I've seen pictures of the new Axis & Allies board game, and I don't like
what they did with the map. I feel that the only change to the map
should have been an horizontal line to split Eastern Europe/Ukraine into
northern (EE) and southern parts (Ukraine) as I've seen proposed on the
internet.
However, I must admit, I've made many custom-made maps of Axis & Allies
over the years, and it's a lot of fun. I'm thinking of making a new
map. First, I'll present the IPC values and then I'll explain the new
IPC values and how the map will look like.
GERMANY 36
Germany* 10 (incl. Austria, Czech, East Prussia, parts of
Poland-France-Benelux)
Italy* 6
Carpathians* 3 (comprising Slovakia, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, parts
of Greece & Ukraine)
Finland* 2 (incl. Finnish conquests of Russia in 1942)
Denmark 1
Norway 1
Benelux 2 (revised borders after conquest)
France 3 (revised borders after conquest)
Poland 2 (revised borders after being conquered by Germany)
Baltics 1
Ukraine 2
Western Russia 2 (Belarus and the easternmost conquests of Russia by
Germany by Nov. 1942)
Balkans 1 (Yugoslavia, Albania and western Greece)
Libya 0
French North Africa 0
French West Africa 0
French Madagascar 0
UNITED STATES 40
Eastern US* 20
Western US* 10
Alaska 1
Hawaii 1
West Indies 1
Central America 0
Mexico 1
Brazil 2
Canton 2
Sinkiang 1
Szechwan 1
Midway Island 0
American Samoa 0
Greenland 0
Iceland 0
Liberia 0
JAPAN 24
Japan* 8
Siam* 2
Korea* 2
Okinawa 1
Manchuria 2
Shantung 2
Hong Kong 1
Formosa 1
Hainan 0
Iwo Jima 0
Guam 0
Caroline Is. 0
Aleutian Is. 0
Guadalcanal 0
New Guinea 0
Borneo 0
Dutch East Indies 2
French Indo China 1
Burma 1
Philippines 1
UNITED KINGDOM 30
Great Britain* 10
Eastern Canada* 3
Western Canada* 2
Australia* 3
New Zealand* 2
Gibraltar 0
Guyana 0
Egypt 1
Sudan 0
French Equatorial Africa 0
Nigeria 0
British East Africa 0
Italian East Africa 0
Rhodesia 1
South Africa 2
Belgian Congo 0
Aden-Oman 1
Syria-Jordan 1
Iraq 1
Iran 1
India 2
****t Moresby 0
New Caledonia 0
USSR 20
Musocvy* 6
Leningrad* 3
Caucasus* 3
Urals* 2
Soviet Far East* 2
Siberia 1
Kazakhstan 1
Yakut 1
Buryat 1
NEUTRALS 17
Venezuela 1
Colombia 1
Peru 1
Chile 2
Argentina 2
Spain 2
****tugal 1
Rio de Oro 0
Angola 0
Mozambique 0
Turkey 2
Sweden 2
Switzerland 2
Afghanistan 0
Tibet 0
Arabia 1
When I draw the map, it will be about 50-70% bigger to account for the
greater number of territories and to make it easy to place units on the
smaller territories. I'll try to make the map look as closely as
possible as this:
http://www.grec.com/hiperenc/gran/MAPA/Guerra.gif
I want to make a more historical representation of "Western Russia" as
compared to the new A&A map.
(see: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/newbggimages/pic42540.jpg)
I want players to feel like they are looking at an actual WW2 atlas map
when they play on it.
The territories denoted by an asterix (*) mean that the IPC values are
halved (rounded up) if they are captured by the enemy. There are
several territories on this new map with an IPC value of zero, and a lot
of the territories have very low IPC values, such as France (3). Since
France is occupied, why should it represent as much industrial
production as Italy, a full-fledged willing ally of Germany? If Germany
somehow captures the Eastern United States, should it be allowed to
collect its full IPC value? No, of course not, but it should get half
of its industrial production. I've given a lot of territories with an
IPC value of 0 to represent their historial economic significance.
I've split Finland-Norway into 2 seperate territories. I've always felt
that a new A&A game should have split this into two. Finland was a
natural ally of Germany (because of it's border wars with Russia) and so
it gives an IPC value of 2 to Germany. Norway was conquered, and though
it does have a similar-sized economy to Finland's, it only gives 1 IPC
to Germany.
I always thought it was unrealistic that the Philippines in A&A had an
IPC value of 3. Anybody can look up the GDP value of the Philippines
and see that this is a ridiculously high number. The new IPC values
take into consideration: balance and accuracy. Historically, Japan had
a lower GDP than Italy during WW2, but I still gave it a total IPC
production value greater than the USSR because I wanted the game to be
more balanced. This new map improves the Axis total IPC from 57 to 60
while maintaining the Allied total IPC at 90.
I've also given Germany "control" of Vichy French African colonies.
This is because during WW2, England and free french forces actually had
to physically invade these colonies to control them. There was an
actual amphibious invasion of Madagascar in 1942 by the British in order
to prevent a possible Japanese landing of this African island. Now,
Germany doesn't have any military units in these areas (except for
French North Africa) and they have an IPC value of 0 anyhow. This just
means that the allies will have to capture these territories using
ground units if they want to land their planes there. The only African
territories on this new map with any real value are Egypt, Rhodesia and
South Africa.
The neutral territories now have IPC values. HOWEVER, if someone tries
to invade them, these territories have as many infantry units as their
IPC value, plus one extra infrantry (example: Arabia gets 2 infantry
because it is worth 1 IPC). When a neutral is attacked, it immediately
becomes part of the major opposing power whose capital is closest to
it. Example: England attacks Spain and thus falls under control of the
German empire. Germany will roll for the Spanish/German forces
defending Spain. If an attacked neutral somehow has the same distance
between 2 or 3 capitals, the players can agree by consensus or they can
roll for highest dice to deterine who gets control.
I thought about including even more territories (such as splitting up
"the Carpathians" into Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria) but this would
give Germany too much IPC and make the game possibly last too long.
I do like the concept of impassable territories on the new Hasbro A&A
map. I might create impassable borders (such as the Sahara desert and
the Himalayan mountains)
Let me know what you think.
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