I’m still doing the Russian wall, not sending them home. Personally. Just pull the units back one territory away from Japan, leave a single picket infantry there. Pulls the infantry away from the coast so you aren’t at risk of being bombarded to death, also should pull you out of aircraft range (but I doubt someone’s attacking that stack with just aircraft anyway). Still able to push forward and cause issues, invites Japan to make Mongolia yours (more infantry) etcetera.
Also, with the income increase, Russia should be able to send a few tanks over to assist. Seen some deadly Russian invasions into China early in the game! Really makes it a nightmare for Japan.
Keeping in mind, my idea of KJF is just making sure Japan doesn’t get big. Keeping them in China is very effective in neutralizing them, and with pressure off America in the Pacific (not completely off, but reduced?) then American can use those ungodly sums of money to pound Germany.
Again, the above are just my opinions, if you don’t agree that’s fine. What makes this game fun is that you don’t have to do it a certain way!
i have done about 6 or 7 G1s in BM and have had great success except against Adam of course :) it’s a dicey opening but fun strategy, and it seems a bit underpowered compared to later DOWs.
Next to that I do not find claiming African money and sending units to China was a no brainer by default for Russia in Vanilla. Sending 3-4 fast units away is a very big price for Russia in order to fight the Germans penetrating Russia and the reward comes very delayed. Sending units to China early is more viable in my opinion but also has a price tag especially if Germans play DOW1 or 2 on Russia.
This is what I think too. And who does G1’s besides us, JDOW? :-)
i just beat Karl7 doing an R1 on japan and sending A LOT of russian units over to support china. the strategy included sacrificing all of the siberian stack on the first round as well as a shiny russian strategic bomber turn 1 :-)
My 2 cents regarding Russia and BM
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The second change affecting Russia is also not so good I think from a playability standpoint. In the original version Russia could put fast moving units into china, no incentive for that anymore either. This way you can make J1 hard, especially if you buy 3 mechs for volgograd R1. The new objective discourage R1 DOW on Japan. Does this change enhance playability for Russia? I don’t think so. Then the new China rules is a way to compensate for this as Japan must occupy every territory with a land unit. I don’t think this does much for playability either way for Japan or China (or the allies). So all in all I think BM has stripped Russia from the few options they had and reduced it just to buy infantry and buckle up against Germany. Of course this is more historic correct but it becomes predictable and somewhat boring after a few games. Of course you reward UK hugely in the new version and also USA and you are somewhat compensated here. But don’t get me wrong, it is really impressive work from you guys! I just wanted to share my opinion regarding BM and Russia. I am not presenting any fixes, just a mild criticism!
i just beat Karl7 doing an R1 on japan and sending A LOT of russian units over to support china. the strategy included sacrificing all of the siberian stack on the first round as well as a shiny russian strategic bomber turn 1 :-)
My 2 cents regarding Russia and BM
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The second change affecting Russia is also not so good I think from a playability standpoint. In the original version Russia could put fast moving units into china, no incentive for that anymore either. This way you can make J1 hard, especially if you buy 3 mechs for volgograd R1. The new objective discourage R1 DOW on Japan. Does this change enhance playability for Russia? I don’t think so. Then the new China rules is a way to compensate for this as Japan must occupy every territory with a land unit. I don’t think this does much for playability either way for Japan or China (or the allies). So all in all I think BM has stripped Russia from the few options they had and reduced it just to buy infantry and buckle up against Germany. Of course this is more historic correct but it becomes predictable and somewhat boring after a few games. Of course you reward UK hugely in the new version and also USA and you are somewhat compensated here. But don’t get me wrong, it is really impressive work from you guys! I just wanted to share my opinion regarding BM and Russia. I am not presenting any fixes, just a mild criticism!
Yeah, Japan hit Amur and killed it, but that meant giving up Yunnan in the long run. Also Germany had pretty bad G1, basically giving up Egypt.
Should there be a requirement for the Axis to hold 7 Victory cities for the win if the Allies hold Rome for any part of the turn? Maybe 8 if they hold Berlin.
Rome is too easy to take, I think.
Should there be a requirement for the Axis to hold 7 Victory cities for the win if the Allies hold Rome for any part of the turn? Maybe 8 if they hold Berlin.
We considered it, but Rome is too easy to take, and 7 Pac VCs just because of Rome would be quite harsh.
I’ve been bidding for the Axis lately. Small bids - the 6 range - but still. ANyone else been doing that?
I would like two or three NOs removed from the Allies. I can’t win as the Axis, with the allied NOs as they are. Then I would feel I had half a chance.
I hear that, but that would require remembering and using edit mode. Too likely that we’ll forget.
It’s not hard to remember. If the Allied player forgets, the Axis player will remember
Yes there are a couple too many NO’s - too many islands, too many in the Med
Only have played balance mod twice. Once as each side. Won both but I probably shouldn’t have won as the axis. Seems like the chips are stacked against the axis. I liked the marines and sbr rules. Quite a lot of NO’s but I can get used to that. My only complaint is the spawning Chinese. Japan should get a hefty bonus if they hold all the Chinese territory or when the territory flips control no unit should spawn. Just my two cents. Looking forward to more games of this version. Great job everybody!!
So is there likely to be a BM3.0 with all this feedback?
I think what we have is really, really close to the Platonic Ideal here. Just shave off a few Allied NOs - the British Med islands one and maybe the Russian Persia bonus? And we’re probably pretty much all good.
I love the new China mechanic, personally. I’d hate to see it go.
Shaving off a few NOs is something I’d support too. Particularly for the USSR IMO.
One thing to keep in mind is the fact that we are used to vanilla Axis, which are blatantly overpowered. If you use vanilla Axis as a reference point, you will be disappointed in the sense that BM Axis have been nerfed in comparison and can’t pull off such easy wins anymore. It will take more effort to win as Axis now, but is it easier to win with Allies? I’m not convinced. I’ve lost as Allies in BM while I’ve never lost as Axis.
Also, it’s impossible to balance a game for all levels of play. For example, some tabletop players think vanilla Allies nearly always win and are overpowered, so they bid for Axis. The bid varies a lot between tiers, with the bid getting higher as the tier goes up, which means that different players interpret the balance differently. There will inevitably be at least a part of the spectrum of players that will require a balancing mechanic, whether it’s a bid or taking off NOs.
With that being said, I’ve been thinking about a couple of NOs since BM2 to address some issues I’ve found while playing, and they would slightly help the Axis.
Well said Adam!
Yeah, there is a big difference in game experience depending on who you are and who you play, a great point
just give the Vichy occupied ipc income to Germany. This will provide more incentive to go for Vichy France and will provide the axis with what they need to counter the allied nos. Historically this would also b e accurate as supposedly the Vichy France regime had to pay Germany lots of money for the occupation forces.
It would also give the allies more reasons to counter or grab as many of the vichy tt’s as they can and as fast as they can.
@Nozdormu:
just give the Vichy occupied ipc income to Germany. This will provide more incentive to go for Vichy France and will provide the axis with what they need to counter the allied nos. Historically this would also b e accurate as supposedly the Vichy France regime had to pay Germany lots of money for the occupation forces.
It would also give the allies more reasons to counter or grab as many of the vichy tt’s as they can and as fast as they can.
Disagree. The “only” thing that is great about Vichy is that the axis actually have to activate these territories. If activation is not required too much free money. Allies should not go after silly nm Africa areas for 1 ipc
