From: Paul Higham Subject: Re: Fortress America Variants ======== Introducing: An alternate reality game based on Milton Bradley's _Axis & Allies_ and _Fortress America_. The name of this game is _Axisworld 1950_, and takes place in an imaginary world that might have existed if the Axis Powers had been much more successful than they were in the actual history of WWII. In this game, it's 1950, the Axis has conquered most of the world besides the United States, but the United States has developed nuclear weapons and it may be able to survive, if it can hold out against the initial onslaughts of invading troops and produce a large enough nuclear arsenal to blow the later invading navies out of the water. The game was created by T. H. van den Doel and Samuel Dean. Because this posting is quite long, we are dividing it into four parts: I. "Why would I be interested in this game?" II. The alternate world history leading up to _Axisworld 1950_ III. The rules of _Axisworld 1950_ IV. Optional rules. I. "Why would I be interested in this game?" Good question;) A&A and FA are both very popular games, and many people might be interested in a new game which uses many of the same things that make these games great. Many people also think that these games are flawed or could be improved in some ways. In creating this new game, we have tried to make something that would be new, and yet still appealing to those who enjoy FA and A&A. We have also tried to make a new game that doesn't have many of the drawbacks of A&A or FA. After you've read the rules, you can judge for yourself how well we have succeeded. The following is a list of ways in which we think our new game has improved on _Axis & Allies_ and _Fortress America_: 1. A big complaint I've heard about A&A and FA is that they are unbalanced. Most experienced players agree that the allies have a better chance than the axis to win A&A. In FA, people seem to disagree, as far as I can tell. Some say the invaders have the advantage, and others say that the US usually wins. The fact that people disaggree about who has the advantage suggests that it might not be so unbalanced after all, but it's still a common complaint. It's really hard to make sure that both the invaders and the defenders have equal chances; you can't foresee what type of unbeatable strategy someone might come up with. But we have a plan for ensuring that both players have an equal chance to win. It has to do with bidding for who gets to play the invaders. The US will have a fixed number of IPC's, but the invader's income will depend on what the players bid. This is how it will work: before the game starts both players will secretly write down on a piece of paper how many IPC's they want Japan to get every turn. The person who writes down the lowest number will play the Axis, the number he wrote down will be the amount of IPC's that Japan gets every turn, and Germany will get twice as many IPC's as Japan. After some playtests, it seems that 60 IPC's is probably a good bid for Japan. 2. Of course you can use optional rules to make A&A balanced, and I think this is a good thing to do. I would recommend that a system of bidding, similar to the one described above, be used for A&A; then this game could also be balanced. But when A&A becomes balanced, another problem arises: it often reaches a semi-stalemate. Sometimes the German and Soviet players are able to pile up huge masses of infantry in Russia, Karelia, Eastern Europe or Germany. Because infantry are so much better at defending than attacking, neither side wants to attack, and the piles of infantry just keep getting bigger and bigger with no end in sight. FA has an advantage in this respect; since the invaders stop coming after turn six, they are doomed if they can't win the game before a certain point. _Axisworld 1950_ is like FA, in that it requires the invaders to gain the upper hand within certain time limits or face the prospect of an irreversable decline of their strength on the US continent, and it is better than FA, in that it has a plausible explanation as to why the invaders stop coming. 3. One complaint about FA, is that the Americans often do not play an active enough role in defending their country. The US simply retreats every turn and waits for the time when the invaders will stop landing on their shores. Since no more than five units can occupy any area, the Americans can often halt an invasion simply by having five units in all of the critical areas, so that they won't be outnumbered. In the west, the Americans can usually prevent the Asians from moving too quickly into their country simply by having one infantry unit two areas away from the invading hordes. Many people don't like the fact that the Americans can win with a rather passive strategy. In _Axisworld 1950_, the invaders will often be spread quite thin, but they can also mass large armies and the US will have to take active measures to oppose them, either by confronting them with equally large armies, or by cutting them off from the rear. In _Axisworld 1950_, the invaders have the capability of moving into the country much more quickly, and it is not so easy for the US to slow them down by simply retreating an maintaining an infantry in front of the invaders. The Axis powers can use armor to blitz into the country, and the US must counter by destroying the advance armor when it is not accompanied by infantry. 4. Some dislike the fact that the same units are always purchased in A&A. The most commonly purchased land unit is infantry, and some games end up with masses of infantry and very little else. A similar thing usually happens with navies. Usually, by the the third turn, the British control the Atlantic, and the Germans have no more submarines. The British often build one aircraft carrier and after that build no other naval units than transports. The Germans might build a transport in the Mediterranean but they have no reason to build any Atlantic naval units at all, since they will be destroyed by aircraft before they can attack the British fleet. The Japanese and Americans may build naval units, but the result will probably be either total domination of the Pacific Ocean by the Japanese, in which case only transports will be built, or a long stalemate, in which mostly transports and submarines are built. In none of these cases is the naval war very interesting. There are usually two or three decisive naval battles, and then the naval war is over. Most of the units end up being transports, and no one builds battleships. In _Axisworld 1950_, players have reasons to buy units other than infantry and transports. The invaders will like to buy armor, because they need to advance to the interior of the US quickly, and the US should buy armor, because the game has so much land area, and it's useful to be able to get from one place to another quickly. The invaders will never be able to completely dominate either ocean, since the presence of nukes forces them to spread out their navies. Since the US can always win big victories in some naval battles, it is cost-effective for the US to buy submarines, fighters, and bombers. The invaders also have to buy battleships or aircraft carriers to defend their transports, and these units are cheaper in _Axisworld 1950_ so that the Axis powers will have a greater incentive to buy them. Because bombers are immune to attack from submarines, do not need to be transported, and can occupy an invasion zone by themselves, they are often a cost-effective buy for Germany and Japan. 