One more question before we leave the VC debate. The purpose of the Warsaw and Oslo VCs are what exactly? I was thinking about this the other day and wondered if would be better to have VCs in Helsinki and Budapest rather than Warsaw and Oslo since Hungary and Finland were axis minors and those are the capitals. Paris makes since for symbolism, Berlin as the capital of the Reich is obvious, and I agree with Bucharest as a VC due to oil, but it is also the capital of Axis minor. Any other thoughts?
How much will a hard copy of the map cost? How can one obtain units for the new China and Italy forces?
In the version I plan on playing, I am going to use a combination of pieces from AA original, AAP, AAE and some miniatures thrown in for good measure.
For Italy, I am using Fucile Modello (AAM) as infantry and Blackshirts (AAM) as elite inantry (similar to marines in AAP….I really really really hate the fact the USA has special troops, but no one else does, I mean, the Japanese had the Special Navy Landing Force, which are Marines, so why does USA get them, but Japan does not?)
for tanks, I am using the L3/35 since they are the same size as the tanks in AAM. Artillery I will use the Bohlers 47mm (which in the game belongs to Romania, but the Italians used as well)
All other pieces are coming from AA original. I am using Germany, which is a lighter shade of grey than in AAE. The destroyers will be the Luca Tarigo from the new naval game.
For China, I am using the AAMinis.
In fact, wherever I can use the AAMinis and Naval Minis I will rather than the generic coloured pieces for each nation.
pdel21,
All good points, this debate could go on forever. All are good candidates for VC status.
I prefer Oslo over Helsinki because it is easily accessible by an Allied invasion fleet. But not easily supported by Germany itself. This is currently the only German VC that is really at risk, the remaining VCs are within a stone’s throw from Germany.
I don’t really prefer Warsaw over Budapest.
Like I said earlier I think Germany already has an easy go at defending its VCs with their proximity to Germany; Budapest would just make it that much easer for Germany due to the fact it is land locked. But this is a small issue.
Just my thoughts on the subject.
I would really like to close this topic soon so if anyone has a comment on pdel21’s suggestion lets hear it.
I think the current 5 VC’s for Germany are the best choice for game balance and historic importance. Though Helsinki and Budapest could also work…
For your fase 5, please do change Vichy and add Corsica :wink:
Goals for This Week. (Week of April 2nd)
1. Finalize Vichy
2. Start Sea Zones discussion
3. Convoy Boxes
START sea zone discussion?!?!
Ey yiyiy!!
-jim lee
Sea Zone Outlines
I was looking at the A&A map and noticed that the sea zones are outlined with dashed lines not solid lines.
I made a quick and dirty test, just so you can get a feel for what it would look like with doted lines.
Let me know if you like the idea.
I can try different colors if you think one would work better (Black or White maybe).
That is totally perfect!
Make all the SZ like that.
very nice… bravo.
Also… i think you should have different fonts on the names of the territories and names of VC… The Territories should be a less “blocky script” font and the VC or city fonts should be kept as they are currently. When you have them both as the same it takes longer to “see” where the VC are. I see that they are a different color, but its still too similiar IMO.
I have to add i think your doing a great job!
But could you please make one version where those French vichy territories are a different color than the current german colors?
I will repay the favor with something… perhaps a play aid i could create for your project?
Battleboard?
Tech chits?
Leader chits?
Ok another thing… could you attempt a version that has a “drop shadow” under the land masses. The color of this shadow would be a darker version of the current color of the water. Secondly reduce the number of those lines to about 3 as opposed to 7. I believe this will also make another leap forward.
Like IL already mentioned, great job on the “new” sea zone look. It will be looking better and better.
On sea zone lining: could the sea zone ring/zone of Norway/ Denmark be connected to the border of the Netherlands and West Germany? Don’t like it that the North Sea sea zone is now adjactant to West Germany, meaning amphibious bridge is directly possible between London and West Germany… Don’t think this is nice for gameplay.
And maybe make two sea zones of the Philippines sea zone. It is rather large now. Make it an upper and lower part sea zone. Then maybe also split the territory accordingly…
Good points Micoom,
Perhaps the half circle sea zone that extends from Portugal to Morroco should start at souther end of Portugal and extend to souther tip of Morroco so Morroco is not touched by 2 sea zones, makes it a full 2 turns from US, currently same distance from UK.
Splitting Solomons into 2 sea zones could give some historics to Guadalcanal, if one territory, then 2 sea zones that show some of the back and forth play between US and Jap. Historically, they traded it back and forth for a while between day and night fighting of ships.
How can one obtain units for the new China and Italy forces?
