MOVED: Heavy Bombers - House Rule

@altruex

For me, playing with National Objectives is a must, 1) You’ll find that it makes the game WAY more interesting, 2) It is kinda the one thing that actually makes half the stuff you can do in a WW2 scenario make sense… and 3) It balances the game a lot better in that retrospectrum.

As for Research and Development, this is for sure optional since it kinda plays an important role but not super into swaying which side will beat the other, so do what you will with this.

As for house rules, I only have 1 house rule I put into play, one at which I like to call the “Siberian-Manchurian Pact” which, by the name you can probably tell that it relates to the real time non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan at the time.

The reason I have this houserule into play is that for starters, I feel like it is a HUGE waste of time for the Soviets to be throwing valuable infantry into Japanese Manchuria all to gain a single infantry for 1 turn only to lose it, as well as the fact that it kinda defeats the purpose of Japan fighting the Pacific as a whole instead of having to deal with the annoyance of the Soviets taking Manchuria with like 5 infantry…

And in the other aspect of it, It is a huge waste of time for Japan to be going after Siberia, whether theres units there or not. It’s of the USSR player’s own will to move those infantry to the Eastern Front against Germany or to keep them there, but like I said, Japan can at most get like 4 to 6 IPC’s outta the far Eastern Russian territories… which I can literally get double that with like, 3 provinces down south (The Money Islands).

All in all, that’s not to say these 2 can’t go to war with eachother, the basic rule is that if Japan and The Soviet Union do go to war, it needs to be through the Chinese border with the Soviet Union and not the Manchurian border, because it saves people ALOT of time and strain and annoyance from either side if one is attacking the other.

Just my opinion though.

We also have a different House rule that has proven to be very interesting:

We use the Chinese Setup from 1942 but instead of Suiyuan having 2 Inf, we add an additional Inf in Yunnan (thous having 3 Inf 1 Fig)…

The Japanese player can still opt to got for it with 3 Inf 2 Fig, but it is an evenly and very costly battle.

Having more boots in China also makes the abundance of Japanese transports in 1941 less of a problem since the Japanese player has to send a bit more Infantry to China to counter them.

We found this setup to be way more interesting and also historically accurate because China was a pain in the ass for Japan and it shouldn’t be that easy for Japan to defeat them.

@DarthMaximus:

But I don’t know if that battle is all that relevant.  The bom placement may be overrated.  So what if you slow down Japan.  Sub bid of six kills 1 J trn and there is no risk of not hitting and you could still place 2 inf elsewhere.
Germany is the main early threat.  Assuming no Russian ground units bid.  Ger takes the 3 Russian territories on G1.  G2 have a shot at holding Kar.  Even if they only trade, they can still stack Bel on G3.  Russia now has to defend Mos.  G4 you move to Euk.  Now Cauc and Mos have to be defended.  G5 you take cauc.
Obviously this is a bit simplistic but I don’t think the loss of 2 trns and a J dd is that big of a deal if the Russian front is collapsing.

I don’t know Darth. Slowing Japan’s expansion to a crawl and allowing Russia to focus entirely on Germany for the first 5 rounds or so goes a long way.

I’m assuming an aggressive G1.  Taking out Sz 2 and Sz 9.  If we are playing the odds game, the odds for these G1 attacks will go further in deciding the game then the 56% odds the Russian bom has.

I don’t know about that either. taking out 2 TP’s and a DD before Japan even gets a chance to use them is pretty crippling. Even sinking just the sz62 TP limits japan a bit.

I’d much rather have 4 units on the Russian front, then the bom.

That’s a matter of personal preference, though. The bomber bid gives Russia multiple options while the infantry bid only has 1 option(defending against Germany). The bomber is essentially an opportunistic unit. It can provide support for Allied interdiction of Japan’s navy as well as supporting it’s ground troops in the area if you see an opening to be aggressive on the ground. And the bomber will start saving Russia units in trades against Germany once it returns from the Pacific.

@CdnRanger:

Russia would have to send a couple of Inf (needed desperately at the front without a Russian ground unit bid) by Rus2 to India to protect it, and perhaps Uk lands the Egypt Fighter there (if it has survived the attack from Germany)

The US can also provide air support to India on US2 if they landed aircraft in Australia on US1.

The India crush by Japan is nasty but it gives China an extra round or two of survival, as Japan needs to go light on Phi, and the 3 Inf in Fic that took Burma are needed to attack and hold India turn 2.

The India crush also draws away a lot of Japan’s navy which the US and Russia can sometimes exploit in the North(threatening sz62 with air and navy, Russian ground attacks into China from Bury, etc)

Oh wow I overlooked that :-o and will definitely remember that from now on.  My group and I never played it correctly then even though it probably would have only mattered like twice.  Usually we had allied units in originally controlled Russian territory then it was obvious.  Thanks for the heads up.

G1 …1 sub SZ7 to SZ9
1 sub SZ7 , bomber from germany and fighter from norway attack SZ 2
1 fighter from NWEurope ,1 fighter from germany attacks SZ12
1 sub 1 cruiser from SZ5 attacks SZ6
2 tanks 3 inf 1 art from poland…1 inf 1 art from germany…1 tank from CH attack the baltic
1 tank from CH ,1 fighter 1 inf  from poland 1 inf from BR attack east poland
2 inf 1 art 2 tanks attack ukraine
transport 1 inf 1 tank from france to libya and (1 inf fro MA to libya if the german fighter is lost)let the italians soften egypt attack G2.
defend france if any british tranny’s survive,2 inf to poland.
activate the 4 tanks 2inf and art that you purchased

Yes. And it works great. If the US abandons the Pacific, IMO Japan absolutely should start massing bombers. They can get into action quickly, can easily change theatres if need be, and can wreck the econ or join the battles at will.

Actually the more I think about it I think if the UK has the boats they should move there entire navy to SZ 12 landing all available troops plus placing the 3 fighters in Gibraltar, purchasing 1 more trannie (or 2 if you lost 1), 1 more bomber, and then land units, what have you.  If you kept the BB this allows you to seriously threaten Italy on UK2, especially if you have 2 trannies left at the end of turn 1.  Now you have to ensure that Germany doesn’t have the planes in position to sink your fleet in SZ12, but if you take Algeria fighters can only reach from France/NW Europe, bombers are another story.  Granted Italy could attack Gibraltar, but then they will be exposing there fleet, same if they hit your fleet.  This allows you to bring a lot of gear to bear against Rome on turn 2 or turn 3 if you have to clear out there fleet first.  Can Germany stop you? Of course, if they leave off Russia for a bit.  You can even rely on the US to take back Africa for you with just there one transport.