from that territory to anywhere on the board that doesn’t have enemy units (even enemy controlled, unoccupied city territories). So, the USA player is basically limited to a maximum of 5 military units that he/she can move around like this. While this can still be a big plus for the US, especially if the invaders have left a lot of cities unoccupied, it isn’t so devastating to the invaders that it might be a game ender. Since then, I have gone back and re-read the MAJOR AIRLIFT card in the old deck and realized that I think I have mis-played it all this time. I think it might have ALWAYS been just one territory of units, not ALL US units. The way it is worded could go either way.

Another big difference is that the Mobile Units are much more useful now. If you have a Mobile Unit and an Infantry (or Partisan for the US) in the same territory, that Mobile Unit can transport that Infantry/Partisan with it in the Maneuvers phase (normally Infantry/Partisans have no movement in the Maneuvers phase). This happens on a 1:1 ratio. So if you have 2 Infantry and 1 Mobile Unit, then only 1 Infantry may travel with the Mobile Unit. That makes Mobile Units much more valuable now. In the old game, they were more or less mobile cannon fodder to me.

Finally, the biggest difference is that now there are cards for the Invaders. Each Invader has a deck of 8 cards that can give them certain advantages if certain conditions are met. During the reinforcement phase, each Invader must decide to get 8 new units or get only 5 new units and draw a card. Each card has certain advantages which could boost their forces’ movement or attacking power or cause a detriment to the US’s abilities (like depriving them of the laser attacks for a round). To gain these advantages, certain conditions must be met, like holding certain cities, or simply a certain number of cities and/or holding certain resource territories (agriculture, mineral, oil). Some cards are one time use and others are “Remain In Play” which the invader that holds that card can use even if the original conditions are no longer met. For example: Say the Western Invader draws a “Remain In Play” card and the conditions are that he has to own Los Angeles, 2 Agricultures and 1 Mineral. Then later on he loses one of the Agricultures, or the Mineral, or even Los Angeles, he can STILL PLAY THAT CARD. Also, even once the Invader’s reserves are depleted, they can still draw cards during the reinforcements phase. If you get a card for which you haven’t met the conditions yet, you simply keep it face down in front of you until you can use it. So, theoretically, Invaders could possibly use several cards in the same turn, provided all the conditions are met for each card.
Frankly, while some of the advantages in the cards are pretty good, I think overall they are more of a detriment to the invaders as well as the overall game experience. As an invader, you might end up becoming too fixated on trying to accomplish the conditions on a card so that you can gain that advantage that you end up not doing other things that would better defeat the USA forces. As for the game, it really takes more time for the invaders to keep checking their cards to see if they meed the requirements. Also, losing that 3 extra pieces each turn so you can draw a card may not seem like a lot, but I think it could be just enough for the USA player to get just enough of an edge that they don’t lose all 18 cities. The longer this game goes, the more forces the US will have and the less the Invaders will have, thus it will be that much harder to gain the 18 cities and defeat the US. Plus if you keep getting cards that you can’t use, then is it really worth losing those extra 3 units each turn. It seems to me like a lot of the conditions, while not impossible, are pretty hard for the Invaders to accomplish. For Example: there are two or three cards for the Eastern Invader where one of the conditions is an Oil Resource. The nearest one for them is clear over by Memphis. That’s a lot of territory to conquer.

Well, there is my report. It’s a pretty cool game, but VERY similar to the old game. If you have the original, unless you just really want the new pieces and map or really want to try out the new Invader cards, I would say save your money and play the original some more becasue except for the few points above, they are basically the same game.

Well, relative to the tanks, if we were looking for an objective, uniform scale it would be a bit big, I think, but since that isn’t our goal, I think it’s fine.

I’d be fine with the WF colors, too, if they had a complete piece set.

As it is, I still might find several of their models useful for “special unit” upgrades (like how the original AAP used dark green for USMC)

But what I’d really like to see is a cool array of options for ships, especially the marquis ones, the BB’s & CV’s (and even the CA’s).  I’d definitely spend some money on that. I already have… but my Panzerschiffe plastics and 1/3000 metals are still just too big.  I even tried some 1/6000 metals, but they were too small.  If FMG or WF or TT made some of these, I’d be all over that!  You could maybe sell them by the piece; I don’t know if you could make the ROI come together on such a radically different sort of project, but I’d easily spend the same per piece that Panzerschiffe, Navwar, & Skytrex are charging per piece to get models that are much closer to AA scale (and AA colors, though I’d willingly take the time to paint them if necessary)…

Idk, just thinking aloud, here, but maybe this is an opportunity?

Has anyone here bought this game and can reveal their impressions?

LOL… yea thats been a long time ago. The game plays very well with basic search and engagements.

using the Zeppelins, subs and carrier make for additional fun.