Posts made by seancb

Thank you for the clarification Gamerman. That is what I thought but wanted to clarify before next Thursday’s 3 day gaming binge begins.

All fantastic strategies and point gents, but I hate to say that no one has really answered my question.

The following has occurred. Successful Taranto from UK. USSR DOW on Japan on R1. 12 Russian troops firmly in place in Buryatia, the 6 others are headed west and stationed in the Urals getting set up for the big fiesta in Moscow. UK firmly in control of Africa and pressing all over the Middle East with a mIC in Egypt (probably not optimum placement but I like it there in case India goes down). India beginning the “Stack”. ANZAC pushing folks to various islands and setting up forts. I sent the usual DEI defense suspects to their death so there were 2 inf each on the DEI. I didn’t feel the need to send more but maybe that is the answer although I think it would ultimately kill Calcutta/Sydney if you take too many.

Japan has 10 fully loaded transports with 1 ART and 1 INF and one with a tank. All places can get smashed with overwhelming fire power to basically kick the income level to 68 IPC’s collected on turn 4 collect income.

What should the USA do for a counter given that they have 156 IPC’s to spend and assuming a G4 german assault on USSR?
I am not particularly concerned about the European campaign as I can handle my friend because he isn’t that creative over there because he knows that I can trash him every single time with the USSR over there and simply waits for the Pacific VC victory in about 85% of our games so far.

Now you know the situation a bit more completely.

I’m at work on a Friday and no other engineers are here so this pretty much my afternoon!
Cheers.

Rules clarification needed. If UK owns Northwest Persia prior to DOW by Germany against USSR, can USSR move troops into Northwest Persia prior to DOW? Or must they mass on Caucasus and wait to assault Iraq.

First this thread should be called “What country is the most fun to play?”. No such word as “funnest” but maybe that was the intent. Now, that out of the way, I must agree with Kreuz. USA is by far the most fun. It is also the most challenging which IMHO equals most fun. You have no room for error due to your proximity from the action. You also have the most options further clouding the judgment of most players on the first turn, including myself sometimes. I have tried numerous strategies with the USA and some have been successes, leading to “standard move” and some have been utter failures. We call these “experimental games”. My group isn’t pretentious, no one really cares if they win or lose because in real life the good guys won and that’s enough for us. We pretty much just drink a busload of beer and talk a bunch of smack, or as we call it “game table propaganda”.

Least fun country probably China, the entire turn cycle averages less than 10 minutes in our games. USSR always plays China in our group.

My friend and I getting ready for an awesome weekend of gaming next Thursday and I have a bad case of the red ass after losing about a month ago.

He had usually been doing a J2 DOW every time as Axis which get USA to the party on time. The last time we played he did a stall and waited to J4 to blast it open. Most people would say fantastic, but he stacked loaded transports combined with this sneaky naval base purchase on Kwangsi combined with the IJN at 36 and 33. Then punched me in the nose everywhere. Even collecting the perimeter bonus in addition to DEI Needless to say, Germany was fairly well contained and sputtered in Russia badly. I had never tried the 4 bomber USA1 purchase which actually worked fairly well to neuter Germany economically once they got to the dance. He had to send many ftrs back from the east to stop it and I got lucky on some of the engagements hitting 2 one time. He probably played Germany poor but I like to think I played UK and Russia well. UK held their own

Question to anyone who can help or offer advice: What would be the preferred way to handle this delay and has anyone seen this naval base purchase on J1 (suggestion on how to deter)? What purchase should be made with USA to be best prepared for this because I’m pretty sure he will try it again. We play with our own balanced house rules ( see South Texas house rules) and no bid.

I know the answer is easy for some, but it has never happened in our games up until last time so maybe I just messed up on round 1?

Do not drink too much during a gaming session. Especially a weekend match. Excessive alcohol consumption leads to waking up and not remembering how your armies got in such bad position. If your opponent was inebriated more than you were, you could wake up and find the opposite and be in very good shape. It’s 50/50!! I recommend that Fireball whisky never be invited to the gaming table.

Do you like it YG? We worked on this for about 4 months and then playtested for about 6. Made some tweaks due to some things being too strong or causing major imbalance. The peace movement in the US pretty much gave the germans some serious breathing room and caused the game to last another 3 rounds when it happened. Try it out and if you have any questions or need clarification on the system let me know.  It’s pretty fun and yes I think we did redesign the game. We found the game got too linear for us and tried to find something that would mesh with OOB 2nd edition. We don’t like the bid system because we believe if your good enough you can find a way to make it happen. Often our games come down to one or two simple screwups and then the opponent exploits it. If you ever get down to Texas, shoot me an email and we can make a weekend of it. We usually start on Thursday night and finish Saturday night. Much beer is consumed and a steak dinner cooked on Saturday is usually the “last meal” before somebody is deemed “executed by firing squad” off the board (victory achieved).

