Posts made by K-Ration

I’m curious Yanny, would you mind detailing exactly what you don’t agree with?

I’ll be trying both, to be sure, along with City of Heroes.

So many coming out, I wish one of them would get here!

I’m not big on PvP, so I’ll probably not spend the money. =/

Not big on the point and move interface either, but everything else you mentioned sounds great!

As for SWG, the release date was originally the 15th of this month, but they have pushed it back, and I’m not sure what the new date is.

In other words, I have no idea.

=)

Thanks for the info!

I’ve just been sittin around waiting for the new SWG release date……

Can you give me the 2 minute drill? I might be interested, but know nothing about it.

I’ll head to the website now, but I find testimonials much more informative. =)

‘K-Ration - I would still be 3 years to retirement… doubt I would have made it…’

Yeah, I hear ya…

It’s nice to think about though, I work for the 'Gov as it is, and in another 20 years I could be drawing two pensions… =/

I served 3 years in the Army and have been out for 11……

My reasons for joining sound pretty similar to yours. =)

I graduated from H.S., tried a few semesters in college and was floundering around, not sure what to do with my life. I’ve always loved the military, so I gave it a shot. Best move I ever made! Worst move I ever made was leaving!

It sounds like you’ve passed the Army entrance test? IIRC, that will determine which jobs you are qualified for. Hopefully something you like.

When I joined, I picked the MOS that qualified me for the College Fund, yet had the shortest enlistment time. (I did want to finishschool, eventually)
Not just the GI Bill, mind you, all qualify for that, make sure it gets you the College Fund too.

You’ll have to find out which jobs qualify, but I’d make that a requirement, in case you do decide to go on with school.

The other great thing about it - you can get a lot of free and cheap schooling while you are in. You should be able to get a GED, they have free CLEP tests for college credit, and most bases offer classes as well.

I regret not taking more of an advantage of it, so don’t pass that by.

That’s all I can think of at the moment, good luck with whatever you choose!

@Yanny:

druid or dr00d?

I haven’t quite figured out how to use lewt speak, so i just use normal characters =p

To reply to the first post….

Retired 60 assling drood on Vazaelle.

Come on SWG!

Thanks for the post BB! =)

It seems to me that unless taken early, India becomes quite insurmountible. (at least when played by me! =p)

Approximating here, but if things go well, on turn 2 I will have 7 men and 3 planes; turn 3 ten men 5-6 planes. From then on, 3 men and a plane (from England) as cash flow permits. At this point any battle there is a huge ouchie for Japan, unless they ignore everything else on the board. Either way, this is the delaying tatic it was meant to be, and will probably hold back Japan for at least a few turns. They just cant ignore it.

Excepting the last game, I’ve never been in a position where Japan has owned the 3 surrounding Russian territories, and I’ve had to swap for them. (Lucky me!)

But realistically, this scenario won’t be taking place for quite a few turns yet, and by then the fate of the IC will have had to be reconciled. I understand the strategy of reinforcing with other allied units to help keep those territories, I just haven’t had to do it yet =)

In this scenario, Russia will have no planes to counter with, leaving it up to the USA and UK. That’s fine with me. others might think it bad to ever lose the Russian planes, as they cant afford tanks….

According to the Japanese strategy they use their air power to easily take those Russian lands; hopefully though, the large majority of them will have been sacrificed. The question is, is this worth it, considering the losses of material and the IC the allies will take?

My gut tells me that losing 3-4 planes in the first turn is a crippling blow to Japan, but then again, y’all have set me straight on many other false ideas i’ve had, so I thought I’d ask the pros.

Thanks again for the input!

Cool, thanks for the advice!

As I see it, if I were to completely reinforce it, I could have 4 inf and 3 planes there by J1.

The most Japan could hit it with would be 4 inf, 4 planes 1 bomber.

Not having an odds calculator handy, this battle looks relatively even.

(about 3 hits each per turn?)

