Grasshopper's Alternative R&D

Makes sense Charles DG.  General HG uses armored cars as artillery scouts.  Could do something similar.

Just in case. I made a saved game of this setup for TripleA 1942.2, WWII V5.
There is 2 ICs in China, it needs to be Player enforced so you can only produce Infantry on it. This is to simulate Chinese militia build up from AA50.

So, you can make a few Triple A playtests before playing table top.

1941AA50_SETUP_WW2V5_Russia1.tsvg

GRASSHOPPER’S INVITATIONAL - HOUSE RULE SET

YouTube video explanation:

coming soon

Card deck accessory PDF files available for print:

coming soon

Victory Objectives & Victory Tokens

Once a victory objective is achieved, a victory token will be awarded, the side with the most victory tokens at the end of the day wins the game. Victory tokens are awarded immediately upon completion regardless of when, or how the objective was achieved. Also, a token can never be taken away once earned, and they may never be awarded twice for the same objective. It doesn’t matter which round the game ends, however, a win or a tie can only be declared at the end of a full game round.

Tournament Rule: On top of any victory tokens earned during each game, teams that win their game outright will receive a free victory token, and teams that finish a game without allowing a victory token will receive a free victory token.
New Research & Development Rule:

Research rolls are no longer used to develop breakthroughs, instead, nations are awarded development rolls when victory objectives have been achieved. Once a victory token is gained, the nation with the corresponding (*) instructions listed with each objective will choose a breakthrough chart, and make a free development roll with the resulting breakthrough taking effect immediately (may not effect units already in battle during the turn in which the breakthrough was rolled). Any breakthroughs gained by the UK regardless of which side of the map a token was achieved will effect all UK purchases and all UK units on the board.

Here is a list of all victory objectives for each side…

Axis Powers

London -The Axis control London
(R&D) *The nation that takes control
Moscow -The Axis control Moscow
(R&D) *The nation that takes control
Calcutta
-The Axis control Calcutta
(R&D) *The nation that takes control
Sydney
-The Axis control Sydney
(R&D) *The nation that takes control
Africa
-The Axis control Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Tobruk, Alexandria, and Egypt.
(R&D) *The nation that controls the most
Pacific -The Axis control 6 victory cities on the Pacific map
(R&D) *The nation that controls the most Europe
-The Axis control 7 victory cities on the Europe map
(R&D) *The nation that controls the most

Economy
-All 3 Axis powers have a combined total of 136 IPCs on the income tracker
(R&D) *The nation that is earning the most
Allied Powers

Berlin
-The Allies control Berlin
(R&D) *The nation that takes control
Rome
-The Allies control Rome
(R&D) *The nation that takes control

Tokyo
-The Allies control Tokyo
(R&D) *The nation that takes control
Africa -The Allied powers control all non-neutral territories on the continent of Africa
(R&D) *The nation that controls the most
Paris
-The Allies have liberated Paris
(R&D) *The nation that takes control
Philippines
-The Allies have liberated the Philippines
(R&D) *The United States

Asia
-The Allies control the Burma road as well as Hong Kong and Shanghai
(R&D) *The United Kingdom

Pacific
-There are no Japanese Capital ships on the board
(R&D) *The United States

New & Modified Breakthrough Charts

Modifications to oob breakthroughs are in red italics, Paratroopers have been replaced with Super Carrier Decks, and breakthroughs among the 2 charts have been re-positioned for balance.

Breakthrough Chart #1

Heavy Artillery
All artillery now support up to 2 attacking infantry and/or mech infantry each

Rockets
Each operational airbase may launch a rocket at an enemy facility up to 4 spaces away, roll 2 dice per rocket and apply the highest result for damage.

Jet Fighters
All fighters now attack at 4 or less, and defend at 2 or less when escorting or intercepting.

Long-Range Aircraft
Maximum movement range for all air units is now increased by 1.

War Bonds
During the collect income phase, roll 2 dice and collect IPCs in the amount shown on the highest roll. (For UK war bonds, Calcutta will gain IPCs from the lowest roll, London will gain IPCs from the highest roll).

Blitz Tactics
Mech infantry now attack at 2 or less if paired with a tank as well as artillery, they may blitz without tanks, and they may tow 1 artillery unit each during the non-combat movement phase.
Breakthrough Chart #2

Super Submarines
All submarines now attack at 3 or less.

Anti-Aircraft Radar
All ainti-aircraft fire from AA artillery, or AA guns built into facilities now defend at 2 or less.

Improved Shipyards
Battleships, Aircraft Carriers, and Cruisers are now 3 IPCs cheaper, and Destroyers, Submarines, and transports are now 1 IPC cheaper.

Mass Production
The mobilization capacity of all production facilities has been increased by 2. Also, you may remove 2 damage markers for the price of 1.

Super Carrier Decks
All aircraft carriers may now carry up to 3 fighters and/or tactical bombers each.

Heavy Bombers
When attacking during a battle or a SBR, roll 2 dice for each strategic bomber and select the best result.

