• Which nation would be the best to add after Italy and China?

    Keep in mind that this add-on would be for the original A&A game; however, the starting time could be sooner than 1942.


  • East and West USA can be very fun to play and adds more historical depth to the game. I tried it myself once in a game of 7 players, and with some help in starting units and IPC worth, it’s a very enjoyable game.


  • Can you ellaborate on this East & West USA variant?


  • Well the East/West works especially well for the board game version of A&A, since USA is neatly split in half. What this means is that West USA troops can only be used in the West (IE the Pacific), while East USA can only be deployed in the Atlantic.

    Next you consider IPC values

    Added up, territories in Western USA amount to 19 IPCs.
    Here you add 2 IPCs to Hawaii, 2 IPCs to Midway, 2 IPCs to Western USA, 1 IPC to Alaska, giving USA 26 starting IPCs

    for Eastern USA, territories amount to 17 IPCs. I would add 7 IPCs to Eastern USA, to give them 24 starting IPCs

    To balance the rest out add at least 1 IPC to every island in Asia and give Japan a few more units. For Germany, add a bit to their navy (a sub or so) and a bit to their African army (a inf or panzer).

    And presto, a very exciting game! :)


  • Sounds like something I’d like to try. So, WUS would also become a capital? Would the order of turn alter any?


  • Yes, Los Angeles is the Western US capital. :wink:

    As for turns, it goes something like this:

    RUSSIA
    GERMANY
    UK
    USA -> East
    Japan
    USA -> West


  • Interesting …

    Do you have any House Rules written for this anywhere (with starting territories and IPC values of all modified territories). Are any neutral countries (like S. America) converted to Eastern or Western US?


  • Yes… if I can find them. (sorry but swtiched computers recently and have to did through my old documents to see where I put it).


  • MistaBiggs, why not add both China and Italy?? Board may have to be changed some units added as well. But could be done with some work.

    TG Moses VI, that variant sounds real good please post what you can when you can.


  • I currently have some House Rules that I’ve generated doing just this (adding both Italy & China); however, I was wondering if it was possible to add any other nation/country and if so, which one?


  • When I seperated W. USA and E. USA, it was more a quick improvisation than anything else. Besides, in a room of 7 guys waiting to play, you couldn’t spend hours balancing each side. However, the House Rule for a second America works pretty well and I’ll try to retype it out sometime today.

    The best advantage about adding W. USA and E. USA is that it requires virtually no changes to the game board itself. With a lot of China and Italy house rules, you often find yourself creating new territories (in order to represent some scope of fine), which can be very confusing. Also, another problem is space. Italy can get very cluttered up with units in the game. The great thing about W. and E. USA House Rules is that it requires no new territories (only modifying the value of existing ones) and the fact that there is plenty of space to “move around” (a major plus thanks to all those blow up boxes that hard get used).


  • The rules that I use to add Italy and China – don’t change anything to much either … like you said – just the IPC values and a few territory changes (i.e. add Mongolia for China and give Italian East Africa to Italy – stuff like that). Of course, there has to be some additional troops added here and there as well, but overall – not to many changes.


  • Here’s what I’ve come up with so far

    –- West USA —

    IPC Changes

    Western USA: +2 (12)
    Hawaii: +2 (3)
    Midway: +1 (1)

    Total Starting IPCs: 24 IPCs

    Unit Changes:

    Hawaii:
    Add one AA-gun
    Add one infantry
    Add one Bomber

    — Japan —

    IPC Changes

    Okinawa: +1 (2)
    Caroline Islands: +1 (1)
    Solomon Islands: +1 (1)
    Wake Island: +1 (1)
    Borneo: +1 (2)

    Total Starting IPCs: 30 IPCs

    Unit Changes

    East Indies Sz:

    Add 1 Sub
    Add 1 Inf

    Okinawa:

    Add 1 inf
    Add 1 AA-gun

    Borneo

    Add 1 inf

    — East USA —

    IPC Changes:

    Eastern USA: +6 (18 IPCs)
    Starting IPCs: 23 IPCs

    Unit Changes:

    Eastern USA

    Add 1 ftr

    – Germany —

    Unit Changes:

    Algeria:

    Add 1 inf

    Libya:

    Add 1 inf

    There you have it :) Please respond for balancing issues or other comments. A rough patchwork, but looks reasonably balanced.


  • Looks good, but is it balanced? US (combined) went up from 36 to 47, while Japan’s went up only 5 and Germany none. Seems like Germany or Japan needs a little more economic strength. Have you play tested this? If so, does it come out evenly matched?

    Don’t get me wrong … I love the idea – I’m just wondering how it plays out.


  • You may think that going from 36 to 47 is a big difference… but in reality it is not. The main factor is that 36 IPCs is usually used to fight one-theater only (usually the Germany-first strategy). Any expert A&A will tell you its much better to stick on one front only rather than divide your resources. With 36, you can concentrate maximum force in one area (classic Blitzkreig doctrine). However, with a 24/23 split, the presence isn’t felt nearly much. However, to balance things out more, I’m willing to remove some starting units from US (maybe Hawaii shouldn’t be THAT powerful) or add more to the Axis.

  • 2007 AAR League

    What about Vichy France? I’ve heard people talk about it before, and even though they wouldn’t have much I still think it’s an interesting idea. What do you think?


  • France is possible… but what could you give them? I much rather have Italy as a second Axis than France… there’s just really not much they can do except guard against D-Day.

  • 2007 AAR League

    I agree. It was just something I thought I might mention. However, I do believe they would have some troops in Algeria, and you might give them French Equatorial Africa. Again, just a thought.


  • It could work, though you might rework to add Spain or Swtiz in the game too. However, I predict that France might have problems dealing with the Allied navy and airforce.


  • if you have 7 people isn’t it better to play diplomacy?

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