I -think- it would be worth the loss of the IC to potentially cripple the Japanese air force (he will lose 2 automatically, hopefully more during the fight)

Other ideas i’ve recently been playing around with, but not tried yet -

Moving the 3 Russian tanks south into Kazakh or Novosbirisk. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this before, but it seems to me they should easily retake India, as there will probably be only one inf there.

Moving the Egypt tank east, so on UK 2, in conjunction with the bomber and any planes able to make it, they could try to retake or reinforce as needed.

All of this assumes Germany wont be shuffling men/planes to help out - but it seems that even the loss of the russian tanks would be worth this effort; I love the idea of throttling Japan early, I hate to give it up =)

Hi folks, looking for some more pointers here!

Since my post awhile back, I’m happy to say that after 12 games vs my co-worker, I still remain undefeated! The bad news is, he’s getting better!

=p

The last game was our closest by far - I took Germany only a turn before he would have had Russia. I’m starting to sweat!

We play RR with 2hb and kamikazies. UGH

My normal strategy has been to place an IC in India, and hold off Japan. That has worked until recently. Lately, during his J1, he has been throwing (and sacrificing) all he has, and usually gets it. As it has been a thorn in his side for the majority of our games, I can now count on him doing everything to capture it - so I am now afraid to build it.

My question is - can (or should) the IC be held against an all out Japanese attack? I’ve a bit afraid to weaken Africa by moving British troops, but I would - and I also dislike losing the only Russian aircraft I’ll ever have.

If it can’t be held, is it worth that massive damage you will surely inflict upon Japan in the early going? The times he has attacked he has lost most of his ground units, and a chunk of his airforce. A more experienced player would surely find this to their advantage - I haven’t been able to yet =p

It also worries me a bit that he might NOT attack on J1, but continuously reinforce Burma until hes ready to take it, (while expanding/trading
elsewhere) thus holding down a lot of those planes and giving Germany a nice early run at Africa. I’ve read that GB should be counterattacking with it’s forces in India, but in all the games i’ve played, I couldnt afford to move a unit out. Any suggestions?

Lastly, without said IC what is a good way to Check Japanese aggression?

I know thats the million dollar question, but I’m also sure there are good ways and bad ways =)

Do most of you send a few Russian INF east every turn? Do you wait for the other allies to come in?

Sorry for all the questions, looking forward to the answers though… =)

~Cheers

Warning….long, rambling post ahead!

For those of you anxiously awaiting the results of my battle with the aggressive co-worker, I’m happy to report the Allies had astounding success, winning 4 of 4 games played! cheers wildly

Highlights from the evening:

Our first game was non-RR. I strafed the Ukraine with Russia, as Germany he went full tilt into Karelia, won with one tank remaining.
England retook next turn, he resigned a turn later. Wuss!

Second game was RR, he went full tilt into Karelia once again, and this time lost rather badly. He resigned right away. =)

Third game started off well - Russia and Germany played conservatively, England bought an IC for India, and then up came Japan. He threw pretty much everything he had at Asia. Took India (one inf remaining) lost in China, and took SFE. He had purchased an IC and placed it in Burma, whos only defender was a Bomber =p

America next, retook India, and luckily won the inf vs bomber combat, taking over Burma as well. Japan was totally off the continent by turn three, I’ve never seen that before, and it was pretty funny. He resigned on turn 4.

The 4th game was interesting, and I’m hoping to get some input on it.
Just highlights here, this took place a few nights ago.

Turn 1:
Stacked Karelia with Russia turn one, one plane to India, stacked Yakut.

Germany took out Englands Med fleet, and home fleet, with no plane losses =/

England bought an IC, moved two men from Africa to support.

Japan bought an IC, won at Pearl, took China.

America bought transports and men, started moving fleet to Atlantic. Attacked Africa with one tank(vs. one inf), lost. Not sure if this was a wise move, as I knew the transport would be toast, but he didn’t reinforce Africa his first turn, so I thought I should try to hit him while he was weak. Good move or not?

Turn 2:

Russia took Finland, stacked Karelia.

Germany dropped two men in Africa, (probably took a country there somewhere) reinforced EE.

