Posts made by Der Leiter

It all depends on what you want to do with the game: play it casually or competitively, historically or more ‘anything goes’.

A lot of the units that appear bad aren’t when you look at them with the proper perspective. For example if you’re playing a Battle of France - 1940 game, the Renault R-35 tank is very good. But once you start playing 1941+ games, or a game without year restrictions it’s pretty bad.

Some like the Me109 MechanizedWarfare listed aren’t that good if you want to play a standard game, but are staples of historical games; the Me262 is the opposite - great for the standard game, but not so much for the historical one (seeing as Jet planes at this level is a little silly and all…)

The two units any even semi-competitive army should have are: An Ammo Depot & a Hero (And something to take out the enemy Ammo Depot…)

For a standard/competitive game these are some of the best units:

AXIS
Veteran Tiger
SS-Haupsturmfurher
Grizzled Veteran
SS-Panzergrenadier
ME-262

ALLIES
Screaming Eagle Paratroopers
Intrepid Hero
KV-1 & Cossack Captain*
T-34/85
Veteran Rhino

• Yes technically two units, but they’re always found together.

SET REVIEWS
Set I (Base Set) Review
Set II (“Eastern Front”) Review
Set III (Contested Skies) Review
Set IV (D-Day) Review
Set V (Reserves) Review

I was going to post it as an article later once I’d completed the rest; hopefully tomorrow but we’ll see. December is such a busy time

Note: Axis forces still need to be updated

The reason why I started these is very simple:

If you want A&AM to be more historical,
you have to play it more historically.

Although the American forces did have a great advantage in equipment, I am fairly certain they didn’t replace all of their basic troops (Garands, etc) with BARs and/or Paratroopers.  I’m also fairly certain that Wehrmacht Soldiers equipped with Mauser rifles saw action somewhere.  Watching regular AAM games you might doubt this.

Building the Force Lists
Now, I know I did mention playing more historically, but in some cases playability has to take precedence over that - not only can most players not field an SS Panther platoon, for example, but it simply costs far too many points unless you are playing a very large game. So for many units, vehicles especially, on these lists the more costly tanks will only come in sections or as single units. (If you’re interested in larger formations I have those available too; just not posted).

For these force lists I had decided on multiples of 25 for the cost of units to keep it fairly simple. Also originally when I was building platoons, many of the infantry units came to that amount or very close to it.

You will note that some of the points seem off when compared to their actual cost; this can be because of several reasons: If I find that certain units, like the PIAT, are overpriced I give them a discount. Conversely underpriced units like the Veteran Tiger or M4A1 Sherman have their cost increased.  If the total actual cost is within roughly 2 points (+/-) per 25 I’ll round them.

Certain powerful units are paired with sub par units and average units to keep them from being fielded in overwhelming numbers (eg if you want an Elite Pz IV D, you have to take 2x Pz III Fa and 1x Pz II C with it).
Compositions

STANDARD COMPOSITION

Infantry: 25 - 75% of your points must be spent on infantry.
Armour:    0 - 50% of your points may be spent on armour.
Support:  0 - 25% of your points may be spent on support.

ASSAULT GAMES
Defenders may allocate 25% from either Infantry OR Armour to Support. Infantry minimum is still 25%.

Force List:

Australia
Canada
France
Nationalist Chinese
Poland
Soviet Union
United Kingdom
United States

Finland
Germany
Italy
Japan
Romania

Optional Rules
These aren’t required, but are suggested:

• Transports can only start with units in their platoon (etc) loaded.
• Units in a platoon (etc) must start adjacent to each other.

There are currently 5 sets. The base set has 48 units, each other has 45. The upcoming Axis & Allies Miniatures: The War at Sea will not be compatible with the previous set. The current sets are:

Base Set - With a nice coverage of most nations; has a slight Western Front theme to it. Nations include: France, Soviet Union,  United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Italy, and Japan. Starter includes 4 two-sided maps.

Set II - Often incorrectly called the Eastern Front expansion; it does have an Eastern Front theme to it, but as with all sets except D-Day the theme only covers around a 1/4 of the set. Adds the minor nations Nationalist China and Poland.

Contested Skies - Apart from obviously introducting aircraft and AA, this set fills out some of the nations a bit more, especially the UK which was sadly neglected in Set II. Adds the minor nations Australia and Poland (No China or Poland).

D-Day - Unlike previous AAM sets this expanion was focued heavily on Operation Overlord. It introduces Heroes and Obstacles, as well as the new minor nation: Canada.  Russia only gets 2 units in this set, and Japan only gets 1.

Reserves - This set’s theme is more on the experimental side; including some units that never actually saw battle in WWII. Hungary is introduced as a minor nation in this set, and it builds upon the Canadians, France, Poland, and Italy.  The units are fairly nicely spread out between the major nations. Finally it also includes ‘support’ units that can be used by any faction as part of its army (unlike obstacles which are not a part of anyones army).

The New Starter Pack is not much of a starter. It’s two boosters from Base Set/Set II/Contested Skies (two of, not two of each) and two maps.

