What are some clever bids for the Pacific board?

new G40 game kublakhan Vs. feckingwrecked

@freh said in Bids for allies - 60???:

Wow, I’ve been away from the game so things must have shifted and strategy must be evovling. I just can’t imagine losing with the opportunity to put $60 worth of allied units before the game starts. Are there any patterns to bids? Does it get concentrated in one nation (defending UK against initial German attacks, or giving Russia some more offensive bite) or is it spread out?

As I said my gaming group in Seattle has gone up to $60. I am not sure that is true for the general community. The placement of the Bid depends on the Player. Sometimes it all goes in Russia, sometimes it all goes to UK Europe. Personally I think that is six of one half a dozen of another. Bid units in Russia protect Moscow so the Allies do not need to help Russia defend their capital. Bid units for UK Europe assist UK in defense of London and in taking out the Italians much faster which allows them to assist Russia either with direct unit intervention for the defense of Moscow or intense pressure on the Atlantic Wall. The end result is basically the same. Either the UK is strong and gets help to Russia fast or the UK is weak and struggles but never has to send help to Russia because Russia is strong. Personally I like a 50-50 balance between UK Europe and Russia. Best of both worlds. :)

One constant is that normally at least 80% up to all 100% goes on the Europe side of the board versus the Pacific side of the board.

May be another good time to remind that all the territories on the Western Board belong to UK Atl econ

And all the territories on the Easter Board belong to UK pac economy….

The only exceptions to these rules are Canadian territories which belong to UK Atl and West India that belongs to UK pac…I think…The UK pac only has the $1 for Canada when you play the Pac board alone

Regardless of “whose” british units capture these territories.  Iraq, Persia etc always belong to UK Atl., for example.  If you want a MiC in Persia, only UK Atl can buy it or fund purchases there.

There is no such thing as a “UK Pac” or “UK Atl” unit, only separate UK $ and UK control.

This is why I interpret IPCs in A&A as abstract and flexible. Lets looks at some examples by Region from Revised up to G40…

Canada: from 4 ipcs up to 7 ipcs
America (the continental USA): from 28 ipcs up to 45 ipcs
Africa: from 11 ipcs up to 20
China (unoccupied): from 4 ipcs up to 12 ipcs
Western Europe (France/Holland/Denmark): from 6 ipcs to 14 ipcs
Germany: from 10 ipcs to 14 ipcs
Australia: from 2 ipcs to 8 ipcs

United Kingdom: from 8 ipcs to 8 ipcs
Japan: from 8 ipcs to 8 ipcs
Hawai: from 1 ipc to 1 ipc

Philippines: from 3 ipcs down to 2 ipcs

I could go on, but the point here is that there is no hard and fast relative scale for how these values are being worked out over successive boards. Sometimes the same region nearly doubles in value, sometimes it triples, sometimes it stays roughly the same.

This is a very strong indication to me that IPCs are not the iron values sometimes suggested, or that IPC values in A&A are somehow set in stone. They have been changing to suit the gameplay for a while now.

I want to point this out because I think it speaks to a more general feeling I get, that money/production should be flexible, to suite the needs of the gameplay, rather than something highly rigid or that must somehow retain consistency along historical lines, or to match up with previous boards. It just seems arbitrary for the most part, and more so when you look at the values side by side for successive boards. Clearly IPCs are there for the gameplay. They are distributed in the way they are for gameplay purposes, not in some highly fine tuned or particularly accurate spread for historical or “real world” reasons.

If for example, China’s total value can increase by 300%, or Australia can go up by 400%, while Hawaii stays exactly the same, and Philippines is decreased by 33%, then why should we expect anything consistent out of IPCs anywhere on the gamemap?

To me this is encouraging, because it suggests that IPC value and “collect income” can be tweaked for game balance (on a regional basis) without upsetting some underlying foundation. The fact that these values have changed so much over time, indicates a high level of abstraction going on.

The thing to notice is that IPCs are already being counted differently (in terms of relative value) depending on where they are located on the gamemap. I think this is an important thing to bear in mind when considering what IPCs really represent, and to see why gameplay (and not necessarily historical production analogy) is the critical factor in determining how these should be distributed across the map on any given board.

Not that I ever bid before but if we would I think your restrictions sound very good.
If I ever bid I think I bid Germany for +8 (destroyer in 113 or 114 and then go SL ;-)) or UK +7 (TRS in SA with the DD).

Screw doing a bid.

Do a lottery,  shake up all the roundels in your hand, and hand them out randomly.

If people want to trade, let them.  If not, forget it, and play.

Adding up to 120 in IPC’s to the game board, is NOT how to play Axis and Allies.

Thoughts: If the US conquer Caroline Island, they can’t land with planes on it. Perhaps they will be supported by British / Anzac ships. But the whole Japanese fleet can attack them in Sz33. And note: Some of the planes from Kiangsi can reach Sz33 and land on AC, because the planes from Sz35 can land in Palau Island or Marianas. If they move to Sz6, please. The Japanese whole fleet with ALL of their planes will destroy them at J4!

Just wanted to point out an error in logic in this step.  Primarily, the United States of America does not need to land planes on the Carolines, Australia has 3 fighters and I highly recommend using those planes.  That way you instantly get 3 scrambles if you are ever attacked.

Yes let’s keep this to a report thread from now on.  However it is better if you go to the link at the front of this thread and report on Larry’s site.

PS- Mantlefan- Man up.