Piece/Rule	Inspiration
Artillery	Watching world war II documentaries including the Russian bombardment of Berlin was the inspiration for a piece that would precede a larger attack.
General	Historical accounts of Erwin Rommel and George S. Patton showed the amazing revelation that a smaller army led by a great general could often defeat a much larger and better equipped army.
Nation Leaders	In Germany and Japan people swore allegiance to their national leaders and fought harder because of them and their inspiring words.
Nuclear Missile	Original versions of this game had SDI defense pieces and bunkers to defend against them, but later changed to use the existing piece of Air Defense to balance them out.
Treaties	Historical accounts of World War I were the inspiration of allowing players to have intertwining treaties with other players.
Technology	I never liked the way A&A handles technology. A player could easily spend 30 IPC's on research and come away with nothing which puts too much of the outcome of the game on a single dice roll.
Strategic Bombing	Having factories permanently damaged is much more devastating to a player and gives new importance to the bomber unit.
Paratroopers	The addition of paratroopers makes the bombers even more versatile. The trick with this piece was to prevent cheap land grabs of territories behind enemy lines, which is neither realistic nor good for game play.

Superpowers - History of the Game Version 1 - 1984 Version 2 - 1987 Version 3 - 1990 Version 4 - 1994 Version 5 - 1997 Version 6 - 2002 Version 7 - 2008 Summary: Axis & Allies board modified creating 12 nations instead of 5. Several rule changes as well. Summary: Several pieces added. Also created upgrades for all pieces which proved too complicated to keep track of. Summary: Small revision which cleaned up a few things and included a failed experiment with "super tanks" Summary: First version that did not include non-player countries that attack. Also reverted back to more standard tranport rules. Name changed to Armageddon Summary: Name changed to Superpowers. Several New pieces added. Printed up official new board at Kinkos rather than use A&A board Summary: First attempt at producing game overseas. Map changed to traditional altas view. Note numbers printed on the territories. Summary: Game finally produced. Some major changes to make more playable like eliminating money and country income values. New Board - 12 nations------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ -----------------------------> Indenpendant Nations Attack ------------------------ -----------------------> Transport carry double-----> ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ Battleships carry infantry---- -----------------------> Carriers carry tanks---------- ------------------------> Tanks attack twice------------ ------------------------> Super Carriers---------------- ------------------------ -----------------------> Make Allies with I.N.--------- ------------------------ -----------------------> Conflicts--------------------- ------------------------ -----------------------> Paratroopers------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ Planes range extended--------- ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ --------------------------------> Docking for ships------------- ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ --------------------------------> 2 AA guns--------------------- ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ Revised strategic Bombing----- ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ Conquering Captial Rules------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ Version 2 1987 Technology Upgrades--> Destoryers------------ -----------------------> Complexes +3---------- ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ Mines----------------- ------------------------ ------------------------ -----------------------> Nukes----------------- ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ SDI------------------- ------------------------ ------------------------ -----------------------> Version 3 1990 Super Tanks-------------> Water Restrictions------- ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ Version 4 1994 Game starts w/ pieces ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ Super Battleships---- ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ Name Change: Arageddon--> 8 nations instead of 12 ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ Version 5 1997 Treaties------------------- ------------------------ ------------------------ Generals------------------- ------------------------ ------------------------ Diplomats------------------> Nuke/Titan Plants----------> Version 6 2002 Name change: Superpowers ------------------------ National Leaders------ ------------------------ Cruise Missiles------- ------------------------ 18 Technologies------- ------------------------ A-bombs---------------> Tech Upgrades--------- ------------------------ Artillery------------- ------------------------ Version 7 2008 All income units of 5 Money eliminated Neutral territories modified Odd player games modified Technologies modified