Historical A&A: Need your input…


  • Hey everyone, we have a group of about 20-30 who play A&A on a regular basis. Basically, we do house rules by committee (need a majority to pass) in our group, this way it is fair and everyone can give input. My responsibility to our group is I am charged with ensuring all proposed rules balance out. We usually playtest these many times but I thought I’d start with a poll…

    Listed below are some that have been proposed. I would appreciate anyone with experience out there weighing in on these and letting me know if you think they will balance out ok. Thanks!

    I’ll start with what I think are the major ones. Please feel free to respond to these individually.


    Turn order: All Axis players go and then all Allied players go. (I have no idea how this will affect balance)

    Convoys: Damage done to convoys is immediate, and must be paid immediately.

    Submarine Warfare: Subs attack surface ships @ a 1. Only destroyers can attack subs.

    Russian infantry cost: 2 IPCs (when at war); Winter (one time, infantry defend @3)
    Germany starts with following techs: mechanized infantry, advanced artillery, & stukas (tac. fighters attack at 4 without fighter support)

    China: infantry cost 1 IPC (do not recieve Burma road bonus if foreign troops are in China)
    Japan: Have advanced artillery vs. China, and Veteran pilots (all original fighters attack at a 4 during first round of combat.)


    Basically players that traditionally play a certain power brokered the deals above. For example the russian player compromised with the german players (i get $2 infantry and ill let you have these…)


  • It’s hard enough to figure out if the game is balanced as it is. One small change can throw everything off. I personally would not play with any of those changes.

    BTW, there is a house rules forum.


  • I am not sure how many of those would work out honestly, but they seem to offset each other to some degree… We use a couple of them in our group, but we have many nation specific ones as well that come from an older version.

    @Kobu: I disagree. The game is fairly balanced as is, especially with Alpha 2, so as long as one advantage is offset by another it should be ok…And who doesnt play with a bunch of house rules. From what i can gather everyone and their mother who plays A&A uses their own house rules…

  • TripleA

    I feel like the game is balanced only if UK isn’t taken over. Watched a guy buy all infs, send his transport off canada ship 2 guys back…still had all his starting fighters in uk and normandy… and he got obliterated!


  • I don’t like the “only destroyers can attack subs” .  You could sink an entire fleet with one sub if there is no destroyer present.  If you are talking about just attacks and not defense then that is pretty much the way it is now.  Only a destroyer can force a sub into battle.
    I also don’t like 2 ipc russian infantry.  18 russian infantry per turn would be a major headache.
    Chinese infantry should be at least 2 ipc.


  • Sign me up for $2 Russians……thats at 50+ new consripts ready for action R4


  • Ok, allow me to make a few clarifications:

    Sub rules:
    Only destroyers can hunt down subs, but when subs attack a fleet, all can defend, although if there are no destroyers, the subs can use sneak shot and then dive. The purpose with this rule, combined with the new convoy (convoys take immediate damage) rules, is to create more realistic convoy attacks. Otherwise, IMHO, there is absolutely no point for Germany in particular to employ subs, which is not realistic at all. Sub attacks on ships has been reduced to a 1 to ensure they do not become to powerful. Their primary purpose is to destroy convoys.

    As for Russia $2 infantry, yes this is powerful, but remember they can only start using this rate once they go to war. And to offset this, the Germans are given the following:
    1. Advanced artillery (1 artillery supports 2 infantry)
    2. Mechanized infantry (German mech paired with a tank attack at a 2)
    3. Stukas: Tac bombers do not need to be paired with fighters to attack at a 4

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    I’m still thinking the 2 dollar Russians are unbeatable.  unless they are 1-1 or 0-2 or something.

    Bring in all the mec/arm combinations and double supporting artillery you want.  at 37 IPC’s a turn, I’m putting 18 men on the board each round.  Germany is not going to be able to do anything about that.

    Oh and lets not forget, once I have a fat stack, if things don’t look good, I can call in the Russian winter, and defend with a $2 unit at 3 or less.

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