Best posts made by The Pripet Martian

I just thought I’d keep the rule as basic as possible and let others modify as desired. There’s definitely room for improvement, though, and if you already use rail movement in your game, I’d definitely incorporate that.

I really like the Event Card idea. Besides the Blue Division, there are a lot of other possibilities, such as:

• Indian National Army - When Malaya falls to the Axis, the capturing power immediately gains 1 INF, placed in Malaya.

• Aztec Eagles - The turn following any convoy disruption in sea zones 10, 89 or 101, place 1 US fighter in Mexico.

• Fu-Go Balloon Bombs - Roll 1 die for damage to the Western US IC.

Hmm…I might have to make some Event Cards of my own. Thanks for the suggestion. :medal:

@Tutti Thanks for reading.

The original post addresses purchases after the US enters the war, once its industrial complexes have been upgraded and income is augmented by National Objective bonuses. Thus, “USA1” refers to America’s second turn after entering the war, which would be the first turn they have ~70 IPC to spend. Up to that point, my recommendation is to make those necessary “security” purchases - carriers, destroyers, aircraft, etc.

I understand your aversion to buying ground troops, only to have them sit for a turn while you buy transports the next. When the US is at war, you can certainly do several turns of 5x5x5 buys (5 infantry, 5 artillery, 5 transports for 70 IPC). I’ve done this many times, myself. If your goal is to assemble an invasion force - a force large enough to make a successful amphibious assault and survive an enemy counterattack - the 5x5x5 system will work just as well as the (10x10)+10 purchases I detailed, but only in the Atlantic. Because the US only has one IC on the Pacific, the (10x10) +10 is still the most efficient method of assembling a force to invade Japan.

As for the troops America starts the game with…they can easily be incorporated into your invasion forces, but I usually have other uses for them. To give just three examples: 1) I use the Atlantic transport to activate Brazil and shuttle the Brazilian infantry to Gibraltar or Morocco, 2) The American armor and mech infantry, when parked in the Western US, can deter Japan from invading Alaska, and 3) As soon as the US enters the war, I like to use the transport off Hawaii to capture the Marshall Islands. If the Japanese don’t have carriers within striking distance of Hawaii, taking the Marshalls eliminates the threat from Japan-based strategic bombers, allowing you to safely move undefended transports to Hawaii.

If you see the headline of the article linked below and immediately wonder why they stuck an “s” on the end of Sir Arthur’s nickname, you might be a WWII junkie:

https://winnipegsun.com/sports/football/bombers-harris-earns-star-of-the-week

I recently learned about Division Azul (Blue Division), Spain’s contribution to the fight against Communism. Long story short, after Germany invaded the USSR, Spain sent a division of volunteers (initially, conscripts later) to the Eastern Front. Their uniforms featured blue shirts, hence the name, though they wore Wehrmacht uniforms outside Spain. Division Azul, which included a fighter squadron, was designated 250th Infantry Division by the Germans. The unit served with distinction against the Soviets, but was withdrawn by Spain when the tide of the war turned in 1943.

Not that the Germans need more help against the Russian bear, but I thought a house rule to inject a bit of historical flavor might be fun. Here’s my initial idea, though I’m open to suggestions:

During the non-combat move phase of the German turn in which they declare war on the USSR (or the first German turn following a Soviet DoW on Germany), one infantry unit may begin moving from Spain to the Eastern Front. Movement must be as direct as possible. When the infantry unit reaches any territory bordering an original Soviet territory, it is joined by one fighter. Both units are treated as annexed pro-Axis neutrals and immediately come under German control.

Spanish units may only engage in battle against Russian units. When any non-Soviet Allied powers capture or liberate a territory on the European continent (the area bordered by Denmark to the north, Normandy to the west and Greece to the south, not including islands in the Med), the Spanish units are immediately withdrawn from battle. The infantry unit is returned to Spain, while the fighter is removed from the board.

@Locke888 When I first started playing G40, I created laminated cards for each power. One side features the initial setup (including unit cost, movement and attack/defense values), while the other has that power’s political situation, national objectives/bonus income and the overall order of play. I’d post them here for your use, but I can’t find the files. :angry:

I know others have done something similar - check in Customizations. To cover basics, such as the phases of each turn, etc., it’s easy enough to produce your own “cheat sheet” and make several copies for the players to share. I’d also recommend printing out a copy or two of the Europe/Pacific 1940 2nd ed. index I’ve created and attached below, as it will speed up searches when questions arise (as they always do).

AAEurIndex.pdf

I have one copy each of:

A&A MB
Europe '99
Pacific '01
D-Day
Battle of the Bulge
Guadalcanal
Europe 1940 2nd ed.
Pacific 1940 2nd ed.

Bonus:

Fortress America (1986)
Conquest of the Empire (1984)
Battle Cry (2000)

The daughter of Captain Hans Langsdorff will travel to her father’s grave in Buenos Aires next month, marking the 80th anniversary of his death and the scuttling of the Graf Spee. She’ll be accompanied by the descendants of some of the 1,000 German sailors who served on the ship.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/daughter-scuttled-german-ww2-battleship-graf-spee

@crockett36 @taamvan I second crockett36’s thoughts re: a book/booklet. I’ve written one, myself, and hope to sell it through HBG (I’m currently in the process of editing). My booklet addresses overall strategic concepts - not specific strategies - so a “playbook,” when read in tandem with my project, would benefit beginner and intermediate players greatly.

