Best posts made by DoManMacgee

@FranceNeedsMorePower In addition to what others are saying also remember that the Gen Con tournaments for A&A are open tournaments for players of all skill levels. There’s no qualifying process for getting there so theoretically you can be watching gameplay from folks who had little-to-no experience on the edition. IIRC A&A:NA came out officially either just-before or just-after Gen Con occurred in early August, so the level of play at that tournament was never going to be as high as one of the editions that have been around for years like G40, AA50, etc.

To answer the actual question, US should absolutely take advantage of the French INF/TANK to take advantage of the fact that they can move and attack immediately, and can also fight without supply. However, it may sometimes be necessary to not buy INF (US or French) to mine the 8-unit-per-territory stacking limits.

@domanmacgee said in [Game 8] TGC (Entente) v DoManMacgee (CP) -oob, no bid, RR:

R3.tsvg I appreciate the “pop goes the weasel” move into Lavonia with Germany. That has fast become a stock move for me as the CP. This is the first time I’ve been on the Entente side of it. Really reduces the Russian options…

Since my reply didn’t post last time:

I got that idea from your games, actually. That positioning is an easy way to force the Russians to either leave Ukraine or give up Moscow.

@JuliusBorisovBeamdog Please see the edit to my previous post for a potential compromise here. I understand the frustrations of adapting the rules 1:1 from a board game, however if ranked play is expected to be taken seriously the basic rules should still be enforced when possible. I can see things like pre-determined order-of-losses and not being able to land planes on Allied Carriers being necessary due to the programming constraints involved with asynchronous play, but loss calculation is something that only impacts the turn player, and no one else.

Furthermore, you’ve already added a beginner-friendly option to combat resolution. There’s a button in the bottom-left of the combat screen that lets me just use my defense profile to assign casualties if I want. Inexperienced players are already accomodated to with that, I’d imagine.

I understand that retooling the combat screen would be time-consuming work, so I’m not requesting that this be done immediately. Just something to consider for the next “major release”.

@FranceNeedsMorePower said in Why Should I Buy U.S.A. Infantry?:

@DoManMacgee I think the French tank should hit on a 4 or less and defend on a 3 or less. I feel 3 for attack is to low maybe I’m wrong.

Maybe if this was a Normandy/Bulge game, but not NA. From what reading I’ve done, Free France didn’t have access to competent Allied tanks until 1944. During the time period this game takes place, the Free French were using “hand-me-downs” from the Allies, for lack of a better term. Putting the French Tank to 4 attack would put it on-par with the British Tank in terms of cost-effectiveness which is probably a bit much when they can move and attack immediately.

@the_good_captain Game History

Round: 4

    Puchase Units - Germans
        Condition TankProductionGermans: Germans has their production frontier changed to: lateWarProduction
        Germans buy 1 artillery, 2 fighters and 9 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Germans
        1 fighter moved from Ruhr to Lorraine
        12 artilleries, 1 fighter and 22 infantry moved from Belgium to Lorraine
        1 artillery and 2 infantry moved from Ruhr to Alsace
        2 artilleries and 3 infantry moved from Hanover to Ruhr
        1 fighter moved from Berlin to Ruhr
        2 artilleries and 2 infantry moved from Silesia to Poland
        9 artilleries and 30 infantry moved from Belarus to Ukraine
        1 artillery, 3 fighters and 2 infantry moved from Galicia to Ukraine
        1 fighter moved from Berlin to Poland
        2 artilleries and 3 infantry moved from Berlin to Silesia
        2 artilleries and 2 infantry moved from Berlin to Hanover
        2 infantry moved from Gold Coast to French West Africa

    Combat - Germans
        Battle in French West Africa
            Germans attack with 2 infantry
            British defend with 1 infantry; French defend with 1 infantry
                Germans roll dice for 2 infantry in French West Africa, round 2 : 0/2 hits, 0.67 expected hits
                French roll dice for 2 infantry in French West Africa, round 2 : 1/2 hits, 1.00 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the Germans lost in French West Africa
            French and Germans reach a stalemate
            . Battle score for attacker is -3
            Casualties for Germans: 1 infantry

    Combat Move - Germans

    Place Units - Germans
        1 artillery, 2 fighters and 9 infantry placed in Berlin

    Turn Complete - Germans
        Germans collect 37 PUs; end with 37 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

French regular : 0.00
Germans regular : -0.67

1914-game-8-g4.tsvg

Just a heads-up. I’m not gonna be able to post much this weekend. Probably 1-2 times a day max.

