Yes, all submarines do convoy raid damage, but for the tournament, the German ones do three damage instead of two damage. (Convoy ONLY, they still attack at two or less in combat!)
I just wanted to chime in about the length of the tourney and the games.
They typically take a while. For example we started the AA50 tourney in Feb (32 players) and we are just ending rd 2 and starting rd 3 now.
You are probably looking at 2 months per rd. My understanding is G40 can take a while to play.
As mods we like to give every oppurtunity for players to finish their games. We do usually have a couple of no-shows in rd 1 or somthing, but we give fair warning before we advance the remaining player.
Pace of games tend to fall in line with standard PBEM or PBF games. A turn every 72 hrs. As Jen said, Tournament games take a priority over other league games or pick up games as a result we tend to see tournament pace equal a turn a day (or a turn every other day).
We do realize people have lives, so if you are going to be gone on a vacation or unable to post (busy at work, etc.), just post a message in your game thread at the start. “Gonna be gone on vacation from X to Y. Will post when I get back”.
Something simple just so we know it isn’t a no show.
Also no name calling or anything within the game thread. If you have any issues with a player you can PM Me or Jen.
Game talk is fine ( “good move there…” “Oh, tough dice…”) but obviously no talking about strategy particularly if you are following the other tournament games and post in another game thread. Again small things like “tough break with your G1…” are okay but don’t post things like, you really should attack here next rd b/c…
Most important, tourneys are supposed to be fun, but they tend to be a bit more competitve so any issues with OOL or times where you need info from your opponent please ask and wait.
Edit:
Editted thread title to cover all tourney discussion and questions.
Here are some more questions that may have been covered elsewhere but I will bring them up in this tournament thread. What is to stop someone having multiple accounts from one or more computers and entering the comp. Are IP addys logged etc. Im not saying that this type of past time attracts that type of person, Im only curious as to what you can do about this. Also with the bidding system we have to PM the moderators with our bids, since Cmdr Jen is in the tournament will we PM Darth Maximus or another Mod with our bids.
Also I cant seem to get Battlemap to do the -3 convoy raid to automatically show on the infoview screen. I put a German counter on the wolfpack space but it still only takes off 2 IPCs. What am I doing wrong. If there is an issue is it possible for it to be addressed before the tournament.
Some of these questions may have obvious answers, but ill ask them so we have official answers for everyone one who wants to join the tourney.
That is all.
Here are some more questions that may have been covered elsewhere but I will bring them up in this tournament thread. What is to stop someone having multiple accounts from one or more computers and entering the comp. Are IP addys logged etc. Im not saying that this type of past time attracts that type of person, Im only curious as to what you can do about this.
~I do not believe this has been a problem in the past, but we are able to check IPs and if it is brought to our attention, the person in question will be disqualified.Also with the bidding system we have to PM the moderators with our bids, since Cmdr Jen is in the tournament will we PM Darth Maximus or another Mod with our bids.
~My opponent and I will bid Darth Maximus with our bids, correct.Also I cant seem to get Battlemap to do the -3 convoy raid to automatically show on the infoview screen. I put a German counter on the wolfpack space but it still only takes off 2 IPCs. What am I doing wrong. If there is an issue is it possible for it to be addressed before the tournament.
~ Make sure you have an Indian control marker in the “Auto-Convoy” box and make sure you have an Indian control marker in the correct boxes in the “Diplomacy Chart” and it should update your convoy raid damage accordingly. The “auto convoy” starts flagged (at least on my machine) but the “diplomacy chart” is one that rarely is updated with many of my opponents. That is probably what is happening on your machine.
Some of these questions may have obvious answers, but ill ask them so we have official answers for everyone one who wants to join the tourney.That is all.
Also, I want to make sure everyone is updating the charts on their battlemap files. Some of us (myself included at times) get a little sloppy in that regard. If you fail to update your income and your opponent moves, then the income you have on the next posted map is the income you have for the next round. It sucks for you if you make the mistake, but your opponent should not have to track what money you have and s/he needs to be able to plan out for what you could possibly purchase on your next round. Especially now with airbases and naval bases.
Whats Battlemap?
The best way to learn game play is to find a game thread in the “Play Games” forum and read it. The command line for throwing dice is:
;aaa 2@1 4@2 3@3 1@4;
where the ; is replaced with :
where the number before the @ is how many dice you want to throw
where the number after the @ is the target number (four or less for instance)
The system will then bold your hits and count the number for you (as you can see in the game threads.)
