@urmomsmom7:
Do you guys think that it is vital for Germany to maintain naval dominance over the Allies?
It’s absolutely essential. Keeping the USA from crossing the Atlantic and making sure Britain stays homebound is key to Germany winning the West Front.
Besides the absolute need for CP Naval dominance, in the several games i have played I’ve seen that a handful of planes can reap MASSIVE benefits for A-H & the Ottomans. I even go so far as to buy 2 planes on O1- you can bolster your infantry by activating Bulgaria on O1 and then shift as much as you can towards Egypt. The air power balances out the Ottos’ scarce ground forces and their limited income till they can make some land grabs.
Air power also helps me bottle up Italy as A-H. I’ve played A-H 2 ways, one crushing Italy as fast as I can and the other is to Stalemate Italy while I push hard into S. Russia. Italy first is painful in the beginning but better in the long run I think. Tossing 2-3 planes into the front forces the Italians to choose between their own air force to prevent superiority OR battling a A-H navy that keeps popping up in the Adriatic… they really can’t do both. If I push hard at Russia, the planes are less effective but can be a real life saver to support the Ottomans…
I tried pushing hard east with Austria supported by Ottomans and left the Germans to deal with France. It can be a gamble but the 2 games I played it forced Russia to divert some of her stacks southward, relieving German pressure in Northern Europe.
As for the fleet? My first game I sortied out to the Med, took out the Italians with minimal damage but got wiped by the French. The Ottomans are a wash with the Black Sea cruisers.
The biggest … ace I’ve found in the East/N. Africa is Air Power. Get a plane or 2 in Austria and 1 in Constantinople and suddenly your are doing MUCH better. The other key is to coordinate with Germany to stretch UK to the breaking point. Not so much beat them in combat… but force the British to constantly switch buying priorities. If they go whole hog in India… Ottomans are done. BUT… distract the Brits a couple turns and the Turks can really really capitalize. Once they break the line at Sevastpol… the Russian east is wide open. Sevastpol needs to fall really by turn 3… or at least contested and bypassed.
Only problem is the game is designed for, and playtestet for, no railroad
Although its early, a lot of the play reports I have seen suggest Germany cannot move fast enough to have a decent chance at winning.
I would support Germany being allowed to move two spaces from Berlin to Ruhr (and vice-versa) if Hanover is CP controlled, if a faster movement is necessary for Germany.
Another idea that I came up with last night was allow a 2 space movement anywhere within your original starting territories… that may allieviate the slowness Germany is hurt by.
Since I think we can all agree railroads are missing from the game and hurting reinforcement moves- I was toying with this idea last night.
1 IPC per land unit to move the unit up to 3 spaces. The spaces must be controlled by you or a friendly power- they CANNOT be contested.
This should help the Western front Germans as well as allow them to shift their Eastern front troops west post-Revolution. There’s still a limit via money… It should also help A-H against Italy or even Ottoman to make a play for Bombay…
@ll:
Good thing all my current GFs find geeks sexy… :)
Wait….what?
An AA player with multiple? Impossible.
What, it’s only 3 women….
Getting back to shipping… mine left Orlando yesterday morning… soooo here’s HOPING it’s on the step when I get home tonight… 2 hours to go…
You people have time for wives?
Actually, no. She might have to go.
See… this is why I only date gamer girls!! Makes everything soo much easier. Good thing all my current GFs find geeks sexy… :)
My wife likes to call me a nerd or loser for playing these games. I told her it could be worse I could be addicted to on-line gaming or drugs. Mine are coming tomorrow according to Fed ex.
Yes, on the nerd scale (1-10 with 10 being the most nerdy) historical wargaming on the scale of A&A is like a 4 with games such as WOW being a 7-8, Magic/paper D&D being a 9 and LARPing a 10.