@Topmat
I don’t play in person because I’m nowhere near good enough to even bother competing in a serious tournament.

I tried attending one tournament in my area several years ago, but it ended up being an open tournament, so I was utterly crushed by 2000+ ELO players in every round (I’m something like a 1350, and that’s online, so my IRL rating is probably significantly lower than that). Not a fun day.

If you’re attending a larger tournament, those are typically structured in such a way that you’ll play others who are around your skill level. Good luck.

Conversely to your example, I haven’t had any wins/losses by timeout yet. Anecdotal evidence is just anecdotal at the end of the day.

@the_good_captain

Game History

Round: 6

    Puchase Units - AustroHungarians
        AustroHungarians buy 1 artillery, 1 fighter, 5 infantry and 2 tanks; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - AustroHungarians
        1 unit repaired.
        1 artillery and 3 infantry moved from Romania to Ukraine
        1 artillery and 2 infantry moved from Albania to Trieste
        1 artillery, 3 infantry and 1 tank moved from Bohemia to Tyrolia
        1 fighter moved from Vienna to Trieste
        7 infantry and 1 tank moved from Vienna to Trieste

    Combat - AustroHungarians
        Battle in Trieste
            AustroHungarians attack with 1 artillery, 1 fighter, 9 infantry and 1 tank
            Italians defend with 1 infantry and 1 port
                AustroHungarians roll dice for 1 artillery, 1 fighter, 9 infantry and 1 tank in Trieste, round 2 : 3/12 hits, 4.50 expected hits
                Italians roll dice for 1 infantry in Trieste, round 2 : 0/1 hits, 0.50 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the Italians lost in Trieste
            AustroHungarians win, taking Trieste from Italians with 1 artillery, 1 fighter, 9 infantry and 1 tank remaining. Battle score for attacker is 3
            Casualties for Italians: 1 infantry

    Combat Move - AustroHungarians
        Turning on Edit Mode
        EDIT: Removing units owned by French from Alsace: 1 infantry
        EDIT: Removing units owned by AustroHungarians from Belgium: 1 artillery
        EDIT: Changing ownership of Alsace from French to Germans
        EDIT: Turning off Edit Mode
        1 artillery and 1 infantry moved from Belgium to Alsace

    Place Units - AustroHungarians
        1 artillery, 1 fighter, 5 infantry and 2 tanks placed in Vienna

    Turn Complete - AustroHungarians
        AustroHungarians collect 35 PUs; end with 35 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Italians regular : -0.50
AustroHungarians regular : -1.50

1914-game-8-ah6.tsvg

I messed up and forgot to attack Alsace with the Austrian stack in Belgium so I did some edit mode shenanigans. I rolled a hit for both the Austrians and the French so I lost 1 AH ART but took back the territory. Considering I had no other relevant combat, I hope you’ll take me on my word on this one.

@Topmat Ah, you’re a much stronger player than I am, then. My Classical is like 1400 (the 1350 score was blitz).

I don’t know if you’ve ever attended an IRL A&A Tournament (or a tournament for any other competitive game), but I can give you some basic general advice for enduring the tournament:

DISCLAIMER: This is general advice. It may not be suitable for the tournament you are going to.

• Stay hydrated - Your body is the main thing that’s going to be giving out during a tournament. You’ll probably be allowed a glass of water or some other sort of beverage at your table. Personally, I’d avoid sugary drinks like soda, but more on that in my next point.

• Stay well-fed, but avoid overly-sugary foods like the plague - You need to last through 8-10 rounds of play, probably. If you’re playing on Classical Time control that means your games are going to last ~3-4 hours, slightly shorter than the length of your average A&A tournament game (~5 hours). My point here is that you’ll need some sort of nutrients between games, or you’re liable to see a lapse in your play due to fatigue. Make sure to pack food accordingly, as it’s not guaranteed that the venue will offer food that’s to your liking, if they offer food at all. Be sure to stay away from greasy or sugary food, I forget the exact science, but from what I remember, it has something to do with your body burning sugars faster than it burns other types of energy. Instead, load up on carbs, nuts, etc. More natural sugars, like fruits, are also okay.

