1914 map tweaks

@Flashman:

Another idea from one of my maps is the Khenifra area in Eastern Morocco to give the French similar problems:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaian_War

Exactly! Also, too, in the French colonies were the problems with the Tuareg in 1916-1917 (Kaocen Revolt). And you can throw in some problems for the British with the Mad Mullah’s state in Somaliland. Just when the Allies thought Africa would be a pushover…

My plastic 1/72 figures should come this week, but then I will at least have askaris that look like askaris, figures that look like passable Sennusi, and early war British who will stand in for Bulgarians. With the knapsack, they look more like Bulgarians at that scale than Russians with greatcoats slung over their shoulders. Primer and spraypaint will obscure some of that detail naturally.

I might consider using different rules entirely for askari and colonial troops in Africa. Not sure what mechanic to use though. I never liked using the normal combat values and rules since the most the individual Schutztruppen came to was a weak division in European terms (in DSWA, you might call it an oversize cavalry division), if even that. But with remounted 150mm naval guns, you can’t simply write them off as a brigade… DOA should have had the artillery piece to begin with, as opposed to DWSA starting the game with it.

This is the latest “Deluxe-Map” for endless games. The brown K stands for Kolonialtruppen. At mobilizationphase the original owner is allowed to put one Infantry unit there if he controls the tt or if it is contested.

@Flash    I agree this 1-tt movement Rule in Africa should be standard.

This is probably my final map for light version close to OOB.

Still not sure how to handle Moscow/Petrograd…

@protevangelium:

@Chacmool:

Version without Spain and Historical Entry for Minors

Because this keeps me up at night… have you considered reducing the amount of German units in the eastern part of the German Empire (i.e., Prussia), or slightly increasing the Russian forces in Poland? I mention this because so much of the Russian standing army was based here and so little of the German army in eastern Germany c. August 1914 (8th Army).

I have followed your map’s development to a certain extent, but what was the rationale for the U.S. having such a high starting IPC amount? The southern USA seems a bit much given the period, and there is no way it had the industrial output of the northeastern USA. Texas you can justify due to oil boom in OK and TX, but the South really should be around 8 IPCs. It had the potential for agriculture, but its industrial output was limited compared to the northeast and it was soon going to lose population due to internal migration (African American agricultural workers switching to a life in the urban Northeast and Midwest). �  �

I really like your African map setup. In the house rules I am mulling over, I have African units as taking two hits to kill as opposed to one (Central Powers only; sort of like battleships that regenerate without a port). Also, I will probably work in a few “pop up” revolts in Africa (Senussi, Somalia, etc.) for the Ottoman/CP player to spring within a certain time range. The Senussi, for example, were a serious problem for the Italians and their attempts to deal with them were seriously underwhelming when compared with the British. You never see much in English, however, on the Italian side of this campaign. When a Turkish infantry unit pops up Cyrenica, suddenly the Italians or British need to pay more attention to Africa.

BTW, what does the K stand for on the African spawn points? Thanks!

Edit: I see you how you have worked in the Sennusi in Kufra. I like this addition.

I reduced 1 German Artillery in Prussia and Silesia and gave it to Ruhr. Russian troops from Poland and Livonia were 9 Inf/4 Art can now invade Prussia with a chance to capture it.

USA does not collect from the start. They come in R6 and will start with 43 IPC. (maybe reduced a bit by USW) Like you suggested Ive changed the IPCs of South-East US.

The brown K stands for Kolonialtruppen. At mobilizationphase the original owner is allowed to put one Infantry unit there if he controls the tt or if it is contested. I have changes it into I for Infantry…

Made Petrograd Russian Cap. but now it looks real easy to be captured… Maybe if its captured before economical collapse the Russian player can remove his cap to Moscow?

@Chacmool:

This is probably my final map for light version close to OOB.

Still not sure how to handle Moscow/Petrograd…

Took me a while to figure out you had two maps, at least, circulating around. I like the changes.

1 tt movement for Africa, for sure. I cannot think of a single railroad traveling between two colonies.

Two capitals for A-H sounds right. With the two parliaments, it was a wonder they could wage war at all.

Perhaps a rule, too, for Russian RR movement–only Russian units can move two tts within Russian homeland territories. All others, move 1. This would reflect the relative size of the Russian territories, amount of track and rolling stock to cover them, and the efficency of their operation. Not to mention the Russian railroad gauge. Would 3 tts within Germany be too outrageous?

I’ve been reading through my To End All Wars rules. Has anyone considered putting a manpower cap on units for each nation? Once it has been reached, costs double. I’m not a fan of bookeeping, but that might one instance where it would be worth it.

Almost forgot to ask, Chacmool… will there be an English version available? I can read German (to an extent), but most of my friends cannot. I would like to give your map a shot when it is finished.

Thanks!

I have no plans for an english version at the moment, but maybe in the future.

Even if your friends don`t understand a word german they should be able to play with this map ;-)

I have added the second Capitals Budapest and Moscow, also changed some names and made SZ 18 smaller to reduce the options of the AH-fleet in the first 2 Rounds…

@Flashman:

Don’t like bottling up the Austrian fleet like that… I suppose it depends what you do with the Italian entry. I like giving Austria more options, such as invading Cyrenaica; they then have to choose between taking advantage of this (bringing Italy into the war early), or leaving Italy in peace for a turn. Another factor is if you allow Italy to move and build before being at war (I don’t.)

