Posts made by Lema099

Lema099

This is the most balanced AA Title I’ve played so long as you include the National Objectives (official) optional rule.

I haven’t played enough games of Anniversary to definitively confirm balance, but I agree that it seems (at least) better. I can say that I love Anniversary’s National Objectives (along with other improvements), regardless of any balance issues.

I really liked Milton-Bradley A&A: a great, simple game of WW II. And I appreciated the historical flexibility, except when it got too extreme. Those extreme points, those purely “gamey” strategies that evolved, involving gross violations of history… those did bother me some.

Thus Anniversary Edition’s optional National Objectives. They give in-game reasons to more-or-less follow general historical developments without tons of fiddly rules (yeah, I’m looking at you, Third Reich). You still have historical flexibility, but you’re rewarded for not being too outrageous. NOs plus all the other cool stuff in Anniversary means it’s the first A&A I’ve bought since the Milton-Bradley one (I did read up on Pacific/Europe/Revised/etc., but I passed on them). I love Anniversary! Definitely worth the price to me for all it offers, including what I consider more historicity and better balance.

Lema099

@TexCapPrezJimmy:

I like it too but the tables come up all crazy on that document for me. I tried fiddling to no avail.

I took a look at it in Wordpad and the tables are indeed messed-up. It seems to load OK in MS Office Word Viewer (and presumably in Word itself, but no guarantees ;)). If you don’t have Word Viewer, it might be available somewhere in the bowels of microsoft.com, or just try this PDF of the document instead. I have no connection with the document or its author.

Lema099

@shifty:

What kind of “program” are you writing? What equation/algorithm are you using?

It’s written in BlitzMax. The source below should (hopefully :)) not be too hard to understand - if you have questions, feel free to ask:


' Compares 2nd ed. A&A tech dev cost/rate with Anniv. ed. A&A
' 20 turns to test; record turn number that a total of 2 breakthroughs were achieved.  Test 1 & 2 rolls/turn.
' If two breakthroughs aren't achieved, "turn 0" is recorded (ignored for graphing & turn average)
' (When going for two breakthroughs, two aren't achieved in about 2% for both 2nd and Anniv.)

Strict

Local breakthroughs, totalCost, turn, totalTurns
Local answer[21], prefix$, graph$
Local breakthroughLimit = 2

For Local rolls = 1 To 2 ' actual rolls for 2nd Ed, Researchers for Anniv.
	Print;Print; Print rolls + " Tech Roll(s)/Researcher(s) per Turn:"

	Print; Print "2nd Edition"
	totalCost = 0
	totalTurns = 0
	For Local c = 0 To 20
		answer[c] = 0
	Next

	For Local test = 1 To 100000 ' a hundred thousand tests for accuracy
		breakthroughs = 0
		turn = 0
		While breakthroughs < breakthroughLimit And turn <= 20
			turn :+ 1
			totalCost :+ rolls * 5 ' each roll costs 5 IPCs
			For Local c = 1 To rolls
				If Rand(6) = 6 Then breakthroughs :+ 1
			Next
		Wend
		totalTurns :+ turn
		If turn > 20 Then
			answer[0] :+ 1
		Else
			answer[turn] :+ 1
		EndIf
	Next

	' display results
	For Local c = 1 To 20
		graph = ""
		' divide results by 1000 so each asterisk represents one percent
		For Local cc = 1 To Int(answer[c]/1000.0 + .5)
			graph :+"*"
		Next
		If c < 10 Then prefix = " " Else prefix ="" ' extra space for single digits
		Print prefix + c + " " + graph
	Next
	Print "Avg turn = " + totalTurns / 100000.0
	Print "Avg cost = " + totalCost / 100000.0

	Print; Print "Anniversary Edition"
	totalCost = 0
	totalTurns = 0
	For Local c = 0 To 20
		answer[c] = 0
	Next
	Local researchers ' researchers accumulate from turn to turn
	For Local test = 1 To 100000
		researchers = 0
		breakthroughs = 0
		turn = 0
		While breakthroughs < breakthroughLimit And turn <= 20
			turn :+ 1
			totalCost :+ rolls * 5 ' each researcher costs 5 IPCs
			researchers :+ 1 * rolls ' accumulate 1 researcher per "roll"
			Local success
			For Local c = 1 To researchers
				If Rand(6) = 6 Then success = True ' only one regardless of # of sixes rolled
			Next
			If success Then
				researchers = 0 ' eliminate accumulated researchers when successful
				breakthroughs :+ 1
			EndIf
		Wend
		totalTurns :+ turn
		If turn > 20 Then
			answer[0] :+ 1
		Else
			answer[turn] :+ 1
		EndIf
	Next

