• This is just a synopsis of a game I recently played with a research mod.  It might be of interest to some, but it’ll probably be of disinterest to most.  Fair warning.

    We almost never do research until the game is decided anyways, so we decided to mix it up a little by granting technology at the start of the game.  I’ve seen someone’s post describing a mod where research carries over to the next round (6=breakthrough, 3-5=carries over, 1-2=fail).  I’m looking forward to trying that some day, but that’s not what we did.

    Every country chose 1 technology they thought would be most helpful to them, and then research was closed for the rest of the game.  One caveat: no technology could be chosen twice.  This obviously gives an advantage to whoever goes first, but we went with the usual turn order because we figured Allies got enough of an advantage by having more technologies.  Here’s what we chose:

    Germany: improved mech
    Russia:    improved art
    Japan:      jet power
    America:  shipyards
    China:      war bonds
    UK:          paratroopers
    Italy:      long range aircraft
    Anzac:    factory production
    France:    AA radar

    I was Axis, and won the game in round 7 due to a lot of luck and capitalizing on some mistakes.  An example of luck, Italy was a strong player despite Taranto.  My destroyer in SZ 96 killed both his cruiser and fighter, leaving me with two transports.  Italy’s first turn killed what was left of British fleet in 97 w/o a loss, and took Greece.  Germany sailed to Gibraltar, delaying America’s mobilization of Brazil (I did a J2) and delaying him in the Pacific by forcing him to build up in the east.  So that at the end of I2, Italy had 3 NOs.  Long range aircraft really increased my options.

    An example of capitalizing on a mistake, England tried to stack a fleet in 109 too early.  He was overconfident in my lack of planes (I had bad luck clearing out his navy and then lost both bombers in two separate SBRs, plus I had 3 planes in Rome, which he thought was out of range).  I don’t know how I could’ve won the game if it were’t for taking out that fleet and all his planes (he scrambled).  If he had waited for another turn for a larger stack with American support, he would have been dropping an extra 4 inf into every invasion, wearing the western front down by sheer economic attrition.  But as it was, I kept building up my fleet and was able to keep the Americans at bay off Gibralter.

    Another bit of luck was the climactic battle between Germany and Russia.  This one was very interesting considering our technologies; we were both heavily weighted on offense and jostling for position to attack.  I was stacked in Ukraine, he had sacrificed Novgorod to give his stack in Bryansk a bigger punch.  On Germany’s turn, the odds were slightly stacked in Russia’s favor against attacking Bryansk because he’d been building nothing but inf/art every turn, and I didn’t have the aircraft available to tilt the odds my way, not even with improved mech.  And I had very few follow up troops because I had been building up my navy.  If I stayed in Ukraine, my army would have been slaughtered by his improved art, but if I had backed off, I would never again be able to put myself in position to attack and the eastern front would have been forever stalled.  So I grabbed my sack and pressed the attack.  I rolled above average, he rolled below average.  I had enough tanks leftover to survive the counterattack and then to press forward into Moscow, supplemented by a few of my reserves.

    Japan had a solid, clean game.  China’s war bonds was brutal, but I did a J2 to keep him reigned in for the first couple of turns.  I had the islands and Malaysia by turn 3 and then got very lucky that Allies made a big mistake.  Half of India’s troops were caught in Yunnan.  He brought them back to Burma, but didn’t reinforce Burma with China.  Half my transports and some guys in Shan State killed that Burmese half-stack with enough left over to prevent an effective counterattack.  My other transports loaded up with reinforcements from FIC with a harbor on it to finish off India with no forthcoming counter attack by round 5.  China was running amuk with something like 30+inf and some art, but I was closing in on him with two much smaller stack and lots of jet power.

    Things were about to heat up against America, who with shipyards had been building a prodigious navy. But I’d been able to hold him off the first few rounds from taking Caroline Islands with a couple fighters stationed there, since I had enough punch on the mainland with the rest of my fighters.  Germany’s fleet off 91 though is what really saved Japan by delaying America in the Pacific.  By the time I was ready to face America, I could do so with my back secure.  It would have been a good fight between my offense and his fodder, but the game was already won before that by a fluke in Bryansk.  Otherwise, if it depended on Japan to win the game, I think Anzac’s production of 4 inf per turn would have been the determing factor, because I wasn’t going to hold onto control of the Pacific for long, not with America supplementing his fleet with 6 DD and 2 BB per turn.  I had one shot to bring all my troops to Sydney and no chance to follow up with reinforcements.  And Anzac’d been building a decent army since the fall of Calcutta.  I deliberated for a long time between choosing jet power and long range aircraft, but my decision was vindicated by the event.

    It was a fun game.  It took the risk out of research, but added an entirely different dynamic.  Instead of trying to capitalize on whatever capricious circumstances the research dice threw our way, we ended up trying to exploit our natural advantages.  So now I throw it out to anyone who’s read this far:  What technology would you choose for each country, given that your foes are also suped up?


  • I always thought a good way to incorporate some randomness to use the research was to have every nation roll once every round for a potential breakthrough and then you get to choose the tech.  Once chosen, the tech was exclusive to that nation (like a patent).

    This way, some games you’d benefit from an early tech as you could build a strategy around it.

    Others, the tech would be too late to make a difference.

    Still in others, it could change the game entirely.  A good example would be Moscow suddenly being able to pair 2 INF with an ART and turning it’s turtled stack into a very offensive one and the Germans get caught with their pants down.

    Some games, nothing happens at all.

    Odds are, with so many nations and multiple rounds, you’d see some impact with research tech each game.

  • Sponsor

    I’m more for nations earning technological breakthroughs rather than luck based systems, or simply handing them out for free.


  • Tech shouldn’t be in the game at all, at least not in anything resembling its current form - it’s a total feast-or-famine proposition and game breaking in both directions. Either you spend and spend and don’t get anything worthwhile - in which case you’ve crippled your side’s war effort with fruitless expenses - or you hit the jackpot and get a ridiculously overpowered advantage, which all but forces your opponent to spend on tech to neutralize it, which almost always leads to the other side’s war effort being crippled.

    If that’s what you like, I recommend Yahtzee! as an alternative to military strategy games.


  • Our group plays with technology but not as it is written in the rules because of the random nature of the set up.  We will pay 5 IPC’s for a development dice and we roll that one dice each turn for the technology that is desired until it is achieved or not (a 6 for development).  We figure that if a nation was to invest in technology, it would know what it was trying to develop.  I personally like the technology chart and development found in Global 1939.  The techs are available to all nations but each nation develops a particular technology at a distict point value.  For example: UK devolps radar at 8 points.  The Soviets develop radar at 22 points (for example, it may be less or more)  Each nation that chooses to develop a technology “buys” a development dice for 3 ipc’s during the purchase phase.  They will roll the dice and what ever comes up is the number of points applied to developing the technology that nation is shooting for.  It may take two, three, or more rounds to develop the technology but you keep addinf what ever you roll toward the particular technology you want.  A nation at war can develop three technologies at the same time if they choose.  3 IPS’s per dice, one dice per technology.  I know that this is more of a house rule issue but in keeping with eames57’s initial post I added the alternatives.

    I know some don’t like technology and that is great, but for those who like it find the way that best serves your play style.  Have fun.

Suggested Topics

  • 43
  • 19
  • 9
  • 17
  • 6
  • 11
  • 9
  • 8
Axis & Allies Boardgaming Custom Painted Miniatures

32

Online

17.0k

Users

39.3k

Topics

1.7m

Posts