Global 1940 Combat Engineer Unit

@shadowhawk said in [Global 1940] Changing AA in the game:

Well atm they are free hps. After the pre-combat shots they dont do anything in the fight except take a hit. So as a defender unless its clear im winning the first hits go to the AA, they are dead weight at this point.

When they can return fire every round against planes ( might want to keep the @1 because they target units ) then it might give the defender a reasonable choice.

I agree. I thought when you said that you were referring to the version with your house rules, not the out of box version.

IMO they represent flak88 batteries, a bit more specialised AA guns then the divisional version but a lot weaker then the static stuff that defends ports/airfields and the likes.

Agreed.

Continuation of Multi Game 1 Report

https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/37723/global-1940-1943-expansions-game-reports/730?page=30

Well I just got burned on America’s 30 min turn report, so take a bit to get back into it :)

Uncle Sam would go with a heavy Army buy, as well as a AB for Espana.
Strat Bmbrs would do 17 Damage to the N Italy Fctry. No Interceptors would rise to challenge the 5 Ftr Escorts and the AA Guns would all miss their targets.

Small battles would take place across W EUR and the Pacific. US Naval Forces would be concentrated in 110. Large numbers of Army Air Corps would be based in Spain.
The Java TF would move to 39 off India, with major Air assets landing in India.

The Hawaiian JPN DD would be sunk but the Islands remain under JPN control. TF 7 splits, with the majority going to 3 SZ off Kamchatka, the others to the Canadian West Coast.

There are 9 Trprts in 101 off the East Coast.

China continues to struggle for Freedom. Their resolve remains strong.

Well the above isn’t as good as what I wrote earlier but whatever lol

UK buys 2 Trprts and some Army. They save 20 bucks.

Screenshot from 2025-10-18 22-02-04.png

Then 20 is deleted. I’m not sure why.

Screenshot from 2025-10-18 22-03-30.png

I will have to check the game thread as this makes no sense to me.

OK. It was for the India Fctry. I didn’t realize Victory was still with us at this point :)

Screenshot from 2025-10-18 22-09-31.png

Major combat takes place in Greece

Screenshot from 2025-10-19 01-08-48.png

Screenshot from 2025-10-19 01-09-06.png

The Reich would prevail in a close fought battle. HOL and Iraq battles would see the British victorious. The Indian Army would once again move into Burma in Force.

UK would reinforce the Russians in Turkey and produce Tanks out of their Egypt Fctry.

Italians are looking forward to their arrival in US prison camps.

ANZC would produce Ships for their Navy and give battle to the JPN Escort and Trprt off Celebes with a SS and Air attack. The attack would succeed but with heavy losses. A lone Ftr would be left after the intense combat.

Their Aircraft Carriers would join the Americans in 39, with another supporting US Ships off Johnston Island.

Continued 10-22-25

Late 1945
The Reich purchases another Panzer Army, as well as moving the W GER Fctry underground and upgrading it. Infantry, Paras and a Hvy Bmbr also deploy.

The Type XXI would begin a new phase of the U-boat war by getting a hit on a Hvy BB in 110. W EUR would see massive counterattacks supported heavily by the Luftwaffe.
Novgorod would be taken in force with 1st Panzer and 1st SS. A UK Trprt is sunk off Greece.

1st SS Pnzr would move to W GER and 2nd Pnzr and 2nd and 3rd SS to Romania.
The Scandanavian Army moves to Norway.

The Soviets would invest in Total War Tanks and small combats would take place on their European Front. Central Asia and Western China would also see combat, with Sikang seeing a moderate clash of Forces.

The Moscow Army moves to Bryansk.

Japanese Demolition charges are placed at the Bases in Hawaii. Support Ships are launched for the Navy, with the rest of their resources going to the Army.

Major battle takes place in Sikang.

Screenshot from 2025-10-22 19-57-53.png

Nippon would win a costly fight.

Screenshot from 2025-10-22 19-59-14.png

Closely matched Forces would faceoff in Timguska and Siberia. Java, Celebes and DNG would also see combat. Japan would prevail in all battles.

