@JDOW said in German airbase in Holland r1:

Good idea but not worth the 15 IPC. Taranto isn’t that bad for Axis and many top players avoid it and rather stack 92 in UK1 to preserve the fleet in sz98.

Very true. Not worth it, and has 0 long term value. Seems tempting, but not. Also not worth it, but is better, about G3 AB in yugo. I think you want the allies in the med compared to 110 or Norway as axis

@simon33, certainly the game works with two UK economies and there are lots of things to enjoy about the way that pans out. I’m not saying the game is broken, just discussing alternatives.

One advantage to the unified UK economy that I noticed in the SiredBlood variant is that the Allied player has much more control over their level of risk with respect to Sea Lion and India Crush. Some people (like you?) complain that the UK has to buy 100% infantry on turn 1 to fend off Sea Lion. Other people complain that India is doomed and that the Allies have to make massive, urgent efforts to contain Japan, like maybe a turn 2 Persia factory that pumps out mechs for India. So if you can slosh your economy around, then you can choose which of those two ignominious fates you suffer.

Want to play aggressively in the Atlantic? Build 10 infantry in London and a factory in Egypt; go crazy. Want to play aggressively in the Pacific? Let London go, drop 2 mech + 2 tank in India on each of UK1 and UK2, declare war, and go for a Yunnan stack. It leads to more variety in terms of the opening positions that you can reach, which I like.

That said, I hear you on getting Canadian fighters to Moscow. If you’re not playing with my Supply Crates for lend-lease, and there’s no Sea Lion attack, then Canada could have little or nothing to do.

I took a look at the opening post. Although I do not agree with all points, it sounds quite solid in general and can function as some good common sense and/or as rule of thumbs for less experienced players.

@seancb we also use a giant piece of plywood because any oval table we could find won’t fit the whole board. Its much better to have something under the board (or vinyl) because prevents the board from getting knocked or moved and has at least some sideboard area for piles of chips and drinks and extras. Still, we need dice pits and another area to put most of our stuff because the game is simply that yuge.

G1: 2 subs, 1 bomber
G2: 8 tanks, 2 mech, bombers
G3: 10 mech, bombers
G4 onwards: some infantry, artillery and bombers (Western Front defence)

Goal: Dark Skies, swarm the Med with Luftwaffe to help Italy, bring 20 fast movers to Russian front before G4 so they can be overpowered. Bomb Russian factories back to stone age.

Most targeted unit: UK ships.

J1: 2 transports, 1 mic in shantung
J2: 3 mech, 1 mic in kiangsu (FIC could be take by UK), 1 carrier
J3: 1 naval base FIC, 2 carriers, 4 fighters
J4 onwards: tanks/mechs 2 chinese MIC + carriers and air

Goal: Conquer China completely and keep it with 2 early factories and steady flow of reinforcements, then invade Russia to reinforce German push. Take the initiative by all out J1 incl. Pearl Harbour, splitting fleet in two groups, then go for either Sydney or India based on Allied play. Get money islands asap to get to same economic level as USA. Start pumping carriers from J2 onwards. Keep India and ANZAC as small as possible to isolate USA.

Most targeted unit: Chinese Infantry.

I1: tank and mech
I2: tanks
I3: transport, troops for Africa
I4: mic in Egypt, troops for Africa

Provide German with mechanized can opening army (first 2 buys), reinforcing the starting 2 mainland tanks. Survive in Africa while German airforce flies in to destroy the British, so they can start their offensive I2 or I3 when UK is weakened and can be defeated. After Germans gave them a kickstart in NO, focus on keeping Egypt and in best case scenario start pushing Middle East/Africa.

Most targeted: weak spots in Russian defence.

Overal Axis focus: Egypt and Yunnan, all other are less important.

@trulpen

right on. It’s a good way to test things. Yea the AI doesn’t play global real well. It does pretty good on some other games. You can give it extra dough. That makes it harder but still would do weird stuff

@otahere34 said in Thoughts on a Japanese strategy?:

I have a house rule that aircraft on carriers can launch after the carrier makes its movement, cause in real life, if there were carriers in Japan with planes, the planes didn’t take off and attack midway from there, they took off once the carriers got to midway.

@JayDavis said in Thoughts on a Japanese strategy?:

I have a house rule, when I play the US, I get the Nimitz in 1941.

@Peck said in Thoughts on a Japanese strategy?:

I have a house rule too. German infantry can cross the English channel without a transport because in real life people can swim across too.

This house ruling is fun!

I have a house rule too.

Obviously it’s only the French, aka Frogs, who can swim over the English Channel. It’s called frog suit. Obviously.

But that is not my house rule.

My house rule partly reflects the installment of the Vichy government, partly builds on French swimming technology being adapted by the Germans, partly includes primitive rocket science and partly simply because Germans are sauerkraut.

With my house rule the Germans can bounce over the English Channel. In fact, they can bounce over most of the annoying obstacles, like Gibraltar, Sahara, Himalayas and the Atlantic. They can even bounce behind enemy lines, if need be.

More or less becoming similar to flying Tribbles.

That is my house rule.

I think the game would be more balanced that way and more fun.

