axis_roll vs. Argothair (AA50 Balanced Mod playtest)

We’re playtesting the new Balanced Mod NOs for A&A Anniversary Edition!

I’ll be posting occasional updates here for anyone who’s interested. We had a fun first round; the Germans had a strong opening toward Leningrad but lost some aircraft along the way; the Japanese had a classic strong opening and will soon have to wrestle with a slightly beefy China.

@DizzKneeLand33 Lol, no, @axis_roll and I are just the last two people on earth who prefer AABattlemap to TripleA. Here’s round 2…Germany took the unusual step of building a Mediterranean aircraft carrier, which has created a variety of interesting threats in the Atlantic and given Russia a bit of breathing room. Meanwhile, the Allied presence in Egypt & the Middle East is hanging by a very thin thread, and Japan has conquered New Guinea, knocking out the ANZAC NO for the foreseeable future.

Current NOs:

Germany - Scandinavian Iron (5) and Eurasian Wheat (5)
Russia – None yet; lend-lease starts on turn 3
Japan – Chinese Coast (3), Bornese Oil (3), Javanese Rubber (3)
UK – North Atlantic Sea Lanes (3)
Italy – Mideast Oil (5), Mare Nostrum (3), Vichy Collaboration (3)
USA – South Atlantic Shipping (2), Alcor Aluminum (2)

Axis total NOs – 30
Allied total NOs – 7

Partly that’s due to skilled play from my Axis opponent; partly that’s because several big Allied NOs don’t come online until turn 3.

Here’s the board after round 4:

As you can see, the Allies have made some progress in Scandinavia and have kept the sea lanes to Australia open, but otherwise have had a lot of trouble getting any momentum going. The Axis are still out-earning the Allies by about 10 IPCs per turn, and Russia is unlikely to hold Stalingrad, which means that Russian income will further collapse.

Based on the playtest so far, I’ve suggested letting the Russians have their lend-lease NO income starting on turn 2 instead of turn 3, and I’ve suggested letting China collect income (including its NO, if applicable) based on what China owns at the end of its turn, which would slightly increase Chinese income – so far China would have collected another 1 inf and 1 art this game if we had been playing the rule that way. @axis_roll notes that an Allied opening that included an Atlantic fleet buy on US1 before switching to Pacific buys on US2 and later might be more effective with these NOs, and I’m willing to give that a try, but my opinion at the moment is that the Russians are seriously under-powered with lend-lease delayed until turn 3.

The Americans collected 62 IPCs last turn, but with Germany consistently in the mid-40s, Japan in the mid-50s, and Italy in the mid-20s, that’s just not enough to make up for an anemic UK in the mid-20s and a struggling Russia that has been in the mid-20s and is likely to dive into the teens. America is nibbling away at the edges of Axis possessions, but not fast enough to make up for the loss of Russian income – the ability to send transports through the Turkish straits is powerful!

@axis_roll suggested that the UK take a slightly different tack on turn 3, building a large Atlantic navy in the North Sea that could threaten Paris and Berlin and force them to keep infantry at home on the Western Front, instead of going south to Algeria and forcing Italy to divert troops from Ukraine / Egypt. Personally, I think it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other – either way, I don’t see how to hold Stalingrad long-term with the Russian income this low. axis_roll and I may swap sides at some point so he can show me!

All right, axis_roll and I have called the first playtest at the end of round 5 – the Allies are still significantly down on income, and the problem’s only likely to get worse – Russia is collapsing faster than the Allies can hope to make up the difference in Scandinavia or the Middle East, and the South Pacific is basically stalemated.

Per axis_roll’s request, we’re keeping changes to a minimum between playtests – so he’s got the Allies now and I’ve got the Axis with almost the same rules: the only change to the NOs is that Russian NOs are now activated starting with the end of round 2, rather than the end of round 3.

@axis_roll and I have agreed to a draw in Game 2 after Germany’s 10th move – Axis_roll was still very much enjoying the game, but I felt that we had bogged down into trench warfare, and that we weren’t likely to learn anything more about the NOs by continuing the game further, so axis_roll graciously agreed to end the game early.

I made a couple of mistakes in the opening, including leaving a vulnerable German force in Finland that Russia was able to crush without real consequences, and building a pair of Italian destroyers in the central Med as a blocking force that didn’t quite pay for itself – Britain was able to send its fighters to the far corners of Africa and then get them back into combat in the Indian Ocean much faster than I was anticipating. I’ve never seen a factory in Egypt crank out two carriers in the Red Sea in the same turn!

Anyway, we had a lot of fun, and the income was balanced within a few IPCs and likely to stay that way as of round 10. I don’t think axis_roll made any serious mistakes, and I definitely did, so that means the game wasn’t quite balanced – if we wind up in a drawn position with only one player (the Axis) making mistakes, then the rules were favoring the Axis.

So, to strengthen the Allies further, we’re bumping a couple of Britain’s Pacific NOs from 3 to 5 IPCs each, requiring Italy to put a boat in the water in order to collect its Mare Nostrum NO, and allowing China to collect reinforcements (both its usual infantry and its Burma Road artillery) based on the situation on the board after China’s combat move, just like all the other countries get to collect income based on the way the board looks after their move. The hope is that a more aggressive China will give Japan more trouble in the early game, and a more lucrative India / Australia will allow Britain to spend money in the Pacific without going broke in the Atlantic, so that it will be a viable tactic for Britain to buy a factory in India on UK1 (or perhaps UK2) if fit wants to. It should similarly be a viable tactic for Japan to attack that factory and try to steal it, but victory should not be guaranteed, and making the attempt should create a real problem for Japan in China. More playtesting is needed to determine whether we’ve achieved our goals!

If anyone wants to playtest this on TripleA, let me know, and maybe I’ll code up the NOs for that software. Thanks for following along! Argothair out.