Advice to Renegade! What is on your top 10 for adjustments to G40 3rd edition?

I love these rules. It makes the game insanely dynamic & cutting edge from the first turn to the last. Requires a more difficult starting setup for Japan (I’ll publish that eventually) & a joined UKP & ANZAC economy (aka the Pacific Commonwealth, or Cmm).

Even so, give the US an extra 10 IPCs/round to keep up. Turns the game into a firefighting session for the Allies until the US comes in swinging.

Definitely write the tokens down on blank cards!!

APPENDIX 3: VICTORY TOKENS

There exist eight sovereignty tokens and forty victory tokens: fifteen in the Pacific theater, fifteen in the European theater, and ten wildcard “global” tokens.

A3.0.1 Sovereignty Tokens The Axis powers begin the game holding six of eight sovereignty tokens. The last two will be claimed after the fall of France. Note: Sovereignty tokens count for neither Axis bonus income nor Axis victory, but at least six must be held to win the game, and at least four to not lose. A3.0.2 Token Bonus Income During each Axis Collect Income phase, gain 1 extra IPC per held victory token. If, during an Allied turn, the Axis lose a token (victory or sovereignty), that Allied nation immediately receives a 3 IPC bonus. A3.0.3 Limited Objectives (War Aims) Only 12 victory tokens are in play at a time; the initial tokens are those indicated with a star on the card. These represent stated war aims in each theater. At the of the German and Japanese turns, the Axis may choose to substitute a token in play for another from the same deck (Global, Pacific, European), representing shifting goals during the course of the conflict. Note: Germany may not swap Pacific tokens nor may Japan European. Optional (Blitz Mode): Before the start of the game, the Axis players choose which tokens will be in play (select 5 European, 5 Pacific, and 2 Global) & permit no substitution thereafter. Optional (Secret Blitz): The same as above, but do not reveal the tokens selected. A3.0.4 Axis Victory Conditions To win as the Axis, you must hold six sovereignty tokens AND the same five theater-specific victory tokens for a full round. If these conditions are met, you must audibly inform all Allied players of such. If the conditions are still met (without the clock being reset) one round later, the Axis claim victory. Note: Global victory tokens count towards both theaters. A3.0.5 Allied Victory Conditions The Allies win if the Axis hold fewer than four sovereignty tokens for a full round. If these conditions are met, you must audibly inform all Axis players of such. If the conditions are still met (without the clock being reset) one round later, the Allies claim victory. Optional: If a turn limit is being used, the Allies win by default at the end of the last round. A3.1 SOVEREIGNTY TOKENS The Edo Token: Hold Tokyo. The Imperial Token: Hold Japan, Manchuria, & Korea. The Roman Token: Hold Rome. The Republican Token: Hold Northern Italy, Southern Italy, & Sicily. The Berliner Token: Hold Berlin. The Reich Token: Hold Western Germany, Germany, and Greater Southern Germany. The Parisan Token: Hold Paris. The Vichy Token: Hold Normandy/Bordeaux, France, and Southern France. A3.2 GLOBAL VICTORY TOKENS The Empire Token ★: Let there be no UKE or Cmm battleships on the map. The British Token ★: Hold the United Kingdom, Eire, and Scotland. The Bolshevik Token: Let there be no Soviet units on any originally-Soviet territories. The Maple Token: Hold any Canadian territory. The Panama Token: Hold Central America. The South America Token: Control one originally unaligned neutral territory in South America. The California Token: Have a battleship or aircraft carrier in SZ10. The Washington Token: Have a battleship or aircraft carrier in SZ101. The America Token: Take any one of the Western United States, the Central United States, or the Eastern United States. The Economy Token: Axis powers’ combined income (on the income tracker) is greater than 120 IPCs. A3.3 PACIFIC VICTORY TOKENS The Colonial Token ★: Control Jehol, Shantung, Kiangsu, & Anhwe; and let there be no more than 5 Chinese units in any territories adjacent to them. The China Token: Hold all originally-Chinese territories. The Coastal Token ★: Control SZs 6W, 19, 20, 36, & 37 & all territories touching them. The ABDACOM Token ★: Let there be no Allied CA, CVs, or BBs in SZs 37 & 41-45. The India Token: Hold Burma, India, and West India. The Island Token ★: Hold the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Midway, and all originally-Japanese islands. The North Pacific Token: There are no Allied surface warships and no Allied islands within two seazones of SZ 6W. The Honolulu Token: Own an ArmB in Hawaii. The Melanesian Token: Have at least one land unit on each of New Britain, the Solomons, and New Hebrides. The Sydney Token: Hold New S. Wales and let there be no Allied surface vessels in SZ 62. The Australia Token: Let there be no Allied land units on an Australian territory (W. Australia, N. Territory, S. Australia, Queensland, NSW, and Victoria). The North Front Token: Control Korea & Manchuria and let there be fewer than 6 Soviet land units adjacent to Japanese-held territories. The Siberian Token: Let there be no Russian infantry on originally-Mongolian or Russian territories on the Pacific board. The Dominance Token ★: Have at least twice as many capital ships (battleships and/or carriers) as the Allies on the Pacific board. The Expansion Token: Let Japan control 8 original (may not have been built since the start of the game) operational naval bases. A3.4 EUROPEAN VICTORY TOKENS The Atlantic Wall Token ★: Let there be no Allied units in continental Europe (excluding Russia) & have at least four land units on four of five: Normandy, Belgium, W. Germany, Denmark, and Norway. The Balkan Token ★: Have at least two infantry on each of Yugoslavia, Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and Greece. The Norway Token: Germany can claim its Iron NO and has a transport in SZ 125. The Molotov Token ★: Let there be fewer than 2 Soviet units in any Soviet-controlled territory adjacent to German units. The Russia Token: Capture or disable any three originally-Soviet industrial complexes. The Kremlin Token: Control Moscow and three of the five territories adjacent to it. The Ural Token: Control Novosibirsk and from there, be able to trace a cooperating land route back to Berlin. The North Africa Token ★: Control Malta and let there be more Axis (not Vichy) ground units than Allied ground units in North Africa. The Mediterranean Token: Close either the Suez Canal or the Strait of Gibraltar, AND either (a) control all Mediterranean islands (Malta, Cyprus, and Crete, Corsica/Sardinia, and Sicily) or (b) let there be no Allied vessels in the Mediterranean. The Wolfpack Token ★: Have warships in each of SZ 117, 118, 107, and 108. The Blockade Token: Have a surface warship in SZ 109. The Kriegsmarine/Regia Marina Token: Have any 3 battleships or aircraft carriers not in either the Baltic Sea or the Mediterranean. The Iberia Token: Hold Portugal, Spain, and Gibraltar. The Scandinavia Token: Control the Baltic and every territory adjacent to it. The Ottoman Token: Control the Black Sea and every territory adjacent to it.

