Posts made by Mazer Rackham

@DarthMaximus:

For the US I’ll buy an AC and 2 ftrs.

Stout reply, Darth.  I would add a note, however, that you may be better off with 2bmr instead of 1car 2ftr.  As you stated later in your post, you have likely ripped up the German airforce and you have killed the navy, so the UK 1btl and US 2des + Pac 1btl are almost certainly enough to protect the waters.  And having those bmrs banging away is nice to support ground attacks.

@BunniesPWrath:

No love.  >.>

That’s because what you wrote was dreck.  Utter dreck.  I think I speak for all of us (and when I say “all of us” I mean even people not in this thread, even people who don’t play Axis and Allies, even people who can’t read), when I say we are all a little bit dumber for reading what you have written.  I have read more insightful mattress tags.  I have seen more brilliant strategies scribbled on a napkin with a crayon by a child trying to draw a rainbow pony.

I’m just sayin.

Peace ('cept for BPW)

@hyogoetophile:

KJF was big in FTF tournaments?

It’s interesting how a few subtle differences in the rules can have a major impact on strategy.  GenCon/Origins used the original VCs with an IPC bonus for owning them at the end of the game, and for a couple of years KJF was the ONLY way the game was played.  It took a while before that was broken.

I still maintain that the biggest problem with FTF tournaments is the lack of either a “shot clock” or a set round count (each game WILL be 5rnds, or 8rnds, etc.).  There is a world of difference between an 8rnd game and a 5rnd game in terms of bid and strategy. The shift can even be as major as going from KGF to KJF.

Peace

Revised.

Really the key aspect to this move is that you don’t have to land the sucker punch to make the move have a good effect.

• If you buy the transports and the Allies thwart you, you then have your suicide fleet ready to take down the Allies for a couple rounds.

• If you stage with Japan, you can mess up the US transport plans for a round.

• The move is primarily designed for FTF games that will only last 7 rounds at the most.  In a domination game, the move is likely not as effective unless you do land the full punch.  But in a FTF game if you take out 1/5th-1/7th of the Allies actions, the effect is devastating.

In the cases of partial Shields, you don’t have to pull the trigger on the main move to get value from the setup.  You are leveraging your potential move into a counter on the part of your adversary.  That option costs you little-to-nothing if you buy 2tra with Germany in any case or shuck units to BUR with Japan.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the concept was generated from FTF tournament venues where initially EVERY player except the CSub guys were playing KJF. That meant an underpowered UK and a West-shifted US focus with an emphasis on ships, not ground.  If the US moved to the Solomons early or staged off of Mexico due to a threatening Japan, the move is devastating.  And it did knock out a former Origins champion in one game and two Masters winners in another game.

After a few papers and tournaments, KJF has diminished dramatically.  Partly due to Landbridge, Canadian Shield, and debates about the IIC (India IC).

Peace

Tonight’s looking good.  You around?

Wow.  Yes, the Canadian Shield was a term I thought no one would pick up on.  I have spent a lot of time on the Niagara Escarpment and I picked up the term in reading about the geology of the area.  It’s also a sarcastic pun since the ‘Canadian Shield’ move involves blasting through Canada ;)

There’s also a bit of geology/geography in the appendix in the original paper (Paper #13) that discusses the Detroit River and the “straits”.  Several of the core CSub guys are Detroiters, and we think of Canada as that land down south.  Like Ohio.

(Check the map if you don’t get it)

Peace

It was fun seeing the strat in action (BTW - For those not in the game, I was not in the game either as they were playing at a time later than I could make it.  I dropped in for a bit around midnight to see the action).

I do think a more aggressive Allied opening will cause the Germans fits.

I’m out for today, but maybe late tomorrow I would have some time.  Sunday evening I could certainly get a few rounds in.

Have a good weekend!

D’oh!

I’m booked then until Sunday (maybe late Saturday like 11pm, maybe…).

I’d love to run the strat with you some time.  Let’s see if we can get a couple hours in the next week.

Peace

AoE, let’s play man.  I got until 8pm.  I’ll run either side of this strat.  Get in the lobby!

I’m in the lobby now.  I’ll hang out there for a while.  Anyone else, c’mon out if you feel like a chat.

Peace

And of course I’ll leave the game open so anyone can drop in and kibbitz in the chat dialog.  All are welcome for trash talking and banter  :-D

:-D :-D

Ok then.

I can pretty much assure you, your fleet will be sunk if it’s only made of 1UK BB, 1 USA destroyer and 3 transports + the odd russian sub. You’ll need to build an UK AC first turn. At least i’ll strafe the transports for sure if no AC are present.

Ok, the fleet at a minimum will be 5tra 1sub 2des 1btl.  The best way to approach the French coast is to build in Z08 or Z02 on R1 and if you need the carrier, build it in place.  Do the invasion R2 and build your protection after you land.

Let me know your disponibilities and we will play it. Words won’t prove it to you it seems.

Perhaps just not the words you used  :-D  I’d love to play.  I just fired up TripA for the first time in many months yesterday, and I’d love a game.  How does 5:30 look to you?  I can play until 8pm which should demonstrate a few things about the first few rounds.

