Last week we looked at map design in Axis and Allies Battle of the Bulge. This week, we turn our focus to new units and movement rules.
The ME 109 (German fighter plane) is about to make its debut and will enter into the family of historical Axis & Allies playing pieces. The Stuka (Junker JU 87) could not continue to be the representative fighter piece for the German Luftwaffe, at least not in this game. The Battle of the Bulge took place late in the war and the Stuka was, for all intents and purposes, obsolete. Of course, the Stuka was, in fact, a dive bomber and not a fighter at all. Some of you remind me of this fact every time we meet (thank you very much).
How or why was the Stuka playing piece selected to represent the German fighter in the first place? It happened back when I was designing Axis & Allies Europe. I was considering the ME 109 and even the FW 190 (which was actually a fighter-bomber). Both the 109 and the 190 looked too much like some of the other aircraft in the series, notably the Soviet Yak and the British Spitfire. Indeed, the Stuka, with its distinctive look and instant association with the German Luftwaffe, would be a more interesting choice. It would add some spice and it also added some controversy.
I always felt that the Stuka was an icon of early German air power. It certainly could be argued that another aircraft, probably the ME 109, should have been selected to represent the basic German fighter. I guess it’s how you want to look at it. I’m personally big on “symbolic icons”, and after all, Axis & Allies is all about symbolism. The now famous, single infantrymen, as found in all the Axis & Allies games, can represent hundreds to tens of thousands of men depending on which Axis & Allies game you are playing. This one infantry piece, all at one time, can represent all kinds of military unit types… engineers, medics, you name it. All of these real world unit types are wrapped into the symbolic infantrymen standing on his round base. My thinking was that there could be no more a recognizable German single engine combat aircraft than the Stuka. There is a line however that could not be crossed: The Stuka would not work in this latest game. It would look completely out of place in a Battle of the Bulge 1944 scenario. The aerial artillery, screaming Stukas of Dunkirk would look completely out of place. The ME 109 would serve as a much better fighter icon during this late stage of the war. It was time to change from the Stuka to the ME 109. This is not the first time a special piece was added to the game series to help communicate a more accurate historical situation. In Axis & Allies Pacific we added the American Hellcat as a second American fighter option. We thought that Hellcats would better serve as Carrier based fighters than P-38’s would.
Another unit that would be needed in this new game was a re-tooled, updated German Panther tank. German tanks were going to be the key feature of this game. After all, this game is all about German tanks! Why not use the “Tiger”? Simply stated, I did not want the Sherman and the Tiger to meet on the game board and to have equal combat values. When and if they do meet in future games, I would want the Tiger to have a superior hit point advantage. This newly tooled Panther, with its elongated gun barrow, looks great and fulfills its roll perfectly. The Panther and the Sherman seem to be more in the same ball park in terms of hit point values then the Sherman and the Tiger would have been. I do think that the presence of the Tiger in the game would have required some combat mechanics that I did not want to get into in this game.
I’d like to now talk about supplies and how they are consumed during the movement phase of the game. Supply tokens must be consumed when units are conducting movement. They must also be consumed when units, from a given hex, participate in combat. I think of supplies being primarily Ammo & Gas. A supply token must be paid for each hex that one or more units will be moved from during a turn. Let me be clear about this. It’s not the individual units that have to pay a supply tokens, it’s the hex that has the units in it that has to pay the supply token(s). We are not keeping track of what individual units consume in terms of supply. The game concerns itself more with this question - has the player done the necessary planning to ensure its availability? I think the player who is the best skilled in this area will certainly have an edge in this game. I must admit that the German player will have an even more critical and complicated task keeping on top of supply issues. This is based mostly on his or her lack thereof…
At this point I’d like to discuss how some of the different units move, their limitations and some of the advantages that some units have over others. I’ll start with the new Panther and the allied Sherman Tank. These armor units can move off-road but when doing so they are limited to one hex of movement. I point this out because trucks, in contrast, can’t be moved off-road at all. I’d like to avoid any confusion on this point. I didn’t want anyone thinking that tanks can’t move off-road … they can. Granted armor has very limited off-road movement ability. With all the thick forest in the Ardennes, I wanted to limit armor off-road movement to one hex per turn. It was important that the road system remained critical to rapid and meaningful advances. I should also remind you (as discussed in Part 4 of this series) that armor, and artillery for that matter, cannot cross between two hexes that have a bridgeless river running somewhere between their two centers. These types of hexes are identified with hash mark lines that are clearly presented on the map.
