Any thoughts on those 15 proposed Japanese advantages?
There good. I don’t think you should be able to buy more Kamikazes. I think the Kamikaze should be be replaced with something around the lines of pearl harbor. Once per a game if Japan is not at war with the U.S. Japan can declare surprise strike. Then something that lets fighters and tac bombards destroy a bunch of American ships.
The Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF), were the marine troops of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and were a part of the IJN Land Forces. They saw extensive service in the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and the Pacific theatre of World War II. Japanese infantry in naval assaults hit at 2 in the first round of combat.
Are there no sneak attack rules in the base game?
Are there no sneak attack rules in the base game?
ya I know, but Japan should be able to declare one if there not at war with the U.S.
Pearl harbor really surprised the U.S.
will someone help me make Na’s for the Americans, I’m getting the game this week and I would like to play my first game with these rules but I need the Americans.
Here a few I use in Spring42 but I have edited them to fit into Pacific1940 as well.
:::United States:::
1. Broken Naval Ciphers
[By mid 1942, the United States had mostly broken the IJN’s most secure code - JN25 - which helped to decide the Battle of Midway] - Once per game, starting on Turn 3 the US player adds 2 free Fighters when attacking or defending against a Japanese Fleet [of at least 2 ships]. Fighters have one space to land if they survive combat.
2. Submarine Interdiction
[From 1943 to 1945 US submarines sank so many Japanese merchant marine and IJN ships that they literally ran out of targets] - During the collect income phase of Japan, subtract 3 IPC from its national production total for each US submarine in the Pacific. To take effect, submarines must be based in convey zones. Cannot remove more IPC than value of territory.
3. Repaired Battleships
[Although the Japanese attack against Pearl Harbour caused severe damage, many of the ships were later repaired and returned to service] - On turn 4 US gets 1 free Battleship at Hawaii during the Unit Mobilization Phase. If Japan successfully invades Hawaii on its turn 3 or before, this NA is voided, and Japan gets free: 10 IPCs towards a naval purchase.
4. Iowa-class Battleships
[Possessing heavy firepower, speed, protection and the latest technical advancements it was considered to be the best battleship design ever conceived and constructed]. – Your battleships attack and defend on a 5 or less. Also each battleship may make 1 AA roll against 1 enemy aircraft (although opposing player chooses casualty). AA hits on a 1, on either defence or attack. AA fires in the opening fire phase and all its hits are preemptive.
5. Superior American Gunnery
[Due to Advanced American Radar Sets, Fire Control Systems, Analog Computers, the US possessed decisive gunnery advantages against naval and air targets]. - The US player may re-roll any misses once per battle for each of their Cruisers and Battleships during naval combat. This bonus does not apply to shore bombardment.
6. Naval Industry
[After Pearl Harbor, the US quickly moved to rebuild and heavily expand its Pacific Fleet]. - All Naval units cost 1 less IPC for the entire game.
7. Liberty Ship Program
[In 1941, the U.S. embarked on a massive expansion of the merchant marine fleet under the auspices of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. The standard Liberty ship was the centerpiece of this program]. - Your transports now cost -1 IPCs.
8. Essex Aircraft Carrier
[These carriers were among the largest and most advanced carriers to see action during the war in the Pacific]. - Once per turn, 1 aircraft carrier can be purchased and placed at Western United States for -2 IPCs.
9. Chinese Divisions
[The Chinese had three hundred divisions in 1942. Present Roosevelt spent much of the war trying to get Chiang Kai-Shek to do something with them]. - During your mobilize new units phase, you may place one Chinese infantry (for free) in one Chinese controlled territory.
10. Remember Pearl Harbor
[Due to the events of December 7, 1941, men rushed to enlist with all branches of the US military in order to defend the United States and to get revenge against the Japanese Empire]. – Your infantry cost 2 IPCs for the first turn you get to spend your 40 IPC wartime bonus.
11. Marines
[“Send in the Marines!” was a popular U.S. rallying cry in World War II]. - Your infantry attacks on a 2 in the first cycle of the land combat portion of an amphibious assault.