5. Another complaint that people have, is that A&A and FA always turn out the same. The same strategies are used again and again, and nothing new ever happens. The setup of _Axisworld 1950_ is sufficiently different from FA and A&A that players will need to develop new strategies. It is enough like FA and A&A that knowledge of strategies in these games will be helpful in _Axisworld 1950_. Furthermore, optional rules can be added to _Axisworld 1950_ to prevent the same strategies from being used over and over again (See "Semi Blind Nukes" under the optional rules.) 6. One complaint about FA, is that the game is out of date. Maybe the Soviet Union once had a great army, but it's really hard to be afraid of an invasion from the the big bad Russians now that they're having so much trouble in Chechnya. The Chinese? They might have a hard time invading Taiwan. But the Axis powers have always been menacing bad guys in the imagination of people around the world. 7. The Fortress America rulebook doesn't explain many things that have to do with the realism of the game. Why do the invaders stop landing after six turns or so? Why do they stop sending reinforcements when they're about to win? And why do the Americans give up when they have fewer than twelve cities? They would surely win if they went for a longer time period. (since the invaders will stop landing after six turns). And how do the lasers kill infantry? Realism is not the main purpose of _Axisworld 1950_ and we think it is possible to have a great game that is not realistic, but we have attempted to make the game relatively realistic, and offer plausible explanations for the setup of the game. You can judge for yourself, but we think _Axisworld 1950_ is more realistic than Fortress America. 8. It seems that FA has a political agenda. That's OK, but we don't agree with its agenda. It seems that the game was trying to show that the US should build a big navy, send weapons to Nicaragua, build the SDI, and support the NRA. These were all big issues in the 1980's. This is just a personal disagreement we have, we still think it's a great game. The purpose of this posting is to have fun. There will certainly be people who disagree with many of the things we say in this posting, just as we disagree in some ways with the people who created FA and A&A. Disagreement is OK; we didn't always agree with each other when we were creating this posting. One thing we _do_ agree on; we are both very happy that the alternate history described in _Axisworld 1950_ did not really happen.:) We hope that you will enjoy _Axisworld 1950_ as much as we enjoy A&A and FA. T. H. van den Doel Samuel Dean ======== II. This is the alternate history in which leads up to Axisworld 1950. All events prior to 1939 are the same in this world as they were in the real world. After 1939, many things are different. Beginning September 1, 1939-1940: Germany invades and conquers Poland and most of Western Europe as they did in actual history. Japan attempts to gain influence with one of the rival factions in China, but does not invade beyond Manchuria. Germany begins air war against Great Britain, but does not invade the Soviet Union. German bombing raids concentrate on destroying British radar installations and air fields until the Royal Air Force is defeated and the Germans can bomb with impunity (in the actual war, the Germans began bombing the cities without winning the air battle, and so they ended up losing a large part of their air force). Germany begins building a larger navy. In Mexico, a right-wing dictator comes to power in a bloody coup. Some suspect the involvement of Nazi agents, and note that the new government resembles the fascist dictatorships across the Atlantic. The new Mexican government denies any connection to Nazi Germany, professes friendship towards the United States, and insists that "strong measures are necessary to combat the threat of Communism". Civil war breaks out in China, and Japan covertly supports one of the factions in this civil war. Over time, Japan gains increasing influence in this Chinese faction. Japan doesn't attack Pearl Harbor. 1942-1943: Germany continues to bomb Britain and invades Africa and the Middle East. An isolationist movement keeps the United States out of war. The Soviet Union abides by the Molotov-Ribbentropp pact with Germany, and it hopes that it will be the dominant power, once the warring nations have exhausted themselves. Nationalists in South Africa overthrow the British with German help and establish a government friendly to the Nazis. The Japanese continue to increase their influence in one of the factions in the Chinese civil war, and this faction gains the upper hand. German scientists develop rockets and begin bombarding Britain with them. The Americans, impressed with German success with rockets, begin a rocketry program of their own. Left wing resistance movement begins in Mexico. 1944-1945: Franklin Roosevelt loses the 1944 election in the US, and an isolationist becomes president. This was partly because of Roosevelts failing health, and partly because of an incident which became known as the "Bolshevik-Contra Scandal". In 1943, it had been discovered that agents from the US government had secretly sold advanced weaponry and technology to Stalin's brutal and repressive Soviet regime. Furthermore, the agents had used the profits from these sales to finance shipments of arms to a left wing guerilla movement in Mexico. This was a direct violation of the Dnalob amendment, which forbade all such shipments.;-) This scandal occurs at the worst possible time before the election, and causes Roosevelt to lose. As the war in Britain continues, Germany's larger production capabilities and the crippling effect of bombing and rocket attacks make it inevitable that Germany will eventually be able to invade and conquer Britain. Millions of refugees flee to the US as Britain surrenders unconditionally. Germany hears rumors of the development of "superweapons" in the US, and begins intensive espionage. Meanwhile, dictatorships in South America become more friendly towards the Nazi government. The Nazi Government begins a program in which many Afrikaners and South Americans are recruited to come to Europe and participate in "training camps". In these camps, the recruits receive military training, and are prepared to serve in the lower ranks of the German military. In China, the Japanese-supported faction wins the civil war, and a government largly controlled by the Japanese is established. Meanwhile, the Japanese take control of Thailand and the former colonies of England, France, and Holland. Japan gains control of Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and India. Seeing the success of training camps in Germany, the Japanese government begins a similar program, drawing on its newly obtained territories in South and Southeast Asia. 1946-1947 Germany invades Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. This war lasts throughout 1946 and 1947, but it is plain that the Russians are losing. The German Empire has a much larger supply of natural resources to draw on in Europe, Africa, and South America, a much larger industrial base in Europe to produce weaponry, and a large pool of military manpower from their training camps. Meanwhile, the Japanese military begins an invasion of Austrailia and New Zealand. They also gain the upper hand because of their greater supply of natural resources, industrial strength, and military numbers. But the Axis powers also must contend with resistance movements within the lands they have conquered, and these movements cause the wars to last longer than they might have otherwise. 