AARHE: Phase 2: Units

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Chaos in the Balkans:
Hungary and Romania are at war, Germany has annexed Austria, Yugoslavia suffered an unfortunate die role and has been forced to disintegrate into a Pro-Fascist Croatian state and a smaller Serbia. Italy managed to seize Albania without loss, and Czechoslovakia is reinforcing its border with the Nazis.
The UK has pledged to declare war on any power invading Greece.
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Swedish Disaster:
The Swedes attempted to peacefully take over Norway to prevent any major nations from entering Scandinavia, but the plan backfired. Not only did another unfortunate die role cause the Norwegians to resist, but the German and British players were offended by the assault, and Germany turned a blind eye to a British force that liberated the Norwegians and devastated Sweden’s hopes of a powerful, neutral, United Scandinavian state.
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Spain in Flames:
The civil war rages on in Spain, just as a deadly naval encounter ended in mutual annihilation for the Nationalists and Republicans. The free world does not want a Fascist Spain, and the U.S. Player has sent generous air aid to the Republicans. With Franco’s Army of Africa having headed for the mainland, I, as France, took advantage and seized their Moroccan colony. Unfortunately, I earned a -1 diplomacy points for this “aggressive” act.

@Young:

@Baron:

@Young:

Cruisers
receive 1@1 before each combat round begins to hit attacking and defending air units

Aircraft Carriers
receive 1@1 before each combat round begins to hit attacking and defending air units

Battleships
receive 2@1 before each combat round begins to hit attacking and defending air units

Do you realize that these warships are made better at destroying directly planes than planes themselves?

Sorry… I don’t understand your question.

According to usual casualty order, when planes will roll a hit in naval combat, the owner usually choose a Submarine or a Destroyer before 10 IPCs Fighters.
With your suggested rule, CA, CV and BB will take down aircrafts with more regularity than planes’ hit rolled.  To me it seem paradoxical.

On defence noting indicate a tank is static… and even if a tank is static on def the def chose a ground better on defence exemple hill… for me 3/3, no prob for me with armor stat.

@CWO:

Interesting hypothetical scenario.  It raises all sorts of questions, both from a point of view of weapons technology and politics.

Assuming that WWI had lasted for another 20 years (meaning, I assume, 20 more years after 1918, which brings us to 1938, one year short of the starting date of WWII), weapons technology would certainly have progressed further and faster (though not necessarily in the same directions) than it did historically.  To quote one example as an illustration, just look at the classes of battleships and battlecruisers that many WWI combatants had planned or were actually building at the time the war ended in 1918, but which were then abandoned.  The British, for instance, were planning a class of battleships armed with 18-inch guns that would probably have entered service in the early 1920s; in the real world, it was only in the early 1940s that an 18-inch gun battleship class (the Yamatos) entered service.  Many of the weapons that achieved maturity in WWII existed in WWI, albeit at the infancy stage – notably tanks and aircraft carriers.  The same was true of certain tactics: had the war lasted until 1919, there were plans on the Allied side to mount attacks by massed tanks working in close coordination with motorized infantry and aircraft support…essentially an early version of Blitzkrieg.

However, even though I can see some WWII-type weapons being used on the WWI game board under such a scenario, the part I think is problematic is the political element: the idea that the same 8 powers who are the contestants in the A&A 1914 game could still all be in existence, and still fighting each other, in 1938.  Remember, after all, that three of those states – Tsarist Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire – were already politically and/or economically unstable in 1914.  Russia had already seen one revolution against the Romavov dynasty in 1906, and this had done nothing to persuade Nicolas II to liberalize his regime.  The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a mish-mash of restless ethnic groups led by an elderly ruler who, like Nicolas II, believed in absolute monarchy.  The Ottoman Empire had been in decline for a long time, and its leaders were both divided and paralyzed by indecision.  Frankly, I’m surprised that Russia managed to last till 1917 and the other two until 1918, so I don’t see any of those regimes surviving a further two decades of war.