@cyan:

ok none more question when apiece says it attacks with x or has a speed of x what does that mean. like how to you know what x is. heres an example.
Hand to Hand 12 - This unit has an attack value of X against Soldiers in its hex.Â

None of the actual cards are written that way; Hand to Hand 12 is written as This unit has an attack value of 12 against Soldiers in its hex. This attack ignores cover.

It’s only sites and players writing online that put in the ‘X’ to simplify things, especially if referencing the ability, and changing the number, several times.

No problem. Always feel free to ask.

One of the nice things about the Nashorn is that it is relatively fast so can usually get away from vehicles.

1x Nashorn
1x Dornier
1x SS-Haupsturmfurher
1x Grizzled Veteran
3x SS-Panzergrenadier
1x Panzerfaust
1x Werwolf Partisan
2x Barbed Wire

The Dornier is your best bet against enemy aircraft as it at least has the possibility of shooting them down before they can do anything.
The Werwolf is to take out enemy depots, and the Panzerfaust is to add some AT support.
Barbed Wire to protect the Nashorn’s location from enemy infantry such as PTs or Partisans, or to simply block routes for his ground forces.

It’s not the best army ever made, and has some serious faults

1. Units never block the line of sight of other units.

2. It’s playable by email; check the subforums here.

3. As long as a unit has dice at a particular range it can attack at that range; infantry don’t prevent a tank from firing.

4. The turn alternates between players:

Player A moves
Player B moves
Player A places aircraft
Player B places aircraft
Player A airstrike
Player B airstrike
Player A assault
Player B assault
Casualty Phase

5. It’s during the Casualty phase that counters are flipped and/or removed.

Most things such as turn order and casualty phases are fairly clearly described in the rule book; I suggest looking here for them (newest version of the rulebook): http://www.wizards.com/avalonhill/rules/AAM_RuleBook.pdf

Turn Order page 11
Casualty Phase page 12

See here for rules/stats/etc: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=8233.0

Any feedback is appreciated. The points are fairly arbitary; and will likely change at some time or another. For now it’s just for playtesting purposes.

@pinkrasta:

finaly me and my freinds can stop arguing thanks  :-D

No problem.

I’ve found that in general it helps that, when considering the AAM rules, you follow them by what they say and not what they mean. Real-World logic doesn’t always apply; though often this is just for playability.

My apologies, I don’t normally check this subforum so I missed this one… but (belatedly):

Superior Armour X - An attack must beat this unit’s defense by X or more in order to score two hits against it.

Normally to score two hits with one attack you only have to get 1 more than the units defence. With Superior Armour X you have to beat it by X instead.

• For example to score two hits to damage a Chaffee I would need 6 successes (Chaffee is Defence 4, Superior Armour 2).
• Let’s say the Chaffee was only disrupted by my attack, so next turn my attacker fires again  - I would need 5 successes against the Chaffee now since it’s defence is down to 3 because of disruption, and Superior Armour 2.
• Once again I’m unlucky and only disrupt it, or more accurately - only cause one hit; however I have a second unit able to fire on the Chaffee. I roll 5 successes against it; this beats the Superior Armour 2 so I score two hits. It already has one hit, so with two more it will be destroyed during the casualty phase.

Units to complete:

Fortifications
Ammo/Fuel Dumps*
US Quad 50
US M16 Half-Track
UK/SV/PO 40mm Bofors
GE 88mm Flak
GE 20mm Flak
GE Flakpanzer
Polish Airforce - 1939, 1940 w/ UK, 1943 w/ SV.

Scenarios

THE WAR ABOVE

RULES
This version of AAM is not combatible with normal AAM. It is also a work in progress trying to balance historical accuracy with playability (though favouring playability) - I am always open to suggestions.

The rules are fairly simple - for the most part it follows how AAM works, but with one fairly important exception; aircraft.

COMBAT

Aircraft may only attack units in front of them or in the same hex as them.

Aircraft provoke Defencive-Fire only if they move from one hex adjacent to a unit with Antiair to another hex adjacent to it. The type of unit is irrelevant.

Disruption reduces an aircraft’s speed by 1 instead of preventing it’s movement.

MOVEMENT

In The War Above all aircraft have speed and are moved as if they were normal units; ignore the standard AAM Aircraft rules.

Aircraft may only move into a hex in front of them; when moving into a hex the aircraft faces directly away from the hex it moved from.

During the movement phase an aircraft must move a minimum of two hexes.
During the assault phase an aircraft must move a minimum of two hexes if moving. If attacking it moves two hexes (no more, no less) after the attack.

Once per phase an aircraft my Sideslip instead of turning - treat it as a turn but the facing does not change.

Aircraft that move off of the map have disengaged and count as if they were destroyed.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: NEW & CHANGES

Special Abilities are written here instead of on the aircraft as they are not finalized yet (It’s just easier for me to change).