12. Island Bases
[MacArthur’s forces built many airbases on the islands they conquered. From these bases, they could launch attacks deeper into Japanese-held territory]. - When moving your air units to/from an island airbase, you may treat island groups as part of the sea zones containing them.
13. Superfortresses (A)
[The B-29 Superfortress flew higher than any other plane in the U.S. arsenal]. - The defender rolls two antiaircraft guns for each bomber. The total of 2 dice must add to 3 or less to shoot the superfortress down in the opening fire step.
14. Superfortresses (B)
The B-29 Superfortress carried the biggest standard bomb load of any wartime bomber.
Your bombers roll one additional die each when conducting a strategic bombing raid.
15. Economic Might
[Admiral Yamamoto was correct in his predictions that Japan had awoken a giant. With the war declared, once idle American factories began churning out copious sums of armaments]. - Starting on turn 1 and for every turn thereafter, the US will receive 1 extra IPC during the collect income phase. Thus, for example, by turn 5 the US will be receiving 5 extra IPCs.
16. Long-Range Fighters
The twin-boomed P-38 long range enabled it to escort bombers deep inside enemy territory.
Your fighters´ range increases to 6.
Hey cressman,
Just a couple of notes on your US NAs. Below is some praise, mixed in with some caustic, but well-intended, criticism:
Holy crap! 2 free fighters?? This seems nuts. I think that the ability to redirect existing fighters from other locations (with air bases, say) to the battle site for free would be more reasonable. Maybe make this a permanent (static) ability, but the fighters have to pass some dice roll test (say, ‘2’ or less) to make it there on time from operational friendly air bases, otherwise they stay put.
Like it. It’s like the dirty cousin of Super Subs.
An NA that helps your enemy? Or gives you a free battleship? Too swingy. I’d pull this one, or replace it with a more general ‘Naval Reclamation’ rule that gives you 3IPCs (to be used only toward the purchase of sea units) for every sea unit of yours sunk at a friendly naval base.
‘5’ or less is pretty much hitting every time, which is not super-fun in a dice game. The AA ability is nice, though: would that be enough to sweeten the deal and make battleships a reasonable purchase? If not, how about giving these bad boys the ability to take 2 damage counters instead of 1? If that’s too worrying from a power level standpoint, you could say that units with 2 damage counters have their movement value reduced by 1. Then battleships would have to creep back to a naval base to get repaired, making the 3-hit ability less abusive.
Again, this seems crazy-powerful. How about the ability to roll your battleship and cruiser dice together, and then assign which units get which dice rolls attributed to them?
Okay, this seems good. One question: does this combine with Improved Shipyards? If so, the US could be buying its naval units for cheap-as-free.
This is strictly worse than #6. Man, I’d be mad if I got this NA, knowing that all of my naval units could’ve cost 1 IPC less, and not just my stinking transports. Or I could’ve got that NA with the flying battleships that hit every round. Cut!
See my complaint at #7.
Since this is a US NA, why not give the Chinese a sparkly new US artillery unit for free if the Burma Road is open? Or, alternately, fix the Flying Tigers up if they get pwned by the Japanese?
I like the idea, but it’s already contained in the +40 bonus. Giving the the richest nation on the board absolutely everything for cheaper than every other poorer nation on the board seems like a surefire way to unbalance the game. Cut!
Cool. Simple, evocative, good power levels.
The +1 movement that air bases give air units already simulates this. To add this new ability to that normal ability means you’re giving yourself +1 to that +1. That’s the long-range air weapons development without calling it that. Which is fine, as long as you’re comfortable with having 2x long-range air in the global game, i.e. bombers moving 10 and fighters moving 8. Kind of kills the motivation to actually conduct an island-hopping campaign if you can just bomb Tokyo from Los Angeles, though (especially since, in the rules as you’ve written them, the fact that Japan has an air base on it means I can enter it instead of SZ6 with no extra movement cost).
Why not just say enemy AA gets -1 against your strategic bombers? Then your enemy would have to develop Radar in order to nail you. Strategic bombing still won’t be risk-free, though, as they can intercept with their fighters; so it shouldn’t be too unbalancing.
Nice. It’s like the dirty cousin of Heavy Bombers.
