Posts made by 88 Millimeter

Yes.

Buy an AC and 8 Inf on G1.

G1 typically looks like this- take Karelia with troops from Norway, take back Belorussia or Ukraine, take Egypt with BB and loaded transport from S Europe + Bomber/ Fighter if possible. Kill British BB with Sub + either 3 or 4 Fighters. Move as much as possible to E Europe, while protecting with 3-4 Inf the Ftrs that have to land in W Europe.

Place AC in Baltic (place one Ftr on it), 6 Inf Germany, 2 Inf S Europe.

Continue from there on out with heavy Infantry builds, sprinkled with offensive units- but only the minimum necessary to wage an offensive war. Never become Infantry starved or you’ll regret it. Make a commitment at the beginning of the game to buy 10 Infantry per round after G1. You won’t be sorry. As you gain more experience you can start to get more creative with your builds, but my axiom is there’s no such thing as a bad Infantry purchase.

Keep a strong presence in E Europe, and try to kill as many Russians as possible. Only move forward if the opportunity presents itself to put alot of pressure on Russia without compromising your strong defensive position. Germany will be the anvil to Japan’s hammer.

Try it and post the results.

I’ve recently been thinking that a more realistic approach to shore bombardment would be reduced effectiveness of the units which were bombarded.

For example, if Japan attacked the 2 U.S. Infantry on Hawaii with a BB shot during an amphibious invasion, the Battleship would, upon a hit, reduce the defensive capability of one of the Infantry to a 1 rather than a 2 for the duration of the battle. Two successful Battleship bombardments would mean two units would be affected, etc. Or… it could completely remove the defensive capability of one unit, but the unit could still be taken as a casualty…

In this case the ability of a Destroyer to shore bombard would be mitigated enough to allow it without significantly altering the game. I do understand that Battleships would lose some effectiveness with this rule, and Destroyers would be a better purchase, but I’ve never personally bought a BB in the revised game anyhow, nor has any experienced player that I’ve ever played against.

There is no case in WWII of naval bombardment completely eroding the ability of an entire Infantry Army to effectively engage in combat. Zero evidence. On the contrary, on Iwo Jima the Japanese garrison actually improved its defensive position under withering naval and air bombardment. The case could be made for the effects of shore bombardment upon the outcome on the Normandy invasion, but a closer look reveals that the true deciding factors included the lack of ability to move Panzer divisions without Hitler’s express approval, combined with the fact that the Allies had complete air superiority over France at the time, making large-scale daytime movements of reinforcements to the coast deadly at best.

Jen, your addition is perfect.

Tap water in the U.S. is for the most part perfectly fine to drink. Fill a bottle from the tap and take it with you if you need water when you’re out. At home drink from the tap. Buying water is an exercise in futility.

If you don’t like the flavor drink it cold and drink it fast.

I agree that if going north the best spot is Karelia for all the reasons mentioned.

The downside with going to the north and not to Norway is that it gives a breather to Germany- the Allied fleet can’t hit the Baltic Sea Zone. This allows Germany more discretion in what it has to defend. Personally I’d rather dump Allied troops in Norway to keep the pressure on the coast of Germany and E Europe. The same thing with Algeria. SZ 12 pressure means that Germany can’t relax in S Europe, keeping more troops from the conflict with Russia.

Just something to think about.

GG- it’s true, there’s no poison quite like a nice tall glass of refreshing icewater…  :-D

Jermofoot- listen closely. Through much experience, and with many failures, I’ve become the Black and Tan expert amongst the group that I drink with.

Here’s the deal- bottled Stout does not work. Don’t try it, you’ll be disappointed. Stout on tap will work when attempted by a trained professional (I’ve seen it done and tasted it in Ireland). You have to use the draught. Bottled or canned doesn’t matter, but either way it has to be very cold. If not it will sink. This is the cause of many failed B&Ts (the beer drinking equivalent to Don Rae’s assertion that improper purchasing habits is the cause of all player death. Period.). The upside is you drink it anyways, and you still love every drop. Anyhow, the glass is important as well. The bottom can’t be too wide, or again the Guiness ends up dropping rather than floating. Use a standard glass that widens as you near the top- like you’d see in a typical bar. You’ve already poured it 2/3 full with cold Bass. Finally, take a tablespoon and hold it just below the rim of the glass, with the tip touching the glass. Slowly and gently pour the Guiness onto the tablespoon, allowing the Guiness to run from the spoon, onto the inside of the glass, and down onto the Bass. It will sink about halfway down into the Bass, but will float back to the top. If you pour too fast the Guiness will stay intermingled and you end up with a frothy brown drink rather than a Black and Tan. Like I said, it still tastes good, so no big deal. It just doesn’t look as good or provide the same sense of accomplishment.