Let’s see… Having 3 Accounts on City of Heroes MMO while it was running (as well as flying out to CA for the CoH Convention withe the design team…), an entire 2 rooms devoted to Dr Who memorabilia, playing SEVERaAL minis games including 40K, WHFB, Dystopian Wars and AT-43, and have 2 entire A&A gameboards set up in my library… yeah I rate about an 11…
The other reason is in the books after WW1 The USA carved off the NW tip of Texas and created it’s own Rump State of Houston… and that did NOT end well…
The only reason being a good portion of the story takes place in Lubbock… it’s where the USA first started training and building barrels and figure out how to use them.
One I am a DIE HARD fan of the series so Bravo!!
Two… definitely have the Dessert and Congareee Uprisings in there. For National Objectives, might I recommend having a coastal Blockade be one for the USA- During the Great War story cutting off aid from Britain was essential to the US strategy. Multiple victory cities would be the way to go- something like this-
(you need 6 of the 8 )
USA CSA
I don’t get off work 'till 5.30.
And I have to have a nice hot bath with my new units before playing the game. It wouldn’t do to play with unwashed OOB pieces.
I expect a full battle report by this afternoon!
I dunno Flash… you look a lil under the weather… you might have to go home early and give us a battle report… :)
It’s a tie between Austria-Hungary and Ottoman. A-H because I have always been facinated with the empire itself and Ottoman because of the challenge.
Everyone seems to agree that Ottoman Empire won’t be able to do much… I wonder. From looking at the map and the initial lay outs it looks like it may be able to make a good push towards Sevastopol as well as push into Africa. If Russia pushes back they weaken their “western” front and I do not see Italy being much of a threat.
That said… Preordered today… Yay!!!
This is hands down the best book I have read on the War… I’ve read it about 3 times… great maps, detail analysis of every battle… just top-notch
There are a few I really like-
SZ 125: This one is a PAIN if you are Germany. Russia can park their 2+ subs there and just pester the hell out of your economy.
SZs 98-99: Assuming the Italian navy hasn’t had it’s Taranto, they can become a a serious threat to the UK. (Of course the reverse can also be said for Italy with UK ships in 97 & 95) In a lot of ways, I see this as the best way Italy can help against the UK, other then N Africa.
Sz 89 and 1: I don’t see these talked about much but in my experiece they can drive the US player NUTS. I’ve had games where I have effectively sidelined the USa with constant disrupts in these zones and always attacking Alaska with Japan. The US gets so…‘affronted’ that the war is brought to his doorstep that they will spend a lot of their focus clearing these— over and over :-D
I guess Larry is basing the reduction on the idea that Tanks as defensive ‘pillboxes’ are at risk to infantry with grenades getting in close and such. The problem is… he is dangerously close to tipping the game away from a fun time to a experience in rules lawyer-ing and too much ‘realism’. It seriously hurts Germany just when Alpha +2 is approaching balance. There is NO reason to buy tanks with this rule. Why would I spend 36 IPCs to get 6 units (for example) that now defend weaker when I can spend 21 and get the same defense that still do decent on attack?
Sorry… but NO. It’s one thing to try and balance the game with setups and NOs etc… this is ridiculous. Even if/when +2 goes legal, I will never be using this change, it’s dumb. At 6 points now there’s absolutely no reason to take tanks, because once you take a territory you defend it less? I don’t think so.
Looking at what the US has built off Brazil- I’d just sortie the Italian fleet out, smash the few DDs and get back- you would lose maybe a sub… and cause the US to keep starting over from scratch.
Interesting strategy- but it depends too much on a UK player not willing to lose a Med. navy for my taste. However- that picture leads to 2 questions-
Why on earth would you launch a German CV in the Med? By your own description, the allies abandoned it… there is no need for a mobile air platform other then the Italians now. With the CV berthed off S. France, she is totally out of position for any move on the UK/French fleet. She would be much better positioned in the Baltic I think. (you have enough airpower already to cover the Med)
Why leave Malta active? It can become a big thorn in the Axis’s side if it gets a airforce on it… plus it can be a good 2nd line of defense if the US forces its way to Gibraltar.