From: lauzac@cs.pitt.edu (Sylvain Lauzac) Subject: Axis and Allies: added event cards I have added two new elements to Axis and Allies. Since we like playing with them, I thought I would post it on this newsgroup. The first new element is the possiblity to mine an ocean, the second is to add event cards (a bit like in Fortress America). We have playtested them, the mines don't seem to shift the play balance, but the event cards do: they favor the Axis. So when we play with the cards, we always let USSR attack in the first turn. If you are playing with these modifications, please let me know what you think of them, if they favor the Axis too much, if they are unclear, etc... so that I can improve them. 1. Mines. Mines are the AA gun of the sea. Mines can only be placed by a battleship. It takes the whole turn for the battleship to place the mines. As a consequence, the battleship cannot move and place mines in the same turn, it must place mines where it starts its turn. Placing a mine costs 5 IPC. Place a marker of the country who laid the mine on the territory mined. When enemy ships enter a mined territory, each ship must roll a dice, and sinks on a 1. Subs are immune to mines. A player can decide to communicate the position of the mines to an allied player, in which case the allied player can enter the territory without rolling. A battleship can also remove ennemy mines. It takes a whole turn and it costs 8 IPC. The battleship must enter the mined territory to remove the mines, don't forget to make it roll... 2. Event cards. We implemented the events with cards, but you can just print them out as a list and randomly draw them. The events are divided in 2 stacks. One that helps the Allies, one that helps the Axis. At the beginning of each round (before USSR goes) one card is drawn from each stack. So there should be one good event for the Axis, and a good one for the Allies. These events take place immediatly (and the combats they can produce are resolved immediatly). If a combat occurs because the card places new units in an already occupied territory, the units just added are considered as the attacker. Axis events: Revolt in India! The country controlling India loses two units of its choice in India. Germany at work! Four extra tanks are produced this turn in Berlin. German scientists develop new weapons. Roll to select the German discovery. Italy develop its air force. Add one fighter and one bomber in Rome. Germany builds new AA guns. Add one AA gun in Germany. This second AA gun can be used with the previous one. SS recruits new troops. The German player can add three infantry in one controlled territory. Germany builds bunkers in France. Add two infantry in France. Nazi coup in Brazil! Brazil is now controlled by Germany. Add two infantry and a tank in Brazil. Germany mines found at sea. The German player places mines in the British Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. Earthquake in California! Western US does not yield any IPC this turn. Japanese submarines control the Pacific. Two submarines to place anywhere in the Pacific Ocean. Japanese secret base in the Solomons. Add two infantry, one transport and one fighter in the Solomons. Japanese conscription. Add four infantry and two tanks in Tokyo. Japan increases its military production in Asia. Place one Japanese factory in a Japanese controlled territory in Asia. Japan uses chemical weapons! Up to 4 units in a territory adjacent to a Japanese territory are removed by the Japanese player. Disaster for the British Navy! Two british ships are sunk by ennemy submarines. The british player chooses the ships to loose. Italy controls the Mediterranean Sea. Add one submarine and one tranport in the Mediterranean Sea. Reinforcements arrive Eastern Europe. The country controlling Eastern Europe gets two extra infantry and two extra tanks. Italy reinforces its colonies. Put one infantry and two tanks in Libya. German Navy attempts to break blocus. Place three submarines on the German coast. Franco helps Mussolini. Add two infantry and one tank in Italy. Germany attacks first! Germany plays before USSR this turn. Japan improves its submarines. Japan gets "supersubs". Allied events: Bad weather in Russia. No airplane can attack or defend the USSR territories. RAF bombs Berlin. Germany loses 6 IPC. Eire supports England. Add two infantry in London. Oil discovered in Syria! The country controlling Syria gets 6 IPC. Canadian troops sail towards the UK Put one transport and one tank in Canada. The Pentagon orders more bombers Add one bomber in Washington Uncle Sam get armored! Two tanks are placed in Washington. British mines in the sea. The British player places mines in one occupied sea territory. French troops rally De Gaulle in London. Two infantry are available in London French partisans strike. Germany loses 1 unit of its choice in France. The US tries to control the skies. Two fighters are placed on the Eastern US. Home guards reinforce Moscow. Add three infantry in Moscow. US marines arrive in England. Add three US infantry in London. US Navy gets new ships. US player places one transport and one battleship on its western coast. Plague in China! The player controlling China loses two units of its choice. The USSR counterattacks! If the Russian player attacks a territory, three extra infantry and two tanks are available only for this turn. Remaining units are removed at the end of the turn. Allied paratroops on the move! One of the Allied players gets 3 infantry, one fighter and one bomber. These units disappear at the end of this turn. Allied players must agree on wich player gets these units. Australia increases its war effort. Put two british infantry and one transport in Australia. Sweden lends money to the Allies. Britain gets 10 extra IPC. British planes over the Channel! Place one carrier with one fighter on the British Channel. USSR learns to fly! Add two fighters and one bomber in Moscow. General mobilization in USSR. Place three infantry in Moscow. Russian civilians take arms. The Russian player puts two infantry in a territory of its choice. UK produce new tanks. Add two tanks in London. South Africa declares war to the Axis. Add two infantry and a tank in South Africa. Mexican troops ready to help the USA. Add two infantry in Mexico. American Jews against Nazi Germany. Add 10 IPC to the US treasury. Did american labs discover new technology? The US gets two free weapon development roll. Russian spies steal foreign technology! Russia choses a technology from a player of its choice. Britain benefits from US research. US gives a technology of its choice to Britain. Russian winter stops the Nazis. Germany cannot attack the USSR this turn. Design comments: We designed the mines for several reason: - its adds some more action in the sea, - it makes the battleship more important (otherwise nobody buys a battleship) - it modifies the usual tatics a little bit, in particular it can give Germany a little more time before the US becomes really powerful in Europe. The cards add some randomness to the game, without making it a luck game. We designed the cards so that it helps more the countries that don't do well in the long run, namely Russia and Germany. I hope that these modifications will renew your interest in Axis and Allies, it certainly did for us! -- Sylvain Lauzac lauzac@cs.pitt.edu