Posts made by C_F

Of course different units have different functions, but I am going to contradict my earlier statemtn a little. I think I can say some units are better than others. The easiest way to decide which units are the best is what unit you would most like to remove of your opponents.

If you are Germany it is easy to come to the conclusion that Russia’s most valuable piece is infantry and vice versa (sorry MysticalRommel).

The other countries are a little more difficult but I think it is safe to say that if you were the axis it would be best for you if the GB and the US could not make transports. You might think infantry for them as well, but they could still transport tanks. Without transports it would force them into the strategic bombing strategy.

For Japan it has to be infantry, because they start the game with a couple of well protected transports. And without transports they could still do okay with IC’s.

So in an almost complete reversal of my earlier post I am going to say these are the best units.

Russia - Infantry
Germany - Infantry
UK - Transports
Japan - Infantry
USA - Tranports

Falk is right about the infantry. It is not Germanys job to destroy Russia it is their job to keep the allies occupied while Japan gets huge. Buy lots of infantry and keep Russia weak, but don’t try to march into Moscow until Japan has taken most of asia.

You may not like that interpretation, but I believe it is the correct one. I had never thought about it before, but I do kind of agree with you. If a tank has more than one friendly territory it can go to after it takes the empty enemy territory it should be able to do it in non-combat like planes. But those are the rules.

The best unit for what? The tank is great for land offense but it is not very good at sinking transports. This is an almost impossible question to answer, but I will say one thing.

When you are not sure what to buy, buy infantry.

I don’t mean to be rude or anything but what is the point of having a strategy that is based on luck? You could just as easily buy all tech and if Russia gets industrial technology they will win. Granted if you are playing someone who is a much better player it is not a bad idea.

Guest wrote:

I hate to rock the boat, but surely the more units participating in a battle the more likely it is that the overall results will match the odds, law of large numbers an’ all.

Now I hate to say this, but you are one of the people who is not allowed to use the charts. I know what you are thinking, “…arrogant SOB…”.

Your statement would be true if the outcome of the first roll did not affect the outcome of the second roll and the third and so on, but it does. Any role that is “unusual” can throw off the balance of the battle. So the more roles you have the greater the chance that one of them will be “unusual”. As the battle grows larger so does the standard deviation. Therefore if you are fighting in a huge, fairly even, battle on Germans eastern front and a big roll goes wrong in a big way then follow crystic crypts advice and RUN AWAY. You should treat every round of the battle like it is a seperate battle when deciding to retreat or not.

In a game like Risk this doesn’t happen because the number of dice you roll for a 5 on 5 battle is exactly the same as for a 20 on 20 battle. In Risk the larger the battle the more likely the odds charts will be accurate.

GG wrote

I like the “you-cheated-so-we-really-won” trick….works everytime…

Yeah, next time someone says that you can tell them that in war the winners decide who cheated, because the loser is dead and can’t speak up for himself.

…rules that is historically accurate and even makes sense…

Ummm……there is no way that Stalin would have put his forces under the command of the US or UK, or vice versa. Remember, after the Germans surrendered a large portion of the US military wanted to keep going to Moscow. Wisely they decided not to.

As far as the factories go, they are one of the most unrealistic parts of the game. The UK builds a factory in Persia and starts cranking out armor, not to mention aircraft carriers and battleships? Not an easy task.

Not playing by these rules is essential, as SUD said. I remember using them back in the dark ages and I could beat the axis without using the US at all. Russia holds off Germany while the UK pounds Japan and then turns back west and Russia and the UK run over Germany.

I’ve played the WWII scenario in Civ2, but it takes too much micro management. I love all the civs, but usually don’t play the scenarios.

You have about a 10% chance of winning this one and then you will only have one infantry left. From what I have heard the axis only win about 5% of the time if you are playing without bids. So if victory is all you care about then go ahead. However, even if you do take it, there is a good chance that the allies could take it back.

The German airforce and navy was used to clear out the battleship and sub, which means that the Gibraltar battleship might have made it. Combined with the E. Canada transport and armor it gives the UK a slim chance at liberation.

If the they can’t do it then the US can send the bomber and two infantry. The bomber to clear the navy and the two infantry to attack the one German defender.

Then Russia can send their transport with two infantry and the sub and fighters to clear any navy.

The allies will probably be able to retake it, but it should not matter. Germany should have bought 10 infantry on G1 and saved 2. On G2 they can buy about 25 infantry with the money kindly provided by the UK. On G3 purchase 6 or 7 armor. So on G4 they can smash Russia in Karelia.

I would say if you are going to do this, just get the money, leave, go smash Russia.

However, all of this is provided that Russia is dumb enough not to move the tranport and sub on R1 and Germany gets extremely lucky when it invades the UK.

My family and I use an odds chart in Risk and I have no problem with it because my brothers, father, and I are all capable of making the chart ourselves. However, I don’t like letting people use odds charts who don’t know the first thing about probability and statstics.

Also one reason not to use them in any game is because usually people use them to whine.

“I should have only lost five infantry and I lost ten, everybody feel sorry for me.”