A development that is actually sh*ttier than War Bonds. Why not just stick War Bonds in here, if you want to throw even more cash at the Americans?
Amendment to my comment in #12: I guess you also don’t mind seeing fighters move 10 spaces a turn. Why am I buying bombers again? Oh, right, because I got NAs #13 and #14. Seriously, though, I like this NA, and would rather see #12 cut, as it’s much messier, less effective, and replicates a rule already (more or less) contained in the game. This NA, on the other hand, has a clean effect, is novel, and has good historical flavour.
Overall, interesting stuff. I see some potential, especially in the economic warfare NAs, for adaptations to global tech as well.
Cheers, MIR
I have not used these NA in Pacific1940 yet, this list was copied and pasted from my Spring1942 NA I sometimes use. I modified them while writing the post to fit into the rules of Pac40. I can see some NA’s are easily more powerful than others. The 2 free fighters was a way of maybe replicating the battle of midway and Japans lost. Perhaps simply ignoring the first two Jap hits or having the America loose the fighters after the battle would be more balanced. I also don’t play with tech rules so some of these NA combined with tech will be too much. (I never intended for a fighter range of 8+)
I like all of your suggestions and will re-post and updated list.
Thanks cressman but I don’t know if these match the ones you see in the previous pages on this form. Those are the ones I want to use in my next game. I’m trying to make a more advanced version of this game.
I wrote up a few, using some of the suggested US advantages that I liked and adding my own stuff.
1. Liberty Ships- Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. The majority of these ships came from new yards built on the West Coast and operated by Henry J. Kaiser. Best known for building the Bay Bridge and the Hoover Dam, Kaiser pioneered new shipbuilding techniques. Components were built all across the US and transported to shipyards where the vessels could be assembled in record time. During the war, a Liberty Ship could be built in a about two weeks at a Kaiser yard. Nationally, the average construction time was 42 days and by 1943, three Liberty Ships were being completed each day.
Any transports that you purchased are placed off the west coast at the end of the purchase units phase and thus, are available for use during the combat and noncombat phases of the turn that you purchased them in. Additionally, you receive one free transport to place at the end of the purchase units phase of the US turn.
2.Marines - “Send in the Marines!” was a popular U.S. rallying cry in World War II.
Your infantry attacks on a 3 or less during the first cycle of the land combat portion of an amphibious assault. Your infantry hit on a 2 or less during the second cycle of the land combat portion of an amphibious assault. After that your infantry hit normally.
3.The Fast Carrier Task Force - From the start of the Pacific War the US fleet contained what are referred to as “fast carrier task forces.” But the formation known as “The Fast Carrier Task Force” came into being in late 1943, after the arrival in the Central Pacific of the first ships of the Essex and Independence classes.
This force was the Pacific War’s equivalent of the great gun-armed battlefleets of earlier conflicts. By the time of the Battle for Leyte Gulf it had already proved itself to be one of the most potent instruments in the history of naval warfare -obliterating Japanese air power, and sweeping enemy warships and merchant shipping from the seas, wherever it had ventured. It was divided into carrier task groups, each group containing typically between three and five carriers, and with each group having its own strong escort - a large number of cruisers and destroyers, and often two or more of the new fast battleships.
Designate one fleet with at least one carrier as The Fast Carrier Task Force. Every vessel in this fleet has a move of three. The number of ships in the fleet is limited by the number of carriers in the fleet. You may bring along either one Battleship or two vessels of any other type for each carrier in the fleet. You may add additional ships to the fleet at anytime as long as there are enough carriers to support the new ships. If the Fast Carrier Task Force is destroyed, you may designate a new fleet as your Fast Carrier Task Force. You may only field 1 Fast Carrier Task Force at a time.
4. B-29 Superfortress - The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was the first true “systems” aircraft. It’s turrets were all controlled by a central fire control system and radar was integrated as a navigation and bombing aid. The Superfortress was also the first aircraft to utilize a pressurized cabin allowing it to fly higher than any previous aircraft. Weighing in at 135,000 pounds fully loaded and capable of speeds exceeding 350 miles per hour, the B-29 was the fastest, heaviest and longest ranged bomber of the war.
Your Bombers doing SBR over Japanese Factories roll two dice and pick the best result as their score against Japanese IPC. Additionally, your strategic bombers must be hit twice to be destroyed when conducting a SBR. If they are hit once, however, they abort their bombing run. Furthermore, your Strategic Bombers hit at a one or less during the dog fighting phase of their SBRs.
5 - Codebreakers - The vulnerability of Japanese naval codes and ciphers was crucial to the conduct of World War II. Every Japanese code was eventually broken, and the intelligence gathered made possible such operations as the victorious ambush at Midway and the shooting down of Isoroku Yamamoto in Operation Vengeance.
Once per turn, when your naval units in one combat situation are defending against the Japanese, you may attempt to use intelligence information to gain the upper hand before combat begins. Roll 1d6. If you get a 3 or less then the defending fleet can attempt to either: A) retreat from combat before any rolls, B) become the attacker even though it is not your turn, or C) bring as many additional fighters into the combat as can reach (and safely land).
6 SBD Dauntless - The preponderance of scout bombers in air groups attest to the significance the Americans placed on scouting. The exercises of the early 1930s had pointed to the need for a fast, well armed scout plane that could not only find the enemy carrier but attack its flight deck. Heeding the advice of the aviators, the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics began to develop a series of scout bombers that evolved into the Douglas SBD Dauntless , a plane that proved to be a superb dive-bomber as well as an effective scout.
Once per turn, when Japanese carrier based aircraft attempt to attack an American fleet, the US may attempt to make a preemptive strike with its own carrier based aircraft. To do this the US must roll 1d6 and hit a 3 or less. If this happens then you may launch a preemptive strike with all US carrier based aircraft with the range to hit the Japanese fleet and land. Combat lasts for only one round and each American hit must be applied to a Japanese carrier or Carrier based aircraft. Any Japanese fighters that are used to defend against this attack may not be used to attack the US fleet.
Alternatively, since codebreakers and dauntless are kind of similar… We could replace dauntless with:
Operation vengeance - Operation Vengeance was carried out to kill Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto on April 18, 1943, during the Solomon Islands campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was killed on Bougainville Island when his transport bomber aircraft was shot down by U.S. Army fighter aircraft operating from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.
Once per game, at the end of the US turn, the US may declare that it is launching Operation vengeance. Roll 1d6. On a 3 or less you successfully assassinate Admiral Yamamoto, sending the IJN into disarray for a turn. Until the end of the next American turn all Japanese naval units attack and defend at one less than normal and all allied naval units attack and defend at 1 higher than normal.
Once per game, at the end of the US turn, the US may declare that it is launching Operation vengeance. Roll 1d6. On a 3 or less you successfully assassinate Admiral Yamamoto, sending the IJN into disarray for a turn. Until the end of the next American turn all Japanese naval units attack and defend at one less than normal and all allied naval units attack and defend at 1 higher than normal.
The idea is not bad but the consquence is too much.
I really like dauntless and code breakers and they give the US a lot more naval options. I think operation vengeance is pretty cool. I have one question about fast carrier fleet, will naval bases add to the fleets movement. I will hopefully play test all of your NAs this week end.
Once per game, at the end of the US turn, the US may declare that it is launching Operation vengeance. Roll 1d6. On a 3 or less you successfully assassinate Admiral Yamamoto, sending the IJN into disarray for a turn. Until the end of the next American turn all Japanese naval units attack and defend at one less than normal and all allied naval units attack and defend at 1 higher than normal.
The idea is not bad but the consquence is too much.
Maybe we could revise it a bit. Perhaps it just affects Japanese attack values and US attack and defense values. Units that can not attack/defend usually still can’t roll.
I really like dauntless and code breakers and they give the US a lot more naval options. I think operation vengeance is pretty cool. I have one question about fast carrier fleet, will naval bases add to the fleets movement. I will hopefully play test all of your NAs this week end.
I’d say playtest it with the naval bases adding to movement.
You get a chance to try these out yet?
No I was going to play tonight, but I just got TOI for my b day so I probably will be playing that to night instead.
