Posts made by The Pripet Martian

Whether intentional or not, I find it very interesting that the OOB G40 rules reflect with some accuracy the waning value of battleships and cruisers in World War II. The rise of aircraft carriers may not have rendered BB and CA obsolete, but they certainly made them vulnerable in ways they hadn’t been in previous wars.

As for the one-shot bombardment rule…I’m fine with it as is. Considering that the biggest ship-mounted guns of the era had a max range of under 30 miles, it’s not realistic to allow naval bombardment to continue throughout a battle across a territory which might be hundreds of miles wide (many European territories, for example). I’ve always considered the one-shot support attack a bonus, rather than a primary function of BB and CA.

Parting thought: Buying, moving and fighting CA & DD in pairs gives you a slim attack and defense advantage over a BB, for the same price. Doing so is the best way to get max value out of CA. This is a hill I will die on. :grin:

@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.

@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

@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.

In G40, America is both protected and hindered by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Fortunately for the Allies, the US has the economic resources to bridge the gap. Figuring out how best to utilize those IPCs to swiftly get Uncle Sam into the fight can be challenging, so I decided to post my thoughts on the subject. I hope newer players will benefit from this, and who knows? Maybe some more experienced players will be inspired.

The Combined Arms Approach

The “Bright Skies” strategy calls for the US to contribute bombers to the war effort, arguing that it takes the Americans too long to get ground forces into battle.

Though two turns are required to cross the oceans from the US to Europe or Japan/Korea, I’d argue that the US is uniquely positioned among the Allies to contribute large numbers of both aircraft and land units to both the European and Pacific theatres. Also, combined arms attacks are much more economically efficient than air-only attacks. The question is, what is the most efficient way to get significant numbers of American ground troops into the fight?

Crossing Oceans: A Three-Step Process

Moving American land units to Europe and Japan is a three-step process. I call it “SSB,” or “Security, Soldiers and Boats.”

1. Since transports are the most vulnerable units in the game, naval and air security along your intended route is critical. Buy those planes and warships first, so you can get them into position while you’re building ground units and a transport fleet.

2. Buy soldiers (ground units) next. Transport capabilities dictate that, for maximum efficiency, half of your units will be infantry. What of the other half, though - should you buy all artillery, all armor, or a mix?
   Interestingly, on a very basic level, it doesn’t matter: your attack strength will be the same, no matter what. Where you see a difference is in defense strength. What this means is that, if you’re planning an amphibious assault and a strong enemy counterattack is expected (as in Normandy), you should buy all armor. When attacking an island (like Japan), where a counterattack is highly unlikely, buy all artillery.

3. Transports - Boats - should be purchased last. Because they’re vulnerable to any attack, you don’t want to put them in the water until you’re ready to move troops overseas.

Security aside, once the US is at war, they have the economic capacity to get 10 infantry and 10 artillery units to Japan or Normandy in just 4 turns, as shown in the examples below.

EASTERN US TO NORMANDY:
Turn 1) Buy 10 infantry and place in Eastern US. Buy 10 artillery and place in Central US.
Turn 2) Buy 10 transports and place in SZ 101.
Turn 3) Load transports and move to SZ 91 (Gibraltar).
Turn 4) Move to SZ 110 for amphibious assault into Normandy.

WESTERN US TO JAPAN:
Turn 1) Buy 10 infantry and place in Western US, 10 artillery and place in Central US.
Turn 2) Move all artillery to Western US. Purchase 10 transports and place in SZ 10.
Turn 3) Load transports and move to Hawaii (SZ 26).
Turn 4) Move to SZ 6 for amphibious assault into Japan or Korea.

How Many Transports Do I Need?

In order to set up a conveyor belt-type system to funnel troops into Europe, you need to figure out how many transports are required. To ensure a steady flow of land units, you must have an identical number of transports for each leg of the voyage. Let’s say you decide to go with a 5-transport shuttle from the Eastern US to Normandy: 20 transports are required, so that at the beginning and end of each turn, you’ll have 5 transports each in SZ 101 and 110 and 10 transports in SZ 91. The shuttle works like this:

