Posts made by B.AnderssonGameMaster

@Kaladesh:

personally i do not like any of those since all of them are quiet strong … in my view even to strong. i admire your ideas b.andersson, but a tank figthing with a 4 or a tank using opening fire is just to strong.

i could agree on the second but however this does favor the germans in the first who off course would be the most obvious to use a lot of tanks.
opening fire just in the first round might as well be better than opening fire the whole combat but again for a german player who is relying on its tanks this would be to strong anyways. i do not feel very comfortable about this, remember a development should regard more than one nation (which is the case with coastal bombardement which would be of use for japan us, uk and even germany when having seafights) but this heavy tank stuff would be most interesting for germany only (maybe us) so it would be more a national advantage rather than a development for all.

Well, Combined Bombardment (CB) will only be useful for US and maybe UK and Japan to small extent. Germany with an assault on UK will cost too much to have any IPC’s left to spend on development!!! So, the question is will Japan develop CB? It is not as likely as Germany will develop Heavy Tanks (HT), since Germany is likely to be economically stronger than Japan. No matter of how good HT is for Germany the CB won’t be better for US than HT, since they with HT stands a good chance to fend off any Japanese assaults in Asia with an IC and the Chinese Divisions advantage! So honestly I my opinion HT is as good as CB for US. HT is much likely better for Axis (mostly Germany) to hunt down any Allies (mostly Russian) in the continent and Africa than CB is for the Axis to launch an amphibious assault on UK or US, but cost a lot more to. CB is really crappy for the Axis and quite crappy for the Allies to, since there are much better technologies for both the Axis and the Allies. It can of cause come in handy some time, but not likely! That is the reason why I think and suggest replacing the crappy CB, since it is really not as much a strong technology than the other technologies. CB is more like a national advantage!

If one thinks that HT is too much in favor for the Axis one can replace the Rockets Tech to V2 Rockets advantage to Germany (use the old A&A Classic rule for Rocket Technology), since it is almost only Germany who will develop this technology. And replace it with HT and at the same time replace the CB with Super Destroyers!

Super Destroyers
Your destroyers are now super destroyers. Like battleships, your destroyers now can conduct bombardment during an amphibious assault at an attack roll of 3 or less. In addition your destroyers now have a movement of 3.

This one would counter the Super Submarine Technology. It would also be a strong incentive for Japan to develop, if the Japanese player has the Tokyo Express advantage!!!

One might also consider to let the Heavy Tanks to be an advantage for Germany, like this one:

Tiger Tanks
A single Tiger tank could halt the advance of a complete armoured division. These tanks were massively protected and had an extremely powerful anti-tank gun, which were more than adequate to deal with any allied armoured fighting vehicle of that time.
Every third tank you have in each combat cycle, attack or defend on a 4.

@Guerrilla:

Sounds like fun… I’ll try a solo (or 1on1) game this sat (unless I have something going…) to playtest for you (or us :wink: )

GG

Well GG, how did it all work out? Did you win or just win! :wink:

Maby Assault Guns would be a better technology than any of the above technologies??? :o

Assault Guns
Each of your attacking tanks has a decreased attack roll of 2 or less, but increases one matching infantry to an attack roll of 2 or less. Your Tanks now cost 4 IPC’s.

Heavy Tanks (replace Coastal Bombardment)
Why Heavy Tanks are so powerful - A single heavy tank could halt the advance of a complete armoured division. These tanks were massively protected and had an extremely powerful anti-tank gun, which were more than adequate to deal with any armoured fighting vehicle of that time. When on offence a heavy tank relied entirely on its thickness of armour, which made them impervious to any standard anti-tank weapons in a respectable range. Frontal attack of this tank, by any weapon available of that time, was out of the question.

Any design of a tank has to balance the three aspects of mobility, firepower, and armor. No doubt the Tigers (Germanys most well known heavy tanks) had great firepower and armor, their tank killing record speaks for itself (12:1)! However, mobility was sacrificed to achieve that. It was precisely that lack of mobility, mechanical reliability, and high fuel consumption that severely hampered their effectiveness. The statistic that 41% of Tiger tanks were destroyed by their own crew, verses 45% destroyed by enemy action, is telling enough. It makes you think how much more effective they would have been if the mechanical reliability was higher!