• Stay calm - Losing 1 game will probably keep you off the podium, but this is your first tournament, so don’t worry about it. Online ratings apparently do not mesh with IRL ratings for chess, so take all of your matches seriously. Unlike online play, you can’t just stop and call it a night if you don’t play well in one game in particular, so unwind by playing for a draw in your next round or something similar.

• Get good sleep leading up to the tournament - Self-explanatory. If you’re not at 100%, your brain will let you down when you need it most.

I can’t really offer any gameplay tips, as my rating doesn’t even begin to compare to yours, so just do what you do best and try to avoid getting sucked into other players’ play styles. I imagine you’ll run into a bizarre opening line or two, seeing as it’s an amateur division, so you might want to read up on some common opening traps and how to avoid them.

I lost 7 INF Vs. 2 INF the other day. That was a fun one.

@the_good_captain Game History

Round: 6

    Puchase Units - Germans
        Germans buy 2 artilleries, 2 fighters and 6 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Germans
        6 artilleries and 16 infantry moved from Belarus to Moscow
        6 artilleries, 4 fighters and 17 infantry moved from Ukraine to Moscow
        1 fighter moved from Poland to Moscow
        2 artilleries and 3 infantry moved from Poland to Livonia
              Germans take Livonia from Russians
        1 artillery and 4 infantry moved from Silesia to Galicia
        1 fighter moved from Berlin to Galicia
        13 artilleries, 3 fighters and 23 infantry moved from Belgium to Alsace
        2 artilleries, 1 fighter and 2 infantry moved from Munich to Alsace
        1 fighter moved from Berlin to Ruhr
        5 infantry moved from Hanover to Ruhr
        1 artillery and 2 infantry moved from Berlin to Silesia
        5 infantry moved from Berlin to Hanover

    Combat - Germans
        Air Battle in Moscow
            Germans attacks with 5 units heading to Moscow
            Russians launches 6 interceptors out of Moscow
                Attackers Fire,  : 0/5 hits, 1.67 expected hits
                Defenders Fire,  : 1/6 hits, 2.00 expected hits
                1 fighter owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
                Attackers Fire,  : 1/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits
                Defenders Fire,  : 2/6 hits, 2.00 expected hits
                2 fighters owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
                1 fighter owned by the Russians lost in Moscow
                Attackers Fire,  : 0/2 hits, 0.67 expected hits
                Defenders Fire,  : 0/5 hits, 1.67 expected hits
                Attackers Fire,  : 2/2 hits, 0.67 expected hits
                Defenders Fire,  : 1/5 hits, 1.67 expected hits
                1 fighter owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
                2 fighters owned by the Russians lost in Moscow
                Attackers Fire,  : 0/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                Defenders Fire,  : 0/3 hits, 1.00 expected hits
                Attackers Fire,  : 0/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                Defenders Fire,  : 1/3 hits, 1.00 expected hits
                1 fighter owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
            Air Battle is over, the attackers have all died
        Battle in Moscow
            Germans attack with 12 artilleries and 33 infantry
            Russians defend with 14 artilleries, 1 factory, 3 fighters and 25 infantry
                Germans roll dice for 12 artilleries and 33 infantry in Moscow, round 2 : 12/45 hits, 19.00 expected hits
                Russians roll dice for 14 artilleries, 3 fighters and 25 infantry in Moscow, round 2 : 16/42 hits, 22.83 expected hits
                12 infantry owned by the Russians and 16 infantry owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
            Russians and Germans reach a stalemate
            . Battle score for attacker is -12
            Casualties for Germans: 16 infantry
            Casualties for Russians: 12 infantry

    Combat Move - Germans

    Place Units - Germans
        2 artilleries, 2 fighters and 6 infantry placed in Berlin

    Turn Complete - Germans
        Germans collect 38 PUs; end with 38 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Defenders Fire,  : -4.33
Attackers Fire,  : -2.00
Russians regular : -6.83
Germans regular : -7.00

1914-game-8-g6.tsvg

Watching that turn play out in real time was an anxiety attack in and of itself.