1948-1949 Non-isolationists win elections in the US. Japanese conquer Australia and invade the Eastern parts of the Soviet Union. Germans march triumphantly into Moscow, and the Japanese take control of everything to the east of the Urals. Both begin to build larger navies, and an invasion of the US seems imminent. German spies discover that the United States has developped nuclear weapons. In fact, the US has developped a nuclear warhead large enough to destroy all of the ships in a fairly large area of the ocean. The German and Japanese governments are not at all close to achieving this capability. They both agree, that the United States should not be allowed to manufacture a large stockpile of these weapons. In December of 1949, the German and Japanese governments hold a summit in Moscow, Mexican diplomats are also invited. They resolve to invade the United States and conquer it before the US government has a chance to build up a nuclear arsenal. Mexico also wants to participate, but its goal is to regain some of the territory which it lost 100 years before. Mexico does not want to have foreign troops on its own soil. In exchange for its cooperation, Mexico receives a guarantee from the Axis powers that they will not enter Mexican territory unless US troops invade Mexico. Mexican agents leak news of this agreement to the American government. The US knows, that if Axis troops are able to land in Mexico, then it will be more difficult to stop them with nuclear weapons. The US resolves not to attack Mexican soil until the other Axis powers have been defeated. Of course the Axis powers want to commit as much of their resources and manpower as possible to the coming war with America, but they are also faced with other threats. Resistance movements continue to threaten their control of conquered lands, and if they remove too many forces from these lands to fight the war in America, guerrillas might succeed in overthrowing their local government. But on the other hand, the Axis Powers must win the war with America as quickly as possible. The US can already use a nuclear weapon to destroy some of the invading ships, and if it has enough time, the US government will be able to manufacture enough warheads to make itself invulnerable. In view of the relative dangers, the Axis Powers negotiate about how many forces they will send to the war in America. Early in the negotiations, the two powers agree that the contribution of the German Empire should be double that of the Japanese Empire. The German Empire is more powerful, and capable of giving a larger contribution. Now they must decide how much the Japanese Empire should contribute. It is now 1950 This is where the game begins. If anyone has any comments about or criticism of this alternate history, that it's unrealistic or improbable, I would be glad to hear from you. Please post an answer in the newsgroup, or send me a message at samuel.dean@m.cc.utah.edu. Thank You. ======== III. How to play the game The rules for the game are divided into the following sections: A. Getting started: The Map, the Pieces and the bidding. B. The Initial Setup and Cost of New Items. C. The First Turn for the US D. The Axis' First Turn E. Victory Conditions To play this game you need, From FA: 1. The map. The rules are somewhat modified for this map. Several invasion zones have been added, and any air unit can expend one movement point to move over any one of the Great Lakes. 2. The red, blue, and yellow, and green infantry and hovertanks. (Germany is red, Japan is yellow, Mexico is blue, and America is green.) 3. The partisans. 4. The city markers. 5. The laser towers (These represent laboratories where nuclear warheads are produced, along with the rockets from which the warheads are launched.) 6. The red, blue, and yellow control markers 7. The laser markers (These represent warheads.) From A&A: 1. The industrial complexes 2. The infantry, armor, bombers, fighters, transports, battleships, aircraft carriers, and submarines of all five countries 3. The money (IPC's) 4. The anti-aircraft guns America uses, the green (US) infantry, armor, fighters, bombers and submarines, the US may also use the submarines from other countries, if necessary, since Japan and Germany will never buy submarines. Germany and Japan use the gray and yellow infantry, armor, fighters, bombers, transports, carriers, and battleships. The Axis may also use units from Britain and the USSR, since these countries are not in the game. The US begins the game with a production of 54 IPC's. These come from its 30 cities and 12 industrial complexes. Each city produces 1 IPC and each Industrial Complex produces 2 IPC's per turn. First, the two players must decide who will play the Axis. Both of them submit bids, and the one with the lowest bid plays the Axis and gets the number of IPC's he bid for Japan every turn. Germany gets twice this number of IPC's. Mexico gets five IPCs per turn. Before the first turn, each of the players receive double their IPC production to build the weapons with which they will begin their first turn. EXAMPLE. Player 1 bids 70 IPC's. Player 2 bids 60 IPC's. Player 2 will play the axis and get 60 IPC's per turn. Before the first turn starts, Japan gets 120 IPC's to build its starting units. Likewise before the first turn, Germany will get 240 IPC's, The US will get 108 IPC's, and Mexico will get 10. B. The Initial Setup for the Invaders and the US and the cost of new items 1. Turn Order for Initial Setup and later turns The turn order goes as follows: a. US b. Japan c. Mexico d. Germany Before the countries begin the first turn, they place their starting units on the board using the turn order above. 2. US Setup First, the US must place its cities and industrial complexes on the board. For every city it owns, the US receives 1 IPC every turn. The US should also place the 12 industrial complexes on city areas on the board. Every city area with an industrial complex produces 3 IPC's instead of only one. Non-infantry units can only be produced where there is a factory marker, so it is a good idea to place one industrial complex on each of the two coasts and the rest in the interior of the country, where they will be safer from enemy attack. Now America must buy and place its initial units. Before the first turn, units can be placed anywhere on the board. Thus, the Americans can start the game placing as many infantry as they can afford in any given area, and as many submarines as they afford in any given sea zone. But the units bought in later turns have certain restrictions as to where they can be placed. 