New & Modified National Objectives

Germany (in addition to all original NOs)
-5 IPCs if an Axis power controls London

Soviet Union (2 NOs which replaces the original National Prestige NO)
-5 IPCs if there are no Axis warships in sea zone #125, and the Allies control Archangel as well as London
-5 IPCs if there are no Allied units on any original Russian territories

Japan (in addition to all original NOs)
-5 IPCs if Japan controls all original Chinese territories

United States (in addition to all original NOs)
-5 IPCs if the United States are at war with the Axis powers

UK Europe (in addition to all original NOs)

5 IPCs if there are no German submarines anywhere on the board other than in the Baltic Sea (sea zones 113-115), the Black Sea (100), and the Caspian Sea (unnumbered).

New Strategic Bombing Rules

The +2 damage bonus for each strategic bomber during strategic bombing raids will now be distributed like such…

+1 Damage - if the strategic bombers rolling for damage have departed from an operational airbase.
+1 Damage - if the strategic bombers rolling for damage did not encounter an enemy interceptor.

Player Assignments:

6 Player Games
Player 1. Germany
Player 2. Italy
Player 3. Japan
Player 4. Soviet Union / China
Player 5. United States / ANZAC
Player 6. United Kingdom / France

TIME BLOCKS & TIME TOKENS

GERMANY TIME BLOCK = 10 MIN - 5 TOKENS
SOVIET UNION TIME BLOCK = 5 MIN - 5 TOKENS
JAPAN TIME BLOCK = 10 MIN - 5 TOKENS
UNITED STATES TIME BLOCK = 5 MIN - 5 TOKENS
CHINA = 5 MIN - 2 TOKENS
UNITED KINGDOM = 10 MIN - 5 TOKENS
ITALY = 5 MIN - 5 TOKENS
ANZAC = 5 MIN - 2 TOKENS
FRANCE = 5 MIN - 2 TOKENS

The lady and I will be playing as the Allies, and we’re going to attempt a neutral crush.  The idea is Russia hits turkey hard R2, followed by the US landing in Spain US2.

The idea is roughly this:

R1: purchase 2 tanks & 1 mech for Stalingrad, 7 inf for Moscow.  Back off the front lines, including sending the Leningrad troops to Archangel, then position 6 infantry in Caucasus and as many mechs and tanks as possible in Stalingrad.  All air force goes to Moscow, giving Russia 23 units to hit Turkey with on R2.  Should only lose 3 infantry in the counter attack, leaving 15 ground units in Turkey.

US1: purchase 7 transports, all in the EUS.  Get the Pacific fleet to Hawaii, get some planes down to NZ and Queensland, consolidate the Atlantic fleet in EUS, move the EUS fighter to Gibraltar for extra defense.  US2: all Pacific buy of 2 CV, 1 transport, 2 DD’s, 3 subs.  Attack Spain in full force, should only lose 2 inf, leaving 14.

UK1: factory in Egypt, transport in Canada, fighter in South Africa.  Standard Med and Africa moves: clear out the Malta SZ with a couple of planes, try to kill the Italian BB with the sub in SZ98, add planes to Gibraltar to defend.  I’m going to use the Canada transport to drop a tank and inf in Suriname.  Over on the India side I’ll move the fleet over to Africa and use the transport to take Persia.  UK2: Buy ships out of Egypt, factory in Persia.  From there, get as many men to Egypt as a I can, move the Royal Navy to SZ91 to help protect the American transports.

There is obviously a lot more to it, but this is the basic version.  Thoughts and suggestions?  The overall idea is to squeeze the Med and Italy.  US can build a complex in Spain, or more likely just shuttle 8 units from EUS each turn.  Russia can gradually advance into Southern Europe, especially if the UK has men and planes to back them up.  The idea with UK is just that: build a lot of ships and planes to help secure the Med and the territories Russia and the US advance into.

I found a post which say that SBR AAA kill ratio was 10% max:

What Larry says have flaws, and contradict to to base mechanic.

It should be like this:

1. Attacking fighter escorts roll dice, each 1 is hit, and defender move casualties to casualty zone.

2. Defending AA-gun roll dice, each 1 is hit, and then defending fighters roll dice, 2 or less is hit. Attacker choose his casualties.

3. Surviving bombers roll SBR dice against factories.

In real world, the attacking airfleet would first face the intercepting fighters, and then the escort fighters would do dog-fight. Later, the bombers would face AA-fire at the target. This AA-fire killed historically less than 10 % of the aircrafts. Using Larrys rule where AA-guns target bombers, you could be lucky and roll two 1’s and kill both attacking bombers, and get an unhistoric result of thousands bombers killed and no harm to the factories. Since its an abstract game, let the attacker pick a fighter as casualty to represent a % loss, and still have bombers survive to SBR.

http://harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=1706&start=8
He is talking about an older version of SBR (AA50 Anniversary).

Using D12’s or D10’s also expands the option of having different countries units be more powerful then others, for example a German tank was more powerful then a Japanese tank, with a D12 system this could be represented.  :-D

I think it would be interesting if you had any ideas on different country combos, even different time periods, perhaps a House Rule ‘Cold War’ game or something in that nature, but I do agree with Keredrex, the game was definently designed to have 5 players and has been well set up for balance.

oh wow. thats not how i played it. Otherwise Germany can build fighters and get all her planes instantly as jets?

thats really strong Tech….

Perhaps you can convert one fighter per turn or build a new fighter that will be a jet?