2015 League General Discussion Thread

[axis-dominion]

LOL

that’s one of the things i’m planning on doing during my little “vacation” from A&A

@DizzKneeLand33:

True.  The odds of hitting 2/35 or worse is 5.38%, according to a stat calc I found.  The odds of hitting 5/13 or better is 5.115%.

The problem is, you were on the wrong end of both, not that the dice are skewed.  Anything that has a probability of 5% in statistics isn’t even considered a significant outcome, if I remember that class from 20+years ago….

We just need to work on your rolling skills.  ;)

[Jennifer]

Just keep in mind, there are no truly random number generators in IT.  :P

So if you think you are in the middle of a run of bad luck, it might pay off to go for a big gamble…hell, if you are in a run of bad luck, it can’t hurt to try for a big gamble! lol

That said, I have to say, this is quite annoying, everyone I challenge to a dual of the dice is scared.  You know, I do bite - I like biting, it’s like kissing but there’s a winner! - I just don’t bite MUCH!  :P

[DizzKneeLand33]

@Cmdr:

Just keep in mind, there are no truly random number generators in IT.  :P

The older I get, the more I’m starting to think that there is a reason why truly random numbers cannot be created.  Perhaps, just perhaps, it’s because the nature of the universe itself isn’t random?  Otherwise, you would think that randomness would be so easy to emulate……

Maybe I need to look up that Proverbs passage, too.  :-D

[Jennifer]

Yea, well…uhm…I would really prefer NOT to go there.  (As much as I agree with the sentiment.)

RNGs in computers have the fatal flaw of having a logical algorithm that determines what the “random” number will be.

“On a completely deterministic machine you can’t generate anything you could really call a random sequence of numbers,” says Ward, “because the machine is following the same algorithm to generate them. Typically, that means it starts with a common ‘seed’ number and then follows a pattern.”

M.I.T.  (MIT’s Engineering webpage.  Google it yourself, closed the tab accidentally and I am not hunting down the freaking link again!)

That means no matter how good tripleA gets, it will never be as good as rolling dice with your own hand.  Besides, I prefer the in-house dicey, I think it is more random (actually I don’t, I think it secretly has a crush on me and gives me better than average results when I really need them!)  But yes, I do think tripleA’s dice server has gotten better - I still just don’t have the courage to stake my campaign on it’s RNG.

[bmnielsen]

It won’t be an issue for long. Modern processors have a hardware-based RNG that uses thermal noise or some other physical thing to generate truly random data, so in those cases you’re only in trouble if you need so random data faster than the hardware can provide it.

But part of randomness is that you will get runs of good dice and runs of bad dice, so I don’t think the tech is going to change people’s perception of things :)

[TheMethuselah]

@Cmdr:

“On a completely deterministic machine you can’t generate anything you could really call a random sequence of numbers,” says Ward, “because the machine is following the same algorithm to generate them. Typically, that means it starts with a common ‘seed’ number and then follows a pattern.”

M.I.T.  (MIT’s Engineering webpage.  Google it yourself, closed the tab accidentally and I am not hunting down the freaking link again!)

Control+Shift+T re-opens closed tab in Windows. Command+Shift+T for Mac OS, though apparently Safari doesn’t support this.

[bmnielsen]

FYI for gmail users. My axisandallies.org forum notifications started getting flagged as spam today, so you may need to manually dig them out / create a rule to whitelist them.

[axis-dominion]

Useful tip since we’re in this uploading crisis:

When you load the game and you’re at the setup dialog, right before you click the Play button, keep the Play By Forum option enabled as you would normally, but uncheck the Attach save game to summary checkbox, which will still allow you to post the game summary but without uploading the game. In addition, enable the Play By Email option and fill it out as you would for a PBEM game. Now, with both PBF and PBEM enabled, you can SIMULTANEOUSLY post the summary to the forum while having it email the game to your opponent (instead of posting it to the topic). That way, you’re back to just the one click for posting, and not having to save the game and then attach to email and send outside of TripleA. Will save you on time and headache!

[Zhukov44]

Good info Axis-Dominion, thanks!

[Karl7]

My second game back in the league, and I already have questions!  :-P :-P

What is the rule if I upload my opponent’s map, make my turn, but before I ROLLED the combats, my opponent had posted an edited map that I didn’t see and that implicates my combats, i.e. move units in or out of a combat?

Put more simply: I was unaware my opponent changed his NCM moves on a second map until I had conducted combat on his first map.

There is no problem here. Shin JI and I came to an agreeable result, but I just want to know if there is a default rule in case of future issues.