3. Cost of Units Note that all nations may always save IPC's from one turn to the next. Units have the following costs: Partisans 3 IPC's Partisans cannot be bought until America's second turn, since they can only be placed inside or adjacent to a land area controlled by invading forces. Infantry 3 IPC's Armor 5 IPC's Submarines 8 IPC's Transports 8 IPC's Fighters 12 IPC's Bombers 15 IPC's Anti Aircraft Gun 5 IPC's Nuclear Laboratory and Missile Launcher: 10 IPC's The US can only build ONE laboratory at the start, and ONE per turn thereafter. Nuclear warhead and rocket to launch it in: 1 IPC The US can only build one warhead for each laboratory which is already built at the start of its turn. But the US _can_ buy one warhead before it's first turn. (we are assuming that the first laboratory was build some time earlier.) Aircraft carriers 10 IPC's Battleships 12 IPC's NOTE THE DIFFERENCE FROM A&A IN THE PRICES OF CARRIERS AND BATTLESHIPS! We made these changes so that these units might be used more often, and so that the strategy could be more interesting. We are assuming that labor and raw materials are very cheap in the Axis powers, so they are capable of building big things like battleships for many fewer IPC's. It is a good strategy for the US to buy a large number of submarines for its initial purchases, but it cannot buy any other naval units. (this would be a terrible strategy anyway) Example of US initial purchases: The US uses its 108 IPCs to purchase 1 nuclear warhead, 1 nuclear laboratory, 6 submarines, 13 infantry, and 2 armor. It places the infantry along the east and west coast in groups of 2 or three, the laboratory and warhead on safer inland areas, and all six submarines together on the east coast. The armor are near the Gulf of Mexico. 4. New Cities Both the invaders and the US can build new cities and industrial complexes, but there can never be more than 30 cities and 12 industrial complexes in the US at a time. Cities are less expensive to build if they are placed where there is a city site marked on the map. Industrial complexes can only be built where there is already a city. The US usually builds new cities further inland to replace the ones destroyed by the enemy. While Mexico builds new cities to increase its production. The costs for Mexico or the United States are as follows: To build a city on a city site: 2 IPC's To build a city on a non-city Site: 4 IPC's To build an industrial complex (must be on a city): 6 IPC's NOTE: Mexico can only build infantry until it has an industrial complex. Japan and Germany build new cities to support their troops and to manufacture and repair small weapons so that they do not have to be brought from overseas. Each city owned by the Axis can produce one IPC, and each city which also has an industrial complex on it produces 3 IPC's. For every 3 IPC's it produces on the American continent, an Axis Power can produce 1 infantry in an American city. Axis powers can likewise use Industrial complexes to produce other types of weapons, but they may only use IPC's from the American continent to produce these weapons. Example of Axis power using production in America: At the start of it's fifth turn, Japan has already built three cities in America. It has a city in Portland, one in Los Angeles, and one in San Francisco. The city in San Francisco also has an industrial complex on it. Japan receives 3+1+1=5 IPC's, which it can use to build something in the US. At the start of the previous turn, Japan had had two cities, and it had saved the two IPC's from that turn. Now Japan can use its seven IPC's to produce one tank in San Francisco, still having 2 IPC's left over, or one infantry each on two of the cities and still have 1 IPC left over. Each Axis city or industrial complex must be brought to the American continent on a transport, and the transport cannot carry anything else besides the one city or industrial complex. Germany and Japan must build their cities on American city sites. The costs for Germany and Japan are as follows: City: 6 IPC's Industrial Complex: 18 IPC's Note that an Axis power's newly purchased city or industrial complex starts out in an invasion zone, and must be moved to an area in the US before it can be built. The city moves the same as an infantry unit in the first and second movement phases, and it can continue to move as far inland as the Axis power decides until the Axis power decides to activate the unit and build the city. Cities are built during the placement phase, and until a city is activated, the Axis power does not receive the benefits of IPC production or support from the city. 5. Axis Initial Purchases Now the Axis must make its initial purchases, and it must place them in the invasion zones by the US. Japan has seven invasion zones. Six of them are marked on the map, and a seventh is west of San Diego. Mexico has all of the land invasion zones marked on the map. Germany has nine invasion zones. Six are marked on the map as the invasion zones on the eastern seaboard. One is marked on the map as the Mexican sea invasion zone. One zone extends from Miami to New Orleans. One zone is to the north and includes Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Neither Germany nor Japan may enter Canada or Mexico. The Axis may place any unit in any sea zone even if this sea zone is occupied by American submarines. However, the following restrictions apply: Tanks and infantry must be on transports. Fighters must be on aircraft carriers. Bombers must have an area controlled by the Axis on the coast where they can land. (Thus, bombers can't arrive on the first turn). Mexico may build infantry units in any of its invasion zones, and it may build an industrial complex in any of these zones, or on any American city site where it has built a city, but Mexico does not begin the game with any industrial complexes. Mexico may only produce units other than infantry in places where it has built an industrial complex. Mexico may build a city in any US non-city site area at a cost of 4 IPC's. Example initial buys for the Axis: Japan uses its 120 IPC's to buy 3 battleships, 6 transports, and 12 infantry. It places these units in three groups in the invasion zones by San Diego, Portland, and Los Angeles. Each group has 1 battleship, 2 transports, and 4 infantry. Mexico uses its 10 IPC's to buy 3 infantry, it puts 2 by San Antonio, and 1 by Phoenix, and has 1 IPC left over. Germany uses its 240 IPC's to buy 6 battleships, 12 transports, and 24 infantry. It divides them into six groups, each having 1 battleship, 2 transports, and 4 infantry. It will invade the Houston sea zone, the New Orleans sea zone. The Orlando sea zone, the sea zone two areas east of Atlanta, the Washinton sea zone, and the Boston sea zone. Note that the Axis powers spread out their invasion and all of their attacking groups are the same size. They know that one force will get nuked, probably the biggest one, and they don't want to have one group that's too big. But the groups are fairly large, because they need to defend against submarines. C. The first turn for the US Now we are ready to describe rules for the US turn move. The turn has six parts: 1. Collect IPC's 2. Purchase new units 3. First movement 4. Combat resolution (land and sea) 5. Second movement 6. Place new units 1. The US receives 3 IPC's for every industrial complex it owns, and 1 IPC for every city which 3779 7424 060433630dduction capabilities and the crippling effect of bombing and rocket attacks make it inevitable that Germany will eventually be able to invade and conquer Britain. Millions of refugees flee to the US as Britain surrenders unconditionally. Germany hears rumors of the development of "superweapons" in the US, and begins intensive espionage. Meanwhile, dictatorships in South America become more friendly towards the Nazi government. The Nazi Government begins a program in which many Afrikaners and South Americans are recruited to come to Europe and participate in "training camps". In these camps, the recruits receive military training, and are prepared to serve in the lower ranks of the German military. In China, the Japanese-supported faction wins the civil war, and a government largly controlled by the Japanese is established. Meanwhile, the Japanese take control of Thailand an does not have an industrial complex. 