Posts made by Hobbes

@adaptation:

So they are not part of combat at all - like in AA50?. I guess my OG Axis and Allies habits made me bypass these rules.

And on AA50 transports are defenseless too and are the last casualties to be removed… it was when that rule was introduced ;)

@miamiumike:

During the first two plays, it seemed obvious that UK should throw everything at the fleet off E. Indies - it is about a 60% win chance. However, both games ended in Allied losses - so I am left to wonder, maybe that isn’t the best use of the fleet after all.

The problem is that if it goes as expected, you might have one plane left - no ships to protect whatever transports you have out there. Maybe not a huge problem. If the battle goes against you though (as it did in one game), I think UK is in a lot of trouble.

To me 60% odds are on the border between a risk and a gamble. I’ve also manage to win with the Allies without attacking SZ37 so it’s more of a choice than a complete necessity for the Allies.

@adaptation:

Sinking German BB TRN is a very solid move if you kept egypt. This pretty much secures Africa which is a major point.

Attacking the Japanese BB,CV,2FTR is NEVER a good move without the egypt fighter and even that isn’t that great

Sending both the australian fleet and indian fleet on the japanese fleet gives this:

2Cruiser,1FTR,1AC,1sub,2trans (12 in attack value) vs 1BB,1AC,2FTR(15 attack value).

While the 2 transport can take some damage, it is still not worth it.With the egypt fighter, its 15 vs 15(in rolling value), but at least you get to absorb two shots with your transports. However you leave egypt empty(and the german fleet intact).

Last time I checked the rules, transports are still the last unit removed during battles, both for the attacker and the defender…

@AxisBrutality:

1. I looks like just taking W.Russia or W.Russia and Ukraine is the safest bet. Although that Moscow FTR need to go to Egypt, in order to be 100% sure that Germany can’t do anything in Egypt, which helps the UK being able to attack the E.Indies fleet. I think it’s a key unit Russia has to “reserve” for the UK on R1 and land back on Moscow or Caucasus on R2. Or else Germany can be tempted to attack Egypt without that Russian FTR and then, UK won’t be able to do anything with E.Indies with just on UK FTR on India, so UK needs both FTR from India and Egypt.

The advantage of preventing Germany of going after Egypt is pretty obvious but at the same time…

1. Germany has only 75% odds of winning Egypt - roughly 1 on every four times it will fail and UK will sink the German fleet.
2. UK only has 64% odds of winning SZ37, or two in three, so this attack is a more riskier than the German one and it basically leaves Africa to the Germans and the Japanese transport on SZ61 left alone.
3. If Germany attacks Egypt then the UK can at least counter it once and destroy the German armor left there.
4. If Germany does not attack Egypt then most likely it will create a stack on Libya to pressure Egypt on G2 - and with no UK fleet on the Indian Ocean and a KJF in progress that means that it will be impossible to reinforce Africa from the Germans.
5. Which may not be a bad thing since it will divert units from the Russian front but at the expense of the UK’s income dropping and Germany turning into a monster.

See? I’m not entirely convinced of the necessity of Soviet FTR on Egypt… (plus it takes it away from the Russian front) or at least the game can be more interesting without it there.

2. How about this, I am not saying it’s better than the above strategy, I am just brainstorming. What if Russia takes out Ukraine and Belorussia, and isolate German forces in W.Russia ? It would be kind of fun to do that move just to test out, how that plays out taking out Belorussia and Ukraine, while Germans are isolated i W.Russia.
   There is no way for Germany to take on Moscow or Caucasus with 3 INF, 1 Art, 1 Tank but they could strike Arkangelsk, however, Arkangelsk will be reinforced with 2 INF from Evenki. And if they strike Arkangelsk, there will be fewer German forces that can take Leningrad. Germany would have to let 1 German INF stay at W-Russia or else Russian tanks can just blitz through on R2. � It would be interesting to try.

Ukraine still ranks number one to me because of the destruction inflicted upon the Germans (6 units destroyed) plus it protects Caucasus. If you don’t attack West Russia, then the move is for the Germans to take control of Karelia, without Russia being able to contest it on R2. Belorussia is a nice alternative to the Ukraine but it can still leave the Caucasus vulnerable to a German attack.

But back to the safe option 1). When Russia does what I argued for, I think we agree, then UK can attack the Japanese E.Indies fleet. Now, I’ve found out how to put more pressure on Japan on FIC, so that Japan has to commit most of their forces to defending FIC. With E-Indies fleet gone and dead, UK can move 3 INF from India to Burma, now UK has 4 INF on Burma.

