Posts made by Matt Hyra

@Karl7
Yes, the Mech in Tripoli can road move into Mersa Brega.
Page 24 is Land NCMove: “…including territories that were captured in the current turn.”
~Matt

@Karl7

Good catch. Yes, the Fighter out of Cairo helps the counterattack, but the UK still has poor casualty options in rounds 2+ of combat.
The Matilda is Move 1 in Tobruk.
~Matt

@barnee

Counterattack Mersa Brega Round 1 with 2 Infantry, 3 Scout Cars (1 round only), and a Bomber? Up against 3-5 German units and AAA. I wouldn’t call that counterattack “very strong.” On the outside chance it works, Italy easily retakes Mersa Brega and the UK has little left.

A Suez Bomber in setup is pretty risky. Axis takes Benghazi R2 and Tobruk R3, which leads to a high chance at an Axis Major Victory. Maybe a Total if Malta is starved.

Keep in mind that most Axis Totals happen in R6-9, not in R5 like you might want. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing Cairo fall. The ones that capture Cairo by R5 are usually due to bad rules knowledge or poor play (“I forgot to detonate landmines”).

Andrew’s comments are spot on.
~Matt

@The_Good_Captain

No, the British player cannot buy supply with pre-game variable RPs.
On page 9, the plastic game pieces are referred to as combat units and trucks. As supply is not a plastic piece, they are not combat units.

Under LAND UNITS on page 30: “Infantry, mechanized infantry, artillery, anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft artillery, scout cars, and tanks are combat units, but trucks are not combat units.” Supply is not listed here as a combat unit.

Looks like we should have defined combat units more carefully, but the phrase “combat unit” appears dozens of times in the rulebook and it is clear in those uses that supply is not considered a combat unit.

Thanks,
Matt

We use a tabletop game simulator called Screentop.
No rules enforcement, but you move your units on the playtest map, and chat with your foe via Discord. Roll digital dice. Works pretty well.

@AndrewAAGamer said in Bid for both Scenarios:

@Herr_B

There was an NDA. I think it was only for pre-release of the game but I have been purposefully being high level just in case.

I will ask the Project Manager if I am allowed to give any specifics.

Feel free to discuss @AndrewAAGamer

The reason the Benghazi Convoy Zone is so far away from the port is so that Malta fighters are able to interfere with it.

@OlivieroRuggieri

A sea mine can be detonated against any ship that enters the zone, which includes transports deploying there. Only newly-arriving ships/transports are subject to sea mine attack. Units already present when the mines are placed do not allow the sea mine to trigger, nor are they affected should a later ship/transport enter the zone.

@Herr_B

“If an Axis player has one or more bombers on Crete, THEY may deploy 1 sea mine…”

So only Axis players that do can mine the Suez.

@COJOH
Yes, that is correct. Think of the old cargo as at the mouth of the port. Not so easy to mine that area.

@COJOH

1. Just for the first round of combat.
2. It bypasses the fighter and can just attack the island.
3. They cannot retreat into a territory where ground combat has or will take place that turn. They can still retreat into a territory that is only under air attack. See graphic example in rulebook.
4. Same restriction, and they too may only retreat to an adjacent territory.
5. The flanking effect is not removed under either circumstance. It always remains.
6. No, may only be detonated against newly-arriving units.

Thanks for the questions!

@OlivieroRuggieri

The German AT Gun can fire AAA pre-combat, and then ALSO fire as a defender with Targeted Fire - Tanks in the first round of combat. If there are attacking tanks and it hits, the German player can declare a tank as a casualty, and then the Allies must choose and destroy any 1 tank amongst their attacking units.
After the first round of combat, they lose their “Targeted” ability.

@OlivieroRuggieri

I appreciate the compliment!
If the Axis doesn’t have a sizable 1-2 punch (Italy, then Germany before the UK can land reinforcements), then it might not be worth attacking Cairo.
I’ll leave the real strategy advice to others.

@COJOH A second game already. Many are jealous…

1. No, as a retreat in North Africa means you stay in the territory from which you attacked. You don’t move in and then retreat out. The Scout Car can still use Long-Range Patrol to move during Noncombat, tho.