2. The US buys new units using the prices listed earlier. These units are not placed on the board yet. Example of first turn purchases for the US. The US uses its 54 IPC's to buy 1 nuclear warhead, 1 nuclear laboratory, 1 submarine, 1 armor, and 10 infantry 3. Units have the following movement capabilities: Partisans and infantry may move one land area. Armor may move two land areas. Fighters may move four land or sea areas. Bombers may move six land or sea areas. Naval units may move two sea areas. NOTE: The New Orleans sea zone counts as two areas for the purposes of movement. If a unit begins its turn inside the New Orleans sea zone, it only needs to use 1 movement point to get out of the zone. A unit can move into the New Orleans sea zone even if it only has 1 movement point left. But if a unit moves into the zone, it must expend 2 movement points before it can move out of the zone again. NOTE: The US may not attack areas in Mexico. Land units may enter an area occupied by enemy units, but they must stop in this area. Partisans may enter an area occupied by enemy forces without attacking these forces. Air units may fly over or land in any area, regardless of what enemy units are there. Naval units may pass through any sea zone, regardless of what enemy units are there. If you wish to attack enemy units, your units which you use in the attack must end their first movement in the area occupied by the enemy units. The US can nuke any sea zone by placing a nuke marker (use the laser markers from FA) in any sea zone. Example of American first movement: The US, seeing the Axis invasion plans, decides to nuke the Boston invasion zone. It places the laser marker in this zone. It puts all six of its eastern submarines against the invasion fleet on the sea zone near Atlanta. The US plans to concentrate its land defenses in New Orleans, Los Angeles, Houston, and Washington. An infantry unit in Portland retreats. STRATEGIC NOTE: In addition to its nukes and submarines, the US has an inherent coastal defense advantage.The US will always be able to see where the invaders will land before they actually do so. Thus, the US will be able to concentrate its forces at several of these points and prevent the invaders from conquering certain coastal areas until late in the game. In the early turns of the game, if the US plays right, it will be able to win a few very lopsided victories in its defense of coastal cities. But since the invaders have such a numerical superiority, they will be able to land in some areas, and perhaps eventually overwhelm all the coast. 4. Combat resolution. In each area where enemy units have been attacked, a combat ensues. The units have the same attack and defense values as in A&A, and combat proceeds the same as in this game with the following special notes: A nuke will simply annihilate all of the units in a sea zone (the warhead is gone too). A partisan has an attack value of 2 and a defense value of 3 in a non-mountain area, and an attack value of 3 and a defense value of 4 in a mountain area. American fighters can attack Axis bombers in invasion zones. The fighters have an attack value of 3 and the bombers have a defense value of 1. American bombers do not attack Axis bombers in the sea invasion zones. If an aircraft carrier is sunk, the fighters on it are immediately destroyed. Thus, if a submarine destroys an aircraft carrier in a sneak attack, then the fighters cannot fire back, but if the submarine misses, then the fighters can attempt to destroy the sub. The sneak attack ability should be very important for American submarines. Example of American Combat resolution: The six American submarines on the West coast destroy all of the German units in the sea zone near Atlanta. One battleship, two transports, and four infantry are lost by the Axis, and the Americans lose one submarine. The Americans also nuke the units that were going to invade Boston. 4. Second Movement. All units may move in the second movement, even if they moved in the first movement. Units have the same number of movement points as in the first movement, but there are certain restrictions. Air units must end their turn in an area which was controlled by friendly forces at the start of their own turn. Partisans may end the second movement in an area occupied by enemy forces, but all other land units may not move through or end their turn in an area occupied by an enemy unit. Only one partisan can occupy any given area at the end of the second movement. Armor and infantry may not move into or out of a mountain area during their second movement. Mountain areas do not affect partisan's movement. If any land unit moves through an unoccupied area where there is an Axis control marker in the first or second movement, it should remove the Axis control marker from this area. This is for the purpose of determining if the Axis units have been cut off. American Submarines can move through any enemy occupied sea zone in the second movement. Example of American second movement. The East coast American Submarines all move one area to the south. The Americans continue to concentrate their infantry in Washington, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and New Orleans. 5. Placing new units. Americans must follow certain rules in placing new units: Partisan units can be produced in any area, but only 1 partisan unit can be placed in each of the five zones (West coast zone, Rocky mountain zone, Midwest zone, Southern zone, and Eastern zone). So the US won't ever build more than 5 partisans per turn. The partisans must be placed in an area containing an Axis control marker, or adjacent to such an area with an Axis control marker. A partisan may be placed in this area, even if it is occupied by friendly or hostile units, but not if it is occupied by another partisan. Infantry units can be placed in any city area controlled by the American player, but only one infantry can be produced per city. Armor and air units can be produced in any area with an industrial complex, but only one unit per complex. Submarines can be produced in any coastal city with an industrial complex controlled by the US, but only one submarine per complex. The nuclear laboratory and rocket launching pad can be built in any US controlled city, but each city can only have one laboratory and launching pad. The warhead must be placed in an area where there is a laboratory and launching pad. (Use a laser marker for the warhead). The