Agility: No changes
Antiair: No changes; though Defencive-Fire has been changed.
Bomber X: Instead of its regular attack this unit can attack all non-aircraft in an adjacent hex and rolls X dice against each one.
Bombs: Once per game you may declare you are using this SA. If you do then target one adjacent hex and roll 8 attack dice against each non-aircraft unit in that hex.
Jet: This unit must move 1 hex forward before making a turn and must, if able, move a minimum of 3 hexes each phase instead of the standard 2.
This unit gets -1 to its attack rolls when attacking units that aren’t aircraft or fortifications.
When attacking aircraft this unit counts as 6s as two successes.
Limited Numbers (Axis): Your force cannot have more units with the Limited Numbers SA than you have Messerschmitt Bf 109Es.
Nimble: Instead of performing a sideslip, this unit may turn into any hex except the one directly behind it.
Rockets 8: No changes.
Slow: No changes.
Speed Boost: Once per game you may have this unit use Speed Boost - treat it as if it has the Jets SA for the rest of the phase.
Steady: Whenever this unit could turn, you may perform a sideslip instead.
Superior Armour 2: No changes.
Tank Buster: This unit gets -5 attack dice when attacking a City Hex.

[attachment deleted by admin]

1. The Front is anything through the forward three hexes that the vehicle is facing. Anything out of the rear three hexes is back. Finally, any LOS traces directly through the sides is neither front nor rear. (See this link for the diagram, etc: http://boards.avalonhill.com/showthread.php?t=10279)

2. Vehicles with Superior Armour (or soldiers with steely resolve) are disrupted the same way as any other unit SA/SR only protects against the possibility of one attack scoring two hits; disruption and destroyed (through successes equal to double the defence) are unaffected.

Well it does show three ships, including the HMAS Canberra, USS Iowa, and the Bismarck.

Speed Boost causes the Dornier’s attack to be resolved immediately. For example if the result of the attack was a damaged counter the defending plane would be destroyed.

As an example an Me 109 scores one hit on a UK Spitfire, which would be a face-down disrupted counter. Then a Dornier then uses it’s speed boost and scores a second hit, which would normally give the Spitfire a face-down destroyed counter, but because it’s immediately resolved the destroyed counter is turned face up and the spitfire is removed as a casualty; it won’t get to fire if that player went second.

Even if the Dornier only manages to disrupt an aircraft with speed boost, ground units can still target the aircraft against it’s now reduced defence (due to disruption) and it’s already taken one hit this turn, so only needs one more.

For all intents and purposes Ignores means you “treat as if it wasn’t there.” In the case of heroes this means that a disrupted counter has absolutely no effect on them - you might as well remove any face-up ones.  Defencive-Fire has little effect on them* since it is disruption that causes them to stop moving.  You don’t have to get 6 successes at once to take them out, as Heroes don’t ignore hits (ie face-down disruptions).

• Unless the unit has Flamethrower, Covering Fire, etc, as these Special Abilities add another effect to the defencive-fire which has nothing to do with disruption.

A few new ones:

My Dornier speed boosts to disrupt a Meteor, which in turn destroys my ammo depot. I have a Hungarian ATG I was going to move, then think ‘what the heck’ and try and shoot the Jet plane. It prompty goes down in flames.

A lowly Volkstrum soldier, with a little extra ammo, mowed down a Canadian Hero that hard torn the rest of his unit to shreds.

A four way battle on 8 maps; each player recieved two boosters and made a 100 point force out of whatever was in it. My army wasn’t great but not terrible; a Soviet Lee, two nebelwerfers, some infantry (though a Fallschirmjager and Ranger was nice), no depots, and two czech tanks. Opponent #1 had an Elefant, Ammo Depot, Fallschirmjager, and some infantry. Opponent #2 had a Panther, Fuel Depot, Ammo Depot, T-35, and two BA-10Ms. Opponent #3 had a Meteor, two canadian ATGs, a ton of partisans (french and german), and assorted light vehicles. There were three objectives; all along the centre - one in the middle and two to either side.  The middle was worth 10 points/round, and the sides 5 pts/round.

I went first and landed the Fallschirmjager on the middle objective turn 1.  My tanks were shot up by the Panther and Elefant, and few of my infantry survived. I managed to drag one of the nebelwerfers across the map before it finally fired - opening up with a salvo and taking out a ton of enemy infantry (he had forgotten the salvo and hadn’t noticed I was in range). The Elefant did very little except lumber around, as both of my other opponents tried to team up and take it out.

Finally on turn 10 my Fallschirmjager, who had been sitting on the objective the whole time, jumped off to close assault the Panther that had moved beside me to stop me from getting the points and destroyed it. That paratrooper singlehandedly won me the game. My only other kill was from the Lee taking out a BA-10M.

He single handedly won me the game, despite aircraft and enemy infantry trying to dislodge him.

Me 262 is 1943.

I believe WotC tries to set the dates to when the majority of the units were available. It also doesn’t seem to matter at what point during the year - so for example if a unit wasn’t in full production until December 1944, they would still make it a 1944 unit.

Take the Goliath for example - during the warsaw uprising the Germans used them to simply drive in and blow up the poles.