Posts made by murraymoto

hey, i believe ya, i’m not in love with it either, just thought if something was referred to as a POS, that it’s probably not worth the time to mention.

me, i’m fine running battlemap on either my mac or pc.

This thread has some different takes on adding Italy to the official game version, it’s moved under the house rules section:
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=12182.0

there are also some very nice ‘advanced’ maps and rules put out originally by Craig Yope and later worked on by IL.

several threads on harris forum about adding Italy and advanced maps:
http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/bb2/viewforum.php?f=5&sid=e0804882861d5025a1fa08b037357207

my initial thought would be that too quickly the Russians would be too strong for any attack Germany could muster.  If they didn’t strike too quickly they never could, but it is something I haven’t tried and would like to try it before really judging it.

there is the thought that this wouldn’t be the most historical change, historically I think the Germans over ran Russian defensive positions pretty quickly all the way to the 3 cities shown on the gameboard.  Perhaps giving the cities an advantage of defense roll would be the right place for it.

overall, i have to more agree with Aretaku that even with the tank-stack Germany is not invincible.  We have been playtesting a number of tweaks and changes and trying to find balance where the tank-stack can work, but is not guaranteed.  Just like sea lion or the most balanced attack, they can work, but there is a chance for both sides to win.

i’m fairly new to the game too, and we had the discussion shortly too about the presence of defending DD putting them at a disadvantage.  But we thought it probably because of the influence of Revised and such.  it’s that beauty of getting to decide what to loose here, as compared to more randomness of Bulge and Guadalcanal, which we had been playing.

We reread it a couple times and decided that it was as someone stated earlier, that basically the presence of a DD removed the whole step for sub first strike and all the subs just attacked with the rest of the force.  I think there can be some ambiguity read from the rules, I’m not sure what the burden of proof on the matter has to be to push it to the errata though.

@Cmdr:

Also, have you tried Mapview?  Extremely slower program, shows much less of the game board, and I personally think it’s a POS, but some people like it because you can leave notes for your opponents.  Not sure if it will work for MAC either though, that one I am almost positive only works on Windows Machines.

that’s great!  the point of the thread is to give helpful advise, and you point out a program that you believe is junk, smaller number of features and runs slow on a pc compared to ones that do work on a mac already pointed out…  “Hey, this is junk on my pc, maybe you should try it on your macs!”
that’s pricelessly ignorant!

@Yasha:

@murray: very true, but remember the oceans are MUCH more vast than the board lets on.

oceans are vast, but I wouldn’t think it would matter as much how vast the ocean is but where in the ocean the subs and destroyers are.  If they are close enough to shoot at the enemy, they are close enough for sonar.

I’ve seen a search roll used, maybe in aarhe, or somewhere, where you would roll to see if you could find the enemy ships, whether subs or surface within the zone because it’s so vast, and if found, then you could shoot.  you could increase it for each sub/destroyer perhaps.

I see what you are saying, but I think that it’s more like 1 SS piece in the game actually represents more than 1 sub, just as 1 DD piece represents more than 1 Destroyer.  all the pieces represent larger numbers because the game is a zoomed out strategic view.

my first thought though is if a destroyer was using sonar to find subs out ahead of a convoy, how many of those subs within the sonar range would be noticed?  one or all of them?

I’d say see how it plays out a couple times and see if the allies are all scrambling for paratroopers so they don’t have to build ships because of all the wolfpacks…

Because reinforcements are decided more by dice and not by choice, and the combat is only 1 round at a time, I’ll generalize my view.

Too often the Allies split everything and try to do it all.  They send UK to Caen, and split US to Cherbourg/StLo.  Concentrate your initial fire more to the UK landing zones to clear a beach or two and get into Caen.  as soon as the beaches open there though you can start sending UK to StLo as well.  Then open beaches for US, and US needs more to cut off reinforcements to Cherbourg than to immediately attack it,  because you can get reinforcements to it much quicker than StLo can be reinforced by Axis. 
Because Axis can quickly get to StLo, you need as much time there as possible, but can usually clean up StLo later in the game as you wear down Axis who aren’t being resupplied.

At least that’s been my experience in putting the allies in better position to win.

My apologies Frimmel, and to Guerrilla Guy and Levgre.

I got DDay and Bulge about the same time and dove into those articles, and honestly didn’t look again at them the other day when I posted.  Your stuff on Bulge was a huge help to me and I thought you had done the ones for DDay too.  Guerrilla Guy & Levgre did the DDay ones and those are a big help for it.  So, credit is due to all who have made them, I’ll due a better job of making sure which has done which.  And yes, Frimmel, your posts have been great and have helped our group with both.

