I like the elegeant solution of chacmool:
_To avoid the unhistorical Austrian attack the turn Sequence should be changed into
1. Italy
2. Austria
3. Russia
4. Germany
5. France
6. Britain
7. Turkey
8. USA
with Italy beeing neutral and unattackable R1 so the game still starts with Austrias march into Serbia._
nice and simple!
land units and fighters. (p.23) So use your transports economically. And do not forget the House of Sa’ud an s Somalia.
Greetings
Hello,
It was just one thought. For the moment no suggestion for a house rule. I will only suggest such a thing if it improves the balance (All the fronts are linked!) and gives the game more historical feeling.
I wil only tinker with the game after much consideration and playtesting.
A good game ( and A&A14 is that ) is :
Considering:
Belgium & Switzerland
economic warfare (unrestricted submarine warfare is not good at the moment)
minefields: rule is Ok but can be clearer. ( example; bridging or ferrying in mined waters)
limited production in India and Ruhr
war weariness
( “mines” can also mean; coastal defences, frogmen, and small torbedoboats. See the fate of the Viribus unitis and the Szent istvan)
Greetings
El Stef
Greetings,
Belgium was - according to sources- the 5th or 6th industrial power of the world before the outbreak of the war. Although the Germans did not rape the amount of benefits from the occupation of Belgium they had hoped for (and they did their best!), the country only slowly recovered and never regained its position in the world ranking after the war. Okay, others catched up, it was a matter of time, but Belgium’s economy was ruined after 4 years of harsh and brutal occupation.
Furthermore, in the early months of the war, the Belgian resistance around the fortresses of Liège ( The big Bertha’s had to be brought in), the continuing threat from the Belgian army to the German flank from Antwerp ( till they had enough of it and took the town ) and finally the heroic resistance behind the tiny Yser river (helped by some floodings), bought time for the allies and saved the westfront from an early collapse. The German lost due to the Belgians!
The first world war was a big gamble for Germany and they probably had lost it anyway (however, consider Paris fallen?) In the game Belgium, its economy and therefore strength is underrated. Belgium was no walk-over for the Germans (as in WW2). As in the Franco- Prussian war it would have stayed neutral. The British had even plans to occupy Belgium.
Al the economic strengths and the armies are adapted to allow a more balanced play (AH!), i understand but a meagre 2? (Spain 4, Sweden 4 , Norway FOUR!, …) It hurts , it hurts. Maybe Belgium can be made more important for the Western front without altering the whole game.
note : Played it only a few times but i think AA1914 is one of the best. And i played them all, a lot. It is not without flaws but wich version isn’t?
Greetings
El Stef
Thanks, for the clarifications.
Activating a pro- neutral is done in the non-combat move phase and landing air units in the “place units” phase.
Neutral neutrals are not activated but become aligned to a side. (I already had visions of a south american war)
Attacking a neutral neutral? Has somebody done it? Or seen doing it?
( My apologies for my English, it seems easy but it is not)
Greetings
El Sef
The two boxes stand proudly om my desk, and now i’m eager to try them. Being a vet AA player ( own and played them all, including The Xeno things) and looking at the setup and rules i believe there will be a lot of re-thinking required (wich is nice). The basic options and strategic conundrums however remain the same (whatfirst?, " meanwhile back at the farm", what to buy?)
I’m trying to gather some generals for a big splash: AAG 1940.
My questions:
Greetings
El Stef
Best AA games( sofar) ; AA anniv edition & Guadalcanal
Preferred country: Italy ( If possible, also in other games, i always play Italy, you can never do worse than they did).
Italy was fun in AA50: you had your own agenda ad (not the slave of the German ambitions), you were mostly neglected and had plenty of room. And suddenly there sailed a proud Italian fleet from the MED to challenge the allies in the atlantic. It looks in AAG 1940, that those times are over.
some thougts:
Leaving Manchuria empty; too inviting and 5 or more russians are hard to kill on J2
The fighter in Egypt is the most important piece in turn 1.
An IC build in Indochina on J1? (will try this next time)
Japan stratgy is influenced by the actions of Germany on turn 1: egypt or not.
Ignore Siberia and go for the Caucasus via China
OR
Ignore China, let them flourish! Prepare to lose 2 victory cities. (They can not attack outside China ( just an idea))
Greetings
El Stef
The tactics and their evolution used by both parties involved in strategic bombing are very interesting but they do not belong in a game with a strategic scope.
