Peter McCord - 02:41pm Aug 16, 1998 PST (#92 of 92) Recent Games: Proud Monster/Death and Destruction, A Raging Storm, Black Wednesday New Eastwall Optional Rules: OK folks, here is my one and only shot at fixing Eastwall--my goal is to fix the game without changing the CRT or the Sequence of Play...here goes. The following rules should be used in conjunction with each other (and only with each other), and not in conjunction with any of the optional rules by Dave Popplewell and/or Dirk Blennemann. (I have nothing against those rules, but they won't mix well with these). Soviet Airdrops: do not use plotting, units drop wherever they like and are eliminated on a 1,2 or 3. One unit always survives. (this is almost Dave P's rule, although I considered it myself before ever seeing his...it's a logical choice). Bridgeheads: ignore the current rule (actually, ignore the errata which seems to contradict the written rules). Soviet Units still pay 1/4 of their MA to cross, and use the current roll for success (1-3). Place a bridgehead in the bridgehead phase (although the soviet player may voluntarily place one of these in any just-west of the Dnepr river hex that he controls at this time). The counter limit is finite and permanent elimination still applies. Ignore the optional 1L shift for defense. The Bridgehead creates crossable hexsides on all dnepr hexsides of the hex it occupies, although all units pay +1 to cross in addition to the in hex cost (but of course no die roll is now necessary). No "crossing by force" die roll (and thus paying only 1/4 MA) is allowed into a bridgehead hex. German Forts: Still give the 1L defenseive shift and increased Soviet losses, but ignore the decreased German losses (folks, these forts weren't that great). E.G. an A1/D1 now converts to an A2/D1, rather than an A2. See the Tank Unit Effect Rule below. Tank/Mech Unit Effects: Tanks may still not attack across Major Rivers. Any attack vs. a fort or a major city that includes even a single tank unit suffers a 1L shift. Any attack vs. a clear hex (only--never towns or woods) that includes at least one tank, and where the defender has no tanks, gets a 1R shift (don't bother counting who has more tanks). Tank Units Defending in a Fortification hex receive no fortification benefit whatsoever (they still get natural terrain benefits). There must be at least one infantry unit in a fort to get the benefits described above. Reserves/Tank Combat Clarification: Defensive Tank Reserves may move into any hex that will require mandatory tank combat or any declared attack hex. Defensive Infantry reserves may only move into the latter. German Turn 1 restrictions: Ignore all the various VP penalty schemes for German turn 1. German front line units may not move on turn 1 (those units which comprise the setup requirement that every frontline hex of be garrisoned by link or unit). See the General Note below. GENERAL NOTE: according to the rules, there are no off-map links to the north and south edge hexes, nor with water. You must therefore put a unit in both the northernmost and southernmost hexes. Remember major rivers block links, even to units on the same side of the river. This makes defending the dnepr even harder, whenever the river runs along the grain the Germans must garrison every hex (or risk a free crossing attempt). It also makes the opening setup a little more restrictive. The Wotan line is harder to defend because it has only 6 hexes, but the "end" hexes are both non-linakable. So you will need at least 4 stacks to properly defend the Wotan line. Stacking: (there are some major changes here, as the EW rules allow, imo, way too much in a hex. the stacking rules in Clash of Titans seem to bear this belief out, see below). Both sides have a limit of 9 stacking points (or RE's if you prefer that term). Soviet Infantry Corps count as 6. Tank and Mech Corps count as 3. German infantry divisions count as 3. Soviet Hqs count as 3. All other units (including the German KA units) count 1, although no multi-unit division ever counts for more than 3. Essentially, both sides can stack only 3 divisions in the hex, although the Soviets can put an inf corps and a tank corps in one hex making for four divisions. This stacking limit is more in line with that in "Clash of Titans", which allows for 2 divs/hex (or 6 Re's, or one sov corps) at (13km[8mi]/hex). EW under this system allows for 3divs/hex (15km/hex). (optionally, players may count stacking during movement, but this slows down the game because it forces players to choreograph their moves ahead of time). DESIGN NOTE: the Germans may now only have 3 inf divs in a hex. If they are all reduced strength, that means only 3 steps, so watch out. This makes the 2-step inf divs all the more valuable. The only problem with this rule is that stacks of 3 Soviet Mech Corps become unwieldy--go ahead and make up some army/corps markers. Maximum Effort: Soviet limit 4 per turn; German 2 per turn. Increase both sides losses by 1--A1/D1 becomes an A2/D2. Declare before rolling. Never double the losses as before. Off Map Soviet Box System: (Blow up the old system and replace it with this). There are now 2 boxes for the Sovs, 1--Withdrawn (WD), 2--Rest and Refit (RR). Units may be picked up off the map and placed in the WD box at the beginning of a turn. Units may move from 1 to 2 in the next turn. Units moving into or remaining in 2 may take a free replacement . Units that did not replace and began the turn in box 2 are available for on map placement. Eliminate the Stalin Reserve. Soviet Player's choice, remove 7 mech/tank corps at start and 3 inf corps, and receive them as reinforcements, one per turn beginning on December 1. Example. On turn one the sov player removes several tank and inf corps to box 1. On turn 2, he moves them to box 2 and they take a repl step each. On turn 3, they may be placed on the map OR they may take a another repl step and enter play next turn.