[Global 1940] 2nd Revised Setup For France

Quick answer is that bids seem to keep going up with bids over 20 now common.

yes

just the dollar amount.

@Panther

Thank you for taking the time to explain.

@Krieghund

Oh…

I’ve been playing wrong this entire time???

:disappointed:

Thanks for clarifying though. I’ll take that into my next physical game.

@runaway_jim

I am of no relation to him. Likely just a similar appreciation of the movie Gunga Din.

@tincanofthesea

I don’t have time to test your house rule, but it sure looks interesting. I might use it sometime.

@CWO:

A&A is fundamentally a board game, and its relationship to more rigorous military-simulation wargames (both hobby-level and professional-grade) is roughly the relationship that the Monopoly board game has to the kinds of economic-simulation games that are detailed and accurate enough that they could be used as teaching tools in a management school curriculum.

I agree to the Monopoly comment, or maybe better said, without historical events and situations to use in conjunction with play, then A&A is just a glorified version of Risk.  But, I want some history and random events that change the play of the game.

@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

The biggest draw is NO WAITING!

The reason the UK is so heavily damaged is to incetivize Germany to keep the Blitz going.
Knock the UK up to 20 damage and watch them flounder for the next few turns. It really takes the pressure off the French coast so Germany can focus on Egypt and Russia.
Sea Lion is a bad idea. But bombing England so bad that the UK is better served building in South Africa (to try and keep Italy and Germany off the continent) affords Germany the important 3 or 4 turns of breathing room to get deep into Russia.

Russia faces some tough choices. It can back up constantly and build up a massive stack in Moscow, but Germany will get all the cash in the south and starve you to death. Its really cat & mouse on that front.

There are some glitches in the setup, being that an all transport build for the US and an attack on Europe can throw Germany out of balance (or so some have said)
Likewise, Japan can ignore everything else on its plate and go head long for India and take it.

To cure this I have been considering adding an Airbase to Holland/Belgium (so German fighters/Tacs can strike allied boats in SZ91)
And to reinforce India add another ANZAC infantry and an ANZAC AA gun