1. Buy 10 infantry, 10 artillery and place in Eastern/Central US.
2. Buy 10 transports and place in SZ 101.
3. Repeat Turn 1 buy.
4. Repeat Turn 2 buy. Load 10 transports and move to SZ 91.
5. Move transports from SZ 91 to SZ 110 for amphibious assault into Normandy. Load transports in SZ 101 and move to SZ 91, unloading in Gibraltar/Morocco.
6. Buy 5 infantry, 5 armor and place in Eastern US. Move 10 empty transports from SZ 110 back to SZ 91. Move 5 empty transports from SZ 91 to SZ 101. Load 5 transports in SZ 91, move to SZ 110 and unload in Normandy.
7. Buy 5 infantry, 5 armor and place in Eastern US. Load and move 5 transports from SZ 101 to SZ 91, unloading in Gibraltar/Morocco. Load and move 5 transports from SZ 91 to SZ 110, unloading in Normandy. Move 5 empty transports from SZ 110 to SZ 91. Move 5 empty transports from SZ 91 to SZ 101.
8. Repeat Turn 7.

In the immortal words of Forrest Gump, “…and that’s all I have to say about that.” Any thoughts, comments, criticism or suggestions?

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

One more Allied gambit comes to mind. No idea who had the original idea, but I’m calling it…

The Berlin Bank Job

Moves: US takes Denmark. UK transits Danish Straits to capture Germany.

Plan: The Allies take advantage of a German player who leaves Denmark and Germany lightly (or un-) defended. In a one-two punch, the US captures Denmark, opening the door for the UK to sail into the Baltic and amphibious assault into Germany, capturing Berlin and stealing Germany’s money. Executed at the right time, this move can almost single-handedly save Moscow by preventing Germany from purchasing new units for at least one turn. Also, the UK gets a huge one-time income boost.

Problems: In order to keep the German player from becoming alarmed and reinforcing Denmark and Germany, the Allies can’t have a huge troop buildup in advance of the operation. This means that minimal force must be used, which means that those units committed to Denmark and Germany are essentially on a suicide mission. This includes any British naval units which enter the Baltic, as they’ll be trapped there until Denmark is again liberated or they’re killed by the Luftwaffe, whichever comes first.

@Panther said in The Sneaky Carl:

This means that in the situation in question, units leaving the sea zone in combat movement to avoid participation in the attack can actually end their movement in friendly zones, so transports that are leaving don’t have to participate in an amphibious assault.

Just to clarify, does this mean that:

A) Transports can load, leave the sea zone in combat movement to avoid participation in the attack, end their movement in a friendly sea zone and offload. B) Transports leaving a sea zone in combat movement to avoid participation in the attack cannot load.
C) Transports leaving a sea zone in combat movement to avoid participation in the attack may load first, but may only offload in an amphibious assault.
D) Another possible scenario I’ve overlooked?

Technology should absolutely be a key element of G40. To make it so, however, you have to come up with a system allowing for targeted R&D, rather than the random, hit-or-miss OOB system. Without targeted R&D, you’re just wasting IPC.

You can also see this table in a couple of General Hand Grenade’s videos. Here’s the latest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_EhZXv11Hs

@taamvan

I respect your opinion, as well. I also agree that, if the transport can’t retreat to a friendly territory, they’re done for. If they can reach a friendly territory, though, I think the same principle as the “one space and land” rule for aircraft from sunken carriers should apply.

Since the current rules don’t allow for that, I really don’t see why transports are even allowed to retreat from a failed sea battle. The odds of protecting them before the next enemy turn are so slim, retreat seems a pointless exercise (as in my example above).

As you said, you like it the way it is…and I like my new house rule for retreating transports. We both win. :grinning:

@taamvan said in Transports retreat...then what?:

@The-Pripet-Martian

The logic is that you have begun a multipart contingent attack–one that requires clearing the SZ first, having already committed the transports. This is one of the most nuanced situations in the rules–that you have to make sure that you bring enough to guarantee the first battle is a success if you fail to do so–most of your protective units will be dead, and the transports exceptionally vulnerable.

I understand what you’re saying. Logically, however, a failure to clear the sea zone of enemy warships or aircraft would result in the now-unprotected transports turning around, heading back to port and offloading their cargo, not moving one sea zone away to await their wholesale slaughter on the next enemy turn. If that’s the case, why even allow transports to retreat? Allowing them to move one space - easy striking distance for the remaining enemy forces - only delays the inevitable.

The rules-reason you cant unload is that a unit cannot both Combat Move and Noncombat move.