Here they are. Events are rolled then Espionage.
Events
Germany
5-9 no events
2 – Hitler assassinated Germany worth 8 IPC
Generals now direct the war efforts.
3 – Western Germany worth 10 IPC
Industrial output from the Ruhr region increased for war production
4 – Finland quits the war and declares complete neutrality.
All German or Allied units must now leave Finland. No resources are to be traded with either side. Neither side may enter Finland during the rest of the game.
10 – Franco joins the Axis powers.
Spain can no longer remain neutral due to increasing pressure from Hitler.
Place German units consisting of 4 INF, 1 armor, 1 mobile infantry, 1 artillery, 1 fighter, 1 naval base, 1 airbase, 1 Minor Industrial complex in Spain. Place 1 Italian transport and 1 Italian destroyer in SZ 92. Morocco place 1 Italian INF
11 – French revolt.
French partisans are disrupting supplies from France. While Germans occupy France value is reduced to 1 IPC
12 – “Total War” mobilization of homeland army.
Infantry cost 2 IPC’s this turn.
USSR
5-9 No events
2 – Stalin purges the army.
No combat movement can be conducted this turn. An immediate roll by the Russian player of 5 or 6 will negate this effect and allow the generals to conduct combat.
3 – Mongolian uprising.
Mongolia has agreed to join the Japanese. Japan player roll one die for each Mongolian territory with marked standing armies. For a roll of 2 or less place that many troops in each territory.

4 – Peasant resistance forces disrupt German supply.
Germany cannot conduct non-combat movement in any Russian territory due to rail and partisan disruption damage. Only land units are disrupted. Air units are not affected.

10 – Extra reinforcements from the East
Place 4 free infantry in Novosibirsk.
11 - Allied supply lines open. At collect income phase of Russian turn any Allied units in Russian territories may become Russian units. Sea units not eligible.
12 – “Total War” mobilization of homeland army.
Infantry cost 2 IPC’s this turn.
Japan
5-9 No events
2 – Increased resource extraction. Japan worth 14 IPC
Mining and factory development optimized in Korea and mainland Japan.
3 – Port and airbase maintenance needed. 1 damage applied to each port and airbase under Japanese control.
Japan has neglected the naval and air bases and they now require repair.
4 – Chinese supply disruptions. No combat movement in China
Chinese partisans attack supply lines. Air units not affected.
10 - Advanced naval engineering and cargo ships. Japan value increased by +4 IPC
Deeper ports and larger transports allow for larger cargos to be delivered to industrial zones.
11 – Mongolian treaty. Mongolians join Japan.
By virtue of bribing the tribes of Mongolia with promised riches and the “promise” of ability to self-govern, the Mongolian tribes have agreed to join the Japanese. All neutral Mongolian territories are converted to Japanese rule. Place printed number of troops in each territory. No dice roll needed.
12 – “Total War” mobilization of army.
Infantry cost 2 IPC’s this turn.

