• Official Q&A

    As promised, here is the unofficial AAP40 FAQ.  This is still a work in progress at this point, but all information in it is official.  Some wording may be changed and more may be added before it’s officially published (hopefully next month sometime).

    Please do not post directly to this topic, as I don’t want it to become hard to follow.  I will be adding updates here as they occur.

    Errata

    Setup:  The following errors exist in the setup cards:
        United States: Add an airbase and a naval base to the Philippines.
       ANZAC: Remove the minor industrial complex from New Zealand, and change the major industrial complex in New South Wales to a minor industrial complex.

    The Map:  Sea zone 5 should not be adjacent to Korea.  The border between sea zones 5 and 6 should meet at the border between Amur and Korea, leaving Amur still touching only sea zone 5 but Korea touching only sea zone 6.

    Page 8, The Political Situation:  This entire section should be replaced with the following:

    At the beginning of the game, Japan and China are at war.  However, none of the other Allied powers begin the game at war with Japan.  They remain neutral for the time being, but each will be drawn into the war in turn as certain events unfold.  The following rules reflect the growth and development of these historical events from 1940 on.

    Japan
    At the beginning of the game, Japan is only at war with China.  Japan considers movement of units into China by any other power as an act of war against it.  Japan may declare war on any or all Allied powers at the beginning of the Combat Move phase of any of its turns.  Japan may attack Dutch territories only if a state of war exists between it and the United Kingdom and ANZAC.  Japan may attack French territories at any time, requiring no declaration of war against any Allied power before doing so.

    The United Kingdom and ANZAC
    The United Kingdom and ANZAC have a special relationship, and they are treated as one for political purposes.  Either power is free to declare war on Japan at the beginning of the Combat Move phase of any of its turns, resulting in a state of war between both powers and Japan.  Neither power may move units into China unless a state of war exists between them and Japan.

    These two powers also have an arrangement with the Dutch government in exile (Holland having been captured by Germany) and have taken guardianship of the Dutch territories in the Pacific.  As a result, they are free to move units into these territories as a noncombat movement at any time, as long as they have not yet been captured by Japan.  They may actually take control of them (gaining their IPC income) by moving land units into them.  Additionally, the United Kingdom and ANZAC consider attacks against any Dutch territories to be acts of war against them directly.  Once a Dutch territory has been captured by Japan, however, it may be captured and controlled by any power.

    The United States
    The United States may not declare war on Japan unless Japan first declares war on it or makes an unprovoked declaration of war against the United Kingdom or ANZAC.  However, if the United States is still not at war with Japan by the Collect Income phase of its third turn, it may declare war on Japan at that time.  Representing a switch from a peacetime to wartime economy, the American player collects an additional 40 IPCs.  This wartime economy takes effect during the first U.S. turn in which it is at war with Japan, regardless of the event that triggered the state of war.

    France
    France’s capital has been captured by Germany.  As a result, French territories are treated in the same way as any Allied territories whose capital is held by an enemy power (see Liberating a Territory, pg. 18).

    The Soviet Union
    The Soviet Union has entered into a non-aggression treaty with Japan.  As a result, no units from any power on either side may enter Soviet territories at any time.

    Page 10, Phase 1: Purchase & Repair Units:  The second sentence of the first paragraph should read “All the units listed in the mobilization zone on the game board are available for purchase by all powers, except for China, which has limited purchasing options (see page 9).”

    Page 17, Step 4. Defending Units Fire (Land and Sea Battles):  “Defending units roll one die for each unit with a defense value, including units behind the casualty strip_,_ that did not fire in step 2.”

    Page 20 - Collect Income:  The last sentence of the first paragraph should read “However, before you can actually receive any income, you must check for any losses incurred by naval attacks against your shipping routes (see below).”

    Page 20 - Collect Income – Conduct Convoy Disruptions:  The third condition for a convoy disruption should read “At least one warship belonging to a power with which you are at war must be in the sea zone.”

    Page 21 - National Objectives & Bonus Income - Japan:  The first bullet point should read “Gain 5 IPCs: Control Sumatra, Java, Celebes and Borneo at the same time.”

