• Customizer

    (To be used with Historicalboardgaming.com’s “SS” markers (http://www.historicalboardgaming.com/HBG-SS-Marker-Acrylic_p_763.html), can also use turned over German markers)

    Background

    Operation Valkyrie is an optional scenario to play late in the game to simulate the events and possible outcomes of the historical plan to assassinate Hitler that took place in 1944. If successful, it can serve to greatly shorten a Europe/Global 1940 game.

    Conditions

    The following conditions must be met for the operation to take place:

    • It must be at least Turn 3.
    • Germany must be at war with Russia.
    • Either the UK or USA must have had units in Continental Europe for one complete turn.

    When it is Germany’s turn and the conditions have been met, roll a die. An “even” result means the operation is initiated. Note that this can only happen once per game.

    Outcomes

    In history, the plan was based on having the reserve army in each of Germany’s territories arrest the Nazi/SS leadership in the event of Hitler’s death.

    The scenario can have many different outcomes based on what happens in the next few steps.

    1. First, for each German-held territory, roll a die.

    a.  An “even” result means it will be compliant to the order, and go along with the plan to remove the SS.

    b.  “Odd” means it does not follow the order, and remains loyal to the SS. Place an “SS” marker in the territory if this is the case.

    2. Once all German territories declare their intentions, roll a die to see if the plot to kill Hitler is successful.

    a.  If the result is “even,” Hitler is dead and it has been confirmed with all Wehrmacht officers. Immediately convert Germany to a compliant zone if it was loyal in the first check. Roll again for the loyal zones, giving them another chance to follow the directive.
              i.  If loyal zones remain, the compliant zones join the Allies, and fight against the remaining SS zones.
              ii.  If all zones join the plot (or are destroyed), the compliant zones join the allies, return all original Allied territories, and remain Neutral for the rest of the game.

    b.  If the result is “odd,” Hitler survived the attempt on his life. Germany immediately converts to a loyal zone if it was compliant in the first check. Check to see how many compliant zones and how many loyal zones there are.
              i.  If there are more loyal zones, the plot has failed and the operation’s leaders are arrested. Remove one infantry from each compliant zone and convert them to loyal zones.
              ii. If there are more compliant zones than loyal zones, the loyal zones defect and join the Allies. If the remaining loyal zones are destroyed in the war, follow step 2.a.ii.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    Uhmm… other than adding a 50% gamble on a dice roll, that germany can lose any given game -even- if they are winning.

    What is the purpose of adding this?

    I’m all for things -like- this, but I don’t see any benefit these rules bring to the game, or any of the playersa other than sumizing that a quick dice roll can end the game based on random reasons.

    Good theory, but needs to be rehashed.

  • Customizer

    @Gargantua:

    Uhmm… other than adding a 50% gamble on a dice roll, that germany can lose any given game -even- if they are winning.

    What is the purpose of adding this?

    I’m all for things -like- this, but I don’t see any benefit these rules bring to the game, or any of the playersa other than sumizing that a quick dice roll can end the game based on random reasons.

    Good theory, but needs to be rehashed.

    Maybe, but I think your assertion that it’s a 50% gamble for Germany to lose the game is more than a little off…Let’s look at the math.

    1. Odds that Operation Valkyrie takes place (assuming conditions are met, which, if Germany is winning, may not be a safe assumption. After all, Valkyrie was attempted because members of German High Command felt that Hitler was causing Germany to lose the war):
    1/2, or 50%

    2. Odds that Operation Valkyrie takes place AND Hitler is killed:
    1/2 x 1/2 = 1/4 or 25%

    3. Odds that O.V. takes place AND Hitler is killed AND all territories (let’s assume 7) go with the order (German insta-lose):
    1/2 x 1/2 x 1/128 = 1/512 or 0.2%

    I’m not going to break down the odds of if so many territories go one way or the other, but you get the idea.

    On the other side of things, Germany has more than a decent chance of coming out of the scenario completely unscathed:

    1: Odds that Operation Valkyrie does NOT take place:
    1/2, or 50%

    2. Odds that Operation Valkyrie doesn’t take place OR O.V. does take place AND Hitler is not killed:
    1/2 + 1/2 x 1/2 = 3/4, or 75%

    3. Odds that O.V. doesn’t take place OR O.V. does take place AND Hitler is not killed AND all territories go SS:
    1/2 + 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/128 = 257/512, or 50%

    I got the inspiration for this rule from (as you may have guessed) the 2008 film, when I suddenly realized, “Damn, the war could have been over if they had succeeded!”

    In my opinion, if anything needs to be tweaked, it’s the conditions to be met. I designed them to only be met late in the game, when the tide has turned against Germany. Maybe I need to add more/different conditions to reflect that.

    What is the purpose of adding this?

    I like interesting historical scenarios, and in terms of game mechanics, this adds interest and may shorten the game.