In the last article I also said I’d give more details about armor blitzing. Yep, they can “blitz.” Doing so allows tanks to get behind enemy lines and make disruptive tactical maneuvers of which tanks are infamous. If you pay an extra supply token (for a total of two) to a hex that has one or more tanks, the tanks in that hex can each make an extra move of 1 hex beyond their normal movement range. This extra move can be into or out of an enemy Zone-of-Control. In other words, if a tank must end its normal movement because it has just entered a ZOC it will do so, but because its originating hex was doubled supplied, it can move one more hex from that point. The player who becomes skilled with this tactic, especially if he or she is the German player, will derive great benefits from blitzing. Infantry and artillery can move the normal one cross country hex per turn. They can, unlike armor, cross between hash marked hexes. Infantry and Artillery cannot blitz. Blitzing is unique to armor.
Once a supply token has been used and a move from a given hex has been made, it (the supply token) is turned over revealing its “arrow” side. This arrow should be pointed in the direction that at least one of the hex’s units moved. In any case the supply is shown as having been consumed by the fact that it has been turned over. Come on… only you can keep a tidy board! It is absolutely not necessary to point these arrows in any specific direction. It just looks and feels better if you do. I always point them in the direction the biggest group moved. Doing it this way often helps remind me what my original intention was and what I will do next. Like everything, I use the arrows as a tool to best serve my efforts to win the game.
Trucks do not require the consumption of a supply token when they are moved. They can be moved to just about anywhere on the map during a turn. They are not, however, simply picked up and placed anywhere. The controlling player must be able to demonstrate the a clear path along the road that the truck is being moved. Both players will be checking to make sure that the road that is being used is open and free of enemy interference. Unlimited road movement, in terms of distance a truck can travel, is based on the fact that if constantly driven for one or two days (the length of a turn), any given truck could end up driving anywhere on the map. Take for example the 101st Airborne… In spite of their name (Airborne), the entire division (some 12,000 men) were “trucked” to Bastogne from deep in France. They arrived at Bastogne just in time, on the 18th of December, to set up defensive positions. The Germans arrived the very next day. I’ve often seen this very thing happen while playing the game. This was one of my self imposed acid tests to help determine if the game’s movement mechanics were in sync with the historical reality. Would the movement system permit this off board reinforcing division to arrive at Bastogne in time to prevent the game’s German forces from simply marching over it? Would there be any suspense at all about getting enough allied units to Bastogne to hold off the German advance? Would the speed of the German advance threaten an early capture of Bastogne? From a game design point of view it was not only a question of whether or not the 101st could arrive in time but also whether or not the Germans were able to arrive at this same location at about the same time. Believe me, there was nothing automatic about this process. As it turns out (by design), it works!
Truck movement can of course be restricted by enemy units. When a truck is moved into an enemy ZOC it must immediately stop. The other factor that will stop the movement of a truck is dropping off cargo. When your truck drops off something along the road, that’s where the truck must end its movement.
It was back in Part 3 where I asked if anyone knew the nickname of the German Opel truck. Some days after the article was posted I received an email from “Vader218” in Tokyo. He wrote and said that the truck was and is still known as the “Open Blitz”. Thank you Vader218 for sharing this bit of information. Trucks in this game have turned out to be a great new addition. These new truck units and the use of supplies, make for some fascinating new gaming challenges.
The other group of units –Aircraft--do not require supplies either. Like trucks they can be placed on any location on the board. Unlike trucks, aircraft do not have to worry about enemy ZOC’s. In brief… you can place your aircraft, together or individually, anywhere on the map, including in an enemy-controlled hex. After all, they are flying above the battlefield and have no physical restrictions. This makes everything on the board vulnerable to attack from the air.
I think we’ve touched on all the new units in the game. They, like me, are excited that you will be soon meeting them face to face. The good people at Avalon Hill and I want to hear your comments and thoughts about these new units.
In this article we talked about the game’s movement system. Next week I think I’ll be ready to get into the combat system of Axis & Allies – Battle of the Bulge. This is big stuff and I’ll introduce you to a totally new Axis & Allies combat system…. a new system where fate decides the casualties – NOT the controlling player!
As promised, here is the complete rulebook for Axis and Allies Battle of the Bulge. Once you know the rules, check back here to learn why certain rules decisions have been made.
Until then talk about this article and Axis and Allies Battle of the Bulge on our message boards, or check out Larry's own web site.
