Posts made by Hobbes

@jhett07:

Hey guys, sorry if this is in the wrong category, but I couldn’t find a rules, or faq, or new player category.

I’m currently serving in the middle east, and to break up the monotony I ordered axis and allies 1942 2nd edition.  We have risk, but I’ve never been very fond of that game, seems to simplistic to me.  I’ve always been drawn to the strategic sea battles, bombardments, air battles, etc etc in this game.  So for the first time playing it and reading the supplied rules, we found ourselves scratching our heads at certain points where there seemed to be no direction.  If you could take some time to answer some questions, I would really appreciate it.

1.  During the battle phase, it simply says put all attacking and all defending units on the battle strip.  Does this include every unit in the territory?  Because I was using a fighter, and the space had some tanks and infantry, so would they be thrown on the strip as well to take out my fighter?  That just doesn’t make sense to me so I’m doubting that’s the case.  Also, if I attacked a bomber with a fighter, and the space also had AAA and an enemy fighter on it as well, would the defender use the AAA, fighter, and bomber for defense rolls?  Is the fighter optional?

When you’re attacking a territory you can’t attack specific units, but you attack all of the enemy units on that territory. On your example all of those units would defend against the fighter: tanks, infantry, AAA, fighter and bomber

2.  Do units take any kind of damage counters, or does it work in a way where if they are successfully hit by an attacking force, they are simply destroyed (easiest example to think of for me is battleship…the ship gets hit but doesnt sink until 4 successful hits).  Also on that, if I successfully hit one out of 3 units of the defending force, do I decide what is destroyed, the defender, or do we roll a die or something to let chance decide?

The owner of the units decides to which ones are removed from the battlestrip, both for the attacker and the defender, with the defender choosing first before firing back. And the Battleship can only take 2 hits, not 4.

I can’t really think of anymore blaring questions right now, but I’m sure I’ll have more.  Learning this game for the first time with (what I believe) a very vague rulebook is about as fun as slamming my head against a wall repeatedly.  If you guys can help me out (mainly with the battlephase) I would really appreciate this.  If at all possible, just describe the whole battle phase as detailed as possible.  Three of us have been skimming the net to find anything about our questions and our searches have returned fruitless.  I hope that doesn’t just mean everyone else gets it and we’re stupid :P.

Again, thanks for any help at all.

Just keep asking :)

@Mallery29:

Destroying the German SS fleet is hard to do, especially if they have FTR/Bomber coverage….UK1, add FTR.  US1 add 4DD, 1Trans, move CA to EUS.  UK2 save cash for UK3 (buy D for India though)…US2 buy 2DD, 2Trans, dudes, move US1 fleet to Canada.

I really think the US needs 1 carrier on US1 otherwise it will be a pain when or if Japanese fighters start appearing in Europe.

UK3 drop two Carriers and possibly DD or Trans. US3, move US1 fleet to protect the CVs. US3 buy should consist of more DD/Trans/Troops.  Germany can’t defend both Belgium and France enough for you to land troops wave after wave without giving up significant numbers on the Russian front.  UK can start UK4 dropping troops/trans….it will be hard, and most likely give up the Pacific as a whole (I would recommend this route if you ARE NOT playing VC, and going for total victory). If playing VC, you will have to stalemate Hawaii with Japan.  Russia must not fall into a land grab trap and not sac its arts either.  Russia MUST be able to hold the line for 5 rounds. If you can do that, France will fall.  Again, this is more of a non-VC strat of KGF, so please take that into account.

This is basically the 2 US fleet buildup and the problem I’ve found (also in 1st Ed.) is that the UK/US can’t really do nothing more than trade those 2 territories and give zero or minimal assistance to the Soviets against both Germans and Japanese by this time of the game.
One possible solution I’m going to try is to land instead on Finland and focus on keeping Germany off Karelia.

Just tried my first KGF and failed. Here’s a few after thoughts about how to do it.

US - 2 transport fleets, 1 defense fleet

• SZ11 (US) to SZ13 (Morocco)
• SZ10 (E. Canada) to SZ3 (Norway/Finland) or SZ8 (France/NW Europe)

US - 3 transport fleets, 2 defense fleets (1 to prevent bomber attacks on SZ7)

• SZ10 (E. Canada) to SZ7 (UK) - 2 fleets required, plus 1 fleet on SZ5/6/8 (France, NW Europe, Norway, Finland, Karelia, Baltic States, Germany).