US may decide not to use a warhead on a given turn, and if it does so, then this warhead may be used on a later turn. In such cases, any number of warheads may be fired from one launch pad. Example of US placements: The US puts its infantry in Washington, New Orleans, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Los Angeles to prepare for the invasion. It also puts one in Salt Lake City, Seattle, Atlanta, and Dallas to prepare to slow the invaders down where they do land successfully. The US puts its nuclear warhead by the laboratory it built for the initial placements, and puts its other nuclear laboratory in another city. It now has two laboratories and one warhead which it can use next turn. D. The Axis' first turn This is similar to the US turn; it is divided into six parts, and these are the same as the ones for the US turn. 1. Collect IPC's Germany and Japan always receive the same number of IPC's for each turn, discounting those which are produced in America. That is, Japan receives the number which it bid, and Germany receives twice that amount. Mexico receives 5 IPC's plus 1 IPC for every American city it controls, plus 3 IPC's for every American industrial complex it controls. 2. Purchase new units. The Axis powers purchase their units using the prices shown earlier. They do not place them on the board yet. Example of Axis first turn purchase: Japan uses its 60 IPC's to purchase 1 bomber, 5 armor, 1 transport 4 infantry, and it saves 1 IPC. Mexico uses its 5 income and 1 saved IPC to buy 2 infantry. Germany uses its 120 IPC's to buy 4 transports, 12 armor, 8 infantry, and it saves its remaining 4 IPC's. 3. First movement All naval units in invasion zones may now unload their troops and send their fighters to attack onshore. Naval units must stay in the invasion zones where they start their turn. Naval units do not have to unload their troops, but if they don't, then they can't pick up new ones in the next turn, so it's probably a good idea to send the troops ashore even where they are hopelessly outnumbered. Units which are already on shore have the same movement restrictions as those of the US with the following differences: An invading unit can move into or through a territory occupied by a US partisan without attacking the partisan. If it wishes to attack the partisan, it must end its first movement in the area occupied by the partisan. If a city or industrial unit has not yet been activated, it may be moved the same as an infantry unit. If an area is unoccupied, or occupied only by partisans, the Axis unit should put down a control marker to show that it controls the area. The Axis can control areas by moving through them or ending their turn in them with a land unit. If a land unit moves into an unoccupied city or industrial complex, it must end it's first movement there, and it destroys the city or industrial complex. Destroyed cities and industrial complexes do not affect movement. NOTE FOR FIRST AND SECOND AXIS MOVEMENT Axis units from different nations may occupy the same area at any time during the game. The Axis player may transfer control of a territory from one Axis power to another whenever he wants, provided there is at least one unit in the area from the nation to whom control is given at the time that the transfer occurs. 4. Combat resolution Combat occurs similar to A&A with the following differences: Submarines may not be attacked. (They're hiding) Partisans defend with a 3 in the plains and a 4 in the mountains. If Germany or Japan destroy all of the units defending a city or industrial complex then it is destroyed. If Germany or Japan destroy all of the units defending a nuclear warhead, then the American player can detonate the warhead and destroy all of the invading units in that area. Example of Axis first movement and combat resolution: The Japanese forces move into San Diego and Portland without encountering resistance, and these cities are destroyed. They kill one American infantry in Los Angeles, but all of the invading infantry in this sea zone are destroyed. The Mexicans decide to wait and not attack this turn. The Germans move into Houston and Orlando. They kill two infantry in Washington, but all of the invaders are destroyed in this sea zone. In the New Orleans sea zone, the Germans decide not to land in the city itself, but rather to land all of their troops in the area just to the east of New Orleans (the state of Mississippi). 5. Second movement: This is similar to second movement for the US with the following differences: If any invading units are completely cut of from support at the end of their second movement, then half of these units are destroyed. All Axis units must trace support to either a transport which is still in the sea zone during the second movement, or an city which is built by the Axis which exists at this time. Mexico can also trace support back to Mexican invasion zones. An Axis unit is not cut off from support if it can trace a line of continuous connection of adjacent territories to a transport, city, or, for Mexico, invasion zone. Only German cities and transports can be used to support German units, only Japanese cities and transports can support Japanese units, and only Mexican invasion zones and cities can support Mexican units. The number of units lost due to cutting of support is always rounded down. The Axis powers may choose which units are lost. Example of units being lost after being cut off: It is turn four, and the US attempts to decimate German forces by cutting them off. The US nukes the sea zones by New Orleans, Houston, and one of the sea zones east of Atlanta, and attacks another fleet near Atlanta with submarines. Later in the turn, the US uses partisans and other forces to capture and control Dallas, New Orleans, and several areas to the North and East of these cities. The Germans have already built a city on the Houston city site, and they have large masses of troops in Memphis and south of Chicago. The Germans could reestablish support by attacking to the south, but they decide that they will try to destroy American industrial complexes instead. German forces capture Chicago and Cleveland, and during their second movement, they try to spread their units out around to lessen the effect of the cutting off of support. At the end of the turn, they have landed several units on the east coast, they have a large number near Dallas, and a large number spread out along the Ohio and the Northern Mississippi rivers. There are three Units in Memphis, six in Chicago, and two in Cleveland. The Germans must remove 1 unit from Memphis, one from Cleveland, and three from Chicago. The units on the east coast still have support, because they can trace a line of supply back to transports which were not nuked by submarines. These transports do not support the units near the Mississippi, because the Germans do not control the Appalachians. The Units near Dallas are supported by that city. No Axis unit may enter an undestroyed US city in the second movement. Whenever Axis land units enter uncontrolled areas in the second movement, they put down control markers. City units or industrial complexes may be moved the same as infantry units, if they have not yet been activated. It is not necessary to move the naval units. It is assumed that the surviving naval