@Topmat Gah. That’s terrible news! I’m glad your safe, at least. Good luck in your other tournament later this month!

Yikes. Looks like that game is going to take a while to grind out. Looks more like a Cold War scenario at this point than a WW2 one.

@the_good_captain

Game History

Round: 7

    Puchase Units - Germans
        Germans buy 2 artilleries, 2 fighters and 6 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Germans
        2 artilleries and 3 infantry moved from Livonia to Belarus
        12 artilleries and 17 infantry moved from Moscow to Ukraine
        1 fighter moved from Galicia to Munich
        2 fighters moved from Berlin to Munich
        3 infantry moved from Hanover to Munich
        2 infantry moved from Hanover to Ruhr
        15 artilleries, 4 fighters and 25 infantry moved from Alsace to Ruhr
        1 artillery and 2 infantry moved from Silesia to Hanover
        2 artilleries and 6 infantry moved from Berlin to Hanover
        1 artillery and 4 infantry moved from Galicia to Romania

    Combat - Germans
        Battle in Munich
            Germans attack with 3 fighters and 3 infantry
            French defend with 1 infantry
                Germans roll dice for 3 fighters and 3 infantry in Munich, round 2 : 4/6 hits, 2.00 expected hits
                French roll dice for 1 infantry in Munich, round 2 : 0/1 hits, 0.50 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the French lost in Munich
            Germans win, taking Munich from French with 3 fighters and 3 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 3
            Casualties for French: 1 infantry

    Combat Move - Germans

    Place Units - Germans
        2 artilleries, 2 fighters and 6 infantry placed in Berlin

    Turn Complete - Germans
        Germans collect 38 PUs; end with 38 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

French regular : -0.50
Germans regular : 2.00

1914-game-8-g7.tsvg

I swapped out 1 Ottoman INF in Tartarstan and 1 AH INF in Moscow for “Neutral Central” counterparts in order to allow the rest of the CP units to move out. I also converted the remaining Russian territories to “Contested” control just so I/we can better measure the IPC/TUV counts going forward.

@Slip-Capone Haven’t played it myself but it looks like it’s worth checking out at least.

Gonna file the two glitches I found in two separate threads.

First, the QoL changes and addition of ranked mode have breathed new life into this game for me. Thanks a ton for implementing both.

Anyway, this glitch is something I call “Sub Vortex”. Allow me to explain:

Scenario: USSR has a sub in SZ7 (English Channel). I Combat Move my German Sub into that SZ to attack. Both the Allies Player and myself have my Combat Profiles set to “Submerge Subs if no Destroyer Present”.

• Battle Occurs, battle is canceled because Soviets submerge.
• USSR Player’s turn, battle is canceled because Germans submerge.
• Germany Player’s turn, I should have the opportunity to have my Submarine leave the hostile Sea Zone. This is where the possible glitch comes into play.

For whatever reason, I cannot leave the SZ with the Soviet Submarine. I can click the sub and see SZ7 come up in “yellow”, but the surrounding SZs are not “blue” and I cannot click any of them to move away from the Soviets. As this is a ranked game, I do not know if my opponent is also experiencing this glitch, or if it’s only affecting me.

Not a huge bug, but a bug nonetheless.

Thanks for listening.

@the_good_captain I know. I just had to sleep on G8 to decide which direction to send the German stack. The AH turn was more set in stone.

Gonna file the two glitches I found in two separate threads.

First, the QoL changes and addition of ranked mode have breathed new life into this game for me. Thanks a ton for implementing both.

Anyway, this glitch is something I call “Phantom Fighter Move”. Allow me to explain:

Scenario: I have two separate stacks of German Fighters. One in Karelia, the other in Germany. During Combat Move Phase I move both of them to attack Caucasus (2 moves away from Karelia, 3 moves away from Germany).

• Battle Occurs, all of my air units survive.

• NCM Phase: I should only be able to move my Fighters that started in Germany one more space, and my Fighters that started in Karelia two more spaces. If I individually make my moves, this will work as intended. After I’ve individually moved each of my Fighters with two moves left, I will only be able to move the remaining Fighters one space.

• However, if I use the new “SHIFT+CLICK” feature to move the entire Fighter Stack at once, the glitch comes into play.