The US 2 fleet buildup allows for less money required to build the necessary transports (4 for each fleet, plus necessary escorts) and to start having an impact on Europe. The US can also merely switch to reinforcing Finland and ease German pressure on Karelia. The main disadvantage is the limited choice of landing options and flexibility to switch between beachheads.
The US 3 fleet buildup essentially gives the US the same abilities in Europe as the UK, allowing it to hit all major land territories, including Germany. Another possibility is to switch the 3 fleets southwards and instead make the shuck to Morocco and then hit Italy/Southern Europe.

@Slackaveli:

@Petebu:

I am thinking that the attack on Egypt is must now with the 2 games you won as the Allies. I have not played the new game yet and I cannot wait, I will be the Axis. Do you have any other advice as the axis player in this new ediition?

put your fleets together and squash the USA lol.

I actually wondered about if the Axis player was going to try that on my 2nd game. He had bought a carrier and an IC on round 1, then joined both fleets together off France and ended up with 6 transports plus 2 carriers but he never got enough to try Sea Lion. However, if the Germans landed in Canada, then it would be 12 US units against 16 German ones, so I had to keep units in range while playing KJF.

@Cow:

Hobbes, ukraine russia round 1 or not? Big debate about it on forum.

3 games as Allies, so far I did Ukraine on all of them, only the first one failed. I’ve only used 2 armor in all 3 attacks though and if I can kill all German units except for the fighter I will pull it back.

The odds are exactly the same as in Spring 42 and it is the single attack that the Soviets can make to hit Germany hard. And if you can pull back and leave the fighter that’s even better, although it will be bad news for the Atlantic.

@wittman:

I am new to 1942, so thank you for your ideas.
In Anniversary games I have played,  both sides  used to have a DD build up and Subs seem to have been ignored. 1940 has seen the Sub’s resurgence for good reasons. Just seemed they are not as necessary in 1942.

The baseline is still the 42 1st Ed. I haven’t played much Anniversary but I never went for German naval builds as well there, even though they are common. With the Allies going KGF any German Baltic fleets are toast, the question is how long they can survive and harass the Allied naval buildup, while on KJF you’ll rather need the 14 IPCs spent on a carrier rather to be on land. Just the surviving German subs and its airpower are usually enough to deter any UK naval build up on round 1 and the Indian IC sucks up a lot of the UK’s income.

I love conquering Russia and understand you have to match them unit for unit, or you won’t defeat them. Buying  Baltic Navy does not help Germany, I know. Without NOs or a VC in Egypt, you are right, Africa can become a sideshow unless you take it all and bankrupt the UK.
And they can always build a Factory in SA and stop you.

@wittman:

I would definitely buy Naval on G1 and G2, just not a Sub.

To me that is precisely the moment where you need to buy ground units to use against the Soviets 1-2 turns later.  * Germany can stack Karelia on round 1 or 2 (with enough units so that Soviets can’t retake it), depending on Soviet purchases and moves.

• Or, Germany can stack Ukraine on round 1-2, again depending on Soviet purchases/moves.
• Either move forces the Soviets to keep a stack on West Russia or to move it to Caucasus, giving Germany more leverage on the Eastern Front and facilitating Japanese advance (unless there’s a KJF in place)
• The Baltic fleet is not that important - it is convenient to have a way to drop 2 INF on Scandinavia or Karelia but if you can get a stream of German infantry moving into Karelia then it is much more useful than having the Baltic fleet.
• Putting more resources to the Med is wasteful. Germany starts earning 3 IPC from Africa and if it conquers Egypt it gets to 5 IPC. Just sending 1 INF and 1 ARM to Africa costs 9 IPC to Germany - invest too much with Germany and you’ll only get your investment back if you conquer the whole of Africa and keep it for a few turns.
• Also, any units sent to Africa are less units to be used against the Soviets. Since Germans and Soviets are usually earning 40 and 29 IPC by trading Karelia, Belo and Ukraine, sending those 9 IPC means that that Germany and Russia are deploying the almost same number of units per round against one another. That is not good, if you are trying to reach Moscow while Japan is facing a KJF :)

With the new VC the Axis strategy really changes - on 1st Edition it was conquer Moscow, then get the necessary VCs to win. Here it depends on KGF (conquer Calcutta and Honolulu, secure Leningrad, Paris, Rome and Berlin) or KJF (conquer a combination of Calcutta/Honolulu/Leningrad/Moscow, while securing enough of your starting VCs for a win).