By no means do you use an alternative for the Bass- Killians, for example, is prettied up Budweiser and is completely inferior. I know a guy who makes them with Killians. DON’T DO IT. IT’S NOT WORTH IT! If you’re going to spend the extra on Guiness, spend the extra on Bass to go with it.

(As an aside, when I’m watching football I often run to the kitchen and pour the two gleefully together, uncaring as to the asthetics. So in all reality there is no such a thing as failure.)

Man are they delicious. Please report back to me once you’ve tried it and tell me if it works for you. Here endeth the lesson.

Switch- I’ll reexamine my 3 Inf/ 3 Arm purchase combined with a Ukraine strike. Perhaps 2/2/2 would be better, but I don’t think I could fall all the way to 5/1/1. (and 8 Inf absolutely doesn’t work with a Ukraine attack). I like the ability to threaten Karelia if Germany goes to the north in force. Armor is needed for that.

Keep in mind that I only bring 2 Armor to the Ukraine. Some people bring 3. I take 2 to W Russia. The downside is that there are less pieces that Germany has to account for in the Ukraine with my method, but it does save an Armor.

I think one of the things that keeps people playing the original is the indignation that nothing could possibly be better than their all-time favorite game- one in which they’ve invested hundreds of hours playing and becoming proficient with. A&AR levelled the playing field, so all the A&A experts had to come up with new strats and grapple with not being the best anymore. I’ve looked at a couple of other sites- especially related to Classic, and as the new game was slowly being revealed a few years ago 98% of the people who played Classic sounded like they’d just been punched in the stomach. The great A&A temple was crumbling, and a false idol was being thrust upon them.

I played alot of Classic, starting as a young pup, and Revised is much better once you accept the differences.

Just an opinion.

Definitely. The ability to pick up Inf from the islands is critical. One Transport can’t do it. And you need to maximize the 8 units that Japan can create as soon as possible. It’s a balancing act, but you need to keep building until you have 2 ICs and 6-8 Transports, depending upon your goals and strategy- 4 Transports for the perpetual unloading of Japan, and several more to deal with island taking/ putting pressure on Africa etc.

I understand why W Russia/ Belorussia makes sense.

To me the issue is one of choices and options, rather than IPC values etc. A successful attack against the Ukraine limits Germany’s opening choices. They have to kill the Russian armor in the Ukraine, so that’s one place they have to go. Only 5 German Fighters means that difficult choices need to be made regarding their usage.

For example- we’ve all seen the Sub/ 3 Ftr opening against the British Battleship result in both a Sub and Fighter being lost- a 4th Ftr usually means you only lose the Sub. Killing the Battleship in one round also means a 33% chance that you keep the sub. Nice to have that sub as Germany.

In Egypt- personally when I have 6 German Fighters one of them goes along with the Bomber to make sure the battle only lasts one round- otherwise the Brit Fighter will probably get to swing twice. The difference between having 1 Armor and 2 Armor in Egypt for Germany is huge. If you kill them in one turn you might even end up with an Inf left as well (50/50 chance in a 1 turn battle), which completely stops Britain from taking back Egypt on UK1, almost single-handedly ensuring that your economy ends up around 45-47 until the inevitable Allied cleansing of Africa.

Finally, if Germany has to go to the Ukraine, the northern thrust is weakened. IMO Germany going heavy in the north is much more deadly to Russia. The typical lone Russian in Belorussia is an easy kill, whereas 2-3 Russian Armor in the Ukraine needs around 3-4 Inf and one of your Fighters to get the job done.

A German Artillery and Armor are also nice to kill.

Yes a Ukraine attack weakens Russia’s offensive capabilities, but it does the same to Germany.

My final caveat is that I play the Axis with no bid. It’s a good challenge and a victory is more meaningful to me. The ability to add a German Infantry to either Libya or the Ukraine, along with a couple of extra IPCs to spend might change my thinking. As is I still think W Russia/ Belo is a smart opening- I just like the idea of crippling Germany in a more significant way right out of the gate.

I nearly broke my hand punching a wall after a particularly nasty set of dice cost me Russia in A&AE. Of course, alot of beer was involved. I learned my lesson and I’m much more calm these days…

Anyhow, just backing up your point that throwers can be whiney babies when it comes to bad rolls- I certainly used to be.

Hey James- I’ve found that it’s quite rare on this site, but quite common at flames of europe. Makes me wonder…

I love killing the German Fighter. To me it means a great deal for Germany’s long term outlook. When I play Germany if my opponent leaves the Ukraine I’m secretly ecstatic. Extra Fighter, Artillery, and Armor that I didn’t plan on.

I understand the flip side- Russia loses hardware. That’s why you have to buy offense to back it up. And it’s a bad idea if you don’t plan on spending every available IPC and unit taking down Germany, because Russia will look pretty skinny after Germany takes back the Ukraine.

The other thing I like about it is that it limits Germany’s options- they have to take back the Ukraine and usually have to spend significant resources to do so. That slows them down in the north.