However Germany began the war with LIGHT TO MEDIUM OFFENSIVE TANKS to perform the battlefield function of offensive breakthrough and were highly successful from 1939-1942 against WWI style opposition. The design of the offensive tank was driven by physical reality to have the maximum cross-country mobility to infiltrate through enemy lines to collapse them from the inside out . The thing that won the “lightning war” (blitzkrieg) battle according to German Panzer General Hans Guderians was TRACKS not tank dueling. The goal was to defeat Army units to win battles and wars not destroy other tanks to chalk up “kill marks” on your gun tubes. The heavy tanks like Tigers were made for tank dueling and hence of a defensive value, to make newly captured areas less susceptible for counter-attacks!

Variant No1 Heavy Tanks
Your tanks are now heavy tanks. They attack and defend on a 4. Each tank now costs 6 IPC’s and you must pay one additional IPC for each tank you have before the development come in to play.

Variant No2 Heavy Tanks
You do now have heavy tanks. Every second tank you have in a combat attack and defend on a 4. A heavy tank stays a heavy tank for the rest of the combat, no matter of any tank casualties.

Variant No3 Heavy Tanks
Your tanks are now heavy tanks. They attack and defend at the opening fire step of combat.

Variant No4 Heavy Tanks
Your tanks are now heavy tanks. They defend on a 4.

Variant No5 Royal Tigers (National Advanatge for Germany)
The massively powerful Royal Tiger was virtually impervious to Allied tank guns and capable of dominating the battlefield. A single Royal Tiger tank could halt the advance of a complete armored division.
Every third tank you have in each combat cycle, attack or defend on a 4.

Did you vote Kaladesh, on what??? Or do you think Lightening Assault is better to stay with then replace it with any of my Dreadnought variants? :o

It might seem very powerful, but how many battleships will Japan buy in a game! And if US have Liberty Ship Program and Lend Lease Program it will give US and his Allies cheap cannon fodder.

4. Dreadnoughts (variant 1)
Dreadnoughts or leviathans like Yamato and Musashi were the largest and most powerful battelships the world has ever seen.
Your battelships have a first-strike capability (both attack and defense qualify). This capability is for the first round only. Any casualties are destroyed and removed from play, with no chance to counter-attack (it does not disrupt the special ability of a submarine).

4. Dreadnoughts (variant 2)
Dreadnoughts or leviathans like Yamato and Musashi were the largest and most powerful battleships the world has ever seen.
Your battleships attack and defend on a 5.

4. Dreadnoughts (variant 3)
Dreadnoughts or leviathans like Yamato and Musashi were the largest and most powerful battleships the world has ever seen.
Your battleships can take three hits. Use control markers to keep track on the hits.

@UKcommander:

I like the commonwealth troops, but on this one I went with the flying boats. I like how it will probably help to keep the British navy alive longer.

Yes but commonwelth troops would be a pimple in the Axis A-hole and keep the Britts alive longer in India or Africa, but at no big cost! A bomber fleet cost a lot, one extra infantry each turn does not!!! :wink:

The compensation to the Russian player for the offensive advantage like SS Panzergrenadiers to the German player is Guard Tank Regiments and Conscripts. These two advantages are exactly what the Russian player needs to stay alive for long enough! Goody, goody!!! :D

Do you think that the SS Panzer grenadiers should just be Panzergrenadiers and attack as normal and not have an increased attack capability of 2 or less in the first cycle of combat? :-?

Remember that Katyusha Artillery is very powerful as well. Katyusha Artillery is an incentive for the Russian player to be more aggressive, since it normally is too focused on defense! But for the German player who always is aggressive an offensive advantage like SS Panzergrenadiers or the revised Luftwaffe Dive-Bombers could be just too much for the Russian player to fend off, if not compensated??? What do you think?

U-Boat Program it is! Or is there any other thoughts of how one can replace or revise the Wolf pack advantage??? :o

British Commonwealth Troops it is! Any complaints? :-?

@Guerrilla:

None of em! There all greatI just think it held a special attack ability that you said halted Germanys Advance… Got to wait for a open weekend To play them and cannot wait! This week I get to show my AaA “originator” Revised which he hasn’t played…

GG

GG

How did it work out for you GG, the new advantages? When it comes to the “special attack ability”, it will still be possible if the Russian player have Katyusha Artilery (KA)! KA will make this abillity even stronger, since artillery is cheaper then tanks! :wink: However I am very interested to hear how it all came out for you when or if you used my (or ours :D ) “improved” national advantages!? :o

If we can playtest these advantages we can use them as “Axis&Allies.org Tournament National Advantages”?! :wink:

@MuthaRussia:

My 2 choices-
sino-russian pact
Russian winter

Of course no one chose those! :-? :roll:

Why these advantages? I think the Russian Winter is the best of all!!!

Which one do you think are the two best advantages of the above mentioned?

