HBG units "Custom" Rules question (Global game)

Add German CA in SZ26
Change RU CA to SS in SZ21.
Change OE CA to TR is SZ20.
Russian cannot attack OE on turn 1, and not subject to mines in SZ20.
Allow TR to absorb a mine hit by loss of a load.
Add German SS to SZ18.
Germany can mobilize infantry in Munich.
Switzerland is IMPASSABLE.

We have a similar house rule that we use in our Events section. The number corresponds to the dice roll prior to the round beginning.

Germany
3 – French revolt. French partisans are disrupting supplies from France. While Germans occupy France value is reduced to 1 IPC

USSR
4 – Peasant resistance forces disrupt German supply.
Germany can conduct non-combat movement in only 3 Russian territories due to rail disruption damage. Only land units are disrupted. Air units are not affected. Germany can quell the resistance by sending additional SS security groups with a roll of 3 or less. Can happen more than once. Cannot happen again after the 3 is rolled.

Japan
3 – Chinese partisans attack supply lines. No combat movement in China only. Air units not affected. Non-combat movement permitted. Resistance can be quelled by sending additional security forces with a roll of 3 or less. Can happen more than once. Cannot happen again after a 3 is rolled.

USA
3 – If USA is at war: Roll 3 dice and total is the number of IPC’s immediately returned to the bank.
Anti-war sentiment is growing. Members of Congress and Senate begin to question America’s involvement in the war. Labor strikes nationwide cripple industrial centers The American citizens are tired of rationing. US government diverts resources to civilian population to dissolve social unrest among homeland. Combat is still permitted. Can happen more than once.

China
3 – Loss of supply. Burma Road is closed this turn due to heavy rain and landslides. No IPC bonus applied for the Burma Road this turn. Artillery are not permitted for purchase. Units may still move and combat within those zones. Can happen more than once.

UK
3 – India revolts.
Gandhi and anti-war sentiment swells within the masses in India. Due to increased desertion by conscripted troops, India is now worth 1 IPC.

Italy
3 – British special forces disrupt Italian ports with sabotage and increased mining of waters by submarine crews. On this turn, African supplies are cut off due to increased mining of the Mediterranean. Half of African income is collected this turn. Half of any other European territories without a rail line (continuous friendly land route to Rome) is also denied. Can happen more than once.

Anzac
3 – Massive typhoon strikes Australia
100 year storm devastates Australia. Flooding and destruction unprecedented. Half money returned to bank to repair damage sustained from storm. Factories, ports and airbases in New Zealand and New South Wales sustain 1 damage each. Can happen more than once.
4 – British supply arrives. Australia receives 8 IPC’s immediately. Can happen more than once.

This attaches to other events that can occur.

@Arreghas:

You are indeed proving to me that changing any rule set is complex indeed and requires very thoughtful analysis.

Yes, that’s quite correct.  An important point to remember is that a complex game such as Global 1940 is similar to other complex devices (such as automotive vehicles): they are systems consisting of multiple interrelated parts which are designed to work together in a particular way and which reflect many design choices and compromises.  Sometimes it’s possible to make minor or even major alterations to some of those components without affecting significantly the performance the overall system, but sometimes even a minor adjustment to a single critical component can wreck the whole thing.  (Take as an example the recent Galaxy Note 7 debacle.  There’s been speculation that Samsung may have changed the electrolyte in the lithium-ion batteries to something less stable, or that it may have gone too far in thinning the separator which keeps the positive and negative sides apart so that the battery doesn’t short-circuit and overheat.)  And design considerations have to take into account the fundamental question of what purpose the system is supposed to serve.  A luxury limousine, a Formula One race-car and a semi-trailer truck are all automotive vehicles, but they’re all optimized to do specific jobs and they all place different leves of emphasis on different capabilities such as passenger comfort, baggage / cargo-holding capacity, speed, fuel consumption efficiency and so forth.

Thanks Lars.  I went ahead and took the plunge and ordered the French, Italian, ANZAC and Chinese units from HBG.  I took a look at each power’s starting units and then made an education guess as to what I would need.  They arrived yesterday and I’ve got them all sorted out and ready to go.  Just waiting for the boards to come in and I’ll get a game going.  But good thoughts on the classic units, if I need anything extra all those classic pieces will be coming out of retirement.

