Technology

I think Gas is not good.  Wasn’t it just as dangerous to the army deploying it as it was to the enemy???

In the early stages it was, by the end of the war they had gotten the methods of using it down.

@Makoshark13:

Have depth charges where cruisers get some of the abilities of destroyers. Something like, subs can’t submerge when fighting a cruiser. Gives the allies a chance against the rampaging German subs.

Would suck for a CP to roll this tech.

I think there should be some separate tech for CP and for the Allies.

Certainly plausible.
Perhaps a good replacement for “Armed Transports”.

As it stands my proposed techs are:
Air/Naval Techs
1. Undersea Warfare - Your Cruisers prevent enemy subs from submerging at a 1:1 ratio and your Subs may submerge before the first round of combat.
2. Advanced Aeronautics - Your aircraft become 2/2/3
3. Mine Detectors - Roll a die before your ships attack into a minefield: That many of your ships are immune to enemy mines (your choice).
4. Observation Balloons - In battles where no aircraft are present, one of your artillery counts as having air support.
5. Advanced Mines - Your Naval mines strike enemy ships on ‘2’ or less.
6. Naval Aviation - Your Battleships may serve as a landing space for one of your own aircraft. Battleships attack and defend at 5 with naval air superiority.

Land/Economic Techs
1. Tank Pioneer - You may build tanks before turn 4, after turn 4 you can buy tanks for 5 IPCs.
2. War Bonds - At the end of your turn roll two dice, collect the higher number as IPCs
3. Chemical Warfare - Roll a die before attacking a territory, 1-3: remove that many enemy infantry; 4-6: No effect (One Territory Per Turn Only)
4. Conscription - Each time you buy 4 Infantry, receive a 5th free.
5. Radio Communications - During combats where friendly forces are also in the contested zone, roll a die. That many friendly artillery may also participate in the attack
6. Advanced Transportation - Roll a die, that many of your infantry may move 3 spaces this turn (amongst friendly territories worth 2 IPCs or more)

6 Techs only. This does not look like a 12 tech game.

Every 4th turn a player may select one free tech

Example:
On turn 4 each player may select one free tech
On turn 8 each player may select one free tech
Tanks are no longer automatic ( unless you research or select it)

Six Techs:
Bombers: Your fighters can now perform SBR attacks to the limit of IPC they are bombing. They can also move +2 spaces
Gas Attacks: If you got at least one artillery, you can assign one gas attack during your attack against a territory. You get one extra die roll (3 or less) in combat.
Gas Masks: If you are attacked by gas, roll one die and 3 or less cancels the gas attack against you.
Strategic Artillery: Any adjacent artillery you control may fire in battle hitting at 1
Tanks: tanks may be built use OOB rules
Battle-cruisers: Cruisers may move +1 extra space and take 2 hits

If you want to research Tech early, pay 5 IPC for each roll, but the technology you get is random ( the only ones you get to choose are on every 4th turn)

According to djensen’s battle board photo, fighters are 2/2/2.

“Remove one enemy fighter for each die roll of 1 or 2.
Remaining fighters strafe enemy positions.
Remove one enemy land units for each die roll of 1 or 2.”

Edited to fix spelling.

IL battle cruisers is OP
A 9 ipc unit that moves 4 and takes 2 hits

12 techs has been the norm since anniversary edition, i think we can get 12 good ones

Also it would be wise to have either tech tokens OR free (random) tech.

Chemical warfare could wrap together both the attack.and the masks.
But frankly, I don’t even think gas masks warrant being a tech.

Perhaps mine detectors could be changed to “in a naval battle half of your ships are immune to mines” and perhaps advanced mines can be wrapped in with this tech.

If some techs have duel roles then allied powers or central powers both want a tech for different reasons.

Also I don’t see what everybody’s hard on for bombers is.
Though if everyone clamors for it maybe it deserves to be a tech in some way.

I agree that techs should be free, maybe based on a random roll. I think if you make them cost IPC’s, you’ll have to add in income to balance the game. Everyone was doing research during this period, and copying from the enemy as they rolled out new techs. Definitely agree with making a tech common after a turn or so. Maybe put a national marker on a tech that is unique to that nation, then flip the marker when it becomes common.

@oztea:

Perhaps mine detectors could be changed to “in a naval battle half of your ships are immune to mines” and perhaps advanced mines can be wrapped in with this tech.

There are mine detectors that detect land mines, and there are minesweeper vessels which clear naval mines by various techniques (dragging cables, etc.), but I’ve never heard about naval mine detectors.  Modern minesweepers can probably do a certain amount of mine detection using underwater drones equiped with TV cameras, but I’m not aware of any naval mine detection technology existing during WWI.  If it did exist, I’d be interested in hearing about the details.

Regarding the concept of “mine immunity”, I think the closest one can realistically come to it is “enhanced mine resistance” via the use of anti-torpedo bulges.