A SBR attack in A&A represents a strategic bombing campaign, spanning several months aimed at the industries and civilians ( or air forces) of the other party. AA- fire and eventually defensive fighters represent the counter measures. Both sides have to invest a part of their their war effort and may invest in technology.
Strategic air campaigns of the war: Battle of Britain, bombings of Germany, bombings of Japan. Al those took a substantial part of the war effort ( ex: The AA guns of the Kammhuber linie could not be used on the eastern front as anti tank guns)
A strategic bombing campaign is rather wel covered within the rules and optional rules.
Greetings
El Stef
Balanced: With only two games( AA50) under my belt i do not have an opinion yet. When considering this, one has to take the experience of the players into account; a novice player will be thrashed by veterans (beginners luck aside).
One of the unique aspects of A&A is the group play. So you can balance the teams wit novice and veteran players on each side. Sometimes advice is accepted sometimes rejected, it one of the fun aspects of the game. For example- i’ ve seen it happen often-the elaborate strategies of the veteran players going down the drain due to eccentric moves of headstrong beginners. (Maybe this is an overlooked historical aspect of the game; the animosity and mistrust between the allies, the no- coördination between the axis (and a freewheeling Mussolini!)
It is the best edition yet , altough not perfect. (some rules, the pieces, the map, …), but certainly worth its money.
Greetings
El Stef
Are they good rules? fun, balancing, handicap, realism, …?
“http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/bb2/viewtopic.php?t=1759”
They seem to add a touch of realism. I regard Axis & allies as a wargame, WWII flavoured. It is not an simulation. However some of the basic options of the leaders of second world war are the same ( Attack russia or not, Germany or Japan first?, Pacific or Europe?..) Tinkering with the rules ( who hasn 't? ) leads easily to unbalanced games. The game has to be kept balanced and fun to play (even with the crazy, unhistorical moves).
Closed Bosporus: a handicap for the axis. It limits the options for Italy. And the other straits? Implementing rules for those as well seriously alters the game (esp. Gibraltar & Kattegat & The Channel and also Kra, Hormuz) If you feel that Russia is too weak you ca use it. (IMHO Russia is handicapped with the defense of three factories and very vulnerable in 1942).
Maybe you can consider “running the gauntlet”-rules when trying to force straits: More hazardous if AA and air units are present in the adjacent land territories. (remember the channel dash of the Kriegsmarine, Das Boot and the Dardanelles disaster in WWI).But then there is still a neutral Turkey.
Escorting fighters: On of the things i missed in A&A is not to have the option to wage a “Battle of the atlantic” and a strategic air offensive. The rules for submarines are the best yet but still there is something missing. Submarines schould be freely on the prowl; a few are pain in the ass, a lot are potentiol war winners. bothe sides have to devote substantial resources if one side decides to wage this war. The same for a bombing campaign.
The suggested optional rules for fighter escorts are not very clear. I quote them here. The boxes below are from me.
Greetings
EL STEF
Additional Optional Rules
The following are additional optional rules that can be used in your games if all players agree.
Dardanelles Closed to Sea Movement
In order to maintain its neutrality, Turkey closed the narrow straights linking the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, permitting no naval passage by any belligerent nation on either side. No sea units may move into or out of sea zone 16, however air units may move through this sea zone freely.
Fighter Escorts and Interceptors
Fighters can participate in strategic bombing raids. Attacking fighters may escort and protect the bombers, and they can originate from any territory, range permitting. Any or all defending fighters based in a territory that is strategically bombed can participate in the defense of the industrial complex. The number of fighters that will defend is decided after the attacker’s Combat Movement phase is completed and before the Combat phase begins.
After antiaircraft fire is resolved against the attacking air units, if there are any defending fighters an air battle occurs between the attacking and defending air units. This combat is resolved in the same way as a normal combat, with a few exceptions. The fighters have an attack value of 1 and a defense value of 2, and the bombers have no attack value. In addition, the combat lasts for only one round. After the battle, any surviving bombers proceed to carry out the raid as normal.
Fighters participating as either an escort or a defender cannot participate in other battles during that turn. Defending interceptors must return to their original territory. If that territory is captured, the fighters may move one space to land in a friendly territory or on a friendly aircraft carrier. This movement occurs after all of the attacker’s combats have been resolved and before the attackers Noncombat Move phase begins. If no such landing space is available, the fighters are lost.
| 1 ) Attacker is the player carrying out the bombing raid
FTR STR
Attacker 1 -
Defender 2 -
| 2 ) Attacker is the player defending his factories (attacking the bombers, defended by escorts)
FTR STR
Attacker 1 -
Defender 2 1
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