New Rules

@panther

Thank you!

Krieghung, thanks for the quick response.  That poor Russian battleship in SZ12 has to thread the needle through SZ11 and SZ10 even if there are no ships there and I guess once the UK Navy is gone in SZ29, you just need to start ground pounding your way through Ottoman to get into the fight.

Thanks for sharing.  I’m always interested in new ways to improve this game while keeping it simple enough for a first or second time player to understand.  The CP’s are certainly in need of help.  But that help must not come at the expense of game play balance or time.  Most of my friends and family that I convince to play with me get “worn out” after a few hours.  We have waited so long for a A&A WWI game and now we finally have one, we just need to tweak it a little more to make it work the best.

@goalievogel:

How do units move from space to space without a non-combat phase? Sorry, I never saw the FAQ!

1. Can the Russians that were being attacked retreat from the territory? Or do they have to stay put?

There are fewer phases in this game.

Purchase
Move
Combat
Deploy purchases

Naval changes things up a little, and Air power adds in some twists, but in general that’s all there is.
You cannot retreat after combat (in the same turn) as there is no non-combat movement phase.  You have to wait until your next movement turn to retreat any of your land based units (including fighters).

All of these rules are very well spelled out in the book (minefields, movement, transports + planes, etc) though it MAY require 2 or more readings to understand how they all interact as not everything is laid out in a simple format.

French guns should be built in France. If the French player wants to give them to Belgium he needs to move them there.

@Flashman:

So no contested SZs, then.

Does that meant that, when a player with ships in a SZ that an enemy has just built a new ship into takes his turn, he must either fight the new units to the death or withdraw?

If I remember correctly, ships can avoid battle in previous A&A versions, but perhaps he’s changed it to simulate the necessity of breaking through the blockade?

Hey Flashman, you are well informed and have good ideas BUT I can assure you that these thoughts will lead to complex rules which Larry would like to prevent especially for this initial release which is supposed to bring some numbers in!

I am curious how he avoids some of your described problems but we will see.

In an advanced game/collector’s editon whatsoever things might be different!

Well, Africa was the site of several campaigns throughout the war, and those territories were important in the overall “clash of empires”-vibe that really defined the beginning of WWI.  From what I have read, only the Western Front bogged down into extensive trench warfare, and that area is where it shall be a matter of yards.  The Eastern Front and Africa will be more mobile, I would imagine.  Otherwise, as you stated, Shakespeare, that really would be utterly impractical unless Larry stays true to his tendency for really wildly skewed map projections.