It also makes a couple other German attacks a little more dicey- for example, how many Fighters can afford to go against the British Battleship when you have only 5? Don’t you have to use at least 1 in the Ukraine to take it back? Now the Egypt attack is looking a little thin, etc.

All of that having been said, I understand the benefits of not doing it as well- but for me it comes down to the death of a German Fighter.

Nice response. It’s interesting to watch an informed person shut down ignorance.

Strange that there was no reply to that last post…

Are you sure water’s a poison…?

Flush-

I have to agree with the other posters here. Too many fronts for Germany to cover against a good player with a grasp of logistics. 13 Inf G1 is a beautiful thing, but you may want to be a bit more balanced from there on out. No Baltic fleet after UK1 means a free hand in the north for the allies, and that means all those forces that you talked about are facing tall odds. Plus how would you defend W Europe/ S Europe?

To have all that you spoke of ready to capture Russia you’d have to be making sacrifices on many, many fronts- especially economically.

Botider- another thing Russia can do to dictate the pace is to kill the Ukraine on R1. Germany has to take it back, meaning that a strong Karelia is not an option on G1. It doesn’t allow Germany to pile up reserves in E Europe. And only 5 German Fighters makes for some interesting choices for the German player. Finally, if this combat is coupled with an R1 purchase of 3 Inf/ 3 Arm, Germany can be hit hard in either Karelia, Belo, or the Ukraine using W Russia as a staging point and rolling the Armor through from Russia/ Caucasus.

You’re right, eventually the pendulum would swing for Germany, but by the time it does the UK and US should have a pretty significant presence in Europe.

Switch and Octo touched on two points which I’d like to expand on, and they go hand in hand.

Switch spoke of the W Russia stack. W Russia commands 3 territories, all vital to Russian (and therefore German) interests in varying degrees- Karelia, Belorussia, and the Ukraine. A strong Russian force in W Russia forces Germany to choose a path and go in strength, or to sit back and trade units and territories. The W Russian stack also teams nicely with troops freshly placed in the Caucasus to enable a reasonable deterrent to Germany moving in force into the Ukraine. If the other Allies are properly doing their job, Karelia should be in the hands of a multinational force by the end of turn 4, preserving the 2 valuable IPCs for Russia without Russia having to do the work. That leaves the W Russia stack/ Caucasus combination to deal with Belorussia and the Ukraine.

Octo spoke of initiative. If you were to go back through all of my posts, you’d see that I’ve spoken on this topic many times. It’s IMO the single most important mindset to have in A&A. You must dictate the pace of the game, or at the very least attempt to appear as though you are. Take a look at the Russian/ German front. If Germany can get lodged into Karelia, they have access to Archangel, W Russia, Norway, and have pinned down 2 Russian IPCs. They can now in one move directly threaten the Russian capital. They can keep out the other Allies for a time. In short, they have gained the initiative in the north. The Germans are dictating the terms on the front. However, If Russia gets lodged into W Russia before Germany can get into Karelia in force, then Russia now has access, as noted above, to Karelia, Belo, and the Ukraine. Now Russia has the initiative, and Germany is forced to react to Russia, not the other way around.

It’s my humble opinion that forcing the other player to react to your moves (in this case the very definition of initiative) is one of the keys to consistently good play.

For warmth and happiness followed by bleary oblivion… Tequila

For A&A madness… shots of Bushmills, chased by Pepsi and Rolaids

For casual fun… Geary’s Winter or Harvest Ale (a spicy brown microbrew made in Portland, Maine). Yum.

For thirst quenching after yard work… cold Budweiser, but only two.

For sheer pleasure… Guiness on tap. To double that pleasure, a Black and Tan (Bass with Guiness floating pleasantly on top)

35 in four days… am I a geezer yet?

Personally I like to get troops to Africa as soon as possible, as it begins the liberation process earlier. You must be either playing with an Axis bid or inexperienced Axis players if they don’t take Egypt on the first round. Killing Egypt is a must if you’re Germany.

If Germany does bring their navy forward to Gibraltar, than yes, I’d hold back, and bring a huge force on round 2. Going north or south is also an option. Going to Brazil allows you to clean up Africa much more quickly from below, but can put you out of position as well. Going North is good to help Britain gain a foothold in Norway.

In my experience there are more German Fighters involved- usually up to 5 + the Bomber. Also in my experience the German player has taken their Med navy to Egypt. This generally occurs in non-bid games. So first you should define what type of game is being played (bid or non-bid), + examine exactly how many German Fighters could potentially attack.

If no German navy is involved, I would go to Algeria in a second. Make sure that your Russian sub goes to SZ2 on R1, and follows to SZ12 on R2. The trade for German aircraft is absolutely worth your while if they use no navy to absorb losses. The allied first turn build is critical as well.