:-)

Hi all,

Been a long time reader on the boards, but this is my first time posting! Been an avid AA player and history buff for a long time. Sorry to post here at such a later date, but I wanted to get an opinion.

My take on adding Canada to the game without too much drastic effects on the playability involved a couple of moving parts.

Give Canada the 7 ipc income of the Canadian territories to spend each turn, but that same ipc value still counts towards the UK as well, with the UK also able to build from IC’s there.

Do the same thing for South Africa, giving them both South Africa territories and Rhodesia for a 4 ipc total. Again, UK still controls the money as well, with UK also able to build from IC’s there.

Both Commonwealths still play as part of the UK, buy, move, combat, etc. Essentially just adding 11 ipc income.

To counter this so it’s not unfair to the Axis, do the same thing with Romania, Finland, Bulgaria, and Hungary (Slovakia-Hungary on the map of course). Those four powers would have a total of 9 ipc value between them. I figured the extra two ipc’s would have minimal effect.

Essentially all I did was add ipc’s and therefore troop numbers to the game, just forcing them to be used at their respective locales.

My only thought with this was would the immediacy of the minor Axis powers being on the front lines basically effect gameplay on the Eastern Front more so than the added Commonwealth powers would in Africa and Europe? I don’t want to hurt the USSR unfairly.

Any feedback would be great! Glad to finally post and be a part of the community!

I’mma send my Red Beaches at cha!

http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=9531

Due to the nature of the game, that more often than not results in Germany and Japan playing two different games, I had an idea for an house rule to speed up a live game.

This idea requires quite few changes to the mechanics of the game, and requires at least 4 live players.

The turn order is:

Germany AND Japan
Russia
United States European Command AND United States Pacific Command
UK London AND Uk Pacific
Italy
France AND Australia

So basically, while Germany do G1, the Japanese players sets up J1 too.
USA is split in two nations, in the same manner that UK is, with two different economies.
The two USA commands are played by two different players, as the two UK economies are played by two different players.

So for example, let’s say we’re playing a game between LARRY, KRIEG, NOLL, OZTEA and KAUF.

LARRY plays GERMANY and ITALY.
KRIEG plays SOVIET RUSSIA
NOLL plays JAPAN
OZTEA plays USA EUROPEAN COMMAND, UK LONDON, FRANCE
KAUF plays USA PACIFIC COMMAND, CHINA, UK PACIFIC, ANZAC

During turn1 Larry sets up G1, meanwhile Noll sets up J1.
When both players are done, Krieg plays R1.
After Krieg is done with R1, Oztea and Kauf plays an independant game, they both go from USA to UK turn independently. Kauf plays also ANZAC.
At this point Larry plays Italy.
Then Oztea plays France and a new turn starts.

In order to make this work, these house rules have to be implemented:

USA economies is split, but not on a map basis.
European USA command has 20 IPCs income prior to war.
Pacific USA command has 32 IPCs income prior to war.

The regular NO are discarded, instead you get a war bonus economy like in the original game.

After war is declared:
European USA command has +10 IPCs income (30 Total).
Pacific USA command has +20 IPCs income (52 Total).

During NON-COM if USA wishes to do so, he can move units from EURO to PACIFIC map and vice-versa. These units will be in control of the other USA command starting from next turn.

Same rules apply to UK.

The special case of Russia: In order to avoid annoying Russian can-openers due to the turn order change, there’s a change on the relation between Japan and Russia:

Russia and Japan may NOT declare war between each others unless one of these criteria are fulfilled:

If there are less than 18 infantries split between the Russian Pacific territories of Amur, Sakha, Yakut, Siberia, Soviet Far East, Japan can declare war on Russia anytime.

If Russia production is 50 or more IPCs, Russia can declare war on Japan anytime.

If Berlin is in Allies hands, Russia can declare war on Japan anytime.

@Gamerman01:

If you think your opponent can’t win and you don’t want to keep playing, just ask for a resignation.  If he doesn’t resign, then keep pounding him.  By “speed up the game”, do you mean ending it sooner rather than later, after it gets to be pointless?

I may comment that things don’t seem that good for his side but unless I take Moscow or Berlin I never ask for his resignation. Most likely he’s not seeing what I am seeing so he might not like my unsolicited advice.
What I do however is try to figure out the breaking point for him, essentially pounding him until he resigns to speed the game.