@Petebu:

Do you think it is better for germany to not buy ships and go hard after Russia?

IMO, the best naval units for G would be submarines because they are immune from single planes but that only works until the Allies drop a fleet strong enough to defeat it.

It’s really that Germany needs to control Karelia as quickly as possible, either on KGF or KJF - then Germany can either focus on pushing towards Moscow or dealing with Allied landings.

@oztea:

The US can’t do anything but trade boats with Japan.
And they can’t send more than a trickle to Europe, to help the beleaguered UK.

Germany only lost one sub (in SZ 7) on G1, and UK attacked the Japanese fleet near java and only killed the carrier.
Very bad game for the allies.

I’ve played twice as Allies with the US going full Pacific and won. First one the UK attacked SZ17 instead of 37 and sunk the German Med fleet, second one the UK attacked SZ37 and won. On both scenarios Japan just runs into a lot of problems trying to conquer the Indian IC and to stop the US in check. On Europe Germany went naval on both and the UK merely bought fighters (and ground units for India) and forced it into a naval race which helped the Soviets in preventing Germany deploying enough ground forces to control Karelia.

@MEGAEINSTEIN:

I am talking about the portuguese coast line, its completely wong

Yes. And as we also can see from the board, the world is not round but flat and if you try to reach the supposed ‘poles’ you’ll drop off the board and die.

Seriously, after 25 years of Portugal being a part of Spain on all A&A maps until Europe 40 came out you’re complaining that it is badly drawn? Well, join all the other countries who have been complaining about their borders since the first game came out :D

@Cow:

so yes, welcome to 5th edition LOL.

:)

I’ve played so far two games (and won both as Allies) of the new version and I am pleased with the changes - nothing too complicated but at the same time the possibility or not of both G1 attack on Egypt and the UK1 attack on SZ37 really determine the game’s flavor towards KJF or not.
On my first game I skipped SZ37 and instead sunk the German fleet off SZ17 (after a failed Egypt, where he killed the UK fighter but failed to take the territory). On the 2nd, the Germans decided to reunite both Baltic and Med fleets (and actually try a Sea Lion strategy later but failed) and the UK hit SZ37 and sank the entire Japanese fleet.
Both I went KJF and on both the Germans went for a naval purchase on G1 and later (the UK simply kept building fighters) and as a result the Germans couldn’t then advance against the Soviets… some things didn’t change on this edition ;)

@AbuMaju:

no im not even talking about that, i’m saying when i put the boards together the BORDERS don’t match up… everything is offset

The boards are designed to be placed in a specific disposition for playing. If you change the way they are supposed to be played, don’t complaint about the results. And if you are looking for a realistic map… try the Army or the Ministry of Geography ;)

@Cow:

Well this is the third edition actually.

5th edition - first was the Nova edition, then Classic, Revised, Spring 1942 1st Ed and now 2nd Ed.

Just played my first game yesterday, winning as Allies.

Soviets started with a West Russia and Ukraine attacks, with the latter failing to kill the tank and fighter. Germany sunk SZ7, 14 and 17 but failed the attack on Egypt, took Karelia and stacked Ukraine.
UK bought 2 ftrs, 2 inf and 1 art, sunk German fleet on SZ17, captured New Guinea and eliminated the German cruiser on SZ7 and the transport on SZ5, placing the infantry on India.
Japan went for Pearl lite, 2 Chinese territories (leaving out the one with the US fighter) and tried to kill the UK fleet off New Guinea but pulled back after losing a fighter.

Afterwards the US went full Pacific and with the Indian IC managed to contain Japan on Asia but advance on the Pacific was slow. The UK managed to drop a fleet on the Atlantic on UK4 but meanwhile the Germans had crushed the Soviets on Caucasus and on turn 6 tried to get Moscow but failed and my opponent conceded.

@oztea:

except in 1st edition the transport defended and could be taken as a casualty.