Zhukov44 makes some good points.  CV/FIG’s continually being added to the Allied cause is something that cannot be really countered early in the game.  Big thing is for the other allies to be able to stand their ground or slowly retreat as best they can until US can bring the weight of their industry to point on the Axis.  This being that they won’t be adding as much in the way of ground or other support units, and as for the fighters, they are with the carriers.

I’d ask him for the rest of the story on that, there’s different ways that could go.  Was it a close victory?  who was the noob to the game?  Did someone overcompensate?  Winning once and being able to repeat are different.

Outspending Japan in the Pacific is easy, and if Japan counters US’ CVs with their own, they won’t win.  Should they use SS to counter, that’s better.

Carriers shuffling Fighters to Europe to protect Allied landings without their own ground troops will help UK/USSR troops, yes and protect UK ships from Axis planes.

CV’s and fighters are a great luxury for the US that most other nations can’t get regularly, so they’ll have an impact, but I would think that you’d need more to take the islands in the Pacific and in the Atlantic you’ll have too many to really use and have to switch to something else to really help the cause.

When I first played I found it easier to play as the Axis too but I was more upset that I didn’t get  any planes to shoot back with.  The heck with historical accuracy.  give me one and place it first and let the allies 8 planes shoot at me first if you must.

I also got toasted by the planes as they may hit on a 1, but they roll for every unit that moves-that’s the key to them.  Since they shoot at every Axis unit that comes or goes, placement is key.  I’d recommend Levgre/GuerillaGuy’s (edit-see later post for mybad) strat guides as a good start for the game if you haven’t already seen them.

Blockhouses can be destroyed by ships, so hit the key ones early.  Use the extra card sets and you’ll have the chance to replace shot down fighters.

there are also some extra rules from Larry Harris posted on another thread here you may like to incorporate.

@wodan46:

I’ve developed a new KJF plan.  2 CV and a Fighter are not even close to enough.  By the end of Turn 3, the Allies have a large fleet in Indonesia, 10 Bombers on standby in various locales, and have dropped Japan’s economy by somewhere between 16-25 while giving the Allies a needed infusion.  On Turn 4, the Japanese Fleet will be gone, and Japan  possibly SBRed.  At this point, Japan is pretty much a non-player, and while capturing Japan may be hard, at this point you hardly need to.  While Germany might take Russia and Italy might take Africa/Middle East, they can’t even match the Allies in income, let alone hope to keep what they have and somehow grab VCs in the Pacific.

@wodan46:

At the end of Turn 3, in the East Indies/Borneo/New Guinea/Sea Zone 39, there will be 3 Carrier Groups, 1 Battleship, 2 Destroyers, and 4 Transports.  There will also be 6 Bombers in East Asia, 4 in Australia, and 4 in West US.  Is that clear enough for you?

i think FighterCommander may have been implying about the how in, how do you get those forces over there by the end of Turn 3.  There’s only one Allied CV to start in the Pacific, and adding two more means building them and picking their way through an active pacific where Japan is threatening (or could control) the islands you mentioned (and Australia & India) and sea zones by the end of turn 3.

Aldertag  +1

very nice, great effort.

Subotai- it’s a game.  and though unrealistic, your examples were not impossible to have occurred.
besides… that is not the point of the thread, start that somewhere else.

@LuckyDay:

–a weak 25 IPC UK could be placed off Canada though and expect to survive to join with a UK2 fleet off England’s west coast.

I think that even off Canada a UK fleet could be a target on G2 and a build there or of UK ships in general on UK 1 depends on where the german subs are and how many.  Maybe they’ll go for the US fleet, maybe the UK, maybe both.  I can see 4-5 subs reasonably within range of both builds so while some of it could survive, even advance their cause, I don’t think it is a definite expectation, dependent on the strength of the SS reprisal.
   on the other hand, if those fleets could sink german subs than that is some progress…

i’ve used triplea to play by email before, it’s the PBEM button on the main page and setup is mostly straight forward, try emailing yourself a couple times to start with it and it is pretty easy…  The AA50 module isn’t perfect, but could give some of the basic flow against others.

play by forum players can be found in the thusly named section.  I sometimes forget about it and the Historical discussion threads even farther down.

Yeah, you got it, you want something that will cause the Axis to lose units that they can’t easily replace.