Also, while I don’t address bids or handicapping, I’ve included a set of house rules I’ve developed and playtested over the past couple of years. This rule set adds depth and historical flavor/accuracy while opening up new strategic options and may even eliminate the need for bids…and manages most of the above through additions, rather than changes, to OOB rules.

@The-Lone-Wolf Those are the Karimata Islands. Value: .25 IPC (representing the birds nests harvested there for birds nest soup). Congrats on your cool custom map! ;)

Seriously, though…maybe use some liquid paper, let it dry, then use a colored pencil to try to blend it with the ocean?

Just finished A Hobbit, A Wardrobe and A Great War by Joseph Loconte.

In my youth, I read (and re-read) J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (and The Hobbit), as well as C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. Loconte’s book taught me that the aforementioned authors’ works were heavily influenced by their experiences in World War One. From descriptions of battle to individual characters, the connections are there. I used to think it curious that, after doing the LOTR and Hobbit movies, Peter Jackson would move on to They Shall Not Grow Old; it now makes perfect sense…And now, I have to re-read The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy.

@Krieghund said in UK/Anzac AAA convert dutch territories?:

Air units are defensive as well, but they don’t count either. As ksmckay said, this is consistent with the related rules.

Respectfully, I don’t think this is a good comparison. The rules clearly state that air units cannot assume guardianship of the Dutch territories. Likewise, the Pacific 1940.2 rules clearly state that the Dutch territories are not treated as friendly neutrals or hostile territories. While I see the logic in your ruling, @Krieghund, I also believe it to be flawed, as it conflates Dutch territories with friendly neutrals. This is, of course, just one man’s opinion…and, as I’ve already been overruled and lost on appeal, I’ll drop the matter here.

Greyhound, Tom Hanks’ adaptation of C.S. Forester’s The Good Shepherd, was originally supposed to be released last March. The wait is almost over: Greyhound hits theaters in North America on June 12. The trailer is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwmbK3TW1vk

@crockett36 said in Allied Playbook Draft v1.0:

Less the grab Solomons, Gilberts, Marshalls, Marianas. More the 800 ships with a ton of sailors and 10000 marines. The strategic objective part is that you are putting so much pressure on the Japanese navy, fighting, losing, fighting, losing, fighting, winning that they cannot do what they usually do, infect the map like a virus. It’s the piece meal approach of Midway versus the “wait until I get a navy big enough to demolish the IJN.”

This is assuming a non Sealion game. This might look like an invasion of Iwo Jima. Collect a navy there. Get some bombers to harass the island and voila it’s the front line! Waves of metal coming at them every turn, with the advantage that you are able to land on the island and lose the carriers. Subs in reserve to take down the cap ships.

Russia can be assisted by the British because pressure is not as great as it normally is?! Could call it the Nimitz. He wanted to go directly to Japan.

Assuming the Japanese move in predictable ways (into China, SE Asia and the DEI), I like to do a limited island hopping campaign like this:

1. Take the Marshalls. This protects American transports off Hawaii from Japan-based bombers.
2. Take the Carolines. This forces the Japanese to take a more circuitous route to Australia and can be used by the Allies as a springboard to the Philippines, Borneo, FIC or Japan.
3. Take Iwo Jima. Build an air base on it, not for bombers (which don’t need it), but for fighters to protect the American fleet. Stack bombers on Iwo and hit the Japanese IC every turn.

While I’m doing the above, I also gradually build up a good-sized sub fleet to strangle Japan via convoy disruption…and you can usually accomplish steps 1-3 with about 3 fully loaded transports (plus the necessary surface warships, of course).

@Mr-Kell It said “Inspired by actual events,” which means, “something somewhat similar to this really happened, but we think our story is better than the truth.” :grin:

1. This question is rather ambiguous. If you’re attacking with aircraft only (no land units), it’s not an amphibious assault. If you mean, “Can I conduct an amphibious assault without cruisers or battleships for shore bombardment?”, the answer is yes, you can.
2. When conducting an amphibious assault, you have to choose which aircraft will participate in any naval battle and which will participate in the land combat; they cannot do both. Any naval battle must be resolved before amphibious landings can take place.

@AndrewAAGamer @Saber25 This game does a good job of illustrating the rise of the aircraft carrier and corresponding decline of the battleship in WWII. Andrew’s example (9 BB vs. 5 CV & 10 fighters) reinforces the idea. That said, battleships are not the overpriced underachievers one might think, and can be quite dangerous when employed by a savvy admiral.

Take another look at Andrew’s example. It seems BB are no match for CV and fighters, right? In a fight to the death, yes…but if I’m sending 9 BB up against 5 CV + 10 fighters, I’m only going to do so under the following conditions:

1. CV must not be within one space of a friendly territory (so the fighters from damaged carriers have no place to land and must be eliminated), and
2. BB will attack for one round, then retreat.

On average, 9 BB will score 6 hits in the first combat round, while the defenders will score 8. In this scenario, the defender knows he’ll lose 2 fighters for each CV that takes a hit, so his least bad option is to lose 4 fighters and 1 carrier. Meanwhile, my BB absorb the 8 hits without any change to my attack or defense strength and I retreat, safe in the knowledge that with just 6 fighters and 4 carriers, my opponent is unlikely to counterattack.

The moral of the story: Undamaged carriers with aircraft are quite valuable and dangerous, while damaged carriers are essentially overpriced, empty transports. Damaged battleships, on the other hand, are still battleships.