PBEM House Rules?

[OxfordGuy3]

I've noticed in various posts and YouTube videos (e.g. Dudeman's] that some players ask for some house rules for PBEM games. I like my games to be within plausible possibility, but to still give the player some non-historical options, so would consider some or all of these - what are people's thoughts on these (e.g. whether they're too restrictive/unbalanced or not) and are there any other house rules that people like to use?:

• No upgrading Soviet units (except Infantry Corps and Armies) to Level 3 Infantry Weapons (as there is a bug in patch 1.25 that allows this). On the other hand, Soviet Shock units have been nerfed a bit, as Mobility now gives +1 AP, rather than combat bonuses, but maybe that is intended and was bugged before?

• If Turkey is a Soviet Minor ally (due to the change in 1.25 this is possible], no upgrading of any units to Infantry Weapons Level 3 (for the same reason as above)

• No Italian warships may leave the Mediterranean until Italy is at war (except subs)

• No Diplo vs. Major countries

• No gamey passive scouting by moving a plane to the front and back again (i.e. you have to fly a mission to scout, or else leave your plane where you've moved it to)

• Bulgarian units should be only used in Bulgaria, Greece and Yugoslavia (as was the case historically, they didn't DoW USSR). To balance this, Soviet units can only attack non-Bulgarian units in Bulgaria and are not allowed naval invasions vs. Bulgaria or to bomb resource hexes there until it has land units bordering Bulgaria

• Allies not to block the Gibraltar entry hexes completely, they have to actively contest Axis naval movement (I'm fine with this to allow sub movement, but maybe restrict other Axis naval movement into/out of the Med further - see below)

• Not allowing the Allies to invade Denmark after the Axis turn where they take Denmark through the DE event (as Copenhagen will be empty of Axis units)

• No Axis naval units to blockade (and reduce) the port at the southern end of the South American convoy route - this can't even be seen at some screen resolutions and is a very long way to go for Allied naval units to contest

These ones I'm not so sure about, but have seen some people propose them or similar rules:

• No Diplo vs. countries in the Balkans (as can apparently mess up some of the event scripts)

• You can't DoW on a country currently pro your side (+1% or more). Exception is a historical precedent like Germany invading Vichy France in November 42 after operation Torch. NB: I'm aware that would prevent the Axis from Dow Spain unless Allied-leaning, which may or may not be a good thing.

• No Axis naval units (including Transports) are allowed to move into or out of the Mediterranean, except for Subs, unless Gibraltar is Axis. The reverse applies to the Allies, if Gibraltar is Axis. This might be a bit excessive, though, unless perhaps enforcing a requirement for the Allies to always maintain a minimum naval force within two hexes of Gibraltar. I think there should be some limits for the Axis here, though, as it seems a bit gamey to see the whole Regia Marina sail into the Atlantic early game - e.g. increased US mobilisation if the Italian navy enters the Atlantic, but that's not in the game

• Possibly some restrictions on Allied surface naval units entering the Adriatic sea (sea hexes north of Brindisi/Tirana), if Brindisi is Axis?

• Limiting air attacks vs HQ's (to just 1 or 2 attacks/turn, maybe?)

• Finnish units not allowed to move outside of pre-war Finnish territory (maybe expand to allow just to limit to not move more than one hex south or east of Lake Onega / Vg and Svir Rivers or more than one hex than one hex south of Leningrad/Lake Ladoga i.e. allow Leningrad and Volkhov city, and perhaps to allow in Norway and Sweden), as in the war they were very hesitant to do advance far into Russia. Maybe relax this if the Axis take Moscow

• Perhaps enforcing some minimum garrison requirement for mainland Italy, unless the Med secured by the Axis, so that the Italian's can't move almost all their army to North Africa?

• Limiting Infantry Weapons upgrades to Level 1 for Axis minors (except Finland and Sweden/Norway if diplo-ed), as they were historically pretty weak. Although this might be OP for the Allies and it does already cost more to upgrade minor countries units, as they don't benefit from Production Tech discounts

What do people think of these? Are there any other house rules that people use for PBEM? Perhaps some limits on non-Scandinavian Axis air units attacking (at 50% strength) in snow conditions until after the first Russian winter (following the air unit changes in 1.25)?

[Duedman]

I'd add / alter the following:

No strategic bombing of Liverpool
Aircraft Carriers are restricted to striking max 2 tiles inland
No invasion of Denmark or southern Norway before mid 1942 (Trondheim and Narvik are allowed). Kiel Canal is also forbidden.

I would not use the geographic unit usage restrictions. The Fins maybe ok. But the rest are just a hassle with no real gameplay impact I think.

Don't know about limiting aux units to Inftech 1. They are a lot more expensive already.