	' display results
	For Local c = 1 To 20
		graph = ""
		' divide results by 1000 so each asterisk represents one percent
		For Local cc = 1 To Int(answer[c]/1000.0 + .5)
			graph :+"*"
		Next
		If c < 10 Then prefix = " " Else prefix ="" ' extra space for single digits
		Print prefix + c + " " + graph
	Next
	Print "Avg turn = " + totalTurns / 100000.0
	Print "Avg cost = " + totalCost / 100000.0

Next

I release it into the public domain (modify it as desired/convert it to the language of your choice). breakthroughLimit is initially set for 2, which generated the first set of graphs in this thread (I hand-rounded the accuracy to a single decimal place when copy/pasting results in the thread). Setting it to 1 (i.e. stopping after getting one breakthrough) produced the second set above. I also made another, slightly tweaked version to generate the “only buy Researchers on turn 1” version for wodan46.

Lema099

@TG:

It really puts into perspective the average cost of unlocking a tech vs. the average turn of unlocking.
Interestingly, you can compare unlocking a tech to purchasing and IC or aircraft carrier.

Good way to put it. You could also choose to go cheaper if you don’t mind waiting, or more expensive if you need a breakthrough ASAP. As mentioned by wodan46, buying researchers up front and letting them work from turn to turn is quite effective. But if you don’t have the IPCs to spare up front, you can increase the researcher pool over time. I like how this system is more flexible and more interesting than the old “buy the dice and roll them” approach.

@Unknown:

It might also be interesting to see how things change if you buy 1 additional token per turn until you get a breakthrough. So, for instance, you get 1 roll on the first turn, 2 rolls on the second, 3 rolls on the third, etc. until you get something.

That’s what’s happening with the Anniv. Ed. charts above, which is why their payoffs are so much faster than the 2nd Edition ones. The 1 or 2 “Rolls” per turn are actual rolls for 2nd Ed., but are Researcher tokens for Anniv. Ed. which accumulate. Sorry for the confusion; I’ve edited the headings to make that clear.

@wodan46:

How about you give the figures for buying 1, 2, or 3 Researchers on turn 1, then not buying any more until you get the tech.

Here that is, stopping after getting the one tech breakthrough:

One Researcher bought on turn 1 (and no others)
1 *****************
2 **************
3 ************
4 **********
5 ********
6 *******
7 ******
8 *****
9 ****
10 ***
11 ***
12 **
13 **
14 **
15 *
16 *
17 *
18 *
19 *
20 *
Avg turn = 6.0
Avg cost = 5.0

Two Researchers bought on turn 1 (and no others)
1 *******************************
2 *********************
3 ***************
4 **********
5 *******
6 *****
7 ***
8 **
9 **
10 *
11 *
12 *
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Avg turn = 3.3
Avg cost = 10.0

Three Researchers bought on turn 1 (and no others)
1 ******************************************
2 ************************
3 **************
4 ********
5 *****
6 ***
7 **
8 *
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Avg turn = 2.4
Avg cost = 15.0

Lema099

Here it is for 1 tech breakthrough, stopping when that’s been achieved:

1 Tech Roll/Researcher per Turn:

2nd Edition
1 ****************
2 **************
3 ************
4 **********
5 ********
6 *******
7 ******
8 *****
9 ****
10 ***
11 ***
12 **
13 **
14 **
15 *
16 *
17 *
18 *
19 *
20 *
Avg turn = 5.9
Avg cost = 29.5

Anniversary Edition
1 *****************
2 *************************
3 ************************
4 *****************
5 **********
6 ****
7 **
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Avg turn = 3.0
Avg cost = 15.0

2 Tech Rolls/Researchers per Turn:

2nd Edition
1 ******************************
2 *********************
3 ***************
4 **********
5 *******
6 *****
7 ***
8 **
9 **
10 *
11 *
12 *
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Avg turn = 3.3
Avg cost = 32.7

Anniversary Edition
1 ******************************
2 ************************************
3 ***********************
4 *********
5 **
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Avg turn = 2.2
Avg cost = 21.8

Because it cuts off at 20 turns, a little bit of the “long tail” (i.e. horrible luck) is missing for the 1 Roll per Turn/2nd Edition (this is also true for two-tech version posted above). Mathematically, the Avg turn should be 6.0 and the Avg cost should be 30.0 here.