Howdy folks. I’ve got a series of simple house rules that add a little bit of historicity & complexity to the game’s political situation without requiring new pieces, trackers, loads of exceptions & things to remember, etc. They’re intended to each be a module drop-in addition to a set of rules. I’ve playtested these roughly 3-5 times each & am looking for additional feedback. I make no claims to uniqueness or creativity–these were constructed with LOTS of taking from the community & as such, I’m offering them back to the community.

Here’s one of my favorite: Slightly Scarier China:

China may place infantry on any originally Chinese territory which has no enemy land units on it. Only as many units may be placed in a territory as twice the IPC value of that territory. China never purchases Artillery, it is given by a modified Burma Road National Bonus: 3 IPCs & +1 Arty in Szechwan if Burma Road is open. Chinese units may go anywhere in China as well as:
Korea, Burma, Shan State, Siam, French Indochina, and Hong Kong. They may never collect income from these additional territories, even if they control them.

First of all, to clarify for everybody: the Chinese Coast is originally-Chinese! Japan just starts with it; read the rules.

This is just like any of the million Chinese Guerilla rules out there. Japan’s got to keep an infantry on every territory or Chinese dudes pop up behind the lines. In practice, we found that to be actually too powerful for China, and made it impossible for Japan to hold any part of the continent for more than 5 turns if they wanted to adopt a Pacific strategy.

While it was fun with an aggressive Japan, and accurately represented the way you had you throw money into China to make any minor progress (you’d be surprised how much Chinese guerilla placement slows you down after 2-3 turns, if you haven’t played with it yet), it didn’t represent well the other way the pendulum swung–it was too easy for China to seize the initiative & end the forever war.

As a result, we’ve found that forcing China to distribute its builds hampers its ability to form doomstacks. Additionally, forcing offensive units to be shipped from the south really makes it hard for it to press the advantage in the north without Soviet help. We found this feels a lot better.

One note: we typically play with a “Coiled Japan” setup that gives Kiangsi and Kwangsi to China & moves the Japanese units there further north, representing a few months earlier than the OOB setup. This also really slows Japanese progress & makes a J1/J2 closure of the Burma road impossible, ruling a classic Calcutta crush out entirely. If you don’t do this, I’d recommend removing a Japanese infantry from each of the coastal territories (not Manchuria or Korea).