@Guerrilla:

looks great!!! What made you drop Assault Guns? just wondering

IMO I think we shouldbuild 10 advantages and use a 10d… Then we max out on all these great Ideas and develop more…

Thanks Mr Andersson for stirring these discussions up!! :D

GG

You are welcome!

Assault Guns, what advantage should it replace in your opinion, of the my latest list of Soviet Union National Advantages?

Do you use any of my revised advantages or weapons development technologies? :o

This is how I want the Soviet Union National Advantages to be:

1. Russian Winter
Russia’s greatest ally was its winter cold. Germany’s invasion stopped dead as the snows came down.
Once during the game in your collect income phase, you can declare a severe winter. Until the start of your next turn, your infantry defend on a 3.

2. Nonaggression Treaty
The Japanese refrained from attacking the Soviet Union during most of the war. They already had one bear coming at them from the east.
The first time in the game that the Japanese forces attack any red territory, you may place four of your infantry for free in that territory before resolving combat. If Japan attacks more than one red territory in that turn, you may decide which such territory receives the infantry. If you attack an orange territory before Japan attacks you, you lose this national advantage.

3. Guard Tank Regiments (replace Mobile Industry)
Russia used heavy tank regiments as guards of Moscow. Invulnerable to any standard anti-tank weapons available of that time, these tanks were instrumental in saving the capital.
Your tanks in Russia defends on a 5.

4. Conscripts (replace Salvage)
The Red Army won many battles with their raw manpower, by using untrained infantry and many times unequipped.
During your mobilize new units phase, you may place one of your infantry for free in any red territory if you control it. This free unit is in addition to the group of units you just purchased.

5. Katyusha Rockets (replace Lend-Lease)
The Soviets were able to supplement the artillery with massed batteries of rocket launchers. The sheer volume of fire more than compensated for individual lack of accuracy.
Your artillery attacks on a 3, for the first combat cycle only. Thereafter, only one artillery unit can retain this increased attack factor of 3.

6. Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway spanned 10,000 kilometers from Moscow to Vladivostok, the longest main line in the world.
In the noncombat move phase, your infantry, antiaircraft guns, and artillery may move 2 territories per turn only among these territories: Russia, Novosibirsk, Yakut S.S.R., and Buryatia S.S.R.

1. Wolf Packs (revised)
Wolf packs of U-boats prowled the Atlantic, working together to down Allied convoys. The only sure thing about a U-boat was that there always was another nearby.
Your submarines attack on a 3 (4 if you have the Super Submarines development) if there is more than one of them at the start of the combat cycle. When there are less than two submarines at the start of a combat cycle, this ability is lost. Wolf Packs does not improve defending submarines. Enemy destroyers do not affect this National Advantage. The submarines may come from different sea zones, but they must attack the same sea zone.

2. U-Boat Program
During World War II, 1,162 U-Boats were built, and these U-Boats sank 14,687,231 tons of Allied shipping.
Your submarines now cost 6 IPC’s.

3. Science Program
Tremendous advances were made by German technicians in the field of weapons development, due to the huge amount of resources put into that field.
You may now roll one research die for free each turn.

I missed the last a piece of text for 88’s

88s - multi purpose gun
The German 88’s main purpose was as a heavy anti-aircraft gun at the beginning of the war, but as the war progressed, it was found to be effective in a great variety of roles.
You may choose to use your artillery as an Anti-Tank gun or Anti-Aircraft gun. The choice of how artillery is to be directed must be declared during the first round of combat and may not be redirected on a new target during the combat.

An AT or AA gun may fire once during the opening fire step of combat, but only in defence during the first cycle of combat. Each AT gun defends on a 2 and each AA gun defends on a 1 (but not in a SBR). The casualties, tanks or aircraft, have no chance to counterattack.

1. Luftwaffe Dive-Bombers (revised)
Europe was blitzed and bombed. The Ju-87 Stuka dive-bomber, a small plane, played a big role. Its screaming siren generated terror on all battle fronts.
Your fighters may conduct first round tactical bombing runs. They are subject to antiaircraft fire as normal. In the first cycle of combat, if there are no defending fighters present, the fighters hit on a roll of 5 or less. In succeeding cycles of combat, the fighters hit normally. If defending fighters are present, this first cycle ability is cancelled.

2. Jagd Panzers (replace Luftwaffe Dive-Bombers)
The Germans put their early war experience into the development of tank destroyers. These armor roamed the battlefields to ambush enemy tanks - armed with more powerful guns than similar tanks.
Your tanks defends on a 4 (5 if you have the Heavy Tanks development)as long as the attacker has tanks in the battle.