USA
5-9 No events
2 – No combat movement this turn. Collect half income. Negated by a roll of 5 or 6. Applies only if USA is at war.
Anti-war sentiment has turned Congress, the Senate, and a new president is elected. Peace movement takes hold developing in social unrest. Protests against the war erupt everywhere in the country. Labor strikes nationwide cripple industrial centers and racial equality is demanded by minorities.
3 – If USA is at war, collect only half income this turn.
Anti-war sentiment is growing. Members of Congress and Senate begin to question America’s involvement in the war. The American citizens are tired of rationing. US government diverts resources to civilian population to dissolve social unrest among homeland.
4 – Increased industrial production Eastern United States worth 25 IPC.
10 – Naval reallocation. One free destroyer placed adjacent to any mainland USA industrial complex of USA player’s choosing.
Naval yards convert civilian workboats to destroyers this turn.
11 – Increased resource contributions from South and Central America. USA receives +5 IPC this turn only.
12 – “Total War” mobilization of army. USA does not need to be at war for this event to apply.
Infantry cost 2 IPC’s this turn.
England
5-9 No events
2 – Churchill has been toppled. No combat movement across the empire. Collect only half of total income from African and Asian territories. Negated by a roll of 5 or 6
Anti-war sentiment increases across the empire and chaos erupts in Parliament. Mainland England begins to question the war, and the colonies, including Indian territories, temporarily disavow loyalty to the crown resulting in half the total income derived from African and Asian territories.
3 – Indian mobilization.
Indian people mobilize for defense of capital. Place 4 free infantry in India. Ceases/reverses effects of Event 4 if currently in revolt.
4 – India revolts.
Gandhi and anti-war sentiment swells within the masses in India. Due to increased desertion by conscripted troops, India is now worth 1 IPC
10 - India +5 IPC’s
Increased industrial output for war production
11 – England +5 IPC’s
Increased industrial output for war production
12 – “Total War” mobilization of army.
Infantry cost 2 IPC’s this turn.
Italy
5-9 No events
2 – Mussolini toppled. No combat movement. Negated by 5 or 6.
Italian people tire of war and question their involvement in a particularly German affair.
3 – Industrial technology is implemented. Factory in Southern Italy is upgraded to a major facility at no cost.
4 – British special forces disrupt Italian ports with sabotage and increased mining of waters by submarine crews.
On this turn, African supplies are cut off due to increased mining of the Mediterranean. Half of African income is collected this turn. Half of any other European territories without a rail line (continuous friendly land route to Rome) is also denied.
10 – Increased African support.
On this turn, Ethiopian tribes enlist to help Italy. Place 2 infantry in Ethiopia. If under enemy control, units must engage any occupiers. If no enemy units present, Ethiopia is returned to Italian control
11 – Increased war production. Southern Italy +8 IPC’s
12 – “Total War” mobilization of army.
Infantry cost 2 IPC’s this turn.

Australia
5-9 No events
2 – Massive typhoon strikes Australia
100 year storm devastates Australia. Flooding and destruction unprecedented. Half money returned to bank to repair damage sustained from storm. Factories, ports and airbases in New Zealand and New South Wales sustain 1 damage each. (Can happen more than once in a game.)
3 – Prime minister toppled. No combat movement this turn. Negated by roll of 5 or 6.
Anti-war sentiment grows. Civilian population is tired of rationing. Social unrest increasing among Aboriginal tribes.
4 – British supply arrives. 6 extra IPC’s this turn.
England sends supplies.
10 - Aircraft conversion.
Civilian seaplanes converted to coastal military patrol craft. Place one free fighter on each undamaged Australian controlled airbase, one per base.
11 – Increased war production New South Wales +6 IPC’s
12 – “Total War” mobilization of army.
Infantry cost 2 IPC’s this turn.

Espionage order - Germany USSR Japan USA England Italy Australia (China cannot conduct espionage but is subject to adverse effects from the Axis.)
Espionage
5-9 No espionage. If a power is not yet at war, this phase is not conducted for that power.

2 –Military leader assassinations.
Result is limited combat movement. Combat can be conducted in only 2 zones of power’s choice. After a 2 is rolled (successful placement of assassin behind enemy lines) target (country) of assassination attempt is determined, assassin will roll 2nd dice to determine attempt success. Successful hit on a 3 or less. Defender has chance to negate (thwart attempt) by roll of 5 or 6
Germany – 1/2 USSR, 3/4 United Kingdom – England only, 5/6 USA
Japan – 1/2 USSR, 3/4 United Kingdom – India only, 5/6 USA
Italy – 1/2 USSR, 3/4 United Kingdom – England only, 5/6 USA
USSR – If at war with both Germany and Japan, even roll is targeted at Germany and odd roll is at Japan.
England – If at war with both Germany and Japan, even roll is targeted at Germany and odd roll is at Japan.
Australia – Japan only.
USA – 1/2 Germany, 3/4 Italy, 5/6 Japan
3 – Technical espionage. Technology succeeds on a 5 or 6 this turn. Spy networks infiltrate and send back secrets about enemy weapons programs currently being developed.
4 – Deception – Negates movement detected. All enemy units defend at -1 this turn for the first round of combat. Does not apply to AAA or AA guns.
10 – Movement detected – negates deception. All units defend at +1 for the first round of combat. Does not apply to AAA or AA guns.
11 – Spy networks sabotage industrial facilities and rail lines. Roll one die of industrial attack for the next two turns
Germany – 1/2 USSR, 3/4 United Kingdom – England only, 5/6 USA
Japan – 1/2 USSR, 3/4 United Kingdom – India only, 5/6 USA
Italy – 1/2 USSR, 3/4 United Kingdom – England only, 5/6 USA
USSR – If at war with both Germany and Japan, even roll is targeted at Germany and odd roll is at Japan.
England – If at war with both Germany and Japan, even roll is targeted at Germany and odd roll is at Japan.
Australia – Japan only.
USA – 1/2 Germany, 3/4 Italy, 5/6 Japan
12 – Counter espionage. Negates all adverse espionage from any enemy spy network.