2. Yes, nothing prohibits them from driving through the same territory twice. And yes, they can pick up along the way.

3. Page 19 the blue box “Flanking Attacks” says: “The units attacking from the territory that contains the highest number of attacking land units is considered to be the main attack (in the case of a tie, you choose the territory from among those tied).”
   That means you can have a main attack of 5 units and a flanking attack of 5 units.
   Yes, you can always consciously leave potential attackers behind to make one territory flanking, or to spend fewer supply to attack, or just because you feel like it. Units with Move 2 help, as you can move them into attack position, and then check for flanking.

4. If there are no units in Tunis, it’s possible, but still a 1 in a million chance. Just there to stop a total domination from continuing.

5. Two units (up to 5 supply also counts as a unit) escapes the combat at the end of each round of the convoy combat. So if your convoy is 2 units escorted by 1 fighter, the attackers need to score 2 hits in the first round of combat to wipe out all 3 units. If only 1 hit is scored in that first round of combat, the combat defenders must be taken as casualties first, and then the 2 land units would escape at the end of the first round of combat. The combat would then be over.

6. Page 30 under Artillery “Supports Infantry and Mechanized Infantry” says: “paired units need not necessarily be attacking from the same territory.”

Thanks for the questions. You’re getting the hang of it!

@OlivieroRuggieri

That’s a good idea.

@OlivieroRuggieri

Thanks for the map! Hansolo88 is right. Scout cars alone cannot capture RP territories.

A few comments on your map situation:
The UK scout cars should be picking off Axis supply (solo attacks). They have none inbound and won’t have enough to capture Cairo if 4 of it is destroyed. Supply Raider will destroy 1, and then the Axis will likely use 1 to defend. That’s 4 supply lost minimum. If the UK is lucky, could be 6. If they are even luckier, could destroy the Stuka which is illegally parked in Mersa Brega. Remember, air units can only land in territories with a friendly control marker.
Sea Mines in 11 and 16 do little. Convoy zones are where they are most effective.
In the early game, don’t send Bombers to Malta. Fighters are much better at protecting the supplies on land and incoming supplies.
Supply cannot be deployed to Sicily, as that is not a staging area. Move it to Italy. Page 25: “…may also deploy AAA, air, and German AT guns directly to Sicily, Sardinia, and Crete…”
As soon as the UK fleet gets into the Malta convoy, Malta is easily resupplied. Then they can attack the Axis convoys.
No reason to leave supply in Mersa Matruh. MM can draw supply from Cairo.
Add 1 mine to the Cairo/MM border each round and the UK should hold.

@Herr_B

1. Correct.

2. Yes. Detonating mines happens prior to the decision on whether or not to stay and fight.

3. Blitzing is always a unit’s first move into an adjacent territory, and does not require supply. As for Tripoli, page 18 says: “Attacking a hostile territory that does not contain enemy combat units still requires an attack declaration, but as no actual combat will occur, you don’t spend any supply tokens (instead, take the attack arrow from the general supply pool).”

Thanks,
Matt

@Daaras Practice games are a great way to get the next one right!

~Matt

@cmmiles said in Unit Movement After Advance Convoys?:

Can land units move after unloading from convoy transports in phase 1? This would be either combat or non combat movement. E.g., in phase 1 a truck comes off a convoy in Tripoli and later in phase 5, can move east with troops and supplies.

PG is right. Page 12 of the rules says: “Movement out of a convoy sea zone in this phase doesn’t count against these arriving units’ movement allowance, so they may move and fight normally in the remainder of your turn.”

Thanks,
Matt

@Herr_B

1. The amount of supply used with that option is 1 supply for every 5 attacking air/sea units (or fraction thereof). As noted in the optional rule, it is paid “After declaring all attacks…”
   That happens only once, so the payment is also made only once.

2. The UK can’t park a sea unit in the Suez to prevent mining. No, you cannot sail back into the Suez.

3. Not free, as the unit must come from the Reinforcements Zone. They only get there if you buy them.

Thanks,
Matt

@Stucifer said in Spending supply to defend:

@Matt-Hyra
I thank you! I have to say the combined scout cars/bomber attacks can be quite brutal with the supply constraints.

We all enjoyed your game very much on our epic axis & allies weekend. We probably played it 6 times 🤓

6 games in one weekend? That’s a record at this point. Which scenarios and who won them?

~M