The Austrian navy’s ability to operate beyond the straits of Otranto was very limited. Even when they escorted the Goeben out of Pola, it was only to that point. If I recall correctly, it did not seem to have any extensive collier capabilities. It was also assisted by the relative lack of good Italian naval bases on the Adriatic coast of Italy.

As much as I would like to use the Austrian navy (I love playing Austria-Hungary in any WW I game), it really is only good to prevent an Italian landing via the Adriatic. And maybe to take the occasional potshot coastal bombardment on Italy.

I had thought about house-ruling a German sub deployment via the Austrian naval base. As you probably know, they dismantled U-boats, shipped them by rail, and reassembled them at Pola. It would make the naval war in the Med get… interesting…

@Chacmool:

I have no plans for an english version at the moment, but maybe in the future.

Even if your friends don`t understand a word german they should be able to play with this map ;-)

I have added the second Capitals Budapest and Moscow, also changed some names and made SZ 18 smaller to reduce the options of the AH-fleet in the first 2 Rounds…

Well, I guess they are going to have to learn German.  :-D

How big can this map be made before the text, etc. becomes distorted (i.e in relation to the OOB map)?

@protevangelium:

@Chacmool:

I have no plans for an english version at the moment, but maybe in the future.

Even if your friends don`t understand a word german they should be able to play with this map ;-)

I have added the second Capitals Budapest and Moscow, also changed some names and made SZ 18 smaller to reduce the options of the AH-fleet in the first 2 Rounds…

Well, I guess they are going to have to learn German.� � :-D

How big can this map be made before the text, etc. becomes distorted (i.e in relation to the OOB map)?

It can be made really big, even big enough to place units on western front…

I am planing to get the map printed � 1 meter x 1 meter.

After I playtested the map in the last weeks I decided to reduce Russian economical/political collapse 1 IPC to 12/14.

I think I am going to get this version (1 capital per Power-easier) printed in XL, would be cool if there was someone who knew some styling tips like adding topographical features etc.

@Chacmool:

@protevangelium:

@Chacmool:

I have no plans for an english version at the moment, but maybe in the future.

Even if your friends don`t understand a word german they should be able to play with this map ;-)

I have added the second Capitals Budapest and Moscow, also changed some names and made SZ 18 smaller to reduce the options of the AH-fleet in the first 2 Rounds…

Well, I guess they are going to have to learn German.� � :-D

How big can this map be made before the text, etc. becomes distorted (i.e in relation to the OOB map)?

It can be made really big, even big enough to place units on western front…

I am planing to get the map printed � 1 meter x 1 meter.

After I playtested the map in the last weeks I decided to reduce Russian economical/political collapse 1 IPC to 12/14.

I think I am going to get this version (1 capital per Power-easier) printed in XL, would be cool if there was someone who knew some styling tips like adding topographical features etc.

Even without styling, that’s a pretty good looking map. It corrects most of the glaring errors in the OOB map. Would topographical features have any effect on gameplay?

1x1 meter should be decent sized; that is about as big as I can go given my current table space. Just a few inches more than the regulation playing size for X-Wing!

I assume your other house rule map is still in development? I didn’t want to try and print anything off that wasn’t fully complete.

No, the features would not have any effect, but I like the styling of the OOB-map more than this plain map. (this one looks a bit like the olk risk-maps to me)

The “Deluxe-House-Rule map” is still under construction and will need some more time.

The D-H-R-map is more for History-Nerds who have time for playing this game fo(u)r days, while the simpler map is more suitable for one-afternoon-action gamers.  8-)

@Flashman:

I still think there is a case for unlimited rail movement along friendly lines, though never into combat (you can reinforce a contested area if there is no attack there this turn). Its up to players to disrupt enemy communications by blocking long rail movements.

Again, my point is that for every war from the American Civil to WWII the nature of the combat was dictated by rail movements allowing nations to heavily reinforce their fighting fronts in time to prevent their collapse, or shift major contingents from front to front in a short time (equivalent to no more than 1 game round), thus leading to battles of heavy attrition.

There really should not be large forces in transit away from the battlefields.

Should rail (i.e. move 2 spaces) be allowed involving Persia & Afghanistan? Don’t think so.

Flash, could you please give me a sum-up Rule for your Railmovement idea? Not to complex so that it could be integrated into OOB maybe? I really want to try this one out because CPs loose every game.

@Chacmool:

No, the features would not have any effect, but I like the styling of the OOB-map more than this plain map. (this one looks a bit like the olk risk-maps to me)

The “Deluxe-House-Rule map” is still under construction and will need some more time.

The D-H-R-map is more for History-Nerds who have time for playing this game fo(u)r days, while the simpler map is more suitable for one-afternoon-action gamers.  8-)

For all of its faults, the OOB board is a nice piece of artwork.

As you point out though, those of us that make our living on history see through its artistic appeal. I wouldn’t worry about DHR map taking four days to play through. That works out to 1 day per year of war!

My HaT and Airfix 1/72s will fill in for askaris and British colonial troops. Early war British infantry will serve as Bulgarians!

So heres my latest map for A&A 1914. Includes East Prussia and all correct borders, Has some Zones for Askarideployment in Africa.

I kept Albania, neutral Greece and Moscow as Russian Capitol.