Land v Air unit rules

@CWO:

One low-cost way for you to experiment with this concept to see if it works, and to then help you decide if you should invest more money in the way you described to give each nation  its own special HBG unit, would  be to:

Pick up a copy of A&A 1941

Extract from it the unique sculpts that represent weapons which were actually used by the nations which produced them, and ignore the ones which are “national mismatches” (American IS-2 tanks, and so forth)

Designate them as special units and create (or find) house rules to govern them

To give some examples:

The tank sculpts in 1941 represent German Tiger and Russian IS-2 tanks, both of which were heavy tanks.  Those two nations would therefore have the ability to build heavy tank units.

The battleship sculpts in 1941 represent the British Hood class and the Japanese Kongo class, bot of which were battlecruisers.  Those two nations would therefore have the ability to build battlecruisers.

The other units aren’t as clear-cut as examples, but you could use a similar technique.  The American Sumner-class destroyer could be used to represent destroyer escorts (which, I admit, they weren’t).  The British  Lancaster could be used to represent a bomber with a super-heavy lift capacity, the Lanc being the only Allied bomber which was long enough and powerful enough to carry the Grand Slam super-heavy bomb.  And so forth.  The point is that one single copy of this game, which is fairly inexpensive, would give you lots of unit types with which to test your concept.

Interestingly enough, I actually had a new 1941 at one time (I got it as a Christmas Present), but returned it for the very reason that each nation didn’t have unique sculpts. I grabbed the Seafarers expansion for Catan instead.

But thanks for the idea.

long distance attacking planes ?
Yes

AL.

Cavalry should attack on a 1, defend on a 1, and move at a 2. They could be combined with other units to up their abilities. For example, they could defend on a 2 if paired with infantry. THey could attack on a 2 if attacking with infantry. They should cost 3 IPCs.

The real role of cavalry should be to harass the enemy. If cavalry are in a battle, the other units cannot retreat nor engage another contested territory until the Cavalry are cleared out of that territory. In effect the unit is stuck there. This would simulate cavalry cutting supply lines and communications etc.

Also, cavalry could disrupt IPCs by entering into a vacant territory and in effect scorching the earth. The territory would lose 1 IPC for every Cavalry performing this task in that territory. A marker could be used to denote the territories new value. Cavalry themselves could not conquer a territory by themselves. They would need to be paired with an infantry.

On the map, all the territories on the Western front are occupied so this tactic would not really be used. However on the Eastern Front there are a couple of open territories mainly in Russia where it could be used.  Also, The middle east and Africa are more wide open. This rule conjures up images of Lawrence of Arabia!

@Vareel:

some units just don’t seem to have any nitch.

’

All the units in AAP40 have a niche, you just have to think about it more. Some are not as sexy as they used to be (tanks, battleships) and some are certainly bought less by certain players, but in general this is representive of history.

This set of unit stats is the best to date.

Why should crusiers be able to be traded with fighters?

the tac bomber rules already give them a clear role and make alot of sence except they are simpler that yours.

I do like your rules for infantry supporting tanks on the defence, except I dont like tanks costing five. tanks are big things that take alot to produce they should be expensive and players should not be able to build stacks of them (unless they are the russian player, in AAE40 the USSR should not be able to buy mech inf and instead can buy tanks at 5.)

forgot one clarification: I thought i may have told you that extra planes cannot roll against land units and they must be matched with equal land units…that is not true… they still roll, but only at 1 if you have extra air units…

“When only one side has air units at the beginning of combat cycle, air units fight with normal combat values
when matched 1-to-1 with a friendly land unit. Excess air units fight at combat value of 1.”

also lets review rules on air missions:

Counter-Air (CA)
For the same number of attacking CA air units, the same number of defending air units in the territory may
not perform DAS. Your air units must retreat to the original territory in Non-combat Move.

This is where you are strafing enemy air fields and they get up planes and your just fighting plane vs plane….like the Battle of Britain. You gain the additional advantage of tying down an equal number of defending fighters that can potentially fly a DAS mission.

Strategic Bombing Raid (SBR)
Each of your Bomber surviving Infrastructure Defense fire and aerial combat may choose to roll to reduce
the territory’s income, or reduce unit production [ on the next page] at its Industrial Complex. The die value
is the number of IPC lost, or number of units reduced respectively. If optional rule Strategic Redeployment
[ on the following page] is selected, it also rolls for SR damage hitting on a 4. The die value equals to
number of SR points reduced. All damage are applied to the enemy’s next turn.

In this action you reduce income and potentially SR deployment because your bombing the infrastructure of the enemies logistics to support his front line units…. Thats what Strategic Redeployment is about. IN the actual SBR mission ID rolls, and one round of air combat, surviving bombers SBR and return back to base.

Ground Interdiction (GI)
Each of your Bomber surviving Infrastructure Defense fire and aerial combat may roll to reduce enemy
ability to perform reinforcement. The die value is the number of hostile land units unable to perform
Reinforcement [ on the current page] in Non-combat Move phase this turn.

So obviously a Bomber can tie up enemy movement by rail in NCM. Very important when your doing D-day, so that Germans cant reinforce his counter attack against your beachhead…. Its very nice modeling in this idea and gives bombers alot of options for their hefty price tag. This form only needs to fight against ID rolls…no enemy planes can hurt you.

I am here always to help you guys. I will support you 200% always…if you have any questions ask no matter what. I really want to help you enjoy this.

I will work on a custom score sheet to add the player aids so you can keep track of various game features on IPC reduction etc…

Ill have it up in a few days. It will look nice.

@Cmdr:

@Raeder:

@Cmdr:

Ever consider Super Carriers that could hold 3 fighters?  (3 is good because you can physically put three fighters on the carrier model!)

For crying out loud… I posted exactly this idea in the New units thread like months ago… no answers, and now you post the exact same thing here. I’d like to be credited.  :wink:

I was doing that in 1993 though. :P

But yea, figuring out 3 fighters fit on a carrier doesn’t exactly take brain surgery. hehe

Using it without my permission… hmm, you owe me royalty then.  :-D

Yes, it would need rules for repairs; the choice for attackers is to cripple the entire enemy fleet in the hope of inflicting huge repair coasts, or to target and sink capital ships while taking the greater number of hits from escorts and fighters this would involve.

@Imperious:

heres some manageable rules to use:

I most like the part about destroyer and crusier negate submarine’s preemptive fire on a 1-to-1 basis (rather than unlimited in AAR).

Simple enough to implement for even first time players. Yet quite effective in improving gameplay dynamics.