Besides 4 UK INF on Burma, UK can move 1 INF from Iran to India. UK Transport from India should get a tank from Egypt to India. Then UK can buy 3 Tanks, 1 FTR + 1 INF or save 3 IPC, but UK should buy 3 Tanks and 1 FTR. � Put those 3 Tanks on India, that makes UK having 4 Tanks on India and 1 INF + 4 INF on Burma. � � Move 1 INF from Syria to Egypt, so that UK has 2 INF + 1 Artillery there. � 1 FTR which has been bought, should be put on London. � Whatever is left of UK Fleet after the attack on E-Indies should land back on India if any UK FTR survived.

And finally, a UK bomber should fly to Caucasus, making it able to strike FIC on UK2 with 4 Tanks, 4 INF and possibly 1 FTR if it survives after the E-Indies attack.

So the whole thing is extremely connected to what UK can do based on what Russia has done for the UK on R1, which should be flying a Russian FTR to Egypt, that’s all Russia has to do, and then it’s UK showtime:)

Nasty. Question is, who does Russia defend from Germany?

@UrJohn:

I have read some criticism of the standard 9/10 VC victory condition, and it made me think about the victory cities.

Here’s what I came up with:
–The VCs don’t matter at all unless it’s the 9th for the Axis or 10th for the Allies for the standard victory or unless it’s the 13th one for the total victory. The IPCs, Industrial Complexes, and Capitals attached to the spaces matter, but the VCs themselves don’t.
–That last VC means everything.
–Players don’t necessarily worry about every single VC. Whereas, in the real war, both sides were majorly concerned with protecting all of those cities that belonged to their sides.
–Players will sometimes make otherwise ridiculous attacks on a VC when success in the attack automatically wins the game.

VCs on the 1st Edition of the game were useless, no one plays for the all-VC victory and the Axis could only get the 9 VC by conquering Russia, which pretty much meant game over since the Allies would concede at that point.
But on 2nd Edition, with Honolulu as VC the scenario completely changes for Axis. If the Axis retain Berlin, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Shanghai and Manila, while conquering Honolulu, Calcutta and Leningrad at the end of the US turn, they win without having to conquer Moscow. This makes the 9 VC scenario a lot more attractive for Axis - specially when the Allies go KGF and leave Honolulu up for Japan to grab.
And you need to worry about all the VCs - otherwise the US can land and liberate one for a single turn and deny the Axis victory.

@AxisBrutality:

I’ve played it now the whole weekend, and these are my thoughts.

Allies are at some serious and brutal disadvantage. Russians opening turn counts for what UK can do next.

1. I would forget about the Russian FTR on Moscow. That thing has to fly to Egypt and make sure Germany can NOT attack Egypt. If the Russian FTR is not there, the whole thing collapses and UK can’t attack Japanese fleet on East Indies without UK FTR on Egypt.  Even if you don’t attack Japanese Fleet, it is still nice to have that UK FTR which can fill in the Carrier so that Carrier has 2 FTR on it + UK Fleet can merge on SZ30 as an option if a UK player wants to expand UK-India fleet right away.   Also a UK Destroyer outside Syria will most likely not be attacked by Germany if Germany can’t stage an attack on Egypt. Usually the German Battleship goes other way around, towards the Gibraltar.

Had a few games myself as Allies. The issue is that the R1 options are almost the same as 1st Ed. (I hadn’t remembered about the Soviet fighter landing on Egypt - nice) but afterwards 2nd Ed is a complete new game regarding Allied strategy because of the different map and how to pull off a KGF/KJF, while the Axis moves remain almost the same from 1st Ed.

My only objection with the move of the Soviet fighter to Egypt is that it tips off Germany of a KJF possibility (and have them starting to pile up on ground units to move against Russia) and it removes 1 key Soviet unit during two rounds against the Germans.

2. Russia can actually strike 3 German areas at once, Belorussia, West Russia and Ukraine. Although it is not recommended, Russia lose to much armor, and I don’t like that, it does put some pressure on Germany as in Germany having no chance to build boats on G1, since the whole eastern front is wiped out, and they have to use forces from Poland and Bulgaria-Romania to take back Ukraine and Belorussia.

Advantage for Russia is though that it’s IPC is increased to 30, but armor and artilleries do suffer. Disadvantage for the UK, Egypt will most likely be attacked and there is no chance to even consider an attack on Japanese E-Indies fleet since the UK FTR from Egypt will be destroyed.

With lowluck it is safe to attack Belo, WRus and Ukraine, but with regular dice the odds of winning all three attacks drop to about 60%. Even if the Soviets win Germany should invest on the ground and counter all three territories to destroy those Soviet units and force them to counterattack.

2)Another option is to attack the whole Northern Flank, but Russia will need BOTH FTR to do it, so again, it sucks for Egypt and the UK.

