AARHE: Rule files

I have posted many ideas on house rules, some good, some not so. But, at a minimum, do this…

Setup: Add 1 GE CA in SZ26 - represents German presence in Indian Ocean. Setup: Add 1 GE AR in GEA - represents gun boats on Lake Tanganyika (can also add rule this unit cannot move). Setup: Change GE AR in SWA to IN. Setup: Add 1 GE IN in KAM. Setup: Add 1 FR IN in FEA. Setup: Add 1 GE SS in SZ18 - represents German presence in Mediterranean. Setup: Change 1 OE CA to TR in SZ20. Setup: Change 1 RU CA to SS in SZ21. Setup: Change UK TR to SS in SZ2. Switzerland is impassable. Mobilization territories: Following can mobilize max of 2 x IPC value, plus restrictions. Bombay: Min. build 1 unit; Cannot build ships or tanks. Munich: Infantry, artillery only. Ottawa: Min. build 1 unit; Cannot build warships. Tatarstan: Infantry, artillery only. Marseilles: No restrictions. Mines vs. Transports: Allow mine hits to absorbed by loss of a load.

After a year break we played a game according to these rules yesterday.
Japan heavy navy focused getting Honolulu, Sydney, Rio de Janero and even San Francisco! Leading to a land war on the American continent.
Meanwhile Russia and Britain heavy focusing Germany, with conquering the whole of northern and eastern Europe (Oslo, Kiev).
But then, Germany seized an opportunity of taking London after Britain player overcomitted and did some bad rolls.
Axis win the game.

It was very confusing, and we did a lot of bad mistakes. But it was fun, and we really had a game with battles at totally new battlefields.

After Russia and Britain both starting very defensive, Germany and Japan player decided to play an altrenative strategy, attacking US. It worked at least partially. Germany forced to play defensive on land, losing total whole of east and north Europe (but defensive Russia took quite a while). Japan using heavy Navy and invading Australia, South America and finally even US west coast. Land war on the American continent between Japan West coast and US East coast (and Canada a bit). Few action in China at all…all players were turteling after the initial clashes. Money was needed elsewhere and infantry could hardly attack alone. Tank war in Africa between German Egypt and British South Africa. Both players had minor factories in africa, pumping tanks. Great navy clash in the northern Atlantic between US+Royal Navy and the German navy. To some bad rolls, British and US player losing atlantic fleet. Germany lost as well nearly whole fleet, but was able to invade exposed London and win the game. Maybe one turn later, the Russian steamroller would have taken Berlin.

The changes in Navy Balance (increase offensive power by chaper Battleship and Cruiser) as well as the alternative start setup allows for totally new strategies like “Kill US”. We are still not sure if this setup is balanced, we did only 3 games with this so far. I’d be happy about any feedback.

Hey Folks,

has anyone of you ever tried HBG “Battle Shapes (3D)” rules (fortifications, rockets, etc.) in your 1940-Global games? (www. historicalboardgaming.com/Battle-Shapes-3D-printed_c_425.html)
If ‘yes’, what are you’re experiences with them? Are they a great imrpovement? Or to expensive, unbalanced or simply unrealistic?

Making oil barrels?

Why not just paint some capacitors?
That way, you can get them in any color and size you want, and they are really cheap :)

The oil concept seems cool will test it next time i have the chance….

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome to this forum  :-) !  I’ve been following the posts
as a guest for a while and finally got around to registering last night.  I live near Syracuse
NY and we have quite a few gamers within our radius with a strong center at a hometown comic/boardgame store.  Of course “real” life limits time I can spend on my hobby which is
one reason why it took me so long to register; but you have to keep a healthy balance.
I have probably over 50 games of various kinds in my collection but A&A 1940, War of the
Ring and the various Catan scenarios are my favorites.

Most times simple is better.  Production and economics with AA although simple, provide enough richness to allow for economics to be part of a war game without putting us to sleep.