Aircraft do it all the time. If the only reason a transport cannot offload into a friendly territory is because it arrived there after retreating from battle, well…that’s not good enough. I accept that it’s the rule; I’m just saying that it’s an arbitrary rule, not grounded in logic or reality.
…

For those interested, here’s the scenario that started this topic:

ANZAC amphibious assault on Java. SZ 42 battle involved the following:

JPN: 1 Destroyer, 1 Carrier, 1 Fighter
ANZ: 1 Destroyer, 1 Cruiser, 2 Fighters, 1 Tac Bomber, 1 Strategic Bomber (plus 2 Transports, 2 Infantry, 2 Artillery)

Round 1: ANZ = 1 hit, JPN = 3 hits
Round 2: ANZ = 2 hits, JPN = 3 hits

Japanese fighter remains, lands on Java. ANZAC Transports retreat to SZ 55 and, forbidden (by an arbitrary rule) from unloading into the friendly Northern Territory, await their destruction on the next Japanese turn.

Okay, I just found the relevant quote under “Phase 4: Noncombat Move”, “Where Units Can Move” (Europe 1940 2nd ed., p.22):

Transports can move to friendly coastal territories and load or offload cargo, unless they loaded, moved, offloaded, or were involved in combat during the Combat Move or Conduct Combat phase.

The rule seems clear - transports which retreat from combat cannot offload their cargo. Clarity aside, I fail to see any logic or acknowledgement of reality in this application of the rule. Applying the same logic to aircraft which retreat from battle would mean they could not land…which would also make no sense.

Here’s the situation: Defenders win sea battle prior to amphibious assault. Attacker retreats surviving transports. If they retreat to a sea zone adjacent to a friendly territory, can they offload their cargo?

A similar question from 2010 was answered with a blunt, “retreating transports cannot offload their cargo,” but I can’t find anything in the 1940 2nd ed. rules to back that up. If anyone here can provide chapter and verse, I’d really appreciate it - ANZAC lives hang in the balance!

@taamvan Good point. The defender would have to scramble two fighters to kill the carrier and transports.

@orodeh said in Aircraft carrier defense value vs. scrambling fighter:

Playing a game with my kids, I ran into a scenario where the rules are not well defined; I think.
Assume an aircraft carrier has launched its planes into an amphibious landing. Now, the defender scrambles a fighter against the landing fleeting. The combat value of the fighter is 4. But what is the combat value of the aircraft carrier?

Interpretation A: zero, because the aircraft carrier is attacking. It can take hits, but its combat value is zero.

Interpretation B: two. It is being attacked, and so, it should use its defense value.

So which is it? zero or two?

It seems to me that, in this scenario, the “defenseless transports” rule would apply to the aircraft carrier. Quite a price to pay for a failed amphibious assault. As @Caesar-Seriona said, always send an escort with your carrier.

Missed it by a few days, but: 75 years ago last week, my uncle, Bud Piper (a U.S. Army combat engineer), visited Paris…which wasn’t liberated until 24 AUG 44. His story, which I have no reason to doubt, is remarkable.

At the time, American engineer units were “free agents,” for lack of a better term - they would be temporarily attached to this brigade to build a bridge for them, then reassigned to that battalion to clear a path through a minefield for them, and so on. In between assignments, they had down time. My uncle compared it to firefighters at their station house, waiting for a call.

During one of these periods of down time, Bud said, word reached his unit that Paris had been liberated. They were only about 30 miles from the City of Light, so my uncle and a handful of his buddies hopped in a truck and headed down the road.

As Bud explained, “unlike WWI, the front line was riddled with gaps, and some of them were pretty large. We didn’t see any live Germans along the way.” Upon reaching Paris, they drove straight to the Eiffel Tower, parked the truck, got out and started taking pictures, like any other tourists. They got a few strange looks from the locals, Bud said, but they were used to strange looks from the French. While snapping photos, they saw a squad of Germans - still armed - marching a few hundred yards away. “We assumed they were marching off to surrender,” stated Bud.

One of Bud’s squad mates wanted to get his wife some “real Parisian lingerie,” so they set out to find a shop. “We didn’t speak French and couldn’t find anyone who would admit to speaking English, but we managed to find a lingerie shop nearby,” said Bud. “While we were inside, we saw another squad of Germans march right down the street, past the store. At that point, we figured the story about Paris being liberated was just a bullsh*t rumor and high-tailed it out of there. A week later, Paris was liberated for real.”

Hard to believe? Yes. Crazy enough to be true? Yes. My uncle has never been prone to embellishment, exaggeration, etc., so I have no choice but to accept it as true.

@SS-GEN Those cards look great! Thanks for the idea.

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:

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.