Bomber in Moscow, possible 1 more fighter or Fighter-Bomber but near manchuria
Remove some Japanese planes, but replace them with another ship(s), probably combination of transport ( AP) and more infantry
Add BB in Hawaii
Combine the Italian fleet so it cant be wiped out
Possible add 1-2 infantry in or near Egypt for UK

@The-Pripet-Martian said in General strategy question:

For example, 3 defending INF can be expected to get one hit per combat round. If you send in enough planes to ensure you’ll kill all 3 enemy INF, you only need to send 2 INF in to secure the territory.

According to probability, yes, but in practise, if you really need that territory, I’d go in with atleast 3 inf. Hitting 2 with 3 inf on def is not too uncommon. Hitting 3 is rather unlikely.

On top of that it also depends who will earn from a war of attrition. If I do, I go, no worries. If I don’t, I won’t, unless it’s for clear strategical and tactical purposes (like your opponent not being able to land planes in a stack next to your Capital).

You’ll still sometimes see the damaged Bismark attacked in SZ112, even with the 3 plane scramble.

But let’s go with your premise. The SZ91 cruiser and SZ109 DD can still attack your Bismark in SZ110 and then the planes can retreat to Gibraltar for a SZ92 stack . I would guess that this presumes that there was no scramble in SZ110. So perhaps if the UK scrambles anyway, the Bismark might survive the attack and the UK might not be able to weaken Italy.

@Charles-de-Gaulle said in Factories and Facilties—Where, How, When, and Why?:

Does anyone ever consider upgrading the minor IC on Rome to a major?  I usually find that it is not necessary until late in the game, and by that time I don’t want to do it or lack the IPCs.

Nope. I can’t ever fill the 13 units the the Mic and the mic allow, and its too much wasted income the I ties need elsewhere. if italy needs to produce more than 13 units, i feel the game should be over…

Could you play global 42 with the balance mod or is OOB just right? I didn’t see a BM3 map for the global 1942 and was wondering if anyone has tried it.

both were conceptually obsolete by the late war. 3 plane types is plenty complicated enough.

Global 42 is an official axis and allies game. Some might not be aware of it or the fact it was designed for tournament play. It’s been out for several years now. 7 full rounds at which point you count axis controlled IPCs (not counting NOs). If Axis have 125 IPCs on the board they win.

But the point of this thread is about the balance it provides. Granted, it’s almost a totally different game than G40. And many discussions have focused on the idea of balance. Interestingly, I think the turn order is the main reason. Plus it’s kind of nostalgic (when remembering the turn order of Classic/Revised):
Russia
Japan
America
China
Germany
British/UK Pacific
Italy
ANZAC
France

Japan: Starts with 14 planes as opposed to 21. Has the option to conduct a risky naval opener. It may achieve a head start for limited naval supremacy. It could also get India on round 3 if the UK player isn’t careful. However, Japan could easily fall apart due to having 7 less planes and risky opener battles.

Germany: No longer has the Italian can opener threat. This is huge and really changes the dynamics. Germany gets attacked by Russia first, and has to re-cock. German units are in N. Africa and in the Med is a destroyer n’ transport. However, Germany can’t easily go everywhere like it can in G40.

For 7 rounds, the Axis can rampage and win according to the tournament victory rules.

However, if playing according to the regular OOB rules for victory, I think this setup leans Allies but not as much as G40 leans Axis.
Is this a balanced setup as is or would the axis need a small bid, maybe 3-10 IPCs. I think a small bid would make the Global very balanced and probably more fun for both sides.

@BobbaRossa Some pre comp gaming would be good for me. I have been playing AA 1940 for a while with a few friends. I came to this show about 10 years ago. I played the original AA and found out that we were interpreting some rules of the game wrong and learned some great moves that we had not contemplated prior. Though I’m a good player, I’m hoping to get more envolved with local playing groups to play more offen and to learn.

If ANZAC can afford to pull this off, then this shows that Japan is not putting pressure on ANZAC like it should be. The issue with ANZAC is that it is forced to play a defensive role for someone. ANZAC can make some offensive moves in early game if Japan doesn’t J1 on US. It’s navy supports the US fleet, it’s air power is supporting UK or USSR, and it’s land forces are defending the homeland. If ANZAC is able to afford bombers and carriers, either the Allies are in a major win swing or Japan ain’t doing its job.

If you NoDOW, this usually means you are after Russia and defeat China and stall the US in the Pacific.
UK will likely grow strong and a Calcutta Crush (CC) is almost not doable.

This helps out Euro Axis alot.
BUT!:
If anything goes wrong with the german march on Moscow, you are screwed on both sides of the Map.

I tried it over and over with minimal success.
Now i prefer a solid J1 in BM and Vanilla since the impact on both Theaters are enormous.
The US has to choose a side and need to quickly balance out the whole board.
UK has all hands full as well.

A J1 is putting a lot of pressure to the Allies.

a CC is very likely stabilize J’s income arround 70-80 ipc creating many Threats at once by better pistioning your self in the Pacific.
-better odds on achivieving all 6 VC’s

@seancb LoL just give me the state , date, place and time. That sounds amazing.

@BearXxx said in Island bases, with value over 2 ipc. ?.:

Can you build complexes on islands, with a value of 2-4?. Any help. ?.

No, you can’t place any IC on an island, as

Industrial complexes can’t be built on islands (see “Islands,” page 8).

(Rulebook Pacific 1940.2, page 22)