    Page 21 - National Objectives & Bonus Income - United States:  The first bullet point should read “Representing a switch from a peacetime to wartime economy, gain 40 IPCs if the U.S. is at war with Japan.”

    Page 22, Industrial Complexes (cardboard counter) – Unit Characteristics:  The third and fourth sentences should be replaced with "The major industrial complexes have a 10 printed on them.”  The final sentence should read “Industrial complexes cannot be built on islands (Japan is the exception).”  (Australia is not an island.)

    Page 24, Artillery – Unit Characteristics:  This paragraph should read: “Supports Infantry and Mechanized Infantry: When an infantry or mechanized infantry attacks along with an artillery, its attack increases to 2.  Each infantry and/or mechanized infantry must be matched one-for-one with a supporting artillery unit.  Artillery does not support infantry or mechanized infantry on defense.”

    Page 24, Mechanized Infantry:  The Attack value should read “1 (2 when supported by artillery)”.  The following paragraph should be added to Unit Characteristics: “Supported by Artillery: When mechanized infantry attacks along with an artillery, the mechanized infantry’s attack increases to 2.  Each mechanized infantry must be matched one-for-one with a supporting artillery unit.  If your mechanized infantry outnumber your artillery, the excess mechanized infantry units still have an attack of 1.  For example, if you attack with two artillery and five mechanized infantry, two of your mechanized infantry have an attack of 2 and the rest have an attack of 1.  Mechanized infantry are not supported by artillery on defense.”

    Special Comments and Clarifications Related to Neutral Powers

    The United States begins the game neutral and is initially not considered part of the Allies, though it does have Allied sympathies.  The United Kingdom and ANZAC are at war with Germany, on the other side of the world, but not with Japan.  While Japan is considered to be on the opposite side from these neutral powers, they are not considered to be fully enemies.  While they remain neutral, these powers have some special conditions and restrictions on what they can and cannot do.  The United States, being at war with no one and having a strict isolationist policy, has especially tight restrictions.

    A power may never attack a territory controlled by or containing units belonging to a power with which it is not at war.  In the event that a power at war attacks a sea zone containing units belonging to a power with which it is already at war and units belonging to a power with which it is not at war, the latter power’s units are ignored.  Those units will not participate in the battle in any way, and a state of war with that power will not result.

    A power’s ships do not block naval movements of other powers with which it is not at war, nor are they blocked by them.  They can occupy the same sea zone.

    In addition to these restrictions, when not at war the United States may not attack neutral territories.  It also may not move units into territories or onto ships belonging to another power or use another power’s naval bases.  This includes Dutch territories.  Also, no other power may move land or air units into the United States’ territories or onto its ships or use its naval bases.

    If a power is not yet at war with another power, and there are no restrictions currently keeping them from being at war (see The Political Situation on pg. 8), it may declare war on that power.  This must be done on the declaring power’s turn at the beginning of the Combat Move phase, before any combat movements are made, unless otherwise specified in the political rules (see pg. 8).  An actual attack is not required.  Once war is declared, all territories and sea zones controlled by or containing units belonging to the power or powers on which war is declared instantly become hostile, and the normal restrictions of moving into or through hostile spaces apply.

    Important exception – During the combat movement phase following the announced declaration of war, transports already in sea zones that have just become hostile may be loaded in those sea zones (but not in other hostile sea zones).  This may occur only during the combat movement phase which results in a state of war.  Once that initial combat movement phase is over, normal transport loading restrictions apply.

    The Map

    Q.  Does sea zone 6 connect to Manchuria?
    A.  No.

    Q.  Are the Canadian territories (Yukon Territory and British Columbia) controlled by the United Kingdom?
    A.  Yes.

    Q.  Are islands that appear on the map but have no name label, such as the one in sea zone 1, game spaces?  Can I land units on them?
    A.  No.  If an island is not named, it’s not a game space.

