[Global 1940] First round no combat. Theory to alternate bid

@SuperbattleshipYamato I like the ideas/rules you mentioned. I will follow through on triple a.

I use them in my game but not G40. Have tweaked them over the years. You roll for 2 each country and use whole game. If you want I can post my chart.

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The Play Testing has now ended.

This has resulted in the following:

"From the moment that Germany, Japan or Italy declares War on - or attacks the Soviet Union, the Soviet player receives 1 Tank unit in each round, to be placed in Urals.

The Soviet player must control Urals from the start of the Soviet players turn in order to receive this Tank unit.

If Germany, Japan or Italy are not at War with the Soviet Union by Early 1941, the Soviet player receives this Tank unit from the start of the Soviet players turn in Early 1941.

Other rules concerning this Soviet Tank unit are still according to the rules described at page 13.

This rule will be part of the updated Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion (expected release Summer/Autumn 2022).

Global 1940, No. 20 Game Report:

This is the only post in the No. 20 Game Report.

Players:
Axis: The Captain
Allies: Keld R.

Germany:
From Early 1940 to Early 1941, Germany captured Western Europe and prepared for an attack on the Soviets in Late 1941.

A German defense of Western Europe mostly included Mines & Infantry.

Soviet Union:
The Soviets prepared for an agressive defense with a combination of Fighter units, Tank Armies, Army Corps and Soviet Guards.

When Germany in Late 1941 launched the attack against Russia, the Soviets agressively counter attacked the Germans with heavy casualties on both sides.

The Soviet Strategic Plan was skillfully coordinated with both United States and United Kingdom.

Japan:
The Japanese Strategic Plan was to capture most islands in the South Pacific while the Chinese Front was secondary.
From Late 1940 UK units from India supported the Chinese defense - and by Early 1943 China was still defending against the Japanese invaders.

United States:
The US Navies in the Atlantic and the Pacific were gradually reinforced massively.
The US Strategic Plan in the Pacific was to support Russia - with US troops landing in Soviet Far East - and moving towards Japanese occupied China.

United Kingdom:
UK Lend-Lease Air & Tank units were shipped to Russia from Late 1941.
UK units were contiuously attacking Western Europe with Paratrooper units and Naval Assaults.
UK declared War on Japan in Early 1940 and units from India immediately supported the Chinese defenders.

As the War went on, Axis forces were gradually eliminated by agressive Allied counter attacks on land, sea and air.

By Late 1942, the combined US and UK Naval forces in the Atlantic - and the US Navy in the Pacific - were superior to the Axis Naval forces.

The End:
In Late 1942 the UK Navy in the Atlantic moved from sz 91 to sz 92 - and thereby leaving the US Navy vulnerable to attack from the German Kriegsmarine.

The German Kriegsmarine launched an attack on the US Navy - and eliminated an enormous US Invasion Fleet.
This left the US troops stranded in Gibraltar and Morocco.

German casualties were heavy - and the Kriegsmarine was facing elimination from a UK Naval Counter attack.

In Early 1943 after the catasrophic US Naval losses in the Atlantic, the US launched a massive Naval and Amphibious Assault against sz 6 and Tokyo.…

to be continued soon…

Update on G40 No. 20 Game Report; 7th December 2025:

The US Navy attacked the Imperial Japanese Navy in sz 6.
All Japanese Warships, Air units and Transports were eliminated.

US Troops supported by the US Army Airforce landed on the beaches of Homeland Japan.
Japan activated the Home Defense - and received 2 Infantry units. These were the only Infantry units in Japan, since all other land units were Artillery and Mechanized Infantry units.

Japanese AAA failed to destroy any US Air units…

The US Army swiftly eliminated 75 % of all defending Japanese units.

But the costs were extreme for the US Troops & Air units…

After 6 rounds of Combat, the last attacking US units were eliminated by a few surviving Japanese Mechanized Infantry units.

A few Japanese troops barely survived the massive US attack on the Homeland of Japan.

Since the US Navy in sz 6 was now facing a counter attack from a superior Japanese Airforce and Japanese Naval units - the US Navy would certainly be eliminated.

This scenario left the USA with no Warships anywhere on the game board - and so the initiative was lost for the US player.

The overall situation in Early 1943:

The German Army managed to halt the Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front Western Europe was heavily defended by German & Italian forces, including numerous Mines Italian troops were firmly holding on to Egypt - even though almost all of North Africa was under Allied control. The threat from any US Amphibious Assault in Western Europe was eliminated. US Troops in Soviet Far East were cut off from any reinforcements The Japanese Navy was the only Navy in the entire Pacific Ocean - with no Allied Naval units to stop the Japanese expansion Western USA was captured by Japanese Infantry units…

The Allies surrendered in Early 1943 after the failed amphibious attack on Japan.

