Artillery defense support.

I originally designed this unit independent of any other source in the 1980’s when there was only A&A Classic available.
Motorized Artillery: move 2 (same as Armor) Attack value = 4 and Defence value = 1. Cost is 7 PF.

Karvajo,

Welcome to the A&A.org forums. You are in luck, I’ve already done the work to figure out how to add Arty to 1941. Allow me to regale you:

While I’m no expert, if I were going to add artillery units from 40 or 42 to my copy of 41, this is how I would do it.

First, use the pieces and rules from 42. Here are the stats for artillery:
@Axis:

Artillery
Cost 4
Attack 2*
Defense 2
Move 1

Supports Infantry: When an infantry attacks along with an artillery, the infantry’s attack increases to 2. Each infantry must be matched one-for-one with a supporting artillery unit. Artillery does not support infantry on defense.

Also, note in the rules section for infantry:
@Axis:

Infantry
Cost 3
Attack 1 (2 when supported by artillery)*
Defense 2
Move 1

Supported by Artillery: When an infantry attacks along with an artillery, the infantry’s attack increases to 2. Each infantry must be matched one-for-one with a supporting artillery unit. If your infantry outnumber your artillery, the excess infantry units still have an attack of 1. For example, if you attack with two artillery and five infantry, two of your infantry have an attack of 2 and the rest have an attack of 1. Infantry are not supported by artillery on defense.

Finally, I would change the initial setup for 1941 to reflect the presence of artillery in armies already on the board. I would think that changing every 3rd infantry in a territory to artillery would be a decent start. If I did that, I would change the setup in some territories and leave the rest alone. The changed territories would reflect the following setup:

Russia: 4 infantry, 2 artillery, 1 tank, 1 fighter*
Archangel: 2 infantry, 1 artillery
Karelia: 2 infantry, 1 artillery
Caucasus: 2 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 tank
Siberia: 2 infantry, 1 artillery

Germany: 2 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 fighter, 1 bomber
Eastern Europe: 3 infantry, 1 artillery, 2 tanks
Ukraine: 2 infantry, 1 artillery, 2 tanks
West Russia: 2 infantry, 1 artillery

Japan: 3 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 tank, 1 fighter, 1 bomber

*Note that according to the FAQ put out after the game released, the territory labeled Russia should start with six infantry. If you haven’t read this FAQ, you should, as it made other changes to the setup of the board. If you swap every third infantry for an artillery, you would get four infantry and two artillery, as shown above.

The FAQ for Axis & Allies 1941 can be found here: www.wizards.com/AvalonHill/rules/AA_1941_FAQ.pdf

Also, this would mean that neither the UK nor the US would start with any artillery as their regular setup have no territories with three or more infantry. Either shrug your shoulders or change their setup as you feel appropriate, perhaps as follows:

India: 1 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 fighter
Eastern U.S.: 1 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 tank, 1 fighter, 1 bomber

The above changes should integrate artillery into a game of 1941 fairly well. The Axis would swap 5 infantry for 5 artillery and the Allies would swap 6 or 8 (with optional UK and US artillery swapping) infantry for 6 or 8 (with optional UK and US artillery swapping) artillery for the setup of the game.

My 2 IPC

-M_R

Source: (https://boardgamegeek.com/article/22682014#22682014) Still me, just the BGG me.

-Midnight_Reaper

Another aspect which can show how
Anti-Tank Gun
Attack 1
Defense 3
Move 1
Cost 4,
+1 Def to 1 Inf
is still balance:

1 Infantry (A1-2 D2-3) + 1 Artillery = A2 D2 + A2 D2 = A4 D4, 2 hits for 7 IPCs.

1 Infantry (A1-2 D2-3)+ 1 Anti-Tank Gun = A1 D3 + A1 D3 = A2 D6, 2 hits for 7 IPCs.

The same overall number are kept, 8 combat points, same hits, same cost.

@Yavid:

2-2-2-5 supports inf., supports mech inf, Blitz with tank.

Looks like the best idea. Attack on 3 essentially would make it a tank at 1 IPC cheaper. Nobody would buy tanks anymore.

Look at it from a theoretical perspective and it’s quite simple.  All those “conventional 150mm howitzers” you’re building for 4 IPCs don’t have the range to retailate against weaponry of cruiser caliber or above.  So they’ll sit there on the coast under bombardment and like it!

If you don’t like it, then your answer is to create a house rule for a coastal defense / bunker fortification that can be built :)

I have been fooling around with a rather simple fortification/blockhaus rule:

limit one per territory
10 IPCs

When attacked via land or by amphibious assault , rolls ONE retaliatory bombardment die at 4 or less.
Roll is made after any incoming bombardment fire from attacking vessels and you take an applicable hits.  Any casualty you inflict is immediately selected and removed from the board by the attacker. The blockhaus DOESN’T roll a defense die in combat from then on.

Additionally, any hits you take during the rest of the battl against infantry or artillery in that territory are negated by saving throw if you roll a 6.

If the territory is captured, the fortification/blockhaus is removed from play.

@lnmajor:

@Fishmoto37:

@SSPanther:

What do you guys out there think about the concept towed artillery, that is mechanized infantry being able to move artillery with it on a 1:1 basis?

We are using this in our current game. Works great! We are using Tigerman’s map along with other house rules. One of the main improvements we are working on is improving the submarine rules. The OOB rules for subs in the 1940G game are weak!

what are you doing with subs

The sub rule we are trying now is 2-1-2 unit as in 1940G OOB but each DD that is declared a sub hunter rolls a die and sinks the sub on a one and locates on a two. Located or detected subs can then be attacked by CAs or additional DDs. If sub survives first round of combat then it defends at one or submerges.

it was the softgun part, i was just imagining those pvc mini-marshmallow shooters that are all the rage at 5-year-old’s birthday parties plinking off of a Tiger Tank….
:-o

Thats perfectly cool dude.  I have no time to play A&A during the school year.  Play it out and let me know.  I have a feeling artillery might be a bit too powerful on my board.  Just out of curiosity what else are you thinking of tweeking.  Where is your blog?