England sunk most of the Germans fleet (battleship left) placed a Carrier at home, and tanks in India. Also flew a plane to reinforce India.

Japan bought another IC (for Kwang), placed tanks in Burma.

America sunk the German Battleship, and attacked Africa again with 5 or 6 infantry, vs one inf. Lost!!
Here’s another one I wasnt sure of. I figured he wouldnt build any more transports, so I thought to hit him again and get him out of there for good. Should that be my priority before reinforcing Russia?

Sent another plane to India.

Turn 3:

Russia took Ukraine, (defended lightly) placed most inf in Karelia, a few in Moscow.

Germany retook Ukraine (with tanks! dummy=) put men in W. Europe and EE.

England bought more tanks for India, and a transport for home.

Japan bought 6 tanks and placed in Asia.

US started dropping men in Finland.

Turn 4:

Russia retakes Ukraine (to be held for the rest of the game)
moves a few men east, places the rest in Karelia.

At this point I’d like to note that with the exception of SFE, Russia had control of every starting territory and held two extra, for most of the game. I think that alone should have made for an easy game. It sure didn’t seem that way though! Anyway - continuing on…

Germany buys men and reinforces…

England starts shuttling some men to Finland and puts more tanks in India

Japan buys all tanks again…

Us shuttles men to Europe.

I’ll condense the rest =)

The German/Russian front was pretty much static most of the game. I put men in Karelia, he put men in EE.

Japan never attacked any Russian territory. (other than SFE in the beginning) Even with a decent income coming in, I think Germany was still outproducing me (as Russia) by a little bit, so I never moved many men towards Japan. I think perhaps I was underestimating the power of my def vs. his offense (he had mostly men, as well) and to this end, I had the US putting most of their effort shuttling men to Europe.

After turn 4ish though, the numbers of inf on both sides got to be quite high - high enough that I was afraid to attack with Russia (I had not started investing in tanks until later in the game, after more reinforcements came in) and US and England never had enough of a presence to make a dent.

I think perhaps I could have defended with just Russia, and tried to retake Africa with the US, but I was nervous of the eventual (I thought) Japanese breakthrough, and my subsequent defense of Russia. I didn’t want to fall behind Germany on the western front. Any thoughts?

On the Eastern side, my IC in India did a superb job of keeping Japan at bay. While he kept Burma strong enough that I didnt consider attacking it, all he did was buy tanks for the eventual attack in India. I fully intended to lose it, as I understand it to be mainly a delaying tactic, (unless he goes towards Russia, which he didn’t) and I figured I was on borrowed time already. We had a few minor skirmishes over Sinkiang, which I would always end up controlling.

The death knell came when he eventually bought an IC for Egypt (with Germany), and flew his entire German air force there.

With Japan, he finally attacked with some tanks into Yakut and Sinkiang, which he won.

His next turn as Germany he attacked India, thinking to weaken it for Japans imminent invasion. Personally, I thought it was great for me - I had enough forces that I knew he would lose all his planes, and although I would probably lose the IC next turn, I would inflict some decent casualties on Japan when they did invade. As luck would have it, he missed with 4 fighters, and a bomber! I killed em all. He blames the entire loss on this roll. Perhaps he’s right?=)

I then counter attacked into Burma, had great rolls, and won there.
With Japan broken, he resigned.

As I look back on this game, I see he did almost everything wrong. As Germany, he lost a lot of tanks fighting minor Ukraine battles. He stopped trying to retake it, even though I only had two men there.
Japan was even worse - he bought two IC’s his first two turns. He never attacked Russia!

And still, this game (in my mind) was never over until the last battles in India. Why NOT!! =p

According to everything I’ve read, he made every move you aren’t supposed to make, and with the exception of being very safe in the west, did not have a clear advantage anywhere else. Any ideas?

I realize not taking Africa (even though he never took all of it himself) probably hurt, although ultimately I don’t see the 20 or so IPC’s he gained with Germany as having any significant impact. I still wouldn’t have attacked had he 6 less men, he had too many already.

Anyway, if you have any pearls of wisdom to throw my way, please do, and I take constructive criticism very well. Thanks for reading!