Germany
2 – The jet age begins and the ME-262 takes to the skies. Fighters defend at a 5 during ground attacks and scrambles and defend at 3 during strategic and tactical bombing.
3 – King Tiger tank is developed and rolls off the assembly line. Armor now attacks on a 4.
4 – Type IX U-boat is unleashed upon the Atlantic. Submarines attack at 3 and defend at 2.
5 – Nebelwerfer rocket packs delivered to the front. All artillery can support 2 infantry or mechanized infantry.
6 – Waffen SS divisions now attached to regular army divisions. “4+1” For every 5 infantry in a combat or defense. One attacks and defends at +1. With an attached artillery the attack value is increased to 3.
7 – V-2 Rocket is developed. Airbases may now conduct one industrial attack on a zone within 4 spaces. One die of damage is rolled per base.
8 – Long range aircraft. All aircraft flight range is increased by 1 movement.
9 – Advanced radar. AA guns hit at 2 during strategic and tactical bombing raids.
10 – Improved mechanized infantry. All mechanized infantry attacks at a 2. Artillery do not boost.
11 - Improved aviation engineering and manufacturing. Fighters now cost 8 IPC.

12 – Atomic weapons. A new age of terror begins as the Nazis harness the power of the atom.
Atomic bombs cost 24 IPC to build. Only two may be built per turn. May not be built on same turn as breakthrough turn.
Move as infantry by land or sea. If loaded on a strategic bomber, it can move the current range of the bomber
Due to a lack of trained technicians and engineers, a nation may possess no more than 2 weapons at one time.
Due to the size and nature of the airburst associated with the nuclear warhead, no attack roll is required to score a successful hit.
No air defense, such as fighter scramble, is allowed due to the altitude of the strike plane and surprise of the attack. Only upgraded fighters may intercept. Long range aircraft or jet power technology must have been researched.
An atomic weapon is treated as an AAA gun if the territory in which it is stored is attacked. 
No AAA guns are to be fired due to the altitude of the strike plane and surprise of the attack only normal AA gun with factory can fire. Airbase and naval base do not fire AA.
Any industrial complex is attacked with 4 dice disabled to maximum value of 20 for major and 2 dice disabled to maximum value of 6 for minor complexes.
Any airbases or naval bases are attacked by one dice of value.
One dice is rolled and that number of units of defenders choice eliminated. AAA guns may be chosen.

If used on a naval assault:
The nuclear strike cannot be combined with surface vessels.
Due to the altitude of the strike plane and surprise of the strike, aircraft on carriers and loaded troops on transports are considered to be cargo and provide no defense. The 5 hits are assessed and the attacking bomber returns to base. No 2nd attack is permitted.
Transports chosen last.

USSR
1 – IL-2 Sturmovik rolls off the line. All fighters now attack at 4.
2 – T-36 rolls off the line. Tanks now attack at 4.
3 – Katyusha rocket packs to the front. Artillery can support 2 infantry.
4 – Russian home guard. “4+1”, for every 5 infantry on defense one defends at 3.
5 – 6 Roll again
Japan
1 – Kaiten submarine is unleashed upon the Pacific. Submarines attack at 3 and defend at 2.
2 – Improved ship building. Battleships cost 17 and carriers cost 13.
3 – Ship radar. Battleships now hit and defend at 5.
4 – Improved capital ship design. Battleships and carriers now require 3 hits to destroy.
5 – Long range aircraft. All aircraft flight range is increased by 1 movement.
6 – Improved aviation engineering and manufacturing. Fighters now cost 8 IPC

USA is not permitted to develop weapons until they are in a state of war.
2 – B-29 is developed by Boeing. Roll 2 dice for each strategic bomber in a combat or strategic raid. Range is increased to 8.
3 – Improved factories and manufacturing methods. Cost of all units except infantry, reduced by 1 IPC.
4 – Ship radar. Battleships now hit and defend at 5.
5 – Improved capital ship design. Battleships and carriers now require 3 hits to destroy.
6 – Improved ship building. Battleships cost 17 and carriers cost 13.
7 – P-51 Mustang rolls off line. Fighters now have a range of 6
8 – Rocket barges developed. Destroyers may now conduct shore bombardment at a 2.
9 – Improved mechanized infantry. All mechanized infantry attacks at a 2. Artillery do not boost.
10 – Long range aircraft. All aircraft flight range is increased by 1 movement. P-51 is not increased.
11 – Jet power developed. Fighters defend at 5 during defense and scramble and 3 during strategic and tactical bombing raids.
12 – Atomic weapons. See German section.

