• if you are really good at aa (compared to your friends) mainly because you have more experience, you should play aa risk. It levels the playing.
    I just played a game. Each person secretly writes down where their capital should be. This country will be worth 8 ipc’s per turn you get a free industrial complex and aa gun here also. All other land regions (neutrals whatever) are worth 2 ipc’s. You then have 60 ipc’s (or whatever you decide on) everyone writes down what they will place or save. This goes on the industrial complex.
    any land regions that are not capitals have 1 neutral army on them

    this worked pretty well. there were 4 players, i took brazil, someone took belgian congo, someone else took sinkiang, and another person took kwangtung (to get island cash i guess)

    sinkiang seemed like a good option, but it actually didn’t work out too well. The powers balanced eachother sort of. I got 2 bombers and 2 transports and men. I was going to invade europe and build an industrial complex there. But i left my capital with 2 bombers and a man. They insist on kamakazies, so the belgian player attacked with a bomber and 2 fighters. Their bomber survived annhilating everything. He insisted that it was a good move even though it messed both of us up.

    the players in asia got only infantry and tanks. But sinkiang sent too much west and got in trouble. I also got invaded from a lucky belgian player and a lone transport. I had just finished taking both north and south america, and had industrial technology. I also had an industrial complex in france.

    I’m considering playing where the values of the regions stay the same, but that’s how many neutral infantry there are. Your capital is 8 though. So if my capital were eastern usa, i would have to kill 10 neutral infantry just to take western!!
    Don’t know if this would work because you could make eastern europe your capital and place 15 men 6 tanks and take germany and only lose 5 or so infantry!


  • This sounds very interesting. I like the idea of secretly picking capitals and starting out with a set amount of IPC’s. I also like the idea of all other territories starting out with as many defending infantry as the territory is worth.

    I have a couple of suggestions, which you can take or leave.

    First of all, I think if you want to keep more of the risk feel and keep strategy to more on the side of logistics, I would not have the territory values reflect the current A&A board (i.e. WEU = 6 and EEU = 3). I think the way each territory should similarly valued. However rather than have all of the territories be worth 2, I would suggest something slightly different. All land locked territories are worth 2 IPC’s and any island territories are worth 4 IPC’s. This makes it more of an incentive to go for more island territories (and hold them) and to promote naval warfare. If territories are valued this way (including neutrals), the total IPC’s available on the 69 territories (pending any capital differences) would be 172 IPC’s. Of that mix 52 territories are land-locked (104 IPC value) and 17 territories are islands (68 IPC value).

    Second, I would also add an incentive for players to hold entire regions. The regions or country groupings would reflect the original holdings of the various countries. There would be six regions: Russia, Germany, UK, Japan, USA and Neutrals. This would be similar to risk except you only have to hold all of the territories at the end of your turn to collect the income. I am not so sure about how many IPC’s each region would be, but I would think something along the lines of: Russia/Germany = 5, USA/Japan = 8, UK = 12, Neutrals = 15.

    Third, I would suggest that each player’s capital selected to start off with for the game be worth 8 IPC’s.

    Let me know what you think. I think it is important to keep as much A&A feel to the game, specifically no changes to a unit’s attack/defense, movement, and costs to purchase.

    I also would be interested in getting a play by forum game going if any others are interested. It should be easy to do as everything needed is already present.


  • yeah, let’s do that, the trouble with making islands worth more is… well i don’t know.

    don’t know about the extra for holding areas since uk and neutrals is impossible, usa is hard, germany, possibly…

    let’s do a game on the forums, we would need a game master i guess since the starting stuff is blind. 6 players, 8 players whatever works.

    Also i have 2 more ideas!

    instead of having neutral countries, after each capital is picked, the players go in their turn order to select the remaining country and place 1 infantry there. (of course all the stuff would have to be the same value in that case)

    and, the people i played with want to play europe next time with neutral subs on the convoys. I want to try it on the pacific board too… actually this is probably the only way we will be playing on the board from now on


  • @lnxduk:

    yeah, let’s do that, the trouble with making islands worth more is… well i don’t know.