Found the link to the PBEM thread, I’ll read though it.

I also have Iron Blitz, if anyone still plays that online.

edit

Followed the link to the download page, and I see there are a ton of them.
Which are the onces I need? Thanks =)

Want to beat up on the n00b, eh? =)

The thought had briefly crossed my mind, but

A) I don’t have the board game anymore
B) I get headaches when I try to follow turn reports here =)

Seriously though, if whatever programs are needed (move simulator, dice roller? I haven’t really looked into it) is usable by a 7 year old, then maybe I could try to hook it up.

Can I find all these things here?

Thanks again folks! Great suggestions here.

I must admit this is all a bit humbling to me. I remember first playing the board game as a kid, never, ever losing a game, and thinking I was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Then I picked it back up in the army, still never losing a game, and reaffirming my idea that I was Napolean reincarnate.

Years go by, I see Iron Blitz in the bargain shelf, wipe up the floor with the computer (yes, I’m still the greatest!) and then one night, I surf some A & A sites just for kicks……

and find everything I thought I knew was WRONG!!!

=)

Now I’m doubting my ability - but I shall return!

With a victory in hand!

cheer

Thanks for the reply!

Everything you’ve said makes sense to me, but I’m still learning, so I thought I’d ask. =)

Hi folks, another question for y’all, hope you don’t mind me picking your collective brains…… =)

I have a BIG game coming up in a few nights, (guy I work with has been trash talking for weeks now) and needless to say I’ve been going over and over how this game might play out. A little background on my opponent: He’s not very experienced, but he’s VERY aggressive. He’s also playing the Axis. I graciously offered to play Russia restricted, but in his pride (and ignorance) he said he didn’t need it. =p

I’ll insist on it though - I wan’t to give him at least a chance. Plus it’ll bother him.

I can guarantee he’ll attack Karelia right off the bat. Herein lies my question.

If I recall correctly, I’ve read that making that attack is one of the worst moves you can make. I haven’t really figured out why. If the attack goes poorly ( I will probably have 17inf and 2 planes there - not sure about the tanks. suggestions?) then obviously, Germany is screwed. If the die rolls are average, then I can see that also not boding well for Germany - a few tanks left, not enough to attack Russia, and vulnerable to other allied attacks, weak everywhere else. IF the attack goes well though - that definately puts the allies in a tough spot. My question is:

What is a good strategy for the Allies to respond with, assuming a moderately sucessful Karelia invasion, turn 1?

Perhaps this is one of those cases were if the b*stard is lucky enough to pull it off, the games his. But I’m guessing someone here has found a way to win. =)

Should England and US forego any presence in Asia? It seems to me they would probably have to. Or is this a bad strategy for Germany for another reason entirely, one I have not considered?

Thanks in advance!

Great stuff folks, thanks!

I’ve been doing quite a bit of surfing around lately, reading up on different strategies and tactics people recommend. As you might guess, most of the (it seems to me) more knowledgeable people list basically the same moves, purchases, and goals, for each country.

All of which makes perfect sense of course, but left me wondering:

Do the more experienced players find their games vs. other experienced players follow a predictable path? It would seem to me it would almost have to; although chance might favor a risky gamble now and then, good players would more often come out ahead against such play.

All the reading I’ve done has left me with the ‘chess’ feeling, of being required to make certain moves (especially in the early game) almost regardless of what your opponent does. Of course, the game becomes more flexible as the turns go on, but I’ve seen strat guilds going into the 6th, 7th, and 8th turns =p

Anyway, the reason for this long ramble come down to this question, for the experts out there.

At what point in the game do you usually know (barring obscene rolls) you’ve won?

I’m sure that we could agree Germany not sinking a ship, yet losing all it’s planes on turn 1 would be disasterous; or russia attacking and losing every man - but during a standard game, with average dice, can anyone point to a specific battle, or territory, or time, when they say ‘Phew, I think i’ve got this one’.

I don’t know if this is a silly question on not, but for some reason I find it very interesting. =p