Declared amphibious assault with supporting air units.. sea combat results in retreat. Air still have to fight?

In general, I agree with what you are saying. My theory is that it’s better to take two equal but losing positions on separate areas of the board than to take one position of strength. The problem in this case is that the northern Russian stack and British-held oilfields, although in separate areas of the board, aren’t equal positions - Britian is much easier to take down and the reward is much higher. Therefore, in this case there is no alternative but to take one position of strength.

The assumption behind my first comment was that if the Russians link up with the British, the combined stack would actually be enough to create such a position and keep the Germans at bay. In a game where it cannot, what have the Allies been doing for 8+ rounds?

The two scenarios I can think of where the Allies still have a chance after Moscow falls, but the British are weak in the Middle East are 1) Japan does something like an India crush that targets Britain or 2) Britain and America have been making landings in Western Europe. In either of those scenarios, if Russia is to retreat, I agree they should not go down south.

If neither scenario applies, and the British have been attempting to build strength in the Middle East, yet it isn’t enough to stop Germany even with the entire Russian stack, the appropriate move is to concede.

@Maddog77:

I actually put Japan markers (roundels) on the Chinese territories that Japan starts the game with. That way if those territories are liberated, we can remove the Japan marker and see the Chinese logo which indicates it is owned by China. Makes for an easy quick visual when counting IPC tally.

I do the same thing.  I just think it is easier marking the enemy controlled territories.  In this case, Japan just captured these territories before the game starts.

The Chinese have strange rules but the exceptions they get makes them exceptional. The ability to raise new units in a newly captured territory is overwhelmingly powerful. Even though they can only raise INF and ART, the ability to have one main stack and move it anywhere while building, instead of having to defend a particular territory, would be gamebreaking if China wasn’t restricted to Chinese territories and Burma and given a fairly low number of starting units.

@calvinhobbesliker:

Yes, I distinctly remember reading this in a thread here (probably the FAQ). In particular, they were talking about the possibility of the defender spoiling an intended strafe by taking the AAA as final casualties instead of initial, so that the attackers can’t retreat when they hit all but one unit.

I have had this done to me by the Russians as Germany. They left 1 AA gun after Germany had fantastically good dice on the first round of a planned attack outside of Eastern Poland. It left my main stack of units in Bryansk without their support, and lead up to Russia suiciding into the main German stack. There weren’t enough Germans left to take Moscow from the RAF sitting on it without heavy plane losses. America had three bombers on moscow, and attacked the Germans after Russia, and all three hit. Germany took Moscow that game, but it lost everything to do it, including that game.

I definitely reread the rulebook and FAQ that night :|

While it can be expensive to send just air units against ground units, sometimes it is warranted.
In a recent game of 1942 2nd edition, Germany was really giving Russia a hard time and Russia was having trouble having enough troops and tanks to retake their own territories. The US and UK had built up sizable air forces so they took turns attacking the German infantry and tanks so on Russia’s turn, they could simply move in and take the territories thus improving their income.
While the US/UK did lose some expensive air units, it worked out very well as Russia was able to roll up a lot of territory and Germany just couldn’t produce enough to reverse the tide. Russian tanks would blitz 2 territories while Germany could only take the 2nd territory back in combat. Then here would come those dang Brit or American planes again.

Yes this is legal.

I still buy the odd battleship.

Besides… it’s not about when you buy battleships as much as it is about how you use the ones you start with.

And yes, 2 or 3, with a carrier mix are great,  I LOVE the Strafing Navy…  Carriers can’t do that aswell, because the fighters can’t land on them after for the retreat! And you can only scramble up to 3! :S

@leobarron2000:

Ergo, if my side won the sea battle and only my guys remain - I can enter it during the noncombat phase.

Yes, which is sometimes req’d such as the condition where you have a carrier in range that is obligated to provide a landing space for aircraft that survived if they are out of movement points.