    Maybe the difference should not be as drastic. Maybe land should be 2 and island’s 3? The only reason I suggested this is to promote more naval activity and reason for players to go after each other’s islands. However, all items being the same is fine with me.

    @lnxduk:

    don’t know about the extra for holding areas since uk and neutrals is impossible, usa is hard, germany, possibly…

    Exactly, that is why it would be considered a bonus. This would also encourage other players from just letting players dominate over one particular area. Anyone that could dominate an area (just like risk) get a bonus for doing so. I agree that the UK and neutrals would be tough to get. That is why the bonus would be so high. Maybe it would be a better idea to make the bonuses even higher?

    But this idea can go by the wayside as well. Just more of a suggestion.

    @lnxduk:

    let’s do a game on the forums, we would need a game master i guess since the starting stuff is blind. 6 players, 8 players whatever works.

    See my suggestion below for a GM. I think a 4 to 6 player max would be the preferable. Any more than 6 just gets too big. It looks like it is hard enough trying to get a tournament going with one on one games on this site. I am not sure if we could find 8 players. For our first game, we may have to shoot for 4 players.

    I have an idea regarding starting capitals – starting capitals can only be selected from the existing neutral territories (i.e. Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, etc.). Any nuetrals not selected for a capital would remain empty and be treated as they are now in the original A&A rules.

    The turn order would be determined prior to the game start and players would pick their capitals in turn. This would avoid the need for an initial GM. Of course, if you prefer the surprise capital thing, then this suggestion is no good. After the capital are picked, each player would purchase units with their starting cash and place them on their capital. And then finally, each player would then start their respective turns (i.e. purchase, WD, combat move, combat, etc.).

    @lnxduk:

    instead of having neutral countries, after each capital is picked, the players go in their turn order to select the remaining country and place 1 infantry there. (of course all the stuff would have to be the same value in that case)

    I guess we could do this, but I am not a big fan. This changes the dramatics of the game idea of starting out with a small empire and expanding strategically. The idea of starting out small is what caught my eye. The game may start out slower, but I think it would be more fun.

    @lnxduk:

    and, the people i played with want to play europe next time with neutral subs on the convoys. I want to try it on the pacific board too… actually this is probably the only way we will be playing on the board from now on

    For the play by forum games, we should stick to A&A. It will keep the player base larger, especially for the first game or so. At least this would allow more interest.

    Is anyone else interested in playing this variant?

  • '19 Moderator

    I am interested.

    I also have a word doc some where that is a W@W map with text fields in the territories if you would like to try that.


  • Inxduk,

    Since this is your variant, maybe you should make a post in the game section outlining your rules that you want to use and how many players you are looking for. Then those that sign up first can play. It looks like you already have two interested parties.

    I think you will get more exposure in the game section and we can then use that thread to play on.

    I am willing to play with whatever rules you want - as long as everyone understands what they are.

    LS


  • cool, i didn’t actually think we would try and play this online

    i also have one last idea, then we can all decide on the rules, i don’t want to be a dictator and set the rules, a lot of your ideas are good. Ok, with the inital $60 (or whatever amount), the price of units are:
    inf - 4
    aa - 5
    arm - 6
    sub - 6
    trn - 8
    ftr - 8
    carrier - 10
    bomber - 10
    battleship - 12
    industry - 15

    once it starts, the normal prices are used. That way you are less likely to build a ton of infantry when you can get them later for less, maybe get some air while it’s cheap!!
    this in my mind would stop people from putting a capital on sinkiang, and having men and tanks only, not that this works anyway, but…

    just a suggestion…

    when we actually play the game, we need to choose if all territories are worth the same and have the same number of neutral armies, or different for islands, whatever, or if they are the printed value, and have that many neutral armies, or 2x the value in neutral armies

    we could vote on this, also i like the idea of a set turn order before the capital is picked, that way the first player get’s the best spot, but the last can isolate himself etc, so it’s not a great advantage to be first, i wouldn’t care what place i took.

    any suggestions? also i’m new to playing on the messageboard, i have used dicey before.