However, advantage for Russia is that Germany can’t send sick, brutal force into Leningrad right away, as they can with the other options.

If Russia attacks Finland with 2 INF, 1 Armor and 1 FTR and then attack at the same time Belorussia with 2 INF + 1 Artillery + 1 FTR then the rest of the forces can destroy West-Russia with losing 2-3 Russian INF.

2 INF from Evenki need to go to Arkangelsk to create a small wall against Germany. 1 INF from Novosibirsk, can be sent to Sinkiang and 1 INF from Kazakstan to the area where U.S. FTR + 2 INF are.

This way, Leningrad is under a lot LESS pressure, there is not much Germany can send to Leningrad, 3 INF and 4 Armor.

Russia can build 8 INF. Put 4 INF on Caucasus, 4 INF on Moscow.

Against me you’ll lose WRus on G1. Soviets will have 1 AA, 6 INF (assuming 2 INF lost), 1 ART and 3 ARM on WRus. Germans send 3 INF, 1 ART, 3 ARM, 5 FTRs, 1 BMR, that’s 91% odds. Germans would also attack Karelia, Finland, Belorussia and stack Ukraine.

@lukef17:

Now I see this. 42 2nd edition.
I already have AA50. Is this worth picking up? How does it compare to AA50?
How does it compare to 1st edition?

Regarding complexity, it’s the same as the original AA42, without the tech, NOs and Italy/China of AA50. The map has more territories and some key changes but the original layout is also still based on AA42.

Strategy wise, it’s close to AA42 but it is also very different - the 9 VC victory condition can now be won by the Axis without taking Moscow while KJF can have stronger odds than on any of the previous versions.

@Cromwell_Dude:

Ok, thought I could add some thing of substance here. I have the new 1942 game set up, however, I am just looking at it. I have not played the game, yet.

Are there any players that prefer to play as the Allies that have also played the new game as the Axis Powers? I would like to know your impressions.

No one likes to lose, so I am curious how people that may like Japan’s reduction in power with this 2nd Edition have enjoyed playing as the Axis themselves.

I have played 3 games as Allies, 1 as Axis, and my last one was again as Allies. I kinda realized a couple of very interesting things after my last game.

1. The Axis start with a big increase in units but the Allies have the edge on the medium and long run term. The longer the Allies retain India, Africa and contest Karelia the more time they’ll have to bring their income advantage into play.
2. Japan has 2 good moves on Asia: a) send a spearhead through the Szechwan-Kazakh axis to threaten the Soviet backdoor (and allow for further German advance in eastern Europe; b) commit everything to take India and its IC. Option c) conquer the Soviet territories is the slowest and it diverts units away from the other ones.
3. The Axis need to take Africa, secure Karelia or conquer India/Asia until round 4-5. After that the Allied income advantage really starts getting into play. Any of those 2 ICs and/or Egypt are the key to
   Axis victory.

@Cow:

well yeah, the beta for trip a takes awhile, because of new rules etc. takes time.

Actually I heard it’s already playable, the only issues remaining are graphic and some missing territory connections.

I think it is called… v5?

@Cow:

online play has been adjusted on triple a. however trip a does not have this map yet. usually you have to wait 1-6 months before it gets programmed etc.

I heard there’s already a beta being tested…

@Mallery29:

Well I’m just wondering where my error is, because I have it about 70% (which is great for the axis), so I figure I’m not carrying the one somewhere…

The key factors are:

• Number of German transports and planes that can reach the UK at G3
• UK1 and UK2 purchases

A lot can happen to change those…

@Mallery29:

curious about the 59%…shouldn’t it be higher?

That number needs to be recalculated every time you try this. This move is basically a gamble and for some, 60% odds are just great.

@wittman:

Can’t lose the Philippines either, so have to block the US if they come that way.(Why wouldn’t you?) If on J1 you attack Burma and the 3 Chinese territories you can reach and build an IC in Manchuria, you can place your fleet on the Philippines on J2 and that should blunt US’s aggression. I think that should buy the Axis the time to win a 3 VC victory.

Yeah, agree with the basic outline although you’ll need to get more units closer to India and Manchuria is a lot far (5 spaces) to reach India. That’s why you’ll need the fleet to protect the transports.

@kcdzim:

No.  No aircraft is fired on more than once.  You’re limited either by the total number of shots your AAA can have OR by the number of air units - whichever is less.

To me this is the easiest way to figure it out - multiply the number of AAAs per 3 and compare it to the total number of attacking planes. The lesser number is the dice rolled for AA shots.

@Petebu:

Thanks.

Hobbes, any good advice on a KJF. What should Jpaan buy on the first round? Later rounds?

