Posts made by McMan

@ThomasJefferson:

I always take india J3, with 6 trans, 6 inf, 6 art, and every single plane  in in IJA The British have had the opportunity to build a max of 10 inf. With the power of the Japanese airforce, I win every time, and that is before the Aussies can do anything. The US is always occupied taking back London, so there is very litttle they can do other than annoy, they cant do any serious damage.

I feel like a skilled US player would be able to divide his income to be able to take on Japan and take London. 82 IPC’s aren’t necessary to take out the remainder of the German invasion force plus the three units MAX that Germany has built there each turn. If the Germans have done Sealion and fortified London, chances are they’re getting curbstomped by the Soviets. I imagine that the initial neutral builds of the US could take London, in which case they would be free to hit Japan with everything.

Japan can basically always take India if it wants to badly enough, so don’t fret. Build tons of infantry and inflict as many casualties as possible on Japan when they attack. However, if Japan is smashing India, it must be neglecing other areas. Put the pressure on with the US and ANZAC, particularly naval pressure. If Japan is commiting its resources to a ground war on the continent, commit the Allies to taking out the Imperial Navy and taking the DEI. Without the income from the DEI, Japan won’t be able to rebuild a navy and the Allies will have free reign in the Pacific to make amphibious landings wherever they want. India will be yours again soon!

How is everybody getting physical stuff for the Alpha setups? I have already printed off 2 9-page documents with the setups, NO’s, rules, and whatnot, both of which are now obsolete! Is the new Alpha finalized? If so, I’ll probably print it off again, unless someone has a better means of getting physical copies of everything you need.

@Gallo:

@McMan:

But technically, most of the US was originally controlled by Native American tribes, so they shouldn’t be able to have Major IC’s there, correct?  :wink:

Not to mention that Texas was originally controlled by Mexico :wink:

Which was also controlled by Native Americans  :-D

@The:

This is one of the few times that a rule has been more historical than for gameplay. Because historically ANZAC and the UK went to war with each other it has been included in the game. For gameplay reasons it might be better for ANZAC or Uk to declare war on Japan first. It could be an interesting house rule though

This is certainly the case. Can you imagine the newspaper headlines?
“Australia and New Zealand at war with Japanese Empire! Remainder of British Empire doesn’t even get involved!”

Some rules neglect historical accuracy for the sake of gameplay, but allowing Australia and Japan to be at war while Britain sits back doesn’t even begin to make sense. But if you found a fun way to play with this rule, go for it! It’s your game, so play it however you want.

@Ruanek:

The problem with that is most of the Axis’ territories technically didn’t originally belong to them.  Granted, most of those nations aren’t represented in the game, but Holland actually is to a degree.  But we don’t see restrictions to their other territories even though those aren’t “originally controlled”.

But technically, most of the US was originally controlled by Native American tribes, so they shouldn’t be able to have Major IC’s there, correct?  :wink:

I wouldn’t worry about this too much. Whether you think it’s historically correct or not, it was implemented by Larry to prevent the US from conquering Norway and then building a major factory 2 spaces from Berlin or some other ridiculous circumstance, which actually is historically correct. I’m no WWII buff, but I’m fairly certain that the US wouldn’t have been able to mobilize the same amount of industrial war material in Norway as it did in the Eastern US.

Either way, just think of it as a necessary rule where historical accuracy takes a backseat to gameplay.

@Fishmoto37:

Actually Germany is good but Japan is the one that needs the help. Or an adjustment needs to be made in the U.S. income. I tried an adjusted income schedule in our last two games of Alpha+1 but all it accomplished was to slow the U.S. a little.

Perhaps something to try would be to force the US to invest in most of its own infrastructure. I like the three US minors in the US representing isolationism and the wartime economy shift, but perhaps we could take it a step further. Remove all airbases, naval bases, and aaguns from the continental US and force them to invest in what they want. It doesn’t make sense for a country that plans to stay neutral to have facilities geared towards military operations, at least not on the scale that is represented currently. By “scale,” I mean that one naval base in Eastern US represents a lot more facilities than one naval base in New South Wales. While these two territories may have had close to an equal number of such facilites (and I have no idea if they did, this is just an example), the ANZAC bases would warrant recognition with a piece on the board because the territory is much smaller. To take it a step further still, don’t allow the US to buy bases until they’re at war, representing isolationism. Also, perhaps force them to pay to upgrade their factories. I’m pretty sure the industrial might of the US didn’t magically shift from peacetime to wartime manufacturing without any government investment/involvement.

I realize that these are VERY drastic changes, just throwing some ideas around.

If you’ve played Pacific, these territories work the same way in Global. These specific territories can be occupied by UK or ANZAC forces during the noncombat phase in order to gain control of them and get their IPC’s. Japan can occupy them during the combat move, but doing so puts them at war with UK, ANZAC, and the US (not sure if US is immediately at war or must declare it during US turn) unless UK or ANZAC made an un[rovoked DoW on Japan earlier.

“This game isn’t fun because of the strategy I used! Its the unofficial fan website’s fault!”

We’re about to start a game of Europe. Should we use Alpha with the blue changes?

What do you guys do to defend Europe from invasion? In my limited play, I’ve experimented with maxing out the minor IC in France every turn (2 inf + art , 3 inf?) for 9-10 ipcs. This gives the opportunity to counterattack into Normandy or Belgium without getting smashed by Allied carrier air or shore bombardments. If you counterattack and destroy the land forces, then the Allies are stuck with just an invasion fleet. I think this could work well with similar, heavier builds in West Germany, which actually has to be able to resist direct invasion. These units can also counter an Allied landing in Belgium or Denmark.

Anyway, what have you guys seen in the defense of Europe?

@calvinhobbesliker:

UK usually brings only 1 Transport, so the other 3 inf just sit in Brazil for the rest of the game.

Bring one infantry to activate it and shuttle all four over to Africa.

I’m pretty sure Larry intends the final incarnation of Alpha to be balanced for Europe, Pacific, and Global. Right now, most people are focusing on Global, so I guess the other two will magically fall into perfect balance once Global is balanced :roll:

Good answer.

@calvinhobbesliker:

No one voted for Europe. Thus, Europe should be combined with other.

As of yet. I imagine more people will vote for Europe than will vote for other in the end. I’m not saying I support the America ego in lumping the majority of the world into “other,” I’m just giving a possible explanation as to why it’s done in this particular case, other than being provincial and ignorant.

To play devil’s advocate, I have to point out that (at this point) there are no votes for other. Based on this, and generally being on the site and noticing where people tend to be from, one could conclude that very very few people who live in those areas visit this site, and therefore it would be a waste of time to list them out. Or maybe it’s just typical American  self-centeredness and ignorance  :-D

In Germany’s attack on France using latest Alpha updates, not a single German unit got a hit on the first round of combat. The French and British defenders got eight hits and the Germans retreated. The best part was that the Axis players wanted to keep playing it out, even when presented with the option to start over  :-D

Sounds good.

What does it add to the game apart from being a fun little gimmick?

Does anyone use the rule allowing German subs to convoy for 3?