units return to Germany or Japan to pick up more troops. All surviving naval units can be placed in any invasion zone along with the new troops they are carrying when the Axis powers place the units they bought at the start of their turn. 6. Place new units. The Axis now place the units that they bought along with the ones which survived the first turn in the invasion zones as they did in the set up phase. If a city is activated, it may be used to receive income and support in America on the next turn, but it may no longer be moved. Example of Axis placing new units: Japan divides its forces into five groups. Three will invade Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the area to the south of Portland. Each of these contain 1 battleship and 2 transports. The northern group contains 2 armor, while the southern groups both contain 1 armor and 2 infantry. One group consists solely of a bomber, and it is landing in Portland. Another group contains one transport with one armor landing in the area to the north of Portland. This transport is out of range of the US submarines which are far to the south. Of course, the bomber can't be attacked by the submarines. The bomber can't attack on its first turn. It can only land in Portland. This completes the description of the turn rules. E. Victory Conditions: The invaders win when they have destroyed all of the US cities and industrial complexes. The US wins when it destroys all of the invading units and is able to nuke all of the sea zones. Of course, one side may resign before this time. If there are places where we have not explained the rules, or where the rules are ambiguous, we hope you will respond to this posting with questions and comments. We are also very interested to hear from anyone who plays this game. Please tell us how much was bid for the Axis, what strategies you used, what problems you encountered, how well you enjoyed the game, and give any other comments you feel appropriate. Thank You T. H. van den Doel Samuel Dean ======== The following are a list of optional rules which might improve the game, allow it to suit the tastes of different players, or add variety: A. Other Nations Participating B. Vichy Canada C. Larger Initial Purchases D. Automatic Setup E. Expansion Sets F. Semi-Blind Nukes G. Diceless H. New Rules for Detonating Nukes in Captured Cities I. Multi-Player Games Note that you should always agree on which optional rules you will use BEFORE you bid to decide who will play the Axis. A. Different Nations Participating: In the history section of this posting, we mentioned that many refugees came to America from Britain and other lands conquered by the Axis powers, and that the Axis forces used mercenaries from South Africa, South America, India, and Southeast Asia. You can use optional rules to reflect these events. Using this optional rule, the US gets the following units free during the initial phase before the first turn: 10 Infantry 1 Bomber 1 Submarine Use green A&A infantry units for the refugee forces, and FA units for the US Army. The refugee units have the same strength as US units. The use of mercenaries by the Axis powers is reflected in the prices and defense strength of their infantry. An infantry unit can be made up either of native Germans and Japanese, or mercenaries from other countries. A native infantry unit costs 4 IPC's to build, and has a defense strength of 2 and an attack strength of 1. A mercenary infantry unit costs 2 IPC's to build, and has a defense strength of 1, and an attack strength of 1. The Germans use the gray A&A figures for their native infantry, and the red FA figures for their mercenaries. The Japanese also use the yellow A&A figures for natives, and the yellow FA figures for mercenaries. Using this rule, all Mexican infantry have the cost and strength of mercenaries. The following is the historical justification for this rule: The German and Japanese empires have a shortage of native Germans and Japanese to go in their infantry divisions. Both Germany and Japan had a smaller population than the US, and since both nations govern large empires, and both are quite racist and xenophobic, they would certainly insist on having people of their own nation in the higher positions of command throughout their empire. Because they have fewer people left over, after filling out the command positions, it would be harder for them to create large groups of native infantry. B. Vichy Canada Canada is officially neutral in this game, but you might want to suppose that the Canadians offer covert aid to the US. Using this rule, each turn the US rolls 2d6 to determine whether or not the Canadians will offer aid, and how much aid they will bring. The amount of aid is determined by the following table: 2-6: No aid 7-8: 1 infantry 9: 2 infantry 10: 1 armor 11: 3 infantry 12: 1 armor and 1 infantry The units may appear in any territory bordering Canada at the choice of the American player. C. Larger Initial Purchases According to the rules of the game, both the Axis powers and America receive twice their per-turn income before the first turn to purchase their units for the initial setup. Using this optional rule, both the Axis Powers and the US would receive three times their per turn income for their initial purchases. Thus, if the low bidder bid 50 IPC's for Japan, Japan would receive 150 IPC's for its initial setup, Mexico would get 15 IPC's, Germany 300, and the US 162. This rule has at least one disadvantages, and several advantages. The disadvantage, is that it takes more time to set up the initial purchases, (and they can be long and tedious) and you have to wait longer before you can get into the gory fun of killing each other. One advantage is, that this optional rule favors the Axis, so you won't have to bid so high for them, and the purchases of later turns might not be so time consuming. This rule favors the Axis powers, because it allows them to have a great mass of weapons before the US has more than one nuke. You might also think that this rule makes the game more realistic, since it would seem that both the Axis powers and the US would have a large arsenal of weapons at the start of the game, and wouldn't be able to produce them so fast later. Another optional rule would be to allow both the Axis and the US to have four times their per-turn income for initial purchases. D. Automatic Setup Using this optional rule, no one purchases units for the initial setup, but rather each nation has a predetermined set of units which they put on the board before the first turn. (This is how A&A and FA work). The following is a suggested list of units for an automatic setup: US 1 nuclear laboratory 1 warhead 9 submarines 5 fighters 2 bombers 3 armor 18 infantry (If you use the optional rule for other nations, then the US has 10 refugee infantry, and 8 US infantry.) Japan 3 battleships 2 carriers 5 fighters 2 bombers 10 transports 3 armor 14 infantry (With the optional "other nations rule", Japan has 6 native infantry, and 9 mercenary infantry) Mexico 6 infantry (With "other nations rule", Mexico has 9 infantry) Germany 6 battleships 1 carrier 4 fighters 8 bombers 12 transports 10 armor 16 infantry (with "other nations rule" Germany has 3 native infantry and 18 mercenary infantry) Note that the value of the units shown here don't add up