United Kingdom
1 – Sterling bombers developed. Roll 2 dice for each strategic bomber in a combat or strategic raid.
2 – Ship radar. Battleships now hit and defend at 5.
3 – Improved capital ship design. Battleships and carriers now require 3 hits to destroy.
4 – SAS Commandos. On first round only, of an amphibious assault infantry hit on a 2. Matching artillery boost to a 3.
5 – Anti-aircraft radar improvements. AA guns hit on 2 during strategic and tactical bombing.
6 – Spitfire III rolls off the line. Fighters now defend at 5 during defense and scrambles and 2 during strategic and tactical bombing raids.

Italy
1 – Long range aircraft. All aircraft flight range is increased by 1 movement.
2 - Improved aviation engineering and manufacturing. Fighters now cost 8 IPC
3 – Improved mechanized infantry. All mechanized infantry attacks at a 2. Artillery do not boost.
4 – Mobile artillery. Artillery may now move 2.
5 – Frogmen commandos. On the first round of combat only, 2 extra dice are rolled prior to a naval attack. A roll of 2 or less is a hit. Hits are assessed prior to the main attack.
6 – Roll again.
Australia – due to lack of industry and supplies are limited to naval improvements only
1 – Improved ship building.
Cost table
Battleship 17
Aircraft Carrier 13
Cruiser 9
Destroyer 7
Transport 6
Submarine 5
2 – Ship radar. Battleships now hit and defend at 5.
3 – Improved capital ship design. Battleships and carriers now require 3 hits to destroy.
4 – 6 – Roll again.

We playtested our first versions and found that the system needed to be standardized to match the odds on the dice. IE : a roll of 2 is something bad and 12 is very good. I posted these rules a while back but a lot of people took a crap on them. That is fine, we tweaked after playtesting and “arguing”. We created them to give some invariability to the game and change up the way the game is played. We also created our own technology rules as well if a player was willing to invest. We feel these rules are really fun and make for a much more playable game because they change the ebb and flow of a strategy that a player may be attempting to develop. In addition, they sometimes have no affect at all on a specific round of play. Any way, if interested PM me and I’ll send over. I would like some preliminary review and possibly a true playtest. I know we had fun. Sean…

I can’t believe I can’t find anyone in the 4th largest metro area of the USA to play a face to face game. Don’t be a wimp! I’m not that good and I’ll buy beer and pizza.
Sean…

Thanks for all the help gents. I like the orange and black definitely makes it look like some fire.

We currently use the same chips for multiple units as we do to mark damage on AB, NB, and IC after bombing raids. This can become cumbersome with all the units and such on the board as well. Has anyone found a “smaller” chip that would fit the base and IC marker tiles maybe like 1/2" in diameter.

Heres another one

We used some magnetic backing from a craft store that had adhesive on one side. You must measure the deck width of each countries carrier and then mark the cuts. As far as the planes go, it was kind of custom for each type of aircraft. The japanese tac bombers have wheels and we simply used my wife’s cuticle cutters (I know insert laughter here) and cut the wheels off. the bottom was lightly sanded with some of her fingernail boards (insert more laughter) to create and even surface and the problem of the uneven surface was easily solved. The only thing to keep in mind is to check the polarity of the magnetic sheet so that your planes sit correctly.

We have also revised the event and espionage section from what is posted after we playtested a few times. There was some imbalance and it was revised to reflect that. The events and espionage sections could be omitted if only tech section was desired.

We have written our own tech rules which are pretty fun and country specific thus limiting what some countries could and couldn’t do. I placed them in the House rules section or if you want PM me and I will send them to you in pdf form.

This is the deadliest weapon in our games.

How was your last game group? Wish you guys were closer to Houston.

Looking for players for AA40 Global or Pac or Eur. DDay or AAR. I’m in Sugar Land but willing to drive if you want to host. Sean Send me a message if interested.

As you stated this injects some random invariability. Instead of the linear games some randomness is provided. This isn’t supposed to be reality. If you want that just watch the “World at War” series from the BBC circa 1970’s. It’s just supposed to be fun. That’s all. Play test and give suggestions to improve.