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From what I’m reading yes you can move those pieces on your actual turn again.
As midnight said US can make non combat moves to plan.
China have a bit of hope. Lol
Calcutta saved ?
This will give each country some extra planning and moves to think about during turns which was stated to keep players more focused per each countries turn.
Lots of things to check out

@baron-Münchhausen

I reviewed the 2 hits Battleship values to 2.5 multiplier factor.
It is an approximation but this is easier to use this value if you need to assess between two naval fleet during a live game with no AACalc allowed.

It is based on the very even (almost 50%-50% survival equilibrium ) combat between 1 Destroyer @2 and 1 Cruiser @3 against 1 Battleship, 2 hits @4.
http://calc.axisandallies.org/?mustland=0&abortratio=0&saveunits=0&strafeunits=0&aInf=&aArt=&aArm=&aFig=&aBom=&aTra=&aSub=&aDes=&aCru=&aCar=&aBat=1&adBat=&dInf=&dArt=&dArm=&dFig=&dBom=&dTra=&dSub=&dDes=1&dCru=1&dCar=&dBat=&ddBat=&ool_att=Bat-Inf-Art-AArt-Arm-Sub-SSub-Des-Fig-JFig-Cru-Bom-HBom-Car-dBat-Tra&ool_def=Bat-Inf-Art-AArt-Arm-Bom-HBom-Sub-SSub-Des-Car-Cru-Fig-JFig-dBat-Tra&battle=Run&rounds=&reps=10000&luck=pure&ruleset=AA1942&territory=&round=1&pbem=

1 Destroyer @2 and 1 Cruiser @3
5 pips * 2 hits = 10 pips*hits

1 Battleship, 2 hits @4.
4 pips * 1 BB worth 2.5 hits = 10 pips*hits

@phd_angel

Thanks so much! Sorry for the delayed response here. I was on parental leave with my son, so I wasn’t online much the last few months!

I definitely appreciate the feedback. I’m with you, my hope for any houserule is to keep a semblance of realism while working out whatever game play issues there were that made the houserule pop up in the first place!

The uncertainty of allegiances pre-battle is quite interesting. But I try to minimize dice randomness. IRL (in real life), Vichy troops (just like Italians) surrendered as soon as seeing enemy superiority: thus, in the game, if Allies send more land + air units than defending Vichy units, there is no battle but surrender. Or, make it unlikely that a battle would ensue (for example, need to roll a 1).

I definitely agree overall here, I think this one got away from A&A mechanics the most. Part of me didn’t want to make it completely against the Axis, but I think something like you suggest on bringing more men (or maybe twice as many), would void any combat.

IPC system, however, is historically inaccurate (as in most, if not all, Vichy mods I’ve seen): IRL, Nazi Germany profited handsomely on Vichy which had to quite richly sustain 300,000 German troops stationed in Northern France! So, in the game, Germany should actually gain IPC bonus, whereas Vichy and Free France gain nothing. How much, certainly 3 IPC, at least.

I also get your point here. However, the main goal for me in creating the Vichy France rule was an overwhelming thought by players that the Axis has too great an advantage. By creating Vichy in this scenario it weakens the Axis some by taking away from them, as well as adding to the Allies by adding the Free French. I think if we were to give the Germans more IPC’s, it takes away the point of creating the rule in the first place (which again, was to try and help weaken the OOB Axis advantages).

Finally, Germany never fought Vichy. IRL, with Operation Torch, Germany simply occupied Vichy in 1942, with no resistance whatsoever. Vichy units were disbanded. That can be also the case in the game.

I also agree that combat did not really happen, at least on a large scale. I suppose I don’t know enough to understand every potential action that might have happened, no matter how small. This was again something designed to make the German player think twice before just invading the Vichy territories. It’s going to cost them a bit. Again, just a device to hopefully help balance.

I personally don’t like the idea of bids at the beginning of a game. We try and either house rule to help change, or just deal with it how we can. But yeah, the main hope/goal here was to have a somewhat realistic scenario, while also hopefully tipping the scales a bit away from the Axis, while not ruining gameplay and design too much.

Thanks so much for your input! Hope 2021 is treating you well!

Chris

That SHOULD A US bonus. They need more offensive oriented bonuses.
It feels like they are too reactionary (take back X, don’t lose Y) and all in the pacific.

They should have a homeland bonus for 20
and 2 Pacific bonuses and 2 Atlantic bonuses.

Atlantic:
5 IPCs if the Axis controls no territory in the middle east or Africa
5 IPCs for allied Co-occupation of either of the following: Normandy/Bordeaux, Holland/Belgium

Pacific
5 IPCs for control of the Philippines
5 IPCs if the Allies control Hawaii, Midway, and any three Japanese islands