Here is a link to a game I am playing with Mollari: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=23867.345;topicseen so you can get a gist of what some of us expect to see.
A note: EM devised a system of naming the game files so that they show up in a folder in order:
01Agermany
01Brussia
01Cjapan
01Dallies
01Eitaly
01Zfrance (z predessor was actually my idea, ffrance looked too funny to me so I got silly and used a z once, and it stuck)
02Agermany
…
A-Z denotes country order
country name is self explanatory
Whats Battlemap?
Abattlemap.exe
It is a very basic program that will display the game board and has “tiles” that represent the pieces. The graphics have gotten slightly better over the years, but the program is very basic still. There are links in the “software” section of this site and some troubleshooting steps in the same area, should you need them. (Usually do on MACs as far as I know, but that was a while ago, the MACs might have imporved since.)
The program is free to the public, as are the mapping utilities for each of the games. The program supports more than just Axis and Allies, also Fortress America, World at War, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Risk, etc, etc, etc. I would HIGHLY recommend that you purchase a copy of the game before using the Abattlemap utility. For one, the the utility is a utility and the rules are the rules. For another, it is often easier to track an entire board on a table than scrolling around the mapping utility to get a picture of what is happening. (This is the main reason I quit using MapView back in the days, despite the graphics being a lot prettier, you could only see 20% of the board at a time, Abattlemap lets you see about 85% at a time, the game board itself lets you see 100% at a time.)
TMTN (or TMTM?) is probably the guy you want to PM with questions about his latest map files for the program, as he designed the module.
@Cmdr:
The program supports more than just Axis and Allies, also Fortress America, World at War, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Risk, etc, etc, etc.
Nice! I didn’t know about Fortress America, I love this game. Do you know if (and where) they play it by forum?
@Cmdr:
The program supports more than just Axis and Allies, also Fortress America, World at War, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Risk, etc, etc, etc.
Nice! I didn’t know about Fortress America, I love this game. Do you know if (and where) they play it by forum?
To be honest, I have the boardgame and the module, but I never play either anymore. (I did marry the pieces into the classic version of Axis and Allies and invented Helicopter, Jets, Hover Tanks and Mechanized Infantry technologies into it though.)
So this bid for G40 A+2 when we PM you is that the only chance for a bid or is it similar to other bids where we keep trying to get the lower bid until someone stops. So pretty much PMing you back and forward for a lower bid?
There will only be one bid, the lower one will win so bid carefully!
Thank you for hosting this tournament.
As we have never played each other, please do not take this question the wrong way.
I was curious if previous bids will be posted by player after the round completes, prior to the next round. Since a moderator is participating in the Tournament, access to such information could provide a competitive advantage when bidding(especially after a couple of rounds to see if a pattern exists).
I am in no way accusing or stating that this is likely. In fact,I suspect it would be unlikely that you would review previous bids before bidding. This situation does exist however and I was wondering if there is a remedy. The bid also includes location and type of units expected, which may also tip the hat as to what part of the board players will likely focus or which strategy will likely be exercised.
Obviously, it won’t matter if the Moderator does not advance beyond round 1.
A couple of remedies off the top of my head if you would like suggestions.
Number 7 seems a good compromise, that would not affect other players or the tournaments current structure.
Again, I mean no disrespect. This is just an issue I perceived that could affect outcome slightly. This may have already been addressed in other tournaments, as I am new to forum play and tournaments, please forgive any oversights.
As stated, DM is handling any bids for games I may be participating in. As for everyone else’s bids, it would be public knowledge based on the opening posts in each game.
Notes:
1) Convoys due to the increased damage from German u-boats will have to be configured manually, unless someone can enlighten me on how to make Abattlemap calculate it correctly. (As far as I can see, it can handle the standard 2 for a submarine or 1 for a surface ship, but not 3 for the U-boat.)
2) tournament starts in about 3 weeks.
What is the etiquette on rolling dice. It is common practice in the forums to just roll both attacking and defending dice at the same time as this saves time and the majority of battles are straight forward. My question is, is the correct sequence of combat, the attacker rolls dice and the defender removes casualties, then the defender rolls and the attacker removes casualties. If this is the order, would this give the attacker the advantage of OOL as he has seen what the defender has removed or is this not even worth thinking about. This also stops the defender from seeing how many hits they have made against the attacker and then guessing what the OOL could be. Im just thinking about this as some major air and naval battles can be deciders and I would like to know if this is correct or not. Also are there any other rules regarding OOL if any. To sum up is OOL and order of dice meant to favour the attacker and if so should this be taken advantage of. Thoughts?