[OxfordGuy3]

I'd add / alter the following:

No strategic bombing of Liverpool

Because it blocks all the allied convoys? I guess you could say the same about Cuxhaven and Kristiansand for the Axis, though would have (much) less impact and wouldn't be possible until much later in the war.

No invasion of Denmark or southern Norway before mid 1942 (Trondheim and Narvik are allowed). Kiel Canal is also forbidden.

If enforcing that, I think the Axis should still be required to garrison the Danish and Norwegian ports at least, otherwise it's free units to use elsewhere. Am not sure about the blanket restriction, though can see some merit in disallowing Allied invasion of Oslo (which really would have been a stretch in real life), at least, before mid-1942.

Invading the Kiel canal already carries the penalty of triggering extra Germany units I think, so the allies would need to think carefully before doing that. I'd support disallowing Allied naval units from transiting the Kiel canal unless BOTH Cuxhaven AND Kiel are Allied occupied, though (you pretty much need to do that anyway).

[MajorHeinz]

I'm also not a fan of restricting the minor states like that because - as Duedman already wrote - they are more expensive than normal German units. Also, I think this will tend to put the Axis at a disadvantage in a historic war as the Romanian units etc are easy to destroy and costly to replace but ultimately absent from the battlefield. The game already favors the Allies far too much at the end of a historical war.

I don't mind some other things either.
If larger German ships should not be able to pass through Gibraltar, then the same should apply to the Western Allies and the Baltic Sea.

I would like to include the following rules:
- A maximum of one Western Allied naval unit may enter the Baltic Sea. (at least as long as western allies haven`t captured all cities in Denmark)
- German warships are not allowed to position themselves in front of Barbarossa in such a way that the Soviet ships spawn between them and the Soviet ships cannot escape. (an opponent did this to me, I found it terribly annoying)
- Special forces can be put back on a boat a maximum of once after going ashore and elsewhere with full supply again.
- Also I'm not a friend of repeatedly attacking weak cities on coasts with ships to bring down the supply. This should be reduced to one attack per turn. In the case of ports and large cities, it's not a problem, since they can defend themselves and this can also result in losses for the ships. But with weak cities, the ships can gain a lot of experience through something like that and the opponent often can't do anything about it.

[OxfordGuy3]

I'm also not a fan of restricting the minor states like that because - as Duedman already wrote - they are more expensive than normal German units. Also, I think this will tend to put the Axis at a disadvantage in a historic war as the Romanian units etc are easy to destroy and costly to replace but ultimately absent from the battlefield. The game already favors the Allies far too much at the end of a historical war.

Fair enough, TBH the only minor state restriction I've ever played with (in PBEM anyway) is no Axis Bulgarian units in Russia, which is pretty minor. I agree that restricting Finish unit movement and Infantry Weapons upgrades for other Axis minors would be a much larger nerf for the Axis.

I don't mind some other things either.
If larger German ships should not be able to pass through Gibraltar, then the same should apply to the Western Allies and the Baltic Sea.

Sure, but then if the Axis control both Copenhagen and Odense, the allies cannot enter the Baltic at all anyway, not even with subs, although Odense is often left un-garrisoned by the Axis

I would like to include the following rules:
- A maximum of one Western Allied naval unit may enter the Baltic Sea. (at least as long as western allies haven`t captured all cities in Denmark)

I think that's reasonable, or at least requiring BOTH Copenhagen and Odense to be Allied before allowing more than one allied naval unit into the Baltic (and maybe restrict that one naval unit to subs-only). It's pretty risky either way for the allies to invade the Danish islands, anyway.

- German warships are not allowed to position themselves in front of Barbarossa in such a way that the Soviet ships spawn between them and the Soviet ships cannot escape. (an opponent did this to me, I found it terribly annoying)

I agree, that's happened to me too in at least one PBEM game. I'd perhaps even go further and say no Axis naval units allowed in the Gulf of Finland east of Tallin or to the hex north of Tallin (but only if both Tallin and Hanko are Soviet at the start of the turn) until the turn after war is declared on the USSR - this also gives the USSR more reasons to opt for the Winter War vs. Finland (to gain Hanko) and to occupy the Baltic States (to gain Tallin) - there were strategic reasons why the Soviets wanted Hanko (i.e.to aid in naval control of the Gulf of Finland). This would still allow the Axis to attempt an amphibious assault on Tallin, if they wanted to. Although maybe if Finland is already an Axis Minor through diplomacy before the start of the turn, relax these restrictions, even if both Hanko and Tallin are Soviet. What do you think?

- Special forces can be put back on a boat a maximum of once after going ashore and elsewhere with full supply again.

Do you mean they have to return to (and land at) a (different) friendly port before being allowed to invade again? Seems reasonable

- Also I'm not a friend of repeatedly attacking weak cities on coasts with ships to bring down the supply. This should be reduced to one attack per turn. In the case of ports and large cities, it's not a problem, since they can defend themselves and this can also result in losses for the ships. But with weak cities, the ships can gain a lot of experience through something like that and the opponent often can't do anything about it.