    Movement

    Q.  Let’s say I’m doing an amphibious assault and there are no enemy ships in the sea zone around the island I’m attacking, but the island has an airbase and enemy fighters.  Can I move extra ships and planes into the sea zone along with my transports that won’t support the assault just in case my opponent decides to scramble the fighters to defend the sea zone?  What about if there’s only an enemy sub in the sea zone?  Can I move a destroyer in along with my transport just to keep the sub from getting a free shot at it, even though the destroyer will not participate in the assault?
    A.  Yes, in both cases.  You may move units into a sea that presents a danger to your units during combat movement, even though they may not actually end up fighting.  Just the chance that there will be combat is enough to allow it.

    Q.  Submarines can attack transports that move through their sea zone “unaccompanied by surface warships”.  Under exactly what conditions do friendly surface warships prevent sub attacks on moving transports?
    A.  A surface warship that starts its movement along with one or more transports and moves with them will prevent sub attacks.  Also, friendly surface warships that were already in the enemy sub’s sea zone and do not move will prevent attacks on transports that move through or into the sea zone.

    Q.  If a with which I’m not at war moves an unescorted transport through a sea zone where I have a submarine, can I attack it?
    A.  No.

    Combat

    Q.  Do Kamikaze attacks require a Japanese air unit to be used and destroyed?
    A.  No.  The Japanese player must simply discard one Kamikaze token for each attack.

    Q.  Can I scramble fighters or tactical bombers from Queensland or Western United States?
    A.  No.  They can only be scrambled from island territories with airbases.  An island is a single territory completely surrounded by a single sea zone.

    Q.  Aircraft carriers have an attack vaIue of zero.  Does this mean that they can’t attack other units and can only be used defensively in battles?
    A.  No.  They can participate in an attack and take hits just like any other warship.  They just don’t get an attack roll.

    Mobilizing New Units

    Q.  If I upgrade a minor industrial complex to a major one, how many units can it mobilize on the same turn that it’s upgraded?
    A.  Three.  Just as you can’t mobilize units from a new industrial complex, you can’t use the increased mobilization capacity from the upgrade until your next turn.

    Q.  If I purchased units that I can’t mobilize because of production limitations, what happens to the excess units?
    A.  They are returned to the box, and the IPCs are refunded to you.

    Collecting Income and Convoy Disruptions

    Q.  What is the maximum number of IPCs that the United States can lose in a turn from convoy disruptions in sea zone 10 when it is at war?  Can the extra 40 IPCs that it gets be lost in this way?
    A.  Since the additional 40 IPCs is National Objective income and doesn’t come directly from a territory, it may not be lost to convoy disruptions.  The maximum amount that the U.S. can lose in sea zone 10 is 12 IPCs (10 for Western United States plus 2 for Mexico).

    Q.  If Japan captures Western United States, does its income increase by 50 IPCs?
    A.  No.  Japan would receive 10 IPCs income from the territory.  Since the additional 40 IPCs is National Objective income and doesn’t come directly from the territory, only the U.S. may receive it.

    Miscellaneous

    Q.  The battle strip has different combat values than the rulebook for some of the units, and it doesn’t have mechanized infantry or tactical bombers on it at all.  Is the battle strip incorrect?
    A.  Unfortunately, the battle strip for Axis & Allies 1942 Edition was included in this game by mistake.  The unit combat values in the rulebook are correct.  If you wish, you may contact Wizards Customer Service at the address or telephone number on the back of the Rulebook to request a replacement battle strip.

    Q.  Can I upgrade a minor industrial complex to a major one if it has been damaged?
    A.  Yes, but only if you repair the damage at the same time that you purchase the upgrade.

  • Official Q&A

    12/22 - Added clarification on the political status of New Hebrides.

  • Official Q&A

    12/28 - Added three new questions and two clarifications.

  • Official Q&A

    1/7 - Added one new question and clarifications regarding convoy raids and passive sub attacks.  These clarifications were originally adjusted in the wrong direction.  It is only possible to take an action resulting in a state of war with another power on your turn.  You must already be at war to take aggressive action against another power on its turn.

  • Official Q&A

    1/19 - Added an erratum for the map regarding sea zone 5, and added a clarification regarding use of friendly naval bases when not at war.

  • Official Q&A

    1/26 - Heavily modified the politics rules and added several new questions.

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