So an IC built in Egypt can build two units for an infrastructure investment of 15 IPC.  But that same 15 IPC when spent in Western Europe allows the owner to build six units.  The same 15 IPC provides for two different results.   Why?  Is this fair?  I’ll use the map for '42 for examples.

Fair enough.

The argument that because the host territory has a value of six versus two provides for the basis of my defense of this.  The sizx income represents a pre-existing level of infrastructure versus that of Egypt’s two.  The 15 IPC investment leverages the pre-existing level of infrastructure.

But…

There is a big difference between an IC in Egypt pumping out two battleships per round for the current owner Japan compared to an IC in Western Europe owned by Germany pumping out 6 infantry per round.

What about factoring in the value of what is being produced at the IC?   Allow a base multiplier to be spent say (3-5 IPC) * (Max # of units that can be built at the IC in this location).  This value would represent what could be spent at that IC with no production penalties.   A couple of brackets larger than this value would be created to allow for more money to be spent at this IC with a financial penalty increasing per bracket.  This penalty would represent the loss in productivity per IPC spent to ‘over-drive’ production levels ie over-time etc.  A top end cap could be established.  Japan can spend 20 IPC in Egypt for example but not 40.  Yes, you can build one battleship or two fighters per turn in Egypt, but the infrastructure there would never support two battleships per turn in production.

It would make it a bit more expensive to save up your money then drop several turns worth of savings down in one build of 12 bombers in Western USA, indeed, you could build 12 fighters but only 10 bombers, your IPC cap there might be 120 IPC of production costing you 125% of 120 with the 25% production overdrive penalty.   You could still spend 60 IPC per turn with no penalty.

It would make SBRs a bit more effective.  It would cost the victim of SBRs a bit more to just save money for 2-3 rounds then max repair the IC and build a stack of tanks and fighters.  Indeed, the repair costs to the IC could be included in the  totals and caps.

I would be interested in what others think about this.

OPTIONAL RULES - The Merchant Marine

The merchant marine was very important during the Second World War. From the beginning of the war, the British government had imposed a naval blockade against Germany and within a few weeks, the allies had captured several ships along with their cargo destined for the third Reich.
Hitler responded by imposing a counter-blockade to stifle the economy of Great Britain. Up until early in 1943, the Kriegsmarine, the Luftwaffe, and especially the U-Boats nearly destroyed the war effort in England by sinking thousands of vessels of all flags.
Once at war, the U.S. military used the same strategy against Japan, by imposing blockades and stifling the shipping lanes of Japanese merchant vessels.
At the end of the war, the United States had sunk nearly 80% of the Nippon shipping efforts!

After trying almost all games of Axis & Allies and its variants, we found that in many cases, Japan and England could continue fighting and manufacturing weapons even if the player lost control of the Pacific and Atlantic.
Furthermore, these two countries are islands. Their economy was heavily dependent on raw materials essential to the manufacturing of tanks, planes and ships, such as zinc, chromium, copper, cotton, silk and especially gasoline!
For Italy and Germany, the blockades had less of an impact because they could easily procure their raw materials through Eastern Europe

The merchant also had a very important role to play in the victory of the USSR.
From 1942, the allies had begun to send materials to Russia through convoys crossing the Atlantic.
The ships carrying cargo from the United States and Great Britain [were able to fight off] the mines,  U-Boats and German air force to deliver huge amounts of military equipment into Russia. Had it not been for this assistance, the Soviet Union would probably have lost the war.
The Allies and the Axis countries knew very well that victory depended on the control of the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Convoys had been a major issue in during the second world war, so we are thinking of introducing a new game piece; the cargo.

Note : This rules must de added to world at war game but you can use or modify the following rules to fit your game of A & A game.