Since we’re exploring a strat and not just playing, let’s use Low Luck to normalize the dice.  That will give the best approximation of your plan.

Do you know how to get to the TripA lobby?

Peace

Fun idea.  Needs some clean up ;)

VS realistically: ( let’s say 2 infantry, 2 artillery, 2 tank on first Russian build )

• 3 tanks in Ukraine
• 5 infantry, 2 artillery, 1 AA gun in West Russia
• 8 infantry, 2 artillery in Caucasus
• 2 tanks in Moscow

5inf 2art in WRU?  With a Russian double into WRU/UKR shouldn’t you have about 6inf 1art 1tnk in WRU?  Since UKR is always a kill zone I’m sure most players would rather send 1art rather than 1tnk into UKR even if they were taking it thinly.

And I think you would have 4inf 2art in CAU, not 8inf 2art.

The Russian opening needs a bit of work.

As for the counter, the Baltic is unenhanced, so it’s going to get slagged by the Brits.  That means the UK will build up to a total of 4tra for an invasion of WEU R2 and it can’t be stopped.  It can be countered, but you will have approximately 7inf 2art 3tnk landing in WEU (4tra of UK gear, 2tra of US gear).  The bleed on Germany is immediate.  With a competent Allied transport chain, Berlin is under dire threat R3.

The tank stack is a fun idea and it has it’s place, but the big tank stack isn’t going to stop a good KGF player.

A KJF player, on the other hand, who stacks in BUR and moves 2inf to PER on R1, could be vulnerable to this opening.

Peace

Hey TS.

There is no accurate quick and dirty method, but there are several components you should look at.

1. Count - How many units on each side.  This is the most important metric generally speaking.

2. Punch - As you mentioned, add up the hits-on values (divide by six for expected hits).

3. Skew - The balance within a force that has lower hits-on values protecting higher hits-on values.

Consider this fight: 10inf 10tnk vs. 20 inf.

Count: oCount = 20, dCount = 20
Punch: oPunch = 40, dPunch = 40

So counts and punches are equal.  But the 10inf 10tnk will annhilate the 20inf due to skew (72% win for attacker).  Early in combat, the attacker is losing 1’s while the defender is losing 2’s.

Any quick and dirty method that doesn’t take skew into account won’t be accurate.

Some sample battles for you to look at:
The Baltic UK1 - Run the battle with 2ftr 1bmr vs 1tra 2sub 1des.  Then add a sub or tra for the Germans and watch what happens.  That battle can teach you a lot about tactics (force composition).

Frindo UK1 - Run 3inf 1ftr vs. 2inf 1ftr.  Add an inf or two to watch the changes.

Holler if you want more.

Peace

I have attached a map of pickup and drop zones in the North Atlantic from a US perspective.  You have to remember that if your Eastern fleet is dropping into Archangel or Karelia from Z04 then you can’t get to the Baltic in one move.  You are stuck with going to Norway or WEU for a turn before moving to the Baltic.

The Baltic is generally preferable, though not always possible.

BTW - This is from Caspian Sub’s paper on US shipping (Paper #2).  http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Caspian_Sub/

Peace

@kfgolfer:

2. submarines.  can you explain the submerged vs. non-submerged and when they can switch back and forth and when they can attack?

A) Fricking subs…

B) Tanks are STRONG!

Fricking subs…

Yeah, rly:
http://www.upchucky.com/requests-what-the-world-needs-now.mid

Give that gift horse a rectal exam

Dude, what you do in the privacy of your own house is your own business but doesn’t necessarily need to be posted online.

he didn’t see the hobo’s ebil grin!

Yes, I too live in fear of the hobo’s ebil grin.  Surely it is the ebilest grin of all.

:mrgreen:

Hey NPB.

Nice post.  I’ll just make a couple comments.

And that’s my take on CSub paper #18. It’s a strategy worth trying, but it isn’t a magic bullet.

Oddly enough, that would be my take on the paper too.  I would never say that any paper is the magic bullet.  In fact, in our paper on the zone 42 sucker punch we explicitly say the move is not a Crane Kick, but you should have it in your arsenal.  Same thing with the UnBaltic.

There are many openings in chess; there ought to be many standard openings in Axis and Allies.  Just because an opening is described doesn’t mean it’s supposed to be an unbeatable strategy.

(I myself am still highly partial to a Land Bridge opening.  I’ve had a lot of success with it and it is plenty fun to play.)

So the German fleet becomes unsinkable.

Nope, it becomes “essentially unsinkable”.  The difference is significant.  Sure the allies can sink the fleet, but will it be worth it if it is parked in the Med?  How many planes will the allies be willing to lose to take out that fleet? The only way that fleet is going down is if it is prepped for a strike on Allied shipping and the Germans get careless by coming in range of expendable Allied boats.  Otherwise it’s going to keep shucking troops to Africa or Bal/Ukr/Cau.

Last thought: if, as you write, this is a “strategy worth trying”, is it really fair to characterize the move as a hobo giving away candy?  I can’t quite reconcile the idea that the strategy is worth trying but it’s also the strategy of a man skilled in cooking out of tin cans, jumping railcars, and stealing your shoes while you sleep.

Peace