That would be quite a big change and a major nerf to the Allies, though, as can be a major part of an allied strategy to keep Axis supply low in North Africa (and sometimes in Norway), so am not so sure about this one, unless perhaps balancing with other nerfs to the axis (e.g. limiting most Axis minors to level 1 Infantry Weapons).

[MajorHeinz]

- Special forces can be put back on a boat a maximum of once after going ashore and elsewhere with full supply again.

Do you mean they have to return to (and land at) a (different) friendly port before being allowed to invade again? Seems reasonable

- Also I'm not a friend of repeatedly attacking weak cities on coasts with ships to bring down the supply. This should be reduced to one attack per turn. In the case of ports and large cities, it's not a problem, since they can defend themselves and this can also result in losses for the ships. But with weak cities, the ships can gain a lot of experience through something like that and the opponent often can't do anything about it.

That would be quite a big change and a major nerf to the Allies, though, as can be a major part of an allied strategy to keep Axis supply low in North Africa (and sometimes in Norway), so am not so sure about this one, unless perhaps balancing with other nerfs to the axis (e.g. limiting most Axis minors to level 1 Infantry Weapons).

Yes, return to a friendly port or let them die without support. You can get them on a boat that they have full supply, drop them on the coast, and repeat this again and again. But I think this is a little gamey.

Referring to the multiple attacks on little towns:
Yes, you are right, the allies would have it harder. But on the other hand allied have a real advantage referring to the ships, because they have more and especially more carriers. So if allies use little towns to just get experience, axis won`t have any chance. Also some players use all carriers to sink Reggia Marina in Italy in the ports when german fighters are still needed in France. So imo attack on weak towns should be limited because otherwise the game will become very fast very one-sided on the oceans.
Imo if the british army gets all-in in Egypt it should be able to stop the Africa Korps. But if the axis player will send more german units to Africa and even experienced ones, he should be able to win in Africa, because all additional units in Africa are missing in Russia for a while.
Also the allies have a Strategic Bomber at the beginning and can disturb axis supply through it and often one attack with a battleship is enough to let axis supply in Egypt collapse.

[OxfordGuy3]

Yes, return to a friendly port or let them die without support. You can get them on a boat that they have full supply, drop them on the coast, and repeat this again and again. But I think this is a little gamey.

Yes, I think it's reasonable to restrict that

Referring to the multiple attacks on little towns:
Yes, you are right, the allies would have it harder. But on the other hand allied have a real advantage referring to the ships, because they have more and especially more carriers. So if allies use little towns to just get experience, axis won`t have any chance.

I don't do it for no reason, but the two places where I do often do it are against Tobruk and port and city and the other supply sources on the way to El Alamein, but the main reason do it is to reduce Axis supply, not for experience. The other place where I sometimes attack ports with my fleet is on the northern French coast, just after France falls, to delay the use of those ports for an invasion against Britain. I guess still allowing one such attack per turn (BTW did you mean no more than one attack per resource per turn, or one attack TOTAL?) would still be of some use, but it is definitely still a nerf that might need balancing.

Also some players use all carriers to sink Reggia Marina in Italy in the ports when german fighters are still needed in France. So imo attack on weak towns should be limited because otherwise the game will become very fast very one-sided on the oceans.

Yes, I've had that happen to me, I tried to hide the Regia Marina at the top of the Adriatic, but a combined British and French fleet still managed to sink a load of my ships for little loss (mostly French)

Banning allied surface ships from entering the Adriatic north of a line from Brindisi to Tirani (but only if both are owned by the Axis) would put a stop to that - I think the TRP MOD does something similar to this. Taranto and Brindisi ports would still be fair game to be attacked (as Taranto was by Royal Navy CVs in real life). I bet in WW2 the entrance to the Adriatic was heavily mined by the Axis to prevent Allied activity there. It would still mean the Regia Marina would need air cover to operate safely outside of the Adriatic, but at least lets it hide until such cover is available.

[MajorHeinz]

I mean one attack of a resource, but several resources can be attacked at one turn. As if all towns in Egypt just get supply 5 one hit should be enough to let the supply drop under 5. Attacking ports is no problem for me, because even battleships get sometimes damage when attacking ports, so this is a fairer match then against small towns that can`t defend attacks.

[Elessar2]

Lothos put in a mine script for the Adriatic, which appears to do the trick in deterring any Allied naval adventures up there.

[OxfordGuy3]

I mean one attack of a resource, but several resources can be attacked at one turn.

Okay, that's a bit more reasonable, especially as you can use the Strat bomber too

[OxfordGuy3]

Lothos put in a mine script for the Adriatic, which appears to do the trick in deterring any Allied naval adventures up there.

Good idea!