to a multiple of 54 IPC's for the US, nor does Germany have twice as much as Japan. For the initial setup, we ignore these ratios. During the turns, however these ratios are used. Thus, the players still must bid to decide who will play the Axis, and they must take into consideration the size of these initial forces when they are making their bids. This optional rule has the advantage of allowing the players to get to the game quickly without lengthy initial purchases. E. Expansion Sets Many expansion sets are available for A&A and these can be used to introduce new units into Axisworld 1950. Some possible additions would be as follows: From XenoGames. This includes miniatures in almost the same colours as A&A. Escort (Half battleship): move 2 attack 2 defend 3 cost 8 IPC Artillery Units: move 1 attack 2 defend 2 cost 5 IPC When combat occurs, artillery units of both sides fire first. Hits against the enemy are removed immediately, the units which were hit can not return fire. This happens every round of combat. * Artillery units CANNOT occupy an area * Example 1: 3 INF + 2 armor attack 2 INF + 1 Artillery. Although it is defending, the ART unit fires first. The artillery rolls a 1 - a hit! The attacker now must remove one unit (he chooses a INF) which can not attack. The Attacker continues the attack, rolling for the survivng units 2 INF + 2 Armor. Example 2: 2 INF + 1 ART atack 1 INF + 2 fighters + 1 ART The attacking ART fires first and scores a hit. The defending ART also scores a hit. Result: both the attacker and the defender remove an INF 1 INF + 1 ART attack 2 fighters + 1 ART heavy tanks: attack 4 defend 3 move 2 cost 7 IPC mechanized INF attack 2 defend 2 move 2 cost 4 IPC trucks: attack - defend 1 move 3 cost 3 IPC Trucks are used to transport INF at 3 INF per truck. They are handy to transport your American units through the huge country. Note that the "move" part of the description allows this number of movement points for both the first and second movement. F. Semi-Blind Nukes This is an optional rule which can add some variation to the game and ensure that the same strategies aren't used every time. Without this optional rule, the Americans can always see which invasion zone has the biggest invading navy, so the Americans can always nuke the biggest invading fleet. Using this optional rule. The Americans only know which invasion zones are occupied by invading navies, and they do not know how many ships are in any invasion zone. The method used by the Axis powers for placing navies is changed in the following ways: 1. In their second movement, Germany and Japan remove their navies from the board, and set them aside to be placed on the board again during the first movement phase of the American's next turn. 2. During the "place new units" phase of their turn, Germany and Japan put down control markers in all of the naval zones they wish to use for the next turn. If they want to use a given zone, they must put a control marker there, and if they put a control marker in a zone, they must use that zone in the next turn. But during this phase, they do not place units in the invasion zones, but rather set aside the new units they have bought to be placed during the next turn. 3. At the start of their first movement phase, the Americans write down which sea zones they will nuke, but they do not show this to the Axis player yet. 4. After the Americans have written down which sea zone they will nuke (this is still before any of the American forces have taken their first movement), Germany and Japan place their invading forces in the sea zones. 5. America reveals which sea zones it has nuked, and the invading forces are removed from these zones (American submarines are not affected by these nukes, since it is assumed that they receive advance warning and are able to move away in time). 6. All American forces make their first movement. G. No Dice Axisworld 1950 This is played with the same rules as No Dice A&A, mathematical computations are used instead of dice to determine which units are removed. Those unfamiliar with No Dice A&A, might consider the following example: Example: 1 bomber, 2 armor, and 3 infantry attack in a plains area. 1 fighter, 2 infantry, and 1 partisan are defending. For the attackers, we add up the attack strength of all of the units, and divide by 6 to see how many defending units are killed. 1 bomber = 1 X 4 = 4 2 armor = 2 X 3 = 6 3 infantry = 3 X 1 = +3 total = 13 divided by 6 equals 2 with 1/6 left over. So two defending units must be removed. The defender sets 2 infantry aside to be removed after his defending strikes. For the defending strikes, we add up the defense strength of all of the defending units to see how many attackers will be killed. 1 fighter = 1 X 4 = 4 2 infantry = 2 X 2 = 4 1 partisan = 1 X 3 = +3 total = 11 divided by 6 equals 1 with 5/6 left over. So 1 attacking unit must be removed The attacker removes 1 infantry, and the defender removes the 2 infantry he had set aside previously. For the second round, the attacker adds up his strengths: 1 bomber = 4 2 armor = 6 2 infantry = 2 1 left over from the previous round =+ 1 total = 13 divided by 6 = 2 with 1 left over So the defending partisan and fighter are both killed. But the defenders still have a chance to strike back for the second round 1 fighter = 4 1 partisan = 3 5 left over from previous round = +5 total = 12 divided by 6 = 2 So the attackers must remove both of their remaining infantry. This optional rule removes the randomness from the game. H. New Rules for Detonating Nukes in Cities Using this optional rule, the Americans cannot automatically detonate a nuke when an Axis power captures it. Instead, 1 die must be rolled, and the result for the game should be determined by the roll of the die. The following are the results which occur with different die rolls. 1 - 3 Warhead explodes, all units in area destroyed, no unit may enter this area in the future. 4 Warhead destroyed and removed from game. 5-6 Warhead disarmed but captured. If the Axis power can remove this warhead to a coastal area and put it on one of its own ships, or, for Mexico, to a Mexican invasion zone, then after the war is over, this power will have capability of making nuclear weapons. Using this optional rule, there are three possible levels of victory. 1 Major American victory: Axis driven from US soil and no Axis power has nuclear capability. 2 Minor American victory: Axis driven from US soil and at least one Axis power has nuclear capability. 3 Axis Victory: Axis conquers US. I. Multi-Player games 4 player game: One player plays Mexico, one Japan, one Germany, and one the USA. The rules for determining who plays which country must be changed. 1. Each player rolls 1 die, and the player rolling lowest plays Mexico. 2. Each of the remaining three players bids to play Germany, and the one with the lowest bid plays Germany. 3. Each of the remaining two players bids to play Japan, and the one with the lowest bid plays Japan. (In this case Germany need not have twice as many IPC's as Japan.) 4. The remaining player plays the US. The victory conditions are as follows: Major US victory: Axis powers driven from US, and no Axis power has nuclear capability. Minor US victory: Axis powers driven from US, and at least one Axis power has nuclear capability. Major U