For whatever reason, SHIFT+CLICK"-ing the Fighter Stack in Ukraine lets me move all of them 2 spaces, even though some of them should not be able to move that far. This trick allows for illegal Fighter Movement that is earth-shatteringly overpowered in arenas like the Pacific, where fleet positioning is entirely based on the limited air range of opposing FTRs/Bombers.

NOTE: I do not know if this occurs for Bombers as well as Fighters. I have not tried it because building additional Bombers is usually poor play and I am only playing Ranked Games at the moment.

If this bug is not reproducible on your end, it may have just been a one-time thing for me. Sorry for the false alarm if that’s the case.

Not a huge bug, but a bug nonetheless.

Thanks for listening.

@domanmacgee Game History

Round: 9

    Puchase Units - Germans
        Germans buy 1 artillery, 2 fighters and 8 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Germans
        Turning on Edit Mode
        EDIT: Adding units owned by AustroHungarians to Sevastopol: 2 artilleries and 4 infantry
        EDIT: Removing units owned by Neutral_Central from Sevastopol: 2 artilleries and 4 infantry
        EDIT: Adding units owned by Neutral_Central to Sevastopol: 15 artilleries and 4 infantry
        EDIT: Removing units owned by Germans from Sevastopol: 13 artilleries and 1 infantry
        EDIT: Removing units owned by Germans from Ukraine: 2 artilleries and 3 infantry
        EDIT: Turning off Edit Mode
        1 infantry moved from Munich to Switzerland
        3 infantry moved from Alsace to Switzerland
        1 infantry moved from Alsace to Ruhr
        2 artilleries and 6 infantry moved from Hanover to Ruhr
        15 artilleries, 8 fighters and 30 infantry moved from Belgium to Ruhr
        2 fighters moved from Berlin to Ruhr
        2 artilleries and 6 infantry moved from Berlin to Kiel

    Combat - Germans
        Battle in Switzerland
            Germans attack with 4 infantry
            British defend with 1 infantry
                Germans roll dice for 4 infantry in Switzerland, round 2 : 1/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits
                French roll dice for 1 infantry in Switzerland, round 2 : 0/1 hits, 0.50 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the British lost in Switzerland
            Germans win, taking Switzerland from French with 4 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 3
            Casualties for British: 1 infantry

    Combat Move - Germans
        Turning on Edit Mode
        EDIT: Adding units owned by Germans to Sevastopol: 15 artilleries and 4 infantry
        EDIT: Removing units owned by Neutral_Central from Sevastopol: 15 artilleries and 4 infantry
        EDIT: Turning off Edit Mode

    Place Units - Germans
        1 artillery, 2 fighters and 8 infantry placed in Berlin
        Turning on Edit Mode
        EDIT: Turning off Edit Mode

    Turn Complete - Germans
        Germans collect 41 PUs; end with 41 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

French regular : -0.50
Germans regular : -0.33

1914-game-8-g9.tsvg

Seeing as it’s Thanksgiving today, I’m not sure if I’m gonna be able to get another turn out until way later tonight. Have a good holiday.

If you have enough money with UK to fill 4 transports you may want to consider 1-2 FTRs + fill 3 transports instead. This lets you slowly-but-surely accumulate a stack of air units for UK that can be staged in West Russia/Moscow with the purpose of picking off small stacks of 1-2 German/Japanese land units in Russian territories. That way, on Russia’s turn, the Soviets don’t have to commit as many units to retaking the now-empty territories. This puts less strain on the Soviet economy, as instead of sending 1-2 INF + air support to retake 1-2 IPC territories, you’re instead just sending 1 INF, or even a TANK while it blitzes to a different territory (or back to the stack, even!). The reduced strain on the Soviets means that they’re free to either make additional attacks/trades, or build up their main stack more quickly. Both make for a stronger Soviet force that will take a longer time for the Axis to break, if they can break it.

tl;dr your UK navy alone can only hit Norway/Finland/Karelia/Baltic States/Northwestern Europe/France. Adding an airforce on top of that lets you threaten/strafe all of the inland Russian territories (Belorussia/Poland/Ukraine/West Russia) + Moscow’s “back door” (Kazakh/Novosibirsk/Ural/etc.).