Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023

@shadowhawk

Yeah, I definitely didn’t think of things that way. Mostly the AAA just stays in the US the whole time. I’ll give it a try.

It was my first game… So I thought i might try…

So Gargantua – what you doing next in our game? Surrendering?? Or going to chew me up like the cookie monster?? LOL

Here is another way of implementing auto Shipyards that just occurred to me.

At the beginning of each round* roll 1d6. The hit will determine whether the Shipyards technology is activated for all players.

round 1: hits at 1 to activate Shipyards for all nations
round 2: hits at 2
round 3: hits at 3
round 4: hits at 4
round 5: hits at 5
round 6: auto tech Shipyards for all nations

This means that from the first round, and for each round which the game progresses, the odds of Shipyards will increase. Until the 6th round, at which point the Tech is activated automatically for everyone.

Germany starts the game round sequence so they can roll it. Or, depending on how many players you have, you can alternate the roll each round so that someone else gets a chance to try for the hit.

The logic here is that the Naval Race escalates as the war itself escalates, until it crescendos, and everyone gains access to the cheaper naval unit cost structure at the same time.

Axis have the strong early incentive to go naval if shipyards is activated in the first or second round. Every round after the 3rd the cost structure starts to favor Allied builds. Though even then, Axis can exploit late game naval action.

Naval Race rules: an independent and escalating tech roll, which grants Shipyards for All! :-D

In TripleA this is how you use the roll…

At the start of each round:
“Game” tab > “Roll Dice” > roll 1 six sided die (free roll)

If it hits according to rules above, then
“Game tab” > “Enable Edit Mode” > Add Tech Shipyards for All

*note: you could also choose to make this roll at the end of the game round rather than the beginning. This means the roll would usher in the 2nd round, rolling each round thereafter until Shipyards is activated, or until auto-tech Shipyards in the 7th round. It works either way, though I think it would be more fun to roll Shipyards at the beginning of the round rather than the end of the round and this keeps the value of the roll corresponding exactly with the game round G1 at 1, G2 at 2, G3 hits at 3, and so forth. Its a fairly simple way to get cheaper ships into the game for everyone.

For people who play using the Optional Global tech rules, the Shipyards technology is now removed from Breakthrough chart two. If you roll on 3 on the second breakthrough chart, re-roll the die until you hit one of the other technologies.

@Cow:

Get the African NOs for Russia as well. African NOs are very important for Russia.

Agreed wholeheartedly!
I must admit though, I’m still a little in doubt about when to take them and when not to.

For example, if Germany is doing SeaLion it seems better not to (correct me if I’m wrong)? If Russia goes there (early) in this situation, it has just too few units to start contesting Eastern Europe and/or Scandinavia RU3 (assuming GE did sortie into London). Contesting those area’s with Germany seems better than getting into Africa, since the Russian profit is the same or even higher but it also denies Germany valuable IPCs. Maybe in this case get the African NO’s at a later point?

In all the other situations I’d go for African NO’s (except perhaps a G1 DOW?).

Those are some good ideas. I think to make this game balanced, I do need to make some adjustments. Just giving Italy the Axis NOs and ANZAC the Allied NOs doesn’t quite work. It seemed to be working for a while, but once ANZAC got the upper hand, it just gradually got worse and worse for Italy. I know that happens even in some games of regular A&A, but I don’t think there was any hope of Italy turning things around once ANZAC started getting ahead.
We just finished this game tonight. It took 15 rounds before Italy surrendered. For the first three rounds, Italy really grew and just about closed the gap between them. Rounds 4-8 were somewhat even between the two. If Italy did well on one front, ANZAC was doing well on another front. From Round 9 on, Italy was more and more defensive. ANZAC managed to take Japan and pretty much ruled all the Pacific and Asia within the next 2 rounds. Once all other Italian presence was eliminated, all ANZAC had to do is keep pounding on Europe until something gave way. Between amphibious landings every turn in Western Europe and a flood of tanks, mechs and planes rolling in from Russia, Italy was finding it harder and harder to maintain any kind of border.
For a while, whenever ANZAC would land somewhere in W Europe, Italy had enough to take it back. There were a few sparks of good for Italy, like when they sacrificed most of their European air force to kill the ANZAC fleet outside of England, including a stack of transports. That delayed ANZAC for a couple of rounds, but soon they were making landings again and Italy couldn’t afford a whole new air force to risk against the navy.
While playing the game this way makes each round go somewhat faster, it is pretty hard keeping track of all the different fronts. You literally have attacks going on in every point of the map on some turns. It’s a little easier when Germany is dealing with England and Russia, Italy is dealing with the Med and Japan is dealing with China and the Pacific. Still, it is kind of cool to be able to carry out ALL your ideas in the same turn.

I find a little changing in the second Edition:

Page 39 Pacific Rulebook 2ed:
“If the Soviet Union attacks Korea or any Japan-controlled territory bordering these Mongolian territories while Mongolia is still a strict neutral, Mongolia will remain neutral and not ally itself with the Soviet Union.”

So attacking Korea with Soviet Union breaks in second Edition now the Soviet-Japanese Non-agression-Pact. Thats a difference to the first Edition. Its a decision from the developer to strength the Axis (here Japan).

Any comments?! New tactics now? Lower risk for Japan, that the russians attack Manchuria or Korea?

This game is about economics. You need easy and cheap victories, while giving none yourself. Don’t buy transports if your dad will sink them easily, you would be better holding one turn for a following turn larger purchase or buying aircraft. For Germany, hit where you have the best chance to win and take the most cash. Use the NO’s to guide your grand strategy. But other posts above are correct, there is a tipping point where all you can do is slow down the inevitable Allied win. There are some good posts here that can guide your next game.

yeah global can take forever and a day, but at least you had action instead of a mexican standoff.