3. SS Panzergrenadiers
The Germans used elite troops that were designed for fighting alongside tanks, favoured with a greater proportion of the best equipment . These troops were fully motorised units, so that they could at all times keep up with the tanks.
The Panzergrenadiers advantage implies that each tank give one matching infantry one additional movement allowance and an increased attack capability of 2 or less in the first cycle of combat only. Even if supported by artillery, their attack remains 2. The tank and the infantry unit must leave from the same territory.

4. 88s - multi purpose guns
The German 88’s main purpose was as a heavy anti-aircraft gun at the beginning of the war, but as the war progressed, it was found to be effective in a great variety of roles.
You may choose to use your artillery as an Anti-Tank gun or Anti-Aircraft gun. The choice of how artillery is to be directed must be declared during the first round of combat and may not be redirected on a new target during the combat.

@kyrial:

I must say that I don’t think lend-lease is bad at all…. With lend-lease the advantage I see is that the UK player can land some fighters which the Russian can convert to their own and use them to attack as a supplement for the tanks which are, without careful conservation, usually done for by R2 or so and which the Russian player can usually ill afford to replace… I would be very happy as a Russian player with lend-lease since it would allow me to focus on entirely infantry and STILL have the ability to launch effective offensives past R1.

BTW, I am interpreting LL correctly, aren’t I? Admittedly AAR is still new on my table so if I’m misreading the advantage in some way let me know :)

Lend Lease for the Russians is like Banzai Attacks for the Russian as well! Don’t you see? LL is simply not an Russian advantage but an American (USA), just like UK didn’t have any SS Panzers or kamikazes! I don’t think one should focus too much on realism based on history, but I think this is just too much of unrealism!!! :wink: I think if everyone spend one thought about it, they would share my opinion! Don’t you Kyrial?

@kyrial:

I do like the idea of the Katyusha rockets for USSR… not sure about the tanks boosting the inf to 2 as it supplants the purpose of bringing in a bunch of artillery as the unit was designed.

I agree, but the idea was that the German Jagd Panzers should compensate for the Russian Assault Guns. I think it is a perfect match to let the Germans have Jagd Panzers (Tank Destroyers) to counter the Russian Assault Gun advantage, not vice versa since now the Russian player control the game! When I say “control the game”, I mean that the Russian player can choose when and were the German Jagd Panzer advantage will come in to play! The attacker always has the initiative!

I don’t think the Russians need that much more advantage to put them on top. If anything, giving them too much will skew things and I think with their national advantages they are pretty much in a good shape not to mention now with the redesigned map.

Well, things are better now with the revised map, true! But I think some of the advantages are worse or better than others, and that shouldn’t be the case! If one chose to use a few and roll for them then one might end up with the lousy ones were as the opponent ends up with good ones! Of cause one can chose the advantages instead! However If one use all I think these should be as good as the other nations, and they are not in my opinion! Some advantages is not really advantages but the opposite (Luftwaffe Dive-Bombers) and some not much of an advantage (Mobile Industry, Salvage, Fast Carriers and many more)! I still do think that the Russians need more offensive boost to be funny to play and Katyusha is an advantage that offers that. It’s not more than Fortress Europe! Offensive advantages is so much more than defensive for the Axis but the opposite for the Russians, since they mostly seems to buy defence anyway!

My one suggestion for the Kat rockets would be along the lines of the Russians needing X amount of artillery in order for the advantage to trigger, since historically they had all those batteries… just one artillery unit would not be enough to get the desired effect. So make it something like “if the Russian player has 3 or more artillery in an attack they may use the Kat rocket advantage” and keeping the advantage the same as you described before, attacks on 3 in first and thereafter only 1 attacks on 3. I don’t know even if 3 is enough, maybe make it 4 needed to trigger, but I suppose we could start with 3 and see how that goes since most Russian players go heavy on the inf alone in the early part and then to tanks as they get a little more help from the allies.

So, when it comes to the replacements for the Russian advantages I do think that Katyusha should replace Lend-Lease, since it is realy an US advantage!!! And I think my Guard Tank Regiments should replace the Mobile Industry, since it will represent or constitute the same advantage as the Mobile Industry was ment for, but in a much better way!!! And I do think, according to the discussions above that the Conscripts should replace the Salvage advantage, since it is much more an advantage like the desireableothers. But I still think it should be one unit for free and not the reduced cost variant of yours, since it doesn’t reflect the history! Conscripts were “free”, alive or dead!!! I also suggest that one could restrain the possible territories that one could place this unit in to the red ones only. That wouldn’t make it too easy for the Russians to reinforce an German offensive.