My thought is when you are on the US side of the Atlantic and the Axis planes can’t get there to aid the SS, there a DD is at least 50% likely to sink a SS, and paired with aircraft they are gonna sink something, likely more.  When that side is cleaned out or you’ve scared them back to European coast US can crank out a fleet within 2 turns that the Axis can’t obliterate without major losses.  When Axis SS still linger about Halifax SZ and surrounding they can hit all the big US/UK convoys.  When those are Allied controlled, it’s all downhill in the Atlantic.

I hate wasting boats, they have gotta do something productive.

@wodan46:

Not to mention that every AA Germany builds is one less Tank or pair of Infantry for it to throw at Russia.

trading one tank for a free shot at EVERY Allied plane isn’t too bad, and how many do they really need, 2…3…?  Since they don’t have to buy ships either, it doesn’t seem too rough to purchase.

@wodan46:

If Britain builds a fleet, Germany can simply kill it with the Luftwaffe,

Not if US/UK have attached CV’s with FIG to their fleets to intercept.  then they are trading equal valued units that GER cannot replace as easily.  GER trading INF/ARM for UK/US FIG is much better for GER than trading FIG with US/UK.

@packrat76:

and its not much of a big deal that the battleship can take a hit when 10 planes come in to attack

I’m pretty sure that any type of ship (except SS) is pretty much doomed when a flight of 10 FIG attacks  UNLESS you have your own Air Force ready to intercept.  History has proven pretty well that Airpower rearranged the the way war is fought.

I’m down with all the comparison of equal values of units; I understand it and all and see that to play at your best it is part of what you need to know.  And partly because of that, I’m not going to attack 3 BB with 6 FIG, I’m going to throw as much at them as I can (naval and air) so that I have an advantage and have a decisive win.  If I can’t and attack anyway, then I’m hoping that my loaded dice weren’t noticed when I slipped them on the table.

Unknown Soldier is right, CV’s with FIG and DD screen will stop “realistic” attacks.

@wodan46:

You take Norway turn 2.  Axis has no feasible way to recapture it.

Aahhh, evidently missed that part in V.2 of the not-so-fighter-swarm-any-longer.  Was apparently still going on the following from the first post.

@wodan46:

I’m curious.  What would happen if America and Britain did the following:
1. Built exclusively Fighters.
2. Sent them to reinforce the major Russian unit stack/s
3. At an opportune time, suicide the Fighter stack against an advancing German stack, in order to shred Germany’s forward momentum.
It would be KGF.  Russia would go an even mix of Tanks and Infantry, tending towards Tanks by the end.  If strategy begins to fail, Fighters can be converted into Carrier Groups for alternative tactics.  Japan will be ignored, but it will be presumed that once Russia takes Germany, they will be able to start pushing Japan back.
I came to this when I began realizing that while Fighters may cost more than ground forces, for the Allies to deploy ground forces, they must also build a large transport and naval force, which is both less mobile than the Fighters, and much more vulnerable to counterattack.
Furthemore, while SBRs may seem more cost effective, the Fighters will allow you to wipe out critical frontline stacks, while providing valuable defense to the Russian stacks.
By the end of turn 3, Britain could have 9 Fighters and 1 Bomber in Belorussia or another frontline territory, while America would have 8 Fighters and 2 Bombers.  Each turn, add 2-3 more Fighters for Britain, and 3-4 more for America.  This gets even nastier the closer the Russians get to Germany, allowing Fighters to reach the battle quicker.
Russia should move their AA out of Karelia if they get the chance, that way the allies can strafe the hell out of it before landing in Archangel/Belorussia.

So…
Depending on what GER does G1, they may not have to retake Norway anyway.  Using the BMB in Germany and 2 SS in SZ 7 they have a 45% chance in round 1 and an 84% chance of taking out the BB & TRN in round 2 while still retaining their BMB, which would land in Norway.  Then depending on how Germany used the Baltic TRN and landing of a couple fighters in Norway could stop a UK-2 landing of max 2 units from the SZ-9 TRN.  Since the UK fighters are off to Africa they can’t be used on Baltic fleet turn, which can be then used to mess with UK shipping for 2 turns.  Only aircraft means no more boats to go toot-toot!

@Fighter:

stockpile infantery and move an aa gun around with all major axis forces and then lets see how long your planes can handle trading a least 10 ipc/unit with 3-5 for axis units. strategy flawed and failed imho unless modified to include fodder units.

FighterCommander has a solid point–AA50 has yet to reveal a weakness where 1 type of unit or all-out focus on 1 country while ignoring the rest really works and the ‘tweaks’ to your approach back that up.