This rule pairs well with:

200th Division (swap a Yunnan Inf for an irreplaceable Chinese tank) Gobi Wasteland (Kansu, Tsinghai, and Sikang have no economic value) Can’t Send Tanks Over the Desert (the border between west China & the USSR may only be traversed by aircraft and infantry)

Overall, this is a big swing in the Allies’ favor, probably about 10-15 IPCs worth of bidding. The Gobi Wasteland rule might be required if the extra rounds of Burma income prove too much for your Japan player to overcome.

This rule is part of the Axis & Allies Global 1940 2E, House Rules Expansion.

To increase the striking force of Tank units, they must be organized into an Army - the Panzer Army.

This rule shows how to organize such an Army - how it fights - and ultimately what strength it represents.

Though limited in numbers (due to Play Balance as well as Historical Accuracy) the Panzer Armies are the single most hard hitting combination of units anywhere on the game board.

Still, the Panzer Army should not fight on its own - it should be part of a larger force and serve as the backbone - for as long as possible.

As you’ll discover, the Panzer Army Formation has multiple purposes and options - both in the Strategic Offensive role as well as during defensive combat etc.

G40 Panzer General & Panzer Army.pdf

@Baron:

Only a few against computer AI.

::blink::

@Young:

1. Air units and submarines can’t hit one another… ever.

Here is one of my post with links to historical depictions of the Aircrafts and Anti-Subwarfare relations.
Exploring this subject lead me to the other direction than OOB on planes against Subs.

About your HR, I can add that I was influenced by your DD vs Sub pairing when I develop some game mechanics on Convoy Raiding for 1942.2 first, then G40 with the help of Black_Elk.

@Baron:

Once this said, I think TacB is the newest (except for AAA guns) unit introduced and can have a better place and much more historical feel in relation to SBR escort and intercept (air vs air combat) rules, and vs regular combat: ground and naval.
(As for now, I’m just thinking that TacBs should have a combat value against Subs (not Fighters), even without DDs, they represent Dive and Torpedos bombers after all.)

I was curious to look what was the historical background and basis of this assumption about TacB against Fg vs Subs.
I was surprised that my intuitive thinking have some truth behind:
I just discovered that the Fighter F4F Wildcat was part of Antisubmarine Warfare and was able to sink 21 Submarines U-boats but never by itself. All of them were credited to another aircraft also.

Service in the Atlantic Ocean

Best known for their contributions in the Pacific, the Wildcats and Martlets also gave reputable service in the Atlantic. This usually took the form of operating from an escort carrier attached to a convoy or a hunter-killer group. These Wildcats were responsible for intercepting German bombers and, in conjunction with other types, finding and attacking U-boats. The six-gun armaments of the F4F-4, Martlet II, and Martlet IV were particularly effective in suppressing the anti-aircraft guns of the U-boats so that larger, slower bombers could more safely attack with depth bombs or homing torpedoes. The threat of strafing by a Wildcat would often persuade a U-boat to submerge, reducing the chance of catching a convoy. Additionally, the Wildcats could summon bombers and surface escorts to engage U-boats. Known to be rugged and forgiving, the Wildcat’s performance limitations were not a significant handicap in the Atlantic, where there were no enemy fighters to contend with.

U-boats lost to Wildcat/Martlet aircraft

(When fighting U-boat Wildcat normally shielded her larger sister the Avenger while the latter dropped depth charges or acoustic torpedoes. Both planes were given credit in such cases.)

http://uboat.net/allies/aircraft/wildcat.htm

On the contrary, TBF Avenger were clearly part of Submarine killing:

Service in the Atlantic Ocean

In the Atlantic, the Avenger was the obvious choice for use aboard British and American escort carriers in screening convoys and hunting down U-boats. Avengers would sight surfaced U-boats, and swoop down on them in a glide bombing approach, releasing multiple 250-pound, 325-pound, or (most often) 500-pound depth bombs. If the U-boat put up accurate flak, the Avenger pilot might choose to circle out of range wait for other aircraft to assist. Grumman Wildcat fighters, with either four or six heavy machine guns, were often effective at subduing the U-boat’s flak battery so that the Avengers could more safely make their attacks. Later the Avenger’s arsenal included rockets for use on surfaced U-boats and, after mid-1943, a super-secret anti-submarine homing torpedo known as the Mark 24 Fido (also called Zombie). Various versions of the Avenger were fitted with radar for finding submarines or surface ships, with sonobuoys to track submerged submarines, and with flares and searchlights for illuminating potential targets at night. Avengers were known to carry combinations of these devices, such as two 500-pound depth bombs, one Fido, radar, flares, and sonobuoys.