What is the etiquette on rolling dice. It is common practice in the forums to just roll both attacking and defending dice at the same time as this saves time and the majority of battles are straight forward. My question is, is the correct sequence of combat, the attacker rolls dice and the defender removes casualties, then the defender rolls and the attacker removes casualties. If this is the order, would this give the attacker the advantage of OOL as he has seen what the defender has removed or is this not even worth thinking about. This also stops the defender from seeing how many hits they have made against the attacker and then guessing what the OOL could be. Im just thinking about this as some major air and naval battles can be deciders and I would like to know if this is correct or not. Also are there any other rules regarding OOL if any. To sum up is OOL and order of dice meant to favour the attacker and if so should this be taken advantage of. Thoughts?
As you said, most battles are straight forward… but, if I see strategy could be involve in OOL then I roll just my dice (taking I’m the attacker) and wait for defender to state is losses. When I log back, I roll defender dice and take my losses. (If defender post his rolls it’s fine too, same difference). And then go to second round and, again, if strategy involve I’ll wait.
By rulebook, attacker has this advantage to see defender’s looses before attacker annonces his hits. Even worst defender has to assign hits before rolling his dice.
What is the etiquette on rolling dice. It is common practice in the forums to just roll both attacking and defending dice at the same time as this saves time and the majority of battles are straight forward. My question is, is the correct sequence of combat, the attacker rolls dice and the defender removes casualties, then the defender rolls and the attacker removes casualties. If this is the order, would this give the attacker the advantage of OOL as he has seen what the defender has removed or is this not even worth thinking about. This also stops the defender from seeing how many hits they have made against the attacker and then guessing what the OOL could be. Im just thinking about this as some major air and naval battles can be deciders and I would like to know if this is correct or not. Also are there any other rules regarding OOL if any. To sum up is OOL and order of dice meant to favour the attacker and if so should this be taken advantage of. Thoughts?
As you said, most battles are straight forward… but, if I see strategy could be involve in OOL then I roll just my dice (taking I’m the attacker) and wait for defender to state is losses. When I log back, I roll defender dice and take my losses. (If defender post his rolls it’s fine too, same difference). And then go to second round and, again, if strategy involve I’ll wait.
By rulebook, attacker has this advantage to see defender’s looses before attacker annonces his hits. Even worst defender has to assign hits before rolling his dice.
Correct. In situations where casualties may not be straight forward, it is appropriate to inquire as to the OOL or roll the attacker dice and wait for the defender to select casualties (and roll his or her defensive dice as would happen in a face to face game.) Yes, this gives the attacker an advantage, but then, it is the rules.
Excellent answers thank you. I was pretty confident I was on the right track so I thoguht I would ask it here so that everyone could see they have the option.
Cheers.
This just in from Larry’s site:
“I’m about ready to post Alpha+ 3. Probably next week. If I find myself without electricity for 4 or 5 days, as some are predicting, I’ll be a bit longer posting it.”
Larry
http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=6024
He was talking about Hurricane Irene. Since Alpha+3 will come in this week or next week at the latest, I suggest we postpone the tourney til September 15th or something.
As I said in the other thread, I am hesitant to implement new rules without signifcant play testing my the community. The first time I played Alpha 2 I remember someone sacking England and India simultaniously (ie, Germany and Japan in the same game round) because I failed to notice a naval base. (For the record, I have never failed to notice a naval base on Hainan since!)
I am willing to entertain the idea of allowing particiapants to change to the Alpha 3 ruleset starting on round 2 (which should give players 1-2 months to get familiar with them) if and only if the following:
1) Both players agree.
2) There is a battlemap module along the lines of the TMTM one for Alpha 2 that includes the NOs, etc on them.
3) Both players agree.
Did I mention, both players would have to agree?
What I am worried about:
A) Players not having time to get familiar with the new rules/placements.
B) Some unforseen strategy that is a game ender or feels like a game ender (Sea Lion falls into this latter category, so does American Pac-Strat).
C) Players who signed up for Alpha 2 that do not want to play Alpha 3. (Functionetta likes to play OOB for instance, I doubt he would be interested in playing Alpha 3 since he does not want to play Alpha 2.)
D) How do you bid? If you have no experience, your bids might not be appropriate for the new situation.
