The rehabilitation of cruisers and the 4-4-7

@cyanheath

Welcome. All depends on what you want in your game. Play ability or more historic.

Yes there is a lack of room on a d6 dice. No room to adjust pieces better. Mostly the Cruiser and Destroyer.

Also you probably should remove your Ad for buoys.

It’s also worth remembering that one sub on one cruiser is a coin flip, because the cruiser only rolls its attack if the sub misses.

Final word?

Attacking the US first, and early, might not be an awful plan;  my buddy maphead did exactly as you describe in one of our recent games he first took out the US fleet, then the next turn took Hawaii, then fortified it.

However, the problem is that while Hono is a VC, focusing all your efforts there as Japan invites a mighty 100% defensive buy from the now at-war US.  Since Japan has not readied for Calcutta, Sydney, or Siberia, there isn’t a way to achieve the other important strategic goals.  Maphead decided to make a play for Sydney via Hawaii, but a stronger player will have fortified ANZAC too much by J4 to make it takeable without 100% japan commit.

As soon as you pivot, America then takes back Hawaii, since they are dedicating everything to it (and so is Japan in the form of defensive planes etc)

Strategies that try to win the game quickly often take gigantic risks.  Strategies that win the game slowly trade time for risk.

@Young:

The split is less confusing because they are different coloured units with their own nation and turn sequence, so it’s the same as ANZAC infantry in Egypt with UK pieces.

Lol. I do own physical copies of each game but you can tell how often I’ve played them :)

so it cant move through an unoccupied enemy territory. perfect. that’s just like i thought it should have been. and now i know the purpose of blitzing.

thank you sir.

@DutchmanD:

Oh, this is no more ahistoric than Italy being able to take Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and the rest of the Mediteranean when they could even beat the Greek army with their entire military. Not to mention one of the most significant ahistorical flaws of G40, which is that the French troops in Aremain loyal to the Allies for some reason, not Axis Vichy…  and, if they are not at war, why are they killing Brits mercilessly on Italy 1? Don’t get me started on the whole “orginally owned” territory nonesense either, the Germans can buld a major IC in Norway and the UK can build one in Malaya, but the Japanses cannot build one in Shanghai; the Japanese were the first to build factories in Shanghai around 1900 after the First Sino-Japanese War, and by 1937, when they fully officially occupied the city, it had more manufacturing power than the rest of Southeast Asia combined!  Dice Gods forbid the Japs actually being able to make a major IC in an actual manufacturing center that they originally created        :wink:

Ahistoric… hmpf!  Nothing like an instant 10 tnps build by the Germans and the dissappearance of essentially the entire Royal Navy in the Spring of 1940 to make you give up on all the historical aspects of the game we love…
 
All good points, but directed more at game mechanics than historical accuracy.  I agree that the production cycle is not accurate to real life, it should take 3-4 turns for a BB to be built, but the game is not made for that scale.  All units you can build are placed almost immediately.  Both the US and UK fleets are severely nerfed, most likely in order to give the axis a chance that they didn’t have in RL.

As for the other issues, I understand why Vichy is not in the game, you have to draw the line somewhere and Larry choose to add France but have them be inert, while China is also hamstrung.  Otherwise you get a community of people clamoring on the BBS from Bulgaria wanting special Bulgarian rules or some other nonsense.

I have played a game where Japan could build a major in China and it did seem overpowered.  It was maxed on production and China was quickly swallowed up.  It took massive US naval builds and tenuous fighting from India to stall the Japs.  Japan was also able to not build many trns in that game and still concentrate on the Pacific islands.

Thanks for going over the Abandon London moves again James.  One would assume they became even more potent in A3, have you had the opportunity to try it yet?  It’s playing the allies like the Axis, creating the initiative and then keeping it long enough to sack Italy…hopefully.

Yeah, I read that thread and decided to implement it. It’s working so far. I like having a quick reaction force from Germany to intervene in Africa if need be. I don’t have very strong forces in the former french territories and I’m about to rectify that situation. My opponent is obsessed with regaining the UK right now (has already failed twice) and sees Africa as a sideshow. I see it as a potential door to the “soft underbelly” of the Axis and am a bit disgruntled with my lack of defences in the region.

Thanks for taking the time to comment.