Best posts made by The_Good_Captain

@CrazyIvan

It went well! There were something like 8-10 players/teams that showed up to play at Gamex for AnA. I won my first round playing Anniversary edition. This was only my second time playing through a game of this version. I was the Axis playing the 1942 setup and my opponent conceded about round three (he hadn’t played much AnA).

Round 2 I was paired with another winner from earlier in the day which led to some difficult command decisions. We squared off against a pair of other experienced players. This game was Europe 1940. We were the Axis and managed to seize the Russian capital around turn 5 or 6 forcing the allies to concede. This was, however, due completely to amazing dice rolling on the part of my partner. I am not an expert at either Europe or Pacific and this was apparent to all concerned during this game as I struggled at times to stay up on the rules (if you have to choose between losing a cruiser or a destroyer, lose the cruiser, esp if there is a submarine…anywhere nearby). This put us in the final on Sunday.

Day two, final round saw my partner and I square off against the last victorious pair from the previous day. We played global and had an 18 point bid in favor of the allies (our side). I pretty much torpedoed ANY chance of a win when I pulled the trigger on a “sneaky carl” with ANZAC turn 1 (dont ever do this on ANZAC 1). A DOW with ANZAC keeps USA out of the game until turn 4. This was disastrous and despite my partners ability to roll seemingly only "1"s and "2"s, it was not enough to stem the axis tide. Despite this and other sloppy, awful mistakes caused by not knowing the rules too well and difficulty settling on strategies with my partner, it was actually far far closer than anyone thought it would get and nearly went the other way. (the french fighter failed to clear the blocking Italian destroyer in the Med that would have allowed the USA invasion convoy to seize Italy on turn 5).

Anyway, never made it to the final round like that before. I’m now using some of my AnA time to brush up on 1940 rules and situations. I will be much more competitive and prepared for Strategicon in September including having my own custom map and pieces done so I’ll definitely post pics after that tournament and may even upload a youtube video.

Thanks for asking!

Here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/3g7hongk3pk1ft6/Guadalcanal+Board+Final.png/file

You’re Welcome

The first two of what will be a twelve part series on Axis and Allies Anniversary Edition (1941 setup) are now available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ibSw0y4zkI&t=16s

I’ve just posted the second round (in two parts). If anyone was interested in a game, please reach out to either of us.

Here is the link to the first part of round 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQjGkXAKE3U

@victoryfirst I have completed nearly 40 games of 1914 since we started our first game. I have come to understand the the Russian revolution rule is incredibly complex and there are many little tricks someone can implement to bend the game in their favor.

I will be releasing a video shortly on my channel that details all of the ways each side can take advantage of that particular optional rule. I’m not sure what you did was wrong in Russia. It took a relatively long time to remove the Russians from the game compared to others and I had to heavily damage one of my armies to pull that move.

When playing against a seasoned CP player, it can take 10-11 turns to break the Ottomans down. In that sense, you are on track as the Entente.

The area that hurt the Entente in this particular game was having the USA stopped by the CP navy for so many turns. Being delayed one turn is rough but more than one turn is going to be trouble. Also, as the Italian player and as the Entente in general, I spend quite a bit of energy to never lose Venice. I even send French troops down there until the American get into the war. If Venice falls to the CP, it can become very difficult for the Entente after Russia falls. The Entente have the economic advantage. The British can and will overwhelm the Ottomans eventually. This means the Entente just need to hold everywhere else (except Russia). The only area where you need to “win” (rather than hold ground) is with the British against the Ottomans. And you don’t really need to have this done until turns 11, 12, or 13.

This has been my experience across the nearly 40 games I’ve logged in the last six to eight months.

I also need to thank you again for bringing me the TripleA file for this game. Without that, nothing I have created on my channel about this game would exist. And thank you for these games so far. I have learned a lot in each of our games! I’m always ready to play with you whenever you are looking for an opponent!

The United States video is up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrB3pkdogh4

The final video in this series will appear in about 4 weeks and will review balance and act as a Q&A for comments received throughout this series.

hey everyone! My conversation with @The-Janus is available as an audio only podcast type conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4KrQ1V9IcI

We discuss a range of different topics related to East & West as well as review the two games that are posted previous to this conversation.

Game 4 of this fine game.

The final video in my 12 part series has been posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QModTkxr7rs

This video discusses balance and bidding as well as a few other topics including some shout-outs to a handful of opponents I ran into on this fine website.

@The-Janus

This’ll be my last post on this topic out of time constraints. I love the back and forth, but I don’t see anything here that is new or otherwise convinces me that the game is balanced or that it favors the USSR.

At this point, I don’t see there being any daylight made between us on game theory (which is fine with me). This is the main reason I don’t really like to write essays. I just don’t have the time, and minds generally don’t get changed via this method in my experience.

You have a point, but you’re also completely discounting the fact that NATO can only really act at 1/3rd efficiency with those units.

I did not discount this, but I didn’t share every detail of the valuation so it’s totally forgivable. My valuation does not include infantry from either side because there’s almost EXACTLY the same amount for each side at the end of R1. NATO has more stuff in every category at the end of the Soviet opener except tanks - it has way more stuff in every category at the end of the actual round once everyone has had a turn. Further, to be fair with regards to TUV, we’d have to count NATOs first round of purchases in the valuation. This essentially nearly doubles the TUV gulf. I didn’t mention this in the initial post.

Fruity pebbles is a phenomenon that exists to some extent in every version of axis and allies. This is extremely challenging for AnA players to handle on a good day. The response is to understand you only need to be winning in one area of the map and holding everywhere else to win the game. There are finer details, but this is the general concept. In E&W, its hold in India, hold in Europe and kick in the back door as the USA in Kamchatka. After the first two to three turns, the economy is balanced as you point out, but NATO has 200 TUV over the Russians (not including the Navy) and the Russians should be contained with their demise coming on their east front via USA. This is the best way to “see” the imbalance. There is a loss of kinetic energy as the Russians as the economy balances and then the USA is piercing through.

I could (and might) run the same valuation for Anniversary and Classic to have something to compare it to so this is better understood but I don’t know. Takes time to lay out and I’d rather