American escort carrier air groups sank, or assisted in sinking, 35 submarines in the Atlantic. Most, perhaps all, of these kills must have been made by Avengers. To this total must be added the achievements of British Avengers. Additionally, Avengers flew anti-submarine patrols from land bases, and laid mines.

http://uboat.net/allies/aircraft/avenger.htm

This means to me that, from an historical POV, against submarine unit, a TacB unit should be better over the Fg unit.
So I think there is room to improve the historical representation of TcB and Fg units in A&A G40.

Maybe TacBomber unit should have (along with StBs) a specific capacity against Submarine unit.
Or
While giving Fgs an Anti-aircraft capacity, at the same time, making them unable to destroy Submarine unit.
This could better reenact somehow the historical difference amongst these 2 G40 sculpts and sharpen the role of this new TcB unit, given each a more clearer identity, even with a strategical game level such as A&A G40.

As a side note, here someone talking from first hand:

Here is a canadian !!!  :evil: CVL HMCS Magnificent (a Majestic-class CVL-21) Launch in nov. 1944 but only commissionned 1948.
25 knots, 12 000 nmiles, 37 planes on board.
Around 4min. 40s. the captain of this Light Carrier unit says:
He had 2 types of planes on board:
anti-submarines aircrafts ASW (Avengers) and
fighters aircrafts against planes to protect the carrier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zvnz06-MRc

Here is a saved game “rough draft” edit of the China set up above, for use with TripleA. Right now it uses the standard turn order, but that can altered if desired. All edits to achieve the set up are logged in the game history.

Note how China is no longer a separate nation but instead placed under direct USA control.
Check the stats column for the total Money, Production, and TUV for the United States.

Burma units may be edited into the appropriate territories per the rules above.

There are no co-located units here, all roundel substitutions in play according to the rules above, including for the Commonwealth (represented here in the save edit by ANZAC at 20, Eire south Africa etc.

It is up to the player to enforce the production rules via the edit mode, or to adjust territory possession as necessary (in the case of liberated territories). Example if Japan takes Hunan, and the Americans then liberate it, the game will show Hunan as Chinese, edit possession back to United states. The same thing for the Commonwealth, or if UK pacific territories reappear after conquest/liberation, edit them back to the appropriate power. Otherwise it works as normal, just remember to enforce the factories at 10, 5, 3.

Edit any Soviet Japan Nap conditions you wish.

If no DoW is desired, then you can have all Axis declare in the first round.

VC or Combat bonuses may be edited into the IPC totals at the end of the turn to augment or replace NOs if desired.

Savegame attached below… the next step would be to create an xml gamefile reflecting the new production units, and the Commonwealth faction (while removing UK pacific and China). Eliminate the politics phase, and create a simple NO option on the VCs. Adjust the turn order to the one outlined above.

Halifax china mod no-colocation.jpg
G40 Halifax 2 China to USA.tsvg

Uncrustable,
why don’t use this game mechanics instead when attacking transports?

@Baron:

@Baron:

@Uncrustable:

Transports cost reduced to 6 IPCs.
-When empty may move 3 spaces during noncombat move. No transport may move 4 spaces
-Transport ‘evasive maneuvers’, each transport caught undefended by an attacking warship or plane may roll 1 dice. A roll of a 1 is a successful evasive maneuver and that transport is removed from battle and placed back on the game board, a transport that evaded an enemy attack while undefended may not unload units until its next turn.

This is another way to play a defenseless transport which should be added in this thread to be complete on the optional rule for this topic.

It makes me think about a similar but still a bit different way to played it also as a defenseless but not hopeless transport:

When there is no more warships/aircrafts to defend transports, then each transport roll and for each “1” rolled in a specific round, one TT can escape.
Attacker need to hit transport unit according to each attacking factor (ex.: subs @2/ DD @2 / CA @3, etc.) to destroy one transport.
Each round any un-destroyed transport which haven’t been able to escape can still trying to roll “1” to escape.

The combat end when, either all remaining transports have been able to escape, or have been destroyed.

Their will be no more auto-die, no combat unit will be destroy and the naval combat is done according to usual A&A system rule: a roll is needed to destroy any unit and no unit able to destroy more than 1 unit in the same combat round.

Since I play-tested it,
I say it is much more interesting than auto-die and more balance way to keep some surviving TT than destroying expensive attacking units (one way or an other).

I should add this detail:
transport can get their evasive roll as soon as their is no more warships or planes on their side at the end of a combat round.

Always attacking units can hit first, and it is only surviving transport which can get an evasive roll.

Which means, for instance, if their is 2 transports at the beginning of a round and 2 are hitten by attacker’s units then their is no evasive roll.

infantry attack on 2      defend on 2

for #3 it is the same as in AAR