On Spring 1942, 1st Edition you have defenseless transports, that’s why sinking the UK Battleship and transport got so popular as an opening move. On previous Revised the rule is as you described.

@oztea:

Well it wouldn’t be so bad if the UK wasn’t losing a BB and Trans also.

One of the most common German openings on 1st Edition is to attack the UK BB+transport, the Med cruiser and destroyer and Egypt. Here you can inflict even more damage to the Allies at sea but Egypt/Africa are safer - it is a matter of deciding what to do with the UK Indian Ocean resources.

@squirecam:

@oztea:

Well US transports used to defend at 1, which made a 2 SS vs 1 DD 2 TR a bit of a toss up.

Now its 2 SS sinking 22 IPCs worth of boats without blinking.

Which is kinda what really happened to US ships in 1942……

As to balance…eh its early. A few MONTHS of playing will be needed to determine a bid, not a few games.

Completely agree. The overall changes look balanced at first sight and the Allies continue to have the steeper learning curve.

@wittman:

Both my friend and I cannot see much hope for the Allies either. Unfortunately could only play one round, but Germany eliminating all but 1 UK ship on Atlantic side and Egypt about to be captured on G2 and Rest of Africa looking lost with little US help available is depressing for Allies. (Sank US Atlantic Fleet.)

The standard G1 moves for 1st Edition haven’t changed much - usually Germany could take Egypt on G1 and only sink 1 Allied fleet in the Atlantic. Now it is very risky to try Egypt and it can sink 2 Allied fleets. May look depressing but to me it doesn’t mean that the game is lost for Allies.

Japan, despite losing EI fleet, can take 4 territories killing all 6 Chinese and build a useful Factory too. Russia has to send units East.

The real question is really if Japan can stand on the long run against an Indian IC and a US KJF in place. Russia does not need to send units East - Buryatia, SFE and Yakut are a waste to try to recapture and the main advantage of Russia is that it can trade space over time, specially now on Asia since it takes a little longer to reach Moscow from that side.

Not sure I can see how Allies with only 20-25 IP advantage to begin with can catch up with the Axis before their Victory conditions are met.

The key cities now are Leningrad, Calcutta and Moscow/Honolulu. If the US goes KJF it would seem unlikely that Japan can take Hawaii so the Axis will have to switch to taking Moscow. If the US does not go KJF then the Axis simply need to secure Leningrad, Calcutta and Honolulu. In that case the key is really to prevent the capture of the 3rd city by the Allies.

@miamiumike:

So, last night was able to play my 2nd official game of AA42-2E. Now - we are playing using the FTF tournament rules that are used at Origins and GenCon - 5 hour game - most VC at the end of the time wins - unless one side gets the OOB victory conditions. We also used a chess clock to time our moves and this added a sense of urgency.

Russians started out well with 2 attacks on the Germans with minimal losses. Germany responded by eliminating the UK BB/Trans, the Us DD and 2 Trans and bought a carrier and destroyer and men (more on that later).

UK put the IC in India to immediate use buying 3 armor - but did not have enough money to even think about a fleet. Rather, they decided to buy a few extra inf to make sure Germany did not get too frisky. UK attacked the Japan fleet - and lost - offsetting the gains Russia made. They did take Borneo and sank the German BB and Transport.

Japan decided to build a complex in Manchuria, and attacked all 4 US territories- while not taking them all, they did kill the US fighter. They also bought a 3rd carrier. The US consolidated its pretty significant fleet off the West Coast and added to it a ton.

And so it went - the Germans kept adding subs and planes and men - the UK was never able to get enough cash to put a decent fleet into the water without it most likely getting killed. The US had a huge fleet and moved out on turn 3 - but Japan was up to the task with a 4th carrier group.

Eventually, Germany took Karelia - as Russia could not get units there (2 spaces between Moscow and Karelia). Axis slowly pushed forward into Russian territory and also into Africa. UK had a large number of units in India, but needed to send some back to Russia - which blunted their ability to press Japan. On turn 5, US decided it was now or never on the attack of the Japan fleet - but was soundly beaten. At that point the Allies sued for peace.

Some observations:

1. The UK attack on the Japan fleet in East Indies is viable - I think they have an advantage there - maybe 60-40. BUT - it is certainly a high risk, high reward attack and some may not want to risk that so early in the game. If it goes well, its great - if UK breaks even or loses, it can be a problem.