IJN would be dispersed off the above SW Pacific Islands, while the PHI’s would see the greatest concentration of Naval assets.

The IJA would be concentrated in Kweichow preparing for potential battle against the British Indian Army in Burma.

Uncle Sam would go with a heavy Naval buy that would include 2 CVs and 2 CAs, along with 4 Total War Ftrs. I don’t normally see Cruisers built in our small play group, but they do have value at 9 bucks in The Capatain’s mod. Especially if you plan on large Amphibous attacks that can’t be blocked by bombard. They still hit at a 3 regardless :)

W EUR TTys would change hands again. US Naval Ftrs would canopen for the British in Shan State, albeit at the loss off a Ftr. They’re only 6 bucks though and Crockett learned early the risk reward of using them in battle.
Siberia would see the largest battle and USA would win easily. Portugal would fall to an Amphibous landing with heavy Armor support.

There are a large number of USN Ships scattered throughout the North Pacific. The TF off India moves to Singapore and is directly challenging IJN units in the PHIs.
New Ships continue to flood into the Pacific. The Atlantic Fleet remains in 110.

China hopes their new best friends the British can liberate some territory, as the Soviets are having trouble defending their own :)

UK buys Tanks and Mech Inf. There would be a correction on the Mechs, as Crockett didn’t realize he couldn’t do Total War builds in India.
Still, the 5 Mech would be a good purchase.

A small battle would succeed in Greece and the Indian Army would move into Yunnan in strength.
I may have missed something with a edit in Iraq as the 2 Tanks didn’t move, no reason or well not a good one that I can see :) they didn’t move. It may have been changed in the future or just been missed.

It happens in a complex game like this :) or it’s part of crockett’s master plan :)

At any rate, British Tanks have taken control of SE Asia. AA Guns are sent to Yunnan to support the 36 Infantry Divisions there.
Hmm … not a whole lot going on in Europe. 6 Tanks in Caucasus and Cairo produces 3 more are the biggest moves.

ANZC produces 3 Tanks. Combat takes place in 46 with a SS sinking a lone Trprt.

The French are confined to base as English resentment continues to grow.

End Late 1945

Screenshot from 2025-10-22 23-09-52.png Screenshot from 2025-10-22 23-10-09.png

Screenshot from 2025-10-22 23-11-17.png Screenshot from 2025-10-22 23-11-36.png

Screenshot from 2025-10-22 23-13-38.png

Edit

The USN moved to 38 from 37. I can’t remember why but it should be documented in the Game Thread. I’ll look before next post :)

Edit
oh yea just a simple mistake :)

Screenshot from 2025-10-23 00-00-27.png

Damn written texts, we cannot ear sarcastic undertone.
😊😊😊

@argothair

An interesting idea, to be sure! But where will we get the new units? Thank you!

@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

And where is the escort carrier. The escort and the heavy cruiser?
I also had merchant marine and german raiders in my game….german player love that boat!

This commander idea must be kept SIMPLE. As I have posted previously the commander should be tactical and have special abilities within the army he is in or the fleet. The best way is to have him with target ability for certain units. We have used the tactical bombers, the tanks, the battleships and the cruisers. Also the commander should have the retreat option when defending. This has worked well for our games. We have been giving three commanders to each major nation on the setup. Maybe four or five would work but we have never tried that many. My new Italian units will be here soon and they include commander units

@Vareel:

some units just don’t seem to have any nitch.

’

All the units in AAP40 have a niche, you just have to think about it more. Some are not as sexy as they used to be (tanks, battleships) and some are certainly bought less by certain players, but in general this is representive of history.

This set of unit stats is the best to date.

Why should crusiers be able to be traded with fighters?

the tac bomber rules already give them a clear role and make alot of sence except they are simpler that yours.

I do like your rules for infantry supporting tanks on the defence, except I dont like tanks costing five. tanks are big things that take alot to produce they should be expensive and players should not be able to build stacks of them (unless they are the russian player, in AAE40 the USSR should not be able to buy mech inf and instead can buy tanks at 5.)