They end up lamenting the one battle for the rest of the game and use it as an excuse for losing

Yes, Italy helped in the Med, but other than that it was not particularly pretty. If they did help the German U-boats it was a wasted effort, because Hitler thought the navy was a waste of time and that the airforce was the way to take out the allies.

kyrial said
The major problem with the Italian war effort was two-fold: first, Italy was not prepared logistically to enter war in 1939. Second, the Italians lacked the military strength by that time to effectively wage an aggressive war against the British and her commanders (who were quite effective all things considered) were faced with the task of trying to go on the offensive with very few tanks and virtually no air support.

You are absolutely right. Italy was not a strong player in WW2 because they lacked the economy and infrastructure to wage war. However, that is part of being a powerful nation. Kind of like the Russo - Japanses War in 1905. The Russians had vast superiority in a number of ways but they were not ready for war and Japan was, so Russia lost. The US was not ready at the beginning of WW2 either, but 18 months after pearl harbor they were invading Sicily. Why? Because their economy and manufacturing base was huge and just needed to get moving. If Italy had the economic strength of Japan the allies would have been in for a long hard war. If the US tried to invade Okinawa 18 months after Pearl Harbor it would have been a joke. They wouldn’t have been able to get within 1,000 miles of Okinawa before the Japanese destroyed the invading force.

I agree, person 2. Infantry before tanks when using transports.

I lost the EUS to Japan once, after they came through the canal. I thought they were going for Brazil. I just wasn’t paying attention though.

There is no way Germany should be able to get a single transport into the North Atlantic for more than one turn. If they build them the US and GB have to sink them immediately. If you are playing allies that are decent, it would never happen.

GG, it wasn’t meant to be an attack, sorry if it was misunderstood.

MistaBiggs, I just couldn’t remember the rules on blitzing through nuetral countries. GB could still lose the factory fairly quickly if Germany went for it, but it is about a 50-50 shot. Still think that AC has to be built in home waters on GB T1.

If I am Germany and GB is putting 10 IPC’s a turn into tanks in Africa then I am going to have a lot of fun sinking US transports.

I have never done the IC in South Africa. Germany can take it, but only if you are allowed to blitz through neutral territories. GB can prevent this but they would have to abandon India, Syria, or Egypt to do it. Not really worth it in my opinion.

GB has to build the aircraft carrier to protect the American transports. And afterwards build transports and infantry to attack Europe or defend Russia. If the US and GB concentrate their efforts on a naval war against Japan it will gurantee the Japanese and Germans walking all over Russia.

Bill, never take anything on these posts personally, there are much more important things to worry about. Like whether or not you should start a land war in Asia.

I don’t think Hasbro would allow it if they were kept out of the loop. What would they have to gain by letting you use their game? As far as changing the game, I think you would have to change it significantly to not infringe on the copyright.

So I think you have two viable options.

You could write the software and then try to sell it to Hasbro. You could make some money, but then anyone who wanted to play would have to pay.

Or, and I think this might be the better way to go, just write it and let people play and totally ignore the copyright laws. I am not sure what your financial situation is, but Hasbro would only be interested in coming after you if you had some serious money. And there are very few private citizens who have that type of money. People break copyright laws all the time and nothing is done about it. Even better if you know a minor who can write it for you :)

I agree with El Jefe, there should be now way the Germans have a battleship and a transport within 2 spaces of the UK SZ on T2. I could see them being in the SE seazone, but if they move to Wed Med on T1 then the UK’s airforce should take them out along with the East Med sub or possibly the East Can transport, if either of them are still alive.

1. You can only go around the world east-west, not north-south. Just think about how it would actually work. If you went north from Alaska, crossed the pole and continued south you would end up north of England or Norway somewhere. If you were in New Zealand and went south, crossed the pole and then coninued North you would end up in the South Atlantic.

2. Blitzing is not allowed off transports.

3. A tranports tuen is done once it drops off any units. It can pick up move and drop off, or move pick up and drop off, or move pick up move and then drop off.

There has been some discussion about dropping off in more then territory adjacent to the same sea zone. My opinion is you should not be allowed to. How is a transport going to drop off in Norway and France on the same turn? Just doesn’t make sense.

4. Planes can attack subs, but not the other way around. They are easy target for aircraft and usually the Japanese sub is the only one that survives past the first round.

A lot of people think they are a waste of money and usually that is true. However, if your sole purpose is to sink ships, they are the best unit on the board. The only time I see subs being useful is if you can get the Japanese fleet into the Atlantic. With the defense support of two Battleships and a loaded carrier, a few subs would be very useful in destroying the allied shipping.

5. The axis can win, but usually only if there are bids.

Yeah, the bidding process can go up or down. If it starts at 0 and goes up the first person to speak up gets the axis. If you start high and go down the last person to speak up gets the axis

RR is Russia Restricted and it prevents Russia from attacking on their first turn. They can buy and move units, just no attacking. Bids are a way of balancing out the game. As you have seen from previous posts the Allies usually win, even with RR. So two players would bid to see who has to play the axis. Who ever is willing to play the axis with the least amount of help wins the bid. So one player bids 25 IPC’s, the other bids 22, and back and forth until the other player will not go any lower. Let’s say the winning bid is 15. The player who wins the bid at 15 gets to place 15 IPC’s worth of units on the board, no IC’s though, and you can only place German units on German territories and Japanese units on Japanese territories. You can also play that the winning bid just gets the money and buys the units at the beginning of his turn.