• Having played Global 1940 a number of times I have discovered what many, if not all, in the community have before me. The game is unbalanced, the Axis have an advantage. I have perused the forums and found two generally accepted ways to re-balance the game. The first is an Allied bid and the second is the version three balance mod. I shy away from using a bid, because bids encourage Axis players to continue to use the same overused optimal strategies. Such as the German push to take Moscow and the Japanese turn one attack. A bid does nothing to discourage these strategies. I have enjoyed playing the balance mod because it encourages players to expand into underutilized sections of the map, but it still suffers from players doing the same scripted moves turn one.

    I have two ideas that could help balance the game and encourage different strategies by giving players different starting options. They are as follows:

    1. Starting technology. Each major power (Germany, USSR, Japan, USA, UK and ANZAC, and Italy) gets one free technology before the start of the game. Selection is randomized with a dice roll, but the rolling player gets to choose the number rolled from either technology chart. Because certain technologies are overpowered, the opposing team gets a “veto,” that denies one technology but which allows the rolling player to select any neighboring technology on the chart. For example, Russia rolls a one for their technology and can select either heavy artillery or advanced submarines. The German player does not want to fight heavy artillery and so declares a veto, prohibiting Russia from selecting that technology. However, the Russian player can then select heavy bombers or advanced mechanized infantry (6), rockets or jet fighters (2), or still pick super submarines (1). In this way each power gets to select a technology that will help them in some way but not overpower them. (I learned in test play that long range Japanese aircraft are a nightmare).

    These starting technologies can effect game play from the first turn. UK radar can make Sea Lion and the Calcutta Crush prohibitively expensive so the UK player can be more aggressive with his buys. Improved ship building can give the Italians a chance to build a navy etc. The game is different each time it is played and scripted moves face new challenges.

    1. Nations that have lost their capital can still collect 50% of their income (rounding up) and place units in industrial complexes they own.

    Optimal Axis strategies are to kill Moscow and Calcutta. This rule allows Russia to retreat from Moscow if there is no hope of defending it, and still produce (limited) units. The Axis cannot just aim for a capital and destroy an entire nation by taking that one territory, they have to capture all its industrial centers. This rule also allows France to contribute in small ways too. A French airbase in Morocco or Syria have proven surprising useful. This rule does not change starting moves but can effect how players fight in mid to late game.

    What do you think? Are these two rules enough to balance the game? My small group has had fun with them but we are not expert players. How do you change up the standard scripted turn one moves? I have one additional idea but have not play tested it:

    1. If Russia or USA are attacked before their first turn, the attacked Nation immediately receives a bonus 30 IPC which they can spend on their turn. This bonus goes to 20 IPC on turn two, 10 IPC on turn three, and 0 IPC on turn four. So if Japan attacks USA turn one, the USA gets 30 free IPC, and if Germany attacks Russia turn two, the USSR receives 20 free IPC. This is an immediate counter to aggressive Axis players but is not a guaranteed bid that encourages that same aggressive behavior.

    I do not know if this idea would work and would appreciate the community’s input on all three house rules. My bottom line is that I do not want to change the map, set up, or core rules but I would like to play a game that is not the same every time.

    Please tell me what you think and happy rolling.

  • 2023 '22 '21 '20 '19 '18

    hi @sergeant-cutter welcome to the site. Cool ideas. Sounds fun. I think on your third idea that 30 bucks is too much and you wouldn’t see any J1 attacks. I’d try it much smaller. Maybe 10 rd1 and 5 rd 2. If that doesn’t work, you could try 15, 10, 5 or 15, 10, 0. You’ll just have to play around with it.

    In case you’re not aware of it, triplea allows you to play digitally. This is great for playtesting even if you only/mostly play ftf, as it saves considerable time to rerun scenarios over and over.

    https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/17147/gargantua-s-k-i-s-s-triplea-instructions

    Edit
    Ahh yea … you’re familiar with BM so you’ll be familiar with triplea then : )


  • @sergeant-cutter

    Hi Sergeant,

    Your ideas seem easy to implement in the OOB game - and if I understand you correctly, you already use these rules.

    I agree with barnee, that the IPC bonus for USA and USSR if attacked R1 might need some adjustment.

    Play testing is the only way to find out what works best.

    You might find inspiration in the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion in your efforts on balancing the OOB game.

    The Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion not only eliminates the unbalance - it also brings another dimension to the Global 1940 game.


  • Thank you for the feedback. That is a good point where the decreasing bid would penalize the first turn strike too much. Do you think 20 IPC for turn one and 10 IPC for turn two would be better balanced?

    @barnee I have not played AAA but have heard good things about it.

    @The-Captain that is an impressive set of rules and very well presented. It is a lot to implement all at once but I imagine it makes for a fun game. I gave the Rule set a quick read but will have to give it a more thorough examination later.


  • @sergeant-cutter said in Global 1940 Balance Idea:

    Do you think 20 IPC for turn one and 10 IPC for turn two would be better balanced?

    yea Idk. You’d just have to game it out. The expert players here play with an overall bid much higher than that but little if any goes to USA usually, so Idk how having it all go to one player would affect things differently.

    Plus you’ve got the other rules too so … :)

    Yea i thought you would be familiar with triplea as that’s how BM was designed. Anyway, as I said above, it’s great for playtesting even if you play on the real board.


  • @barnee on triplea, are you able to edit the existing map with these “balance” house rules? To make the game more random instead of penalizing, I am using the DK research chart (with my own adjustments including there is a fixed research dice income for majors and minors Majors include: Germany, Italy, Soviet, US, Europe UK, and Japan France and China do not get a research die and the rest (minors) only get 1 research die while the majors get 2 (but they can only research one per turn during the research stage)

    There are also “Copy Cards” that cost 5 IPC’s each and if you want to, you can save them up and when you use them, (Research phase starts at the beginning of each round) if you roll a 6 you can copy any player’s research for a round. In the rules with the “Super Subs Technology” I felt like it was too OP so I decreased the attack to just @2 and defense @2 so it’s not crazy.


  • @barnee I also got rid of convoy raiding as I felt making subs less powerful and making cruisers a little better to buy:sweat_smile: definitely not because we can’t keep track of them

    cough

    But now I am going to add the Iberian Union as a playable nation soon (yes) But ATM I can’t work on the rules for it I will need to playtest it on TripleA but I donty know how to program that so :laughing: more “fun” for me


  • @all-encompassing-goose yea it could probably do most of it. You could then use edit for the rest. It would require a major rewrite or at least a significant one.

    Years ago I had added a lot of DKs techs and his tech system but my old machine fried and I lost most of it.

    Anyway here’s a couple things to get you started. pact_of_steel_2.xml

    http://www.starlords3k.com/XOB.html and here’s the map making triplea one https://forums.triplea-game.org/category/28/map-making

    Just start with small changes. It’s a challenging process or at least it was/is for me.


  • @barnee Very helpful tools, thank you lots!! :smile:

    Have a good day/night


  • @sergeant-cutter

    Hello! Just wondering if you’re the same Sgt Cutter who used to play and design maps for the Lucasarts game Outlaws?


  • @runaway_jim

    I am of no relation to him. Likely just a similar appreciation of the movie Gunga Din.

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