At the start of the game all players have merchant ships except for China.
Here is the list  :
Germany = 3 Cargos
Japan = 6 freighters
Italy 1 = Cargo
UK = 9 freighter
USA = 10 bound cargo.
USSR = 2 cargo
France = 2 cargo

At the start of the game the ships are use only to transport materials, merchandise and oil on pre-established shipping routes on the map.
The ship can not defend itself, attack or transport troops.
Only the destroyer and / or Escort can participate in the defense of a merchant ship.
However he may retire after the first round of combat.
(Apply the same rules as that of transportation).
A cargo costs 4 IPC and always moves 3 spaces at a time up to its destination. Once safely arrived , the merchant ship must leave on the next round to its point of origin. Light bombers, fighter aircraft, submarines and warships can attack the cargo freighters.
If the merchant vessel is sunk before reaching its destination, the ship and its cargo are lost

Important: If the point of departure or arrival of a cargo ship is taken by the enemy and there is no route, the cargo ship may be stored in another port until the territory is regained.
Once the USSR is attacked by the Axis countries, the U.S. and English players may help the Russian player by sending aid through via merchant ships. The stock must be unloaded in the Russian ports of Murmansk and / or Archangel but if the port falls under the control of countries of the axis, the material can be unloaded and the player must wait to regain control of the port or the cargo returns to its point of origin.
Once all players are at war, the cargo ships can carry 1 airplane, 1 tank or 2 artilleries.

Convoys routes:
Great Britain:
UK - Canada (3 freighters)
UK-South Africa (2 freighters)
South-Africa-Southern Iran (2 freighters)
India-Australia (1 cargo)

France:
Southern France, French Guyana (1 cargo)
Southern France-French West Africa (1 cargo)

Germany:
East Germany-Sweden (1 cargo)
West Germany-Norway (1 cargo)

USSR:
Murmansk - UK (1 cargo)
Archangel - UK (1 cargo)

Italy:
Southern Italy-Libya (1 cargo)

Japan:
Japan Marshall Island (1 cargo)
Japan’s Caroline Island (1 cargo)
Japan-Marianne’s Island (1 cargo)
Japan-China (1 cargo)
Japan-Thailand (1 cargo)

A merchant ship is very important because whenever you lose 1, you shall undergo a penalty of 5% per ship.
So if you lose 3 ships, you willhave to pay 15% to the bank.
Example: On turn # 2, the level of production of the English player is 40.
He loses two merchant vessels in 1 round and suffers a penalty of 10%.
He will therefore provide the bank 4 IPC.
The English player has 9 merchant ships at the start of the game, so he could face a penalty of 45% each round!!
Of course, you can buy ships whenever you lose one.
If you return to the total number of boats you should posses, the penalty no longer applies.
Note  : The U.S. player is subject to the same penalty as other players.

Important: A ship can cross a sea zone even if occupied by enemy warships.

LEND LEASE & MERCANT U.S. MARINE.
US player has only 6 cargo ships at the start of the game.
But he has the opportunity to buy other cargo ships for a maximum of 10 freighters.
Here’s how  :
The U.S. Player receives 18 IPC in his first round. (Peace Time Production)
From then on he will receive 25% + per round or 4.5 (on a 5 rounds IPC).
This money should be used separately to purchase merchant ships.
These vessels can ONLY be used to transport raw war materials to the allies.
But once at war, the U.S. player can send weapons (planes, tanks and artillery)
to their key allies, such as the USSR and Great Britain following routes drawn on the map.
Note: The cargo should not be used by the U.S. Navy and can not transport special units.
So the higher your war production, the more arms you can send to your allies. Therefore the U.S. player must carefully choose the weapons that will be sent to the allies.

American convoy route:
Eastern USA - Brazil (1 cargo)
Eastern USA - Saudi-Arabia (2 freighters)
Western USA - Australia (2 freighters)

Eastern USA - UK (2 freighters) Eastern USA - Murmansk / Archangel (3 freighters) = At a time when Russia went to war.

Once its mission is complete, the merchant vessel must return to its point of origin and start again.  The merchant ship must always be moving and cannot leave its pre-determined route. If the starting point of the merchant vessel and/or destination have been taken by an opponent, you can change the route of your cargo ship to send to another destination as drawn on the map.

NEUTRAL COUNTRY
Some countries have also neutral merchant ships.
You can get hold of a cargo ship If you take control of a neutral territory.

ok ill make a third version with the changes you asked for. Tonight.