Interesting (Hopefully) Website for Tweakers

Playtesting notes…
It’s turn 4 and Game 1 is already turning into a rout in favor of the Axis. Starting Conditions:

Setup mirrored G40.2 as closely as possible on this new board with no bid for the Allies, which should give the game a STRONG pro-axis tilt. My (8yo) son took the Axis with the below standing handicaps:
– Germany +10 IPC/turn and1 free infantry to be placed in any controlled territory each turn
– Japan same as Germany
– Italy same as Germany/Japan but only +5 IPC/turn US starts with 0 IPC, half income until turn 3 or attacked, gain half income as one-time bonus when attacked (this was not in the rules as stated above, but we changed this on the fly as their position looks utterly desperate. I wanted their full income as a bonus, but was voted down). USSR starts with half income until turn 3 or USSR is attacked (he attacked me turn 2) We bumped AA guns down to 5 IPC (was 6).

Current state: It’s the end of UK4.

Japan is making 40 IPC, has 8 carriers in the pacific and is halfway across China and Russia. He neglected the money islands until just last turn and has not threatened India (where UK made an immediate, huge investment), but has a ~200 IPC fleet at Hawaii that dwarfs the US pacific fleet by 2:1.

Germany has 10+ fighters and 40+ infantry on the Eastern Front. G and R are trading Caucasus. R hoping to hold Moscow with UK help (UK invading Scandanavia and coming down from Karelia & up from Iran).

UK is still the income leader (not for long with Japan taking DEI) which has allowed them to fight well on two fronts. They just sunk both the German and Italian navies… but my son rolls ridiculously well (which I publicly decry but secretly enjoy) and both uk fleets (India–>Med and England–>Baltic) took significant losses and may be wiped out in retaliation next turn. They’ve been stymied in Western Europe by a huge luftwaffe and a large German naval investment in the baltic (2 carriers?!) and had to resort to Norway.

US only just lumbering into the war. Feels extremely underpowered with an income in only the high-30s and a roaring japan on the doorstep. We gave the US a half-income war bonus, but that’s 18IPCs of peanuts. I think that for this to work without a bid the US wants an income boost of at least 5 and perhaps a fat bonus when/if attacked as well.

ANZAC in the pacific has done exactly zero except to hold the Australian mainland and vaguely threaten Japan’s far south perimeter, which feels… right.

Vichy vs Free France has been a back and forth, feels very good. At the start the map split 50/50 (expected) but the navy split in the Axis favor with two defections, a couple scuttles, and only a single destroyer joining the Free French.

Italy ignored the European Neutrals and made a big push into Africa instead, quickly swept the UK out of Cairo but have not yet been able to cross Suez (UK holds mideast). The combined Free French and British have also been able to hold them at FEA and Rhodesia while pushing Vichy out of lower Africa. LOVING how Africa has played out so far in this game with landings and battles on both sides up and down the African coast.

Currently the Axis have 12 VCs to the Allies 9 (Rio still Neutral), and halfway though turn 4 are almost in a state of Minor Victory according to my revised victory city chart:
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I think the game is playing OK, and it’s always hard to account for the handicap & skill effects of having an 8yo at the helm-- although, if I can brag on my son a bit, he does his own Punch, Count, and Skew calculations before every major attack.

I’ll be curious to see how hopeless the US situation is. If my son’s Japanese can take US territory on the west coast, I think some kind of adjustment is warranted even with his handicaps.

My son keeps buying Japanese Aircraft Carriers (why am I giving him such a huge handicap, again?) so I need more flight decks. But 7 (yes, 7!) Shinanos is more than anyone can bear. Thus, the addiction continues with a new Akagi, now with quasi historical markings that differentiate it somewhat from the Shinano deck:

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Updated pdf with everything: Carrier_Decals_lilly_vodot_v6.pdf

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@Argothair can’t wait to check it out!

Well, first of all, I’d love to have had a stash of the “Union Jack” roundels, for the British Raj (i.e. UK’s eastern economy).

For my own use (and my own house rules), I’d also find it useful to have certain two-sided roundels:

UK, with Canada on reverse Union Jack, with ANZAC on reverse

On a related note, even though they aren’t round (and hence not “roundels”), I’d have liked for the factory markers to also be two-sided, with the minor factory symbol on one side, and the major factory symbol on the reverse.

Having a reverse side on the air base markers – to indicate which air bases have scrambled this turn – would have been useful.

I hope these ideas prove useful to you. I look forward to hearing what options you can provide for these ideas of mine.

Thanks,
Franklin

@Harvard3X1 said in Metal Flight Stands - Different height? Is there an interest?:

Deadline is getting really close & campaign goal has not been met… we need to spread the word !!! I know the game has never been the same since I purchased these stands; totally different feeling when playing & looking at the map!

We appreciate any effort to get this funded!

Of course, the campaign is only 17 days total to begin with so we’re about 1/4 of the way through. It would obviously be really nice to be higher than we’re at.

If things aren’t looking up by next weekend we may have to regroup.

IL didnt you say you know or saw a picture of people war gaming on a banquet room floor or bigger and the guys would make attack and defend shots from many feet away for naval battles ?

Well sorta of. They would roll a huge d12 for atomic bomb hits and people were going bonkers. That was for The War Game: World War Two

No official news; might have to buy some blanks and customize myself.

Will pass on any new suggestions to the site.

@dedo:

Oh, sorry, I didn’t know about that thread, eventually I lost my labour and waisted your time…

No problem.  There’s so much information scattered in so many threads on this board that it’s impossible to keep track of it all, so repeating a particular point of information can be very useful, especially to people who may have missed its first appearance elsewhere.  I just happened to remember the reference to the Beaufort because that information had been posted in response to a question I’d asked…and even then, I had to use the Search function to track down where I’d seen it because it was several months ago.