Re: Field Marshal Games Pieces Project Discussion thread

@black_elk Rock On !!!.png

@SS-GEN
I mentionned the OOB ways in beginning of my last post.

Well, if we have a Cold War game, then how about after the USA and USSR nuke everything we have a new game of “Rise of the Machines”, humanity struggles to survive against the Terminators.

Irock, Warrior, and Others,

As you may already know by now we are, as we speak, working on a new series of games as I just described below.  The (proposed) name is:

Expanded A&A-The Naval Series with the 1st game to be Coral Sea and The Solomons Campaign.

We’re investigating the possibility that you could play 2 or 3 COMPLETELY separate games on the same map(at DIFFERRENT times).  the Coral Sea naval-air battle, the huge Solomons Campaign, and maybe a Battle of the Bismark Sea scenario, too.

I’ve had so many players express their interest and approval in my stated goal for a game that would be designed based on a “Battle-Specific”(the Solomons Campaign) map, Enlarged to
G-40 size, and utilizing all the new units and their new capabilities.

I think that this would be nothing short of a revolution in our A&A gameplay.

Of course none of this would be the least bit possible without HBG and FMG making available all of the wonderful new units that they plan.  My hat’s off to them for their efforts here.

Tigerman, as an experienced “Map Master”, has agreed to do the map(Haleluyah!!!) which will take a bit of time as what we’re proposing is HUGE!  Not only in the amount of changes, new rules, and improvements(?) that we plan, but in shear SIZE as well.

Stay tuned to the various postings for updates.

And if this seems the least bit interesting to you, get INVOLVED and let us know YOUR ideas or opinions.  We will all benefit from having all ideas considerred.

We’ve started our own thread here in the Variants Section for this game called
Expanded A&A-The Naval Series    Coral Sea and The Solomons Campaign.
Stop in and check it out, ask questions, or offer suggestions anytime.

Like I Say,……What Do YA’LL Think???
                                                                                    “Tall Paul”

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?

Here is a tactical level WWI game I have been working on.  I play it on the original maps from the A&A Miniatures game (2" hexes) and use the roads as trench lines or mark my laminated maps with a dry erase marker to indicate trench lines.  I have only been playing offense/defense type games where the ratio of offense army points to defense army points is 3:2 and the offense has to capture an objective behind the defense’s trench line or has to open a 3 adjacent hex gap in the defense’s trench line after 10-15 turns.  A 100-120 points for the offense makes for a reasonable sized army.
I bought soft plastic English, French and German HO scale WWI soldiers from the Toy Soldier Company and use cannons from Risk and Micro Machines biplanes.  I also bought machine gun/artillery hard plastic sets from the Toy Soldier Co for the heavy artillery & machine guns that were so devastating in the trench warfare.  I suppose you could use pieces from the A&A Miniatures for the infantry, machine guns, artillery, etc., if you want to try this before investing in the WWI pieces which are about $8/set.
I have play-tested this game several times and revised the rules at least 6 times.  If you give it a try I would appreciate your feeback so that I can continue to improve the game.
Let me know if you can’t open the MS Word rules file.
World War I.doc

From BGG:

I have not yet played this game but thought I would review the components and rules prior to playing. These are my initial impressions which may change after playing the game.

I was intrigued enough to purchase this game for several reasons: 1) the publisher is offering a significant discount on the game - $25.00 plus shipping (wow!), 2) it has 438 component pieces (I love little plastic armies), 3) it plays on a world map, and finally 4) I love Axis and Allies and have been nostalgic for games like Supremacy ever since I dug it out of storage last month.

In summary, I have not been disappointed yet. I feel I got superior value for my money and would recommend this game to other fans of world domination games. I can’t wait to play!

The Components
The main playing pieces come on plastic sprues and should be removed with an exacto knife. Seven colors came with the set: White (use by all players for factories, air defense, generals, nuclear bombs, and leaders), and colors for six players - Gray, Blue, Red, Purple, Green, and Yellow. These pieces represent infantry, tanks, fighters, bombers, battleships (now called battlecruisers), aircraft carriers, artillery, subs, and transport ships. It doesn’t matter which superpower uses which color. The plastic is good quality.

The game actually allows for up to eight players and the rulebook mentions an expansion pack. I am guessing Brown and Orange would be in the upcoming expansion pack.

The pieces are very good and remind me a lot of Axis and Allies pieces. The one drawback seems to be the tanks which are much smaller than those pictured. In fact, they are almost teeny-tiny. I’m not sure if the small size will hinder or help gameplay at this time.

Other components include circle territory markers, plastic poker chips for stacking under the pieces, dice, plastic container trays, plastic bags, and cards for each superpower, development tracking, and conducting battles.

The gameboard is beautifully illustrated on a heavy, large tri-fold board. It reminded me so much of Axis and Allies I had to go back and look at it to make sure it wasn’t the exact same board!

Finally, the box is heavy duty and will hold up for years. Somewhat surprisingly, the game was shipped to me via Fed Ex with a shipping label slapped on the clear shrinkwrap! Most games would never make the journey but my set survived with a minor dent on a corner. However, if you are at all concerned about getting your set “Mint in Box” I’d highly recommend requesting some type of shipping container when ordering your set from the publisher. They may charge you more but it may be worth it to you. I couldn’t care less.

Rules
I think the rulebook could have been written better. You can view a copy of the rulebook on the superpowergames.com website. The website also clarifies some errors in the Errata section.

Play mostly works like Axis and Allies with players attempting to gain control of enough capitals to win the game. There are a few interesting twists that have been created to make the game fit in a more contemporary setting: Alliances can be formed and broken, technology can be researched, and money is eliminated (technically still in the game just not represented with paper currency). Additional minor concepts have been added like Encirclement which allows players to resolve battles without rolling the dice in certain situations. Clearly the designer is attempting to speed play and focus the game on the fun aspects of world domination rather than the tedium of counting out paper money and fighting insignificant battles.

Final Thoughts
Some of the graphics and illustrations lend the feel of an upstart game maker pursuing his passion with an invention created with a low budget in his garage and home personal computer. Part of that makes me instantly like the game even more. In fact, the creator emailed me shortly after purchasing the game asking for feedback. Very nice personal touch!

If you like Axis and Allies, I think this game may be for you. It looks fun, the components are great, and for $25.00 you are getting a tremendous value. There might be some minor polish issues here and there but it’s got all the goods where it really counts.

I will do another review after I have a chance to play!