I said another 20 years was highly improbable for the very reason of political (as well as economic) instability. I highly doubt the war could have gone on for twenty more years without several nations collapsing from the strain.

But as you correctly pointed out, technology would have advanced much faster had the war continued. I know for example that Thompson sub-machine guns were developed during WW1, but never saw action, and that they would later be used in WW2. So let’s say the war only goes on for another 2 or 3 years. This would bring many weapons used in WW2 into the conflict.

Now that we have a somewhat alternate-historical basis, can we design rules for allowing WW2 era A&A units such as TcB, StrB, MechInf, and CVs? As I’ve said, I haven’t actually played 1914, but I know there’s a rule for when tanks can actually be built, could a similar rule be implemented for other units? I plan to buy 1914 and try it out.

D12 version I use in a 1941 variant of HBG Global War:

Incorporates SPA / SPG / Motorized Infantry / Light & Medium Armor / Commander (General).

I use National Advantages to address Heavy Armor (Russia & Germany).

Cost/Move/Attack/Defense

INFANTRY:  3 / 1(2) / 2(3) / 4(6)
Combined Arms: Attack on (3) when supported 1:1 by Artillery or SPA.
Defend on (6) during 1st round of combat when supported by Fortification (10:1).
Move (2) during Combat or NCM when supported 1:1 by Mortorized Infantry.

ARTILLERY: 4 / 1(2) / 3 / 4
Combined Arms: Increase Infantry Attack to (3) when supported 1:1.
Move (2) during Combat or NCM when supported 1:1 by Mortorized Infantry.

SELF-PROPELLED ARTILLERY (SPA): 6 / 2 / 4 / 4
Combined Arms: Increase Infantry & Mech Infantry Attack +1 when supported 1:1.
Initial Bombardment: On Defense, successful hit results in immediate removal of enemy land unit.
Cannot Blitz.

MOTORIZED INFANTRY: 4 / 2 / 3 / 3
Transport (1) Infantry or (1) Artillery 2 spaces during Combat or NCM Move.
Cannot Blitz.

MECHANIZED INFANTRY:  5 / 2 / 3(4) / 4
Combined Arms: Attack on (4) when supported 1:1 by SPA or any Armor.
Combined Arms: Blitz when supported 1:1 by any Armor.

LIGHT ARMOR: 6 / 2 / 5 / 5
Combined Arms: Increase Mech Infantry Attack +1 when supported 1:1.
Combined Arms 1:1 allows Mech Infantry to Blitz.
Blitz.

MEDIUM ARMOR:   7 /  / 2 / 6(7) / 6
Combined Arms: Attack on (7) when supported 1:1 by Tac Bomber.
Combined Arms: Increase Mech Infantry Attack +1 when supported 1:1.
Combined Arms 1:1 allows Mech Infantry to Blitz.
Blitz.

SELF-PROPELLED GUN: 8 / 2 / 6(7) / 7
Attack on (7) while enemy Armor is present.
Non-Infantry Land unit must be chosen as casualty.
Combined Arms: Blitz when supported 1:1 by any Armor.

COMMANDER (General): - / 1 / - / -
Fixed number of Commanders per Nation.  If destroyed, replaced on fixed turn schedule by nation.
Coordinated Attack: Provides (1) called shot against any Land unit during 1st round of Combat.
Organized Retreat: Allows Land & Air units to retreat after 1 full round of Combat. No Defense rolled in round 2.

Blockhouse cost 2, defend at 3 or less, can stack but not move.

Blockhouse cost 6 and boost all Infantry and artillery +1 on defense all rounds up to the IPC value of the territory.

A 4 IPC space will only boost 4 units of these types +1.

If taken over fortification is destroyed.

No. That increases the already ridiculus range of the West German airbase and the US airbases. With +2 movement, Bombers can move from Western US to Tunisia and from Eastern US to Sydney.

yeah not much to be said here
nothing “new”