ONLY Axis BBs 2 hit @ start…

@snipersquad

Yes you can
Pregame write out a mission / tactic / objective for each nation. Then refer to it each turn turn to keep you honest.
Germany could be complete sea lion
Japan could be conquer China and India
Etc etc

_Here’s a rule with two aims:

1. Safeguard Russian production (with some historical precedent) from relatively easy/early/immediate German poaching
2. More setup variety and more interesting potential play at the periphery of the map._
3. Enable/strengthen KJF and bilateral games.

The Rule:
During setup, do not automatically place any ICs in non-capital territories.  Instead, those ICs (and up to one AA unit/gun that accompanies it) may be placed in any territory controlled by their owner. The choice of where to place any starting ICs can be discussed openly, but should be made in secret and revealed simultaneously by all players.
Optional: If the UK does not start with at least one non-capital IC, allow it to place an IC+AA unit as well.

I think this works best with some of kind of mild incentive to encourage creative placements, so here are two versions of a bonus (pick one):

Bonus version A: Wherever a starting, non-capital IC is placed, permanently increase the IPC value of that territory by one (but not above 3).

Bonus version B: Whenever ANY non-capital IC is built or placed (for the duration of the game), permanently increase the IPC value of that territory by one (but not above 3).

If, instead, you allow US player to simply  built up to 2 Infantry per turn on any Allied chinese territory

That works OK, Baron – I’d prefer to the OOB rules. The problem with building infantry is that it doesn’t create an interesting choice for the US player, and if Japan kills the Flying Tiger on J1 (as it always should without an American bid or a radically intense Russian reinforcement gambit), then China never has any offensive potential no matter how much Japan under-invests there. Right, like let’s say on turn 1 I kill just Szechuan, leaving you with 4 infantry. You build 2 more infantry, now you have 6 infantry. So…so what? I’ve got something like 6 infantry, 2 artillery, and 2 fighters in the region; you don’t have any interesting counter-attacks.

With an IC, America can choose to build infantry (standard play) or something aggressive like a tank or fighter (Chinese gambit) or build nothing at all and save the IPCs for the ocean (Atlantic gambit).

UPDATE: Screenshot & TripleA save game file!

Note that both the map and the saved game are missing the neutral units (including French & Dutch), because the WW2v5 map in TripleA doesn’t allow for neutral units, but this should still save you a lot of setup time if you’re interested in playtesting the 1939 scenario.

AAA screenshot 1939.png
Argo 1939.tsvg

I’d prefer Germany-Ottomans, Italy-Austria & France-Russia.

So if a power on one side, let’s say AMERICA, has committed a ton of war crimes and their morality score gets down to say 50(?), then all the neutrals become pro-axis.  Very realistic.

Now what if you could buy off a neutral with “foreign aid” and prevent them from going pro-other side?  Suppose the “Hearts & Minds” thing were changed so that you get a +1 morality point AND prevent a neutral from going pro-other side by coughing up the number of IPCs their territory is worth.  For example, if Germany is <50 morality points and all the neutrals are going pro-allies, then they can pay Spain $2 to stay strict neutral for another turn.  You do this every turn at Purchase Units.  Once a strict neutral goes pro-other side they can never go back to strict neutral.

So having a bad reputation means the other side gets lots of potential income from the neutrals (and their units) and you have to spend a bunch of money every turn on forein aid to Spain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, etc to appease them. The good news is everytime you buy them off you get to brag up your generosity in propaganda that earns you +1 morality point.  Now that’s realistic.

@knp7765:

I understand where you are coming from.  Capital ships take 2 hits to sink, so they take 2 turns to build, right?  I do see the logic but I have to disagree with this idea.  Aside from Major ICs (30), Battleships (20) and Carriers (16) are already the most expensive units in the game.  Plus, if you add the planes for the carrier, 2 fighters (20), that brings Carriers up to 36, making them the most expensive units in the game.  Yeah, I know I’m talking about 3 units, but really what good is a carrier without some planes on it?
I just think they are a big enough investment in IPCs already so you shouldn’t also have to invest 2 turns to get one.

I agree with you, and yes that was what I was thinking of

So it would take 1 year for ships off California to reach Japan?

IN AA yes.