This probably only applies to trigger-happy fanatics like me and Mr. Roboto……  8-)

[gamerman01]

@Karl7:

My second game back in the league, and I already have questions!  :-P :-P

At your service

What is the rule if I upload my opponent’s map

pretty sure you mean DOWNload

, make my turn, but before I ROLLED the combats, my opponent had posted an edited map that I didn’t see and that implicates my combats, i.e. move units in or out of a combat?

League rule is that the moment you post a map, your turn is FINAL and cannot be changed in any way without your opponent’s consent.

Put more simply: I was unaware my opponent changed his NCM moves on a second map until I had conducted combat on his first map.

You have all the rights.  You give up all your rights when you post a completed phase (in this case, the whole move, so the place units phase is complete)

There is no problem here. Shin JI and I came to an agreeable result, but I just want to know if there is a default rule in case of future issues.

This probably only applies to trigger-happy fanatics like me and Mr. Roboto……  8-)

Trigger-happy people can cause serious consequences for themselves, just like in the old west….  :-)
Happy gaming, Karl

[Karl7]

@Gamerman01:

@Karl7:

My second game back in the league, and I already have questions!  :-P :-P

At your service

What is the rule if I upload my opponent’s map

pretty sure you mean DOWNload

, make my turn, but before I ROLLED the combats, my opponent had posted an edited map that I didn’t see and that implicates my combats, i.e. move units in or out of a combat?

League rule is that the moment you post a map, your turn is FINAL and cannot be changed in any way without your opponent’s consent.

Put more simply: I was unaware my opponent changed his NCM moves on a second map until I had conducted combat on his first map.

You have all the rights.  You give up all your rights when you post a completed phase (in this case, the whole move, so the place units phase is complete)

There is no problem here. Shin JI and I came to an agreeable result, but I just want to know if there is a default rule in case of future issues.

This probably only applies to trigger-happy fanatics like me and Mr. Roboto……  8-)

Trigger-happy people can cause serious consequences for themselves, just like in the old west….  :-)
Happy gaming, Karl

Ok, good to know. So, when you post your first map, you are stuck unless the other side allows a modification.

Most of the time, players will post modified maps for NCM edits all the time, but it is not usually an issue because the other player won’t be so quick as to download the first map before the second is posted.

[gamerman01]

Right - that is the league default rule

I recommend checking up front with your opponent if you’re not familiar with them
Make arrangements with your opponent for late edits in advance, or use the old “So you want to be a Millionaire” technique - say “final answer.”  There are lots of possible solutions - just beware that you cannot assume that you can post moves and then change them later, even if it’s 1 minute later.  Technically requires consent of your opponent.

But if you don’t make any arrangements, you post a move, and you later want to make changes, if your opponent wants to be a stickler the moderators will side with your stickler opponent because those are the default league rules.  The line has to be drawn somewhere so that it’s definitive.  :-)

[Karl7]

Here is another question:

If USA attacks sz 6 by air only because of a blocking dd, and USA fails to clear 6 but the only defending units left are scrambles Japan air units, can the USA move into 6 on its ncm, assuming that the scrambled air units are not in control of the sz because they had to land back in Japan?

[Karl7]

so basically do I need to keep a surface warship in 6 to keep it hostile after an all out air strike by the USA?

[Zhukov44]

@Karl7:

so basically do I need to keep a surface warship in 6 to keep it hostile after an all out air strike by the USA?

Yes I think so.  From what I understand, the scrambled fighers are back in Japan at the end of the combat move.

[Karl7]

@Zhukov44:

@Karl7:

so basically do I need to keep a surface warship in 6 to keep it hostile after an all out air strike by the USA?

Yes I think so.  From what I understand, the scrambled fighers are back in Japan at the end of the combat move.

Yes, I agree. I looked at the rule book (shocking, I know!) and it says that scrambled aircraft return to base before the moving player starts his NCM.  So if there are no ships, there is not hostile sea zone and the USA can move into 6 if there are no defending ships.

Does tripple a reflect this?  I seem to recall that “cleaning up air battles” happens after the ncm move is over, but I could be wrong.

[gamerman01]

Yes you can move into the sea zone if there are no surface enemy ships remaining.
I think Triple A will let you do that with no problem, yes

[bmnielsen]

Should the ruling about MrCunego’s games be made an official part of the rules? Seems like it would be a logical addition.

So extend section 7 with something like “All games are included in the league year in which they are reported, unless the game is decided by default (see sections 5d, 5e), in which case the game is included in the league year in which the losing player made their last turn post (or partial turn post).”

[gamerman01]

I don’t think so…. isolated incident - I appreciate the suggestion - considered it, but felt it presents other problems