Real value of units

Do you have any pictures of your board with all the different units?

Heroic Leaders

Soviet Union
Vasily Zaytsev Soviet Sniper during the battle of Stalingrad killed 225 soldiers including 11 snipers. Pick one Russian soldier. If garrisoned in a region containing a city Vasily may roll to shoot an enemy in an adjacent region (hits on 2 or less). This takes his action for the turn and he may not participate in any other combat for the remainder of the round.

Germany
Hermann Balk German Tank Commander whose lone Panzer Division nearly destroyed the entire Soviet Fifth Tank Army in three weeks. Pick a German tank. For the duration of the game this unit has +1 to combat rolls against Soviet Tanks.
Dietrich Von Sauken Prussian Nobleman, a tough veteran of every WW1 front. Saluted Hitler with a classic bent arm, typically sporting a cavalry sword, facial wounds and monocle. Dietrich asserted his command in spite of vocal anti-Nazi views while instrumental in the Kursk, Barbarossa, Minsk, and Moscow offensives. Pick a soldier. This motorized unit fights has an increased movement to two. May retreat two spaces, but cannot blitz like tanks and must end in first enemy territory entered. VonSauken supports two soldiers acting as an artillery piece.
Hans Rudel German Aviator veteran of 2,530 ground attack missions, over 50 aerial victories and claimed to have destroyed over 800 enemy vehicles of all types. Deploy a plane in Germany, this unit takes two hits to defeat. However, Hans may not take a damage meant for ground units, only for another air unit. At the end of the round if Hans survives he is restored to full health if ending in a starting German controlled territory.

United Kingdom:
Robert Ryder British Sailor, commanded a force of small unprotected transport ships during the daring raid of St. Nazaire dry docks. Instead of withdrawing as commanded, Ryder strafed fire for an hour and fifteen minutes recovering as many wounded as possible. Pick a transport. 1 adjacent allied land unit may choose to retreat to Ryder’s ship instead of fighting in a battle if there is space. This action is determined by the British player before the battle. Additionally, in an amphibious assault retreat if there are not enough transport ships for the British player, they may overload this ship but it may only offload retreated units to friendly territories.
Charles Upham New Zealand Platoon Leader, awarded the Victoria Cross twice. An offensive tactical might fighting in Crete, Greece, and El Almein. Place a soldier in British controlled Balkans, TransJordan, or Egypt during the deployment phase. This unit negates German and Italian artillery to a 1 while participating in an offensive.

Japan
Tameichi Hara Destroyer Captain, Tameichi had the highest hit % of any destroyer in the war. Wrote the torpedo tactics for the Empire of Japan, a samurai descendent, and fierce drinker. Pick a destroyer. This is now commanded by Tameichi Hara and will re-roll missed dice once for that piece.

Italian Famous Maneuver
Charge of the Savoia Cavalleria Anachronistic Italian Cavalry charge. In 1942 the Piedmont Count Alessandro Cazzago led a mounted assault against soviet troops, capturing 600 killing 150 and wounding 300 more. Italian forces lost 32 and well over a 100 horses. The Count’s mount Albino lived as well as the heroic counterattack shocking the Eastern Front. Once per game, if Germans lose and retreat Italy may counterattack with tanks and troops from up to two spaces away. The first round of this counterattack applies losses without retaliation.

United States
Colonial Draft: Place one soldier in Puerto Rico (West Indies) and the Philippines
Native American Allies: Recruit an infantry in Central United States and Alaska

Soviet Union Famous Maneuver
Khalakin Ghol: Japan failed to take Mongolia buffered with Soviet assistance. 1 Russian troop placed in Mongolia with a value of 1 IPC. Only one soldier may garrison or attack Mongolia at any given time without air support. Only one offensive against this region may occur per round.
Far East Railway: Soviet Tanks move 3 spaces eastward.

Japan Famous Maneuver:
Kamikaze: Japan fighters can engage in combat without designating a place to land afterwards. If this choice is made in a sea space it is destroyed after two rounds of sustained combat. On land, if the space is captured on the offensive and the plane is forced to make a crash landing, roll a dice. If the dice is on an even number the plane did not survive the emergency landing and is destroyed.

You have some thoughts about new rules and new units for the Milton Bradley-era A&A? I am right there with you. I posted some thoughts late last year / early this year. I will link them below so that you can find them. If you want to discuss these rules, I recommend commenting on the relevant post rather than right here. But you do you.

One thing I will mention. I like paratroopers and paratrooper rules. But using bombers to cart around paratroopers is both silly and not historically accurate. So, I wrote rules for another new unit, the Air Transport or Cargo Plane unit. Think of them as Transports in the sky - with less cargo capacity and more movement points. See, when you fold in both the Paratrooper and their trusty steeds, the cargo plane / air transport, then I think you’ve got something…

Midnight_Reaper’s New A&A Classic Rules:
1(Classic) Simple Cruiser Rules for Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41100.0
1a(Classic) Cruisers or Destroyers for Classic?: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41552.0
2(Classic) Paratrooper and Air Transport Rules for Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41101.0
3(Classic) Armored Cavalry and Troopers - Rules for two ground units for Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41157.0
4(Classic) Heavy Artillery - Rules for a new ground unit for Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41158.0
5(Classic) New Research Rules - Outsmart your Enemies: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41479.0
6(Classic) New Research Tech for Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41480.0
6a(Classic) New Research Tech for Classic, at a Lower Dose: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41481.0
7(Classic) National Advantages - A new way to help balance Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41482.0
8(Classic) New Unit Surcharge - New Economics for Classic : https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41483.0
9(Classic) Special Forces - New Optional Unit for Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41484.0
9a(Classic) More Special Forces Options for Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41485.0
10(Classic) Incendiary Thoughts - Strategic Bombing and Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41486.0
11(Classic) Unit Prices & Balance - New Economics for Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41487.0
12(Classic) New Initial Setup - New Setup for Classic: https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41551.0