If you have A&A: Pacific, A&A: Europe, and A&A: Revised, you’ll have enough different colors of pieces to play on this map. I suggest using the following colors for each country…
Germany: Black German pieces from A&A: Europe or grey German pieces from A&A: Revised
Russia: Maroon Russian pieces from A&A: Europe or A&A: Revised
UK: Tan UK pieces from A&A:Europe and A&A:Pacific
Japan: Red Japanese pieces from A&A:Pacific
USA: Green US pieces from any of the three versions
Italy: Cream colored UK pieces from A&A: Revised
Neutrals: Orange Japanese pieces from A&A: Revised
China: Brown Chinese pieces from A&A: Pacific (Or just use US pieces if you don’t use the special chinese rules.)
That will give you all the different colors you would need without having to dip into any older versions of the game. The setup looks real nice, too, since by using all your pieces from the three versions of A&A listed above, the sculpt quality of the pieces is all very uniform.
One more thing concerning territories…
I think maybe Fezzan should start under German control. I hate to take a territory away from Italy, however as the map is right now, Germany doesn’t start with any North African territories bordering any UK territories. I’ll admit I don’t know the history all that well, but it seems like it would make sense for Germany to be able to start fighting the UK right away. I know we could always just setup German units in an Italian territory at the start, but I hate making exceptions like that. Giving Fezzan to Germany would solve the problem.
I know we could always just setup German units in an Italian territory at the start, but I hate making exceptions like that.
This is not an exception… its historically accurate. Why make an entire territory under control of another nation? Lybia was a colony for italy for some time…
Their is nothing wrong with just saying the germans have the DAK ( Deutsche Afrika Korps) in Lybia just as they were in 1941.
Positronica,
The problem is that Fezzan is definitely Italian, and always was Italian, even when the Afrika Korps basically took things over. Â It was only in 1947 that Italy dropped claims to all of Libya. Â I don’t see why Germany couldn’t just move troops into Libya from Tunisia in their non-combat movement.
AS for your pieces, depending on what you’re after, your solution works quite well since as you state the pieces are uniform. Â Is it still possible to order sets of replacement pieces?
As for my group, we love the idea of using AAMinis in this game, not only for Italy, but for all nations. Â It would be confusing to do so for relative novices to the game since it may be difficult to tell pieces apart due to some similarity. Â But for my group (a bunch of folks in the Canadian military, plus myself, it is no problem). Â I am in the midst of finalizing all of the pieces I will be using per nation. Â Perhaps when I am done, I will post a spreadsheet of them all in case anyone else is interested in using them.
Sorry I should have clarified……
Is it possible to order sets of replacement pieces for the folks who may not have those board games. For example, I can see the utility in cream pieces for Neutrals, so if I wanted to order a set from AH is that possible. I don’t have the revised game, just AA original, AAE and AAP.
Is it possible to order sets of replacement pieces for the folks who may not have those board games. For example, I can see the utility in cream pieces for Neutrals, so if I wanted to order a set from AH is that possible. I don’t have the revised game, just AA original, AAE and AAP.
i tried ordering replacement AAP and AAR pieces in January from Hasbro, they said they only had AAP pieces, but from what I’ve read in threads is that there is always something that they do not send you when you try ordering from them.
But there are other places to get more pieces.
Vichy France
The arguments that Vichy should not be financing the Germans are valid but…
I have major concerns about the following:
If we just make Vichy France and its territories neutral we are forcing the German/Axis player to attack Vichy on the first turn to A) get the income, B) to reinforce the territory to keep the Allies from invading.
This is not acceptable, I do not want to force any player’s move, the map should allow for various styles of play and tactics.
So… if we can come up with a solution to this problem I will gladly change the color.
The problem: How to discourage both the Axis and the Allies from attacking Vichy early.
The best ideas that I have at the moment are these:
The Axis & Allies can’t enter/attack Vichy territory until the Allies have declared war on Vichy or When turn X has passed. Allies can only declare war during the “Check for Victory†stage of the turn.
OR
Can we treat Vichy in a similar manner as China? Let another player (Axis) control its forces and maybe give them very limited production similar to China or none at all. This way they are not financially supporting Germany but the Axis have some control over what happens to them.
Just some thoughts.
Any other ideas?
Vichy Territories:
Vichy France, Algeria, Northern Algeria, Tunisia, French West Africa, West Africa, Morocco, and Madagascar.
Vichy Color Samples
http://www.mediafire.com/?dnrz1jxmahh
Please let me know which color you like.
deepblue,
The main problem I have with changing Vichy is this……
The French, who ran the un-occupied part of France (Germany occupied 3/5) from Vichy, were infact forced to pay occupation costs of 20 million reichmarks per day. Yes the Germans were not occupying Vichy France, but the French goverment which was in Vichy, were still paying, as per the terms of the armistice , so in effect, they were financing the German war machine.
Since that is the case, why couldn’t those territories just remain under German control. Where did the French come up with 20 million reichmarks per day? Surely they took it from anywhere in the French territories, which would include all of the territories you mentioned in your post. I really see no problem with leaving it in German hands.