Lema099

It’s clear that the new tech rules revise the way that rolls are handled compared to the MB version, but the effects didn’t seem immediately obvious. So I wrote a little program to see how tech developments emerged over time in the two games. The graphs below (showing the turn when two tech results are achieved) show that tech success is now more predictable since it’s clustered into a smaller number of possible turns and occurs earlier, costing less:

Buying 1 Tech Roll/Researcher per Turn:

2nd Edition
1
2 ***
3 *****
4 ******
5 ******
6 *******
7 *******
8 ******
9 ******
10 ******
11 *****
12 *****
13 *****
14 ****
15 ****
16 ***
17 ***
18 ***
19 **
20 **
Avg turn = 11.2
Avg cost = 56.1

Anniversary Edition
1
2 ***
3 ********
4 ***************
5 ******************
6 ******************
7 ***************
8 **********
9 ******
10 ***
11 **
12 *
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Avg turn = 6.0
Avg cost = 30.0

Buying 2 Tech Rolls/Researchers per Turn:

2nd Edition
1 ***
2 **********
3 *************
4 *************
5 ************
6 **********
7 *********
8 *******
9 *****
10 ****
11 ***
12 ***
13 **
14 *
15 *
16 *
17 *
18
19
20
Avg turn = 6.3
Avg cost = 62.5

Anniversary Edition
1
2 *********
3 **********************
4 **************************
5 *********************
6 ************
7 ******
8 **
9 *
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Avg turn = 4.3
Avg cost = 43.4

Lema099

Sounds interesting, though my fighters stay OK on top of my carriers (others have mentioned having a problem, though). I’ve been a bit interested in magnetic wargames since reading about the strips in the Avalon Hill catalog back in the day. I’ve never done it (I like normal tabletop games just fine, including AA50), but I imagine it’d be pretty cool-looking to have a wall-mounted wargame with magnetic pieces.

Learning to differentiate the various ships took a little time; I was tempted to mark them some way, too. It doesn’t help that the German/Italian cruisers are so big (like battleships) with flat sterns (like destroyers), or that their transports don’t have cranes, but I think I have all the ships sorted now. And now that I’m used to all the pieces, I rather like them.

Lema099

Now that AA50 has all three Axis powers, I was reminded of Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series of American training/propaganda films made during WW II. I enjoyed watching them on The History Channel years ago (when it was about actual history, not UFOs and ice road truckers :roll:) and recalled that they had some animated maps of the planned Axis domination of the world.

All seven films are now public domain and are available online at:
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=why we fight AND collection%3Amoviesandfilms

I’ve extracted the animated map section from the first film, 1943’s Prelude to War, as a Windows .WMV file for anyone who might be interested (28 meg download). It’s about two and a half minutes long:
http://www.mediafire.com/?yvz9bssmwzm

Some screenshots:

So… too optimistic, about right, too conservative? :)

Lema099

Thanks, guys.

Yeah, these tunes can be catchy - be careful. I find myself humming them at random times and I can’t stop - aughhh! :-)

Lema099

This isn’t direct help, but I dug out my A&A: Iron Blitz game last night, and it ran fine on my XP (SP2) system. So it is possible. Sorry, I don’t have an answer why it isn’t working for you, but I wish you luck.

Lema099

Heh, the same bug bit me last night :-) and I recorded the soundtrack on my PC as MP3s. Here it is:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q7GR53BM

Lema099

Tonight I recorded the CD-ROM Axis & Allies soundtrack on my PC to MP3s. I enjoyed hearing these musical pieces again after many years (I used to listen to them a great deal while playing the computer version). It’s available here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q7GR53BM

Atmosphere can result from playing these tracks during board game play. Thus, I made this set for myself and thought that I should share it with other players.

There are many nice touches: the polka in the German track, the Japanese segment in the US track (providing appropriate contrast), and the instrumental variations in these and the other tracks.

Re-listening revealed that I never really got around to appreciating the second half of these tracks (I usually whipped through my turns against the AI and thus didn’t get a chance). The end credits are also worth hearing for Larry Harris’s comments.

Seeing this game again reminded me how much I enjoyed the PC version. Though it had a few glitches and a weak AI, I enjoyed it very much. I’d love to see a PC version of the Anniversary edition of A&A (which I just bought)!