Odds are 60 something as you mention and I haven’t played yet but if you lose…

2. I see a German carrier (and destroyer) being a standard purchase on round 1. In fact, I will make the statement that if done, the UK may never have a legit shot at getting a fleet in the water. There is not a spot on the board where the UK can drop a fleet where the Germans cannot get at it. By putting the carrier in the water, adding subs and a fighter here and there, the UK just cannot build a fleet - unless they save for 1-2 turns and buy next to nothing for India.

I’ve had this discussion on another thread, the UK merely needs to buy 2 fighters each round, use the rest on India, and deal with the German surface ships first. Afterwards the leftover fighters can go to Moscow or where needed.

The UK can also build a destroyer on SZ6 to block German ships and subs from reaching SZ7.

@AxisBrutality:

Then on UK2 it builds 2 more fighters and it now has 6 FTRs and 1 BMR against the German Baltic fleet. Germany has to build more naval on G3 else its carrier, fighters, cruiser and transport are dead on UK3. And the leftover Allied fighters can still go to Moscow after they sink the German fleet.

I’m already used to that UK fleet being blasted away on the majority of the hundreds of games I’ve played Spring 1942 1st Ed. - apparently that’s news to you though…

Apparently the world class player hasn’t figured it out yet… building ANY British ships on UK waters on UK1 will usually suicide and a waste because of the Germans power and the new SZ dispositions.
The US can’t reach and reinforce an UK fleet with its starting ships so the UK can only place 1 carrier and 2 destroyers, together with the Soviet sub and 2 FTRs. The Germans should have 2-3 subs, plus most airforce in range, so any naval buys on UK1 are a waste if the Germans can reach and sink them.

The best UK1 buy on that situation actually 2 FTRs, 2 INF, 1 ART, put the fighters on UK and the ground units to India.

1 fighter from the fleet off India, the other from Egypt, remaining units (bomber) land on Egypt. That retains the 4 FTRs on the UK to use against the Baltic fleet.

Yupiii… the East Indies fleet is safe… wait, didn’t that happened already on 1st Edition and the Axis could still lose the game?

1. Yes, UK can continue to buy 2 FTR each round, but that is NOT what UK is “made” for. UK needs to have a fleet outside London, and push units against Germany, this is normal and pretty much logical.  Letting a UK fleet outside London sink, makes UK totally crippled.

I don’t need to buy more naval units with Germany than what I said I will do. G1 = Battleship and maybe a Transport, but Battleship + 7 INF is a very good buy.   G2 turn = Carrier + 1 ART + 8 INF. So the funny part is that UK is letting it’s fleet getting wiped out while Germany expands it’s fleet and takes out your 4 FTR if you ever decide to attack on UK2.

As you said, you would need 6 FTR. Remember, there is NO UK Bomber left anymore to attack Baltic Fleet on UK2, because as you said, you would land your UK Bomber on Egypt, the only possible place to land because I took Syria.
Then try to guess what happens to that UK Bomber in Egypt on G2 turn ?

Still don’t need it… 1 carrier, 1 cruiser and 2 fighters (if the Germans don’t build anything else) against 6 UK fighters it’s 91% odds for the Brits. And that assumes that Germany can take Egypt on G2 (i.e. that the UK didn’t move 2 INF there from India and everything else that can reaches it.

So basically, you would have only 4 FTR to attack German Baltic Sea fleet with on UK2. Germany on the other hand has BB, Carrier with 2 FTR +  Cruiser + Transport. If you want to commit suicide with 4 UK FTR, be my guest, but it’s not going to be fun for the UK Air Force. You will get 2 hits with 4 FTR and then they die, one of the hits is absorbed by the German Battleship.

UK simply continues buying fighters on UK2 and UK3 - 8 fighters on UK4 and the German fleet of 1 battleship, 1 carrier, 1 cruiser and 2 fighters is toast, while the US also builds its presence on the UK to wipe out any survivors. And the UK still has 2-4 fighters off to Moscow or elsewhere while Germany most loses the ability to challenge the Atlantic. And that’s 34 IPCs spent by Germany that could now be 11 infantry defending France from Allied landings or being used against Russia. Gone. And the Allies didn’t even had to land to kill the equivalent of those units.