Haven’t played Axis yet. Japan’s got a better position on the Pacific but after a while it can’t fight both the IC and the US fleet at the same time from my experience as Allies.
If the UK attacks SZ37 and that UK carrier is still standing then you need to smoke it (along with the UK transports) or you’ll risk losing East Indies or Borneo on UK2.
My idea would be to for an IC and or just transports and then just focus to building ground units and pushing them towards India, including those involved on the J1 attacks. The propose of your fleet switches from stopping the US to protecting the J transports as much as possible and delaying US landings on Borneo/East Indies as much as possible, for that you can always add some bombers that can also be used on Asia.

@wittman:

Or read this thread!Nice plan.  Remind me not to play you Hobbes.

LOL :D

@Mallery29:

Don’t forget the AA gun  :wink:
I think you would have to take into account what the Russians would buy/do before you commit…a 4inf/2arm buy could do lots of damage to Germany…you could do it, but any failure would be auto game over for the axis.

Yup. This is starting to sound to me like a possible move if a lot of factors are met (one of which is ignorance of that this move can be made) but not really a valid strategy against a player who has faced it before.

An interesting theoretical possibility:

G1

• Buy 1 carrier (place in Baltic), 9 infantry
• Attack SZ10 and SZ7. Attack SZ14 and land 1 inf on Gibraltar.

(UK buys ground units for India and 2 fighters, attacks SZ37, US goes KJF)

G2

• Buy 5 transports, 1 destroyer or 6 transports (if UK did not buy air for London)

UK buys 6 infantry, 2 arm, for a total of 8 inf, 1 aaGun, 1 art, 3 arm, 4 ftrs and 2 bombers (1 UK, 1 US)

G3

• Attacks with 7 transports (7 inf, 7 arm, 5 ftrs, 1 bmr) - wins 59% - if there’s an 8th transport… or the 6 German fighter…

To work the question is really about the UK1 move - if the UK (and the US) focus completely on KJF and leave the German Med fleet alive and in position on SZ14 until G3… and the German fighter on Ukraine survives… interesting…

@jhett07:

Anyways, I played the as the allies, and I’m just gonna throw out there it’s a good thing I wasn’t in charge during WWII.  I basically didn’t have any direction or game plan going into it.  My U.S. fleet was split between atlantic and pacific (I now think I probably should have committed to atlantic) russia was probably doing the best, although the tactic seemed fairly obvious for russia, just hold the line, I didn’t really have a strategy with Britain either, and now that I think about it I probably should have considered turning them into more of a major air power since their fleet was destroyed on germany’s turn.  There were a few times when I think a small spot of hope shined, but I quickly screwed those away just by stupid stupid moves which I seemed to realize RIGHT after I completed my turn.  I also learned why it was very important to have a good mix of infantry and tanks to defend rather than ALL TANKS (infantry seemed to be the guys that were demolishing everything during my defense turns).  Anyways, all in all it was pretty fun game.  I think I’ll be better prepared next time.

The Allies have a steeper learning curve than the Axis - I am still getting used to them myself on this edition. The usual infantry to artillery/armor ratio is usually between 1:2 and 1:3 - allows you to soak up any losses on inexpensive infantry and continue attacking.

Also, just a question on the strategy side.  I noticed with fleets that they cant really attack anything but other ships (unless unloading which would be the bombardment),  is naval superiority a huge thing?  Or should I just consider abandoning one of the seas and concentrate on one?  It just felt like I was way to split with America.

Usually is was better to focus on either the Atlantic or the Pacific. The trick with navy is that you need to buy just enough to defeat the other guy’s navy and also to protect your transports from air attacks but without overspending and leaving you with a nice shiny fleet but unable to threaten landings.

@jhett07:

How do I know how many hits a unit can take?  Does it matter what unit successfully hits another unit (ex. does an artillery piece do more damage than an infantry piece, or are they both the same, and all that matters is whether it actually lands a hit?)

Also, when I said battleship and 4 hits, I was referring to the game battleship…I should have clarified :P

And If I attack all of the pieces on that territory, lets say I get past 3 of them without getting hit, but I hit them.  Do they all take damage/die?  Or does it work where I can only attack one at a time?..Or (I think I just had an epiphany) I only roll once, and he rolls all of his once, and we just decide that way?

You place all the attacking units and the defending units present on the territoryon the battlestrip. Then the attacker rolls the same number of dice as the number of units on his strip category (1s, 2s, 3s, 4). The total amount of attacker hits is announced. The defender then assigns hits to units and moves them to the casualty zone or off strip. It then rolls the same number of dice as the number of his units (both still alive and the ones who just got removed) and the attacker assigns them to this own units, removing them immediately. If the territory is not conquered attacker decides either to press the attack (and do another round of fighting) or retreat.