Like I said, I have some thoughts on the subject…  And I’m not even done with this series, just mostly done…  :-D

-Midnight_Reaper

Addressing the issue of unit size, individual pieces in Axis & Allies typically depict the Corps or Army level, as I understand it. However, there are a few deviations to depict smaller, independent commands, such as the two British infantry in Hong Kong and the French and British infantry scattered in West Africa south of the Sahara.

I understand the desire to be able to build every type of unit, but I think that scarcity places correct emphasis on those troops’ elite status. The mobilization rule would be a quirk: the Legion has periodically fought on the mainland (as during WWI, for example). Its frequent foreign deployments are rather a reflection of the fact that the Legion’s peculiar non-national composition gives French politicians greater latitude to pursue foreign policy that has some blood cost.

I think that Frogmen should get to roll a d6 against every capital ship, hitting on a 2 or less. They should have no independent combat value because they operated as small units, not at the division level.

When it comes to Marine infantry, the question is whether you view naval units of any type as indicative of fleets (e.g., a Destroyer could stand in for a single capital ship), or whether you want them to represent actual unit types, in which case I don’t think a Cruiser or Battleship should be allowed to carry Marines. Historically speaking, Cruiser divisions sometimes fielded Marine and naval landing parties, but these comprised perhaps slightly over 100 men when multiple ships combined their detachments.

Think about whether you want to confer advantage to certain units only for certain rounds of combat. The difficulty of remembering when and how to roll for them can be partially mitigated by player aids.

One additional unit type for which HBG makes a piece is the Armored Car. This is especially good if you want to game out the inter-war period. I have developed rules allowing attackers to re-roll a die when an Armored Car is present in the attacking force. This is a play on their role as reconnaissance elements. Think about Cavalry, also. Perhaps Cavalry strike harder versus infantry when they outnumber defenders.

I’ve used cards to trigger the appearance of special units denoted by markers. They can also be used to grant nation-specific bonuses for a single round of play, etc. This works better on much larger maps with a game that is expected to go on a while, especially because the cards can be used as interrupts, which prevents players getting bored between turns.

@knp7765:

Hey Jennifer,
I like your ideas. I think they more reflect how strategic bombers worked. One thing that always bothered me is someone sending transports for an amphibious assault escorted by bombers to fight any scramble planes. For the game it does make sense, bombers attack @4 so they would be great to deal with scrambling fighters and/or tacs. However, in reality, it is just ludicrous.
Also, I think the idea of defending bombers having a defense of 0 is a great idea, as well as your “chosen last as casualties” idea.

Hey KNP,
I agree on what you found ludicrous.

I provided a way of turning things a bit differently not only for Strategic Bombers but mainly for Tactical Bombers,
in this more defined HR on aircrafts units:

Rethinking Air units simulating historical air-to-air combat
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=34667.msg1337965#msg1337965

Hope, you can like it.

Cavalry should attack on a 1, defend on a 1, and move at a 2. They could be combined with other units to up their abilities. For example, they could defend on a 2 if paired with infantry. THey could attack on a 2 if attacking with infantry. They should cost 3 IPCs.

The real role of cavalry should be to harass the enemy. If cavalry are in a battle, the other units cannot retreat nor engage another contested territory until the Cavalry are cleared out of that territory. In effect the unit is stuck there. This would simulate cavalry cutting supply lines and communications etc.

Also, cavalry could disrupt IPCs by entering into a vacant territory and in effect scorching the earth. The territory would lose 1 IPC for every Cavalry performing this task in that territory. A marker could be used to denote the territories new value. Cavalry themselves could not conquer a territory by themselves. They would need to be paired with an infantry.

On the map, all the territories on the Western front are occupied so this tactic would not really be used. However on the Eastern Front there are a couple of open territories mainly in Russia where it could be used.  Also, The middle east and Africa are more wide open. This rule conjures up images of Lawrence of Arabia!

@SSG:

Uhhh….Switch, was that last ‘chits’ a typo or a Freudian slip? :-D

Um, BOTH.  Because keeping up with this little laminated squares is a pain :-)

How about these varient pieces such as,

Blockhouses (I use the mall units from Tri-opoly)
Improves infantry defense to 3 on a matching 1/1 basis. Must have at least 1 infantry in territory to construct. Units hit by a blockhouse during an amphibious assault cannot counter-attack on the first round.
During an offshore bombardment from a battleship, hits are assigned to blockhouses first.
Finland/Norway, Germany, and Western Europe each start with one.
Atk: 0
Def: 3
Move: 0
Cost: 5

Half Tracks (includes armored cars)
Can blitz as a tank.
Considered a tank when transporting.
Carries 1 infantry OR 1 artillery, 2 spaces.
Starting placement: On every territory that contains 1 infantry and 1 tank.
Atk: 2
Def: 2
Move: 2
Cost: 5

LHP / LHA / LHD
Carries 1 fighter and 2 infantry units, no artillery or tanks (If you use chopper units they carry that instead of fighters)
Atk: 1
Def: 3
Move: 2
Cost: 16 (same as carrier)