Navies tried clearing paths through suspected minefields with depth charges.
Special mine clearing units did exist and worked around the clock in 1918 to reopen shipping lanes that the UK had closed. I think like 80% of all naval mines were laid by the UK.

On the subject of gas masks, in the gas attack tech, the fact that it kills a random number (or none) of the enemy reflects the opponent having masks.

Perhaps the tech should be:
Roll a die and apply the following
1-2 remove that many enemy infantry
3-4 remove that many enemy infantry (no effect if the enemy also has the Chemical Warfare Tech)
5-6 no effect

That way masks are rolled into chemical warfare.
We could get this down to 6 techs if some techs do something slightly different that the CP needs or allies need.

But I still think 12 is better.

Maybe Gas would immobilize x number of enemy units the next round vice killing them. ?

@oztea:

Navies tried clearing paths through suspected minefields with depth charges. Special mine clearing units did exist and worked around the clock in 1918 to reopen shipping lanes that the UK had closed. I think like 80% of all naval mines were laid by the UK.

Yes, and as I recall the British and the Americans worked into 1919 to clear the North Sea mine barrage.  But what I meant to say is that naval minesweeping and naval mine detection aren’t the same thing.  The traditional way to sweep tethered naval mines, as I recall, is for two shallow-draft vessels to drag a steel cable between them and sail through a suspected minefield, in the hope that the cable will cut through the tethers and cause the mines to float to the surface, where they can be spotted visually and detonated by rifle fire.  Vessels using this technique essentially work blind, without any detection gear.  Using depth charges to clear mines likewise involves no detection process.

Chemical warfare could wrap together both the attack.and the masks.
But frankly, I don’t even think gas masks warrant being a tech.

No the whole point is to have separate techs where one harms you (gas) and you need to research the remedy ( masks)

If you had both at the same time, their would be no scramble to defeat the gas attacks. Thats the whole point.

I think the effect and procedure could be improved, but rolling dice and killing the result is way too powerful IMO.

Yes I agree.  Gas outright killing Infantry is powerful.  I think they should affect the units, not kill them.  Either immobilize them for a turn or they attack/defend at a lower die roll for a round.

I personally think you should strike gas off the list all together…it’s a very ‘local’ weapon, and simulating at the theater level is a bit silly…just think of it as being incorporated into a standard ‘attack.’

@ossel:

I personally think you should strike gas off the list all together…it’s a very ‘local’ weapon, and simulating at the theater level is a bit silly…just think of it as being incorporated into a standard ‘attack.’

Perhaps go with the suggestion, mentioned before but I can’t remember by whom, of making it like the artillery boost. Something like:

Gas: x number of infantry attack at 3 or less, or perhaps even 4 or less if you’re really into making gas potent.

A blinded soldier is as “combat ineffective” as a dead one.
The element of fate has to enter gas attacks. We aren’t going to calculate windage, or distance from trench to trench, or if they have French piss masks or UK full face mask.
A die roll simulates how fate effects the gas.

Wrapping up the two (masks and gas) makes sense because
A) whoever invents gas first is going to have gear designed to handle it and prevent friendly fire
B) The enemy when developing masks is going to develop gassed of their own.
C) A tech that does nothing but neuter another tech is a worthless tech

Imagine if in AA1940 if there was a tech called “Anti-Rockets”: your anti rockets reduce the damage done by enemy rockets to half.
Thats dumb. If I get that tech and no enemy power has rockets I’d flip the damn board over.
Techs that are techs against techs is not “Larry Style”
Then again, neither is a tech that does two things….but anti-tech techs just clogs up the charts with useless things.
Who is going to target gas if the enemy can just target gas masks next turn?
Who would target Heavy Bombers if 1940 had an “anti-heavy bombers” tech?

Either use a die to simulate variable levels of carnage for the gas. And limit the carnage against enemy powers who also have the gas tech.
And remember! I did stipulate that only ONE gas attack can be made per turn. So killing 4 infantry maximum isn’t outrageous.

The IL proposal of “one extra artillery shot” is practically nothing.

For simplicity’s sake the gas tech could be reduced to:
3. Chemical Warfare - Choose one territory this turn and roll a die. “1-3 Remove that many infantry”, “4-6 no effect”. A defending power who also has the Chemical Warfare breakthrough may have the die rerolled.

So this way, the most that could be killed is 3, in one territory. And if you target someone who also has the gas tech, they can change a 3 to another number, no effect or less.
It would be risky to ask for a 1 or 2 to be rerolled.

@BJCard:

Gas outright killing Infantry is powerful.  I think they should affect the units, not kill them.Â

Yes, especially since some of the gasses used in WWI were disabling agents (like tear gas) rather than lethal ones, and since even the supposedly lethal ones had variable degrees of effectiveness (depending on a range of factors).