  • We’ve use Xeno’s rules of rolling a dice 1-2 (D6), 1-4 (D12), or 1-7 (D20) assassination is successful. German player receives a permanent 5 IPC/turn increase. If the player rolls a 6 (D6), 11-12 (D12), 18-20 (D20) the German player must remove 2 Infantry and 2 Armor. Any rolls in between simply fail with no effects. This can only be attempted once per game.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    @Maofator:

    We’ve use Xeno’s rules of rolling a dice 1-2 (D6), 1-4 (D12), or 1-7 (D20) assassination is successful. German player receives a permanent 5 IPC/turn increase. If the player rolls a 6 (D6), 11-12 (D12), 18-20 (D20) the German player must remove 2 Infantry and 2 Armor. Any rolls in between simply fail with no effects. This can only be attempted once per game.

    This is way more exciting.

    There’s a possible good, and a possible bad.  It’s also simple - Way better.

  • Customizer

    @Gargantua:

    @Maofator:

    We’ve use Xeno’s rules of rolling a dice 1-2 (D6), 1-4 (D12), or 1-7 (D20) assassination is successful. German player receives a permanent 5 IPC/turn increase. If the player rolls a 6 (D6), 11-12 (D12), 18-20 (D20) the German player must remove 2 Infantry and 2 Armor. Any rolls in between simply fail with no effects. This can only be attempted once per game.

    This is way more exciting.

    There’s a possible good, and a possible bad.  It’s also simple - Way better.

    This doesn’t make any sense in a historical context…The conspirators stated that if the plot was successful they would immediately sue for peace with the Allies. Why would they receive greater production if Hitler was killed, and continue the war? Why would they lose random tank units if the plot failed?

    Maybe my rule is more complex, but to me it makes more sense and adds more interest.


  • After looking at the discussion I have to agree with some of what a couple of you have said…

    1)  Not Quite sure I’d want to play 6 hours of a game only to have it end immediately (Meaning that if the assassination is successful, whatever the odds, the game is over for the Germans regardless of how many territories change or do not).  While this could add a certain historical flare to a game, it is one that would ruin the entire game experience.

    2)  I also agree that having the outcome benefit the German nation economically is equally silly to having an instant end to a game.

    All in all while a neat theoretical idea to incorporate a historical situation into the game I’m not sure I would ever even consider playing with such a rule.

  • Customizer

    I know this type of thing doesn’t appeal to everyone. Is it necessary? No. Is it balanced? Not really, there’s no insta-lose for the U.S. or Japan. But I tend to like things like this that break up playing “just another game” of A&A and giving players a story to tell.

    For instance, in one of my games in college, the Russian player felt like his U.S. and U.K. allies were not making a good effort to engage Germany in the West; he was taking a beating on the Eastern Front. So, I (the German player) proposed a peace treaty. Russia allied with Germany and Japan, and the remaining Allies were punished for their incompetence.

    Was this game balanced? No. Was it fun? Hell yes. In all the games I played, that’s the one that sticks out in my mind, even though it was completely lopsided.

  • Customizer

    Back when we just had Classic, my friend and I played it so often that we got a little bored, especially him since he always played Allies and I kept beating him. So we came up with alternate alliances. After tweaking the setup a bit depending on the alliances, we had a lot of fun. The most devastating alliance was Germany/Russia. While they at first had a little trouble getting any decent navy started, they pretty much swept through Europe, Asia and Africa so they were making most of the money.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    I always liked Germany/UK vs the world.

  • Customizer

    I wonder how that would work in Global 40. Do you think ANZAC would be on the UK/German side?
    For one thing, there would never be a Sealion. Also, German naval power would get a boost from the Royal Navy.
    I think Italy would be doomed with Germany sitting right on top of them.
    What about the Neutrals? Strict neutrals wouldn’t be a problem, but how do you determine Pro-Allied or Pro-Axis? Or do you simply make all Neutrals strict?

  • '22 '20 '19 '18 '17 '16

    @knp7765:

    Back when we just had Classic, my friend and I played it so often that we got a little bored, especially him since he always played Allies and I kept beating him. So we came up with alternate alliances. After tweaking the setup a bit depending on the alliances, we had a lot of fun. The most devastating alliance was Germany/Russia. While they at first had a little trouble getting any decent navy started, they pretty much swept through Europe, Asia and Africa so they were making most of the money.

    That was one of the scenarios in the Iron Blitz expansion, poor Japan was mostly a bystander since it could only gain territories in Siberia or simply reinforce China.

    The US-neutral scenario was a good challenge for Russia/UK.

    The Valkyrie scenario lines up pretty well with the 1945 set ups of UK/US vs Russia/Japan. Imagine if after hours of gameplay the German player switches over to the Allies and Russia forms a pact with Japan?

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    @General:

    @knp7765:

    Back when we just had Classic, my friend and I played it so often that we got a little bored, especially him since he always played Allies and I kept beating him. So we came up with alternate alliances. After tweaking the setup a bit depending on the alliances, we had a lot of fun. The most devastating alliance was Germany/Russia. While they at first had a little trouble getting any decent navy started, they pretty much swept through Europe, Asia and Africa so they were making most of the money.

    That was one of the scenarios in the Iron Blitz expansion, poor Japan was mostly a bystander since it could only gain territories in Siberia or simply reinforce China.

    The US-neutral scenario was a good challenge for Russia/UK.

    The Valkyrie scenario lines up pretty well with the 1945 set ups of UK/US vs Russia/Japan. Imagine if after hours of gameplay the German player switches over to the Allies and Russia forms a pact with Japan?

    COOOOOL!

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