    Let’s try and get 4-6 players, this will be interesting, no set strategy etc.

  • '19 Moderator

    That sounds ok to me, But I think you should get a free Inustry and AAA to put on your capital.

    Also to get things rolling, maybe pick 3 to 5 territorries that are either conected or in close proximity, Islands obviously won’t be conected, to start your country. This could be done in a similar manor to risk, each player picks one territory at a time in order. The rest could be neutral.

    I think this would give it a little quicker start as well as add a strategic variation.


  • yes, i was already including the aa and industry, sorry i didn’t need them in the intro prices i guess…

    that would work having a small empire, but what if you choose the uk as your capital?

    we could decide on this one as a group once we get 4-6 players


  • I am okay with whatever you want to do.

    3-5 territories sound like a good idea. This way we could have the intial part of the game go like this:
    1. each player picks their countries in turn
    2. each player places their units, maybe in groups so it is fair. I.e. each player places 20-24 ipc’s of units and then the next player goes until all the alloted ipc’s are used up.
    3. each player performs their turn (skipping the purchase and place units phase on the first round).

    The thing I would kinda like to avoid is the different prices per units initially. I think we should keep the price/unit the same throughout the entire game. This would also make it so that if a player has any ipc’s they did not use on their initial placement could still be used later.

    Maybe we should try to nail down the rules now and then it will be easier to add a player and we can immediately start playing. We already have 3 and only need one more player.

    Things we have so far or need clarified:
    1. 4-6 players for a game
    2. each player selects 1 capital and then 2-4 more territories (in turn)
    3. each player gets 60 ipc’s to place
    4. all land territories on the A&A map can be selected for initial control including neutrals
    5. if a territory is not selected by a player for intial control, it will have as many nuetral infantry defending it as the territory is worth
    6. Each territory (except capitals will be worth 2 ipc’s)??? - still need to decide
    7. Each capital will be worth 10 ipc’s ??? - still need to decide
    8. basic game rules will be the same as A&A using 2nd or 3rd edition rules - still needs to decide
    9. ???

    As discussed, this should be easy to do on the forum. Dicey should also work great. I was thinking that if we have 5 or less players, we can also utilize the Dicey log which may make it easier for everyone to track the rolls. Each player could be assigned a country for tracking purposes based on the player turn order. Anytime a player wanted to see past rolls, they would just have to look at the log. This would also help avoid any questions on who to send e-mails to when a player is rolling against neutral infantry.

    Just some suggestions.

  • '19 Moderator

    Sounds good to me, I think the best way to come up with rules is to try it and see how it works.


  • i agree with you about trial and error

    we don’t have to have special staring prices, i just though it would be interesting to have units other than infantry and armor. In regular aa, the units you start with like air are very valuble since they are not easily replaced.

    Anyway, the main thing is, are the territories worth the same, or the printed value. I can agree to starting with 5-6 territores each, but if the territores are worth the printed value… might need some adjustment

    otherwise, they can all be worth 2 or 3, and have 2 neutral infantry guarding

    let’s just decide if we want equal value or printed value, and go from there

    i think 10 ipc’s is good for a capital
    if the unit prices are the same as normal, then i think that only 30 inital ipc’s should be given if prices are the same, and printed values are used, otherwise 60

    also another issue, how are we going to use dicey? will we just pick a country? can’t have more than 5 players. Or when you roll, just have everyone use russia, and the next turn or something. we could also use mapview, might be nice.

  • '19 Moderator

    I defineately think the territoies need to be all worth the same other wise you loose all the randomness. I think it makes it more interesting if South America is worth the same as europe.

    I think the 60 Ipcs is a good level, even if you buy all Infantry it’s still only 20 thats 4 per territory if you start with 5.


  • I agree with using the same territory value (with the exception of capitals).

    I also do not think that 60 ipcs would be too excessive (at least for starting out).

    Inxduk, in response to the thing about dicey, I was thinking along the lines of say we had four players. We would first determine who is player1, player2, player3, and player4. Whoever is determined to be player1 would be assigned Russia to track the rounds in dicey. Player2 would be assigned Germany, etc. In the case of four players, no one would be USA.

    This way when any of the players go to the dicey log, they know that UK turn 3 for example would mean player3’s 3rd turn and could see all of the rolls associated with it.

    I know that dicey only allows for two e-mail addresses so that is why I thought this would make the most sense. Everyone would post their turns on the forum and if anyone questioned the player’s dice rolls, they could double check the log.

    As far as Mapview, I think I am just going to stick with using my AAWinMap. I think as long as each player posts their territory holdings at the end of each of their turns, it should work okay.

    Also, does anyone have a preference on the rule edition - 2nd or 3rd edition? For me it does not really matter.


  • i don’t care 2nd or 3rd, 3rd encourages navy (2 hit bb, sub submerge) more so…
    these rules are the exact same way i played except capitals are 8… so we will see, it sure was a lot of fun, after this game, it should be easier to decide on changes i guess
    I’m thinking make the neutral territories either 2 or 3 in value, and have 2 infantry guarding them. With just one, it allows players to gain ground really fast… but whatever works

    mot’s mapview is awsome, check it out, but i can conform to winmap or no map

    yes, we need 1-2 more players. Since i haven’t played by forum yet, you will have to tell me which dicey we are using, and i don’t think i should go first

    this will prove to be interesting
    once we get 4 people, we can decide on the turn order with dicey? or by request… hmm


  • 3rd edition rules are fine.

    I think the neutrals should be worth the same as the other territories. I agree that 2 infantry should be defending each initial territory that are considered neutral.

  • Moderator

    I responded to laststrikes post in the games section. I’m in.
    So,

    1. We each pick a capital
    2. Then in turn each pick our 4 other territories
    3. Then buy 60 IPC worth of goodies and place

    Now for the start/first turn, you don’t buy anymore units, right?
    You do your first turn then collect, then buy more units at the beginning of rd 2 (like normal A&A), right?

    Just a suggestion, if we play with 4 people and P1 uses R, 2 uses G, ect., that we just use the US pieces for the initial “nuetral” defenders. I guess it doesn’t matter. That’s how I was going to set up my board, infact I’ll be using the normal AAmap that gets emailed around for regular PBEM games.

    Also for Dicey, I would suggest that you always email your oppenent (defender in current battle) and then if the others need the results or want to see them you could just forward them to the others.

    I think that is all for now.

  • Moderator

    One more thing:
    You can buy new IC’s and aa-guns, right?
    And then could you only place 2 units at a new complex?
    Like regular A&A new complexes.


  • yeah i think that’s logical about the industries and aa’s
    let’s figure out the order, and start it up i guess.
    Which dicey are we using? I’m new to messageboard play…
    are we going to post here, or on a different board?

    I guess the basic rules are 3rd edition
    capitals worth 10 all others 2, 2 neutral infantry defending all others
    each person picks their capital in order (ind and aa go there for free)
    after all capitals are picked, each person says where they want the 60 ipc’s to go (place or save) in order
    after this the first person moves

    anything else?

    whoever wants to go first can just post their capital then (that could determine the order…)
    just tell me what board we are using to play it
    good luck to all

  • Moderator

    This is the only Message board I use, and this is the Dicey program I’m familiar with:

    http://66.78.26.16/~linksync/other/login.html

    Hope this isn’t a problem.

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