How the phases are called and how I would call them (not sure)


  • A&A II (Classic) A&A Revised A&A Anniversary TripleA my ideas
    Develop Weapons Develop Weapons Research & Development Research Technology Research Technology
    Purchase Units Purchase Units Purchase Units Purchase Units Procure Units
    Combat Movement Combat Move Combat Move Combat Move Commit Units
    Combat Conduct Combat Conduct Combat Combat Conduct Combat
    Non-Combat Movement Noncombat Move Noncombat Move Noncombat Move Reposition Units
    Place New Units On Gameboard Mobilize New Units Mobilize New Units Place Units Form Units
    Collect Income Collect Income Collect Income Turn Complete Collect Resources

    I have some doubts about the way phases are called around. If you say “Purchase Units”, I think you should, then, say “Combat Move Units”, not just “Combat Move”, or, vice versa, say just “Purchase”, instead. The “New” in “Mobilize New Units” feels redundant, as it sounds like you can also mobilize units that are not new, instead, in some other phase. “Collect Income” feels a bit redundant too, as “Income” already implies it is what you are getting (and it is not income anymore once you have collected it, saving it or spending it). I tried searching “collect income” on Google and got a mere 408,000 results, of which some are cases like “In the Nordic countries it is common practise to collect income data from various administrative registers”. On the other hand, unsurprisingly, I get 3,530,000 results with “collect money”, 1,490,000 with “collect funds” and 1,240,000 with “collect resources”. Also, I never liked the term “Purchase”, as creating armies is really not all about purchasing, unless maybe you are dealing with a scenario in which virtually everything is mercenary.

    Mind you, I don’t believe there can be perfect terms, in the moment a same action can refer to an infantry, a battleship or an industrial complex unit. Just wondering if there could have been better names for the phases, especially referring to the way TripleA normally calls them.

    Also, English is not my first language; so I’m not so sure if my suggestions are good. About this, is the “Turn Complete” definition of TripleA correct, or should it be either “Turn Completed” or “Complete Turn”?

    I’ll point out that phases can be called either referring to the game as a game (you are placing pieces of plastic on a board (virtually so, if third edition or TripleA)) or to the game as what it is tentatively representing (you are mobilizing armies around the world). The most obvious example of a change of perspective on this matter is going from the “Place New Units On Gameboard” of the second edition to the “Mobilize New Units” of the Revised and following; maybe a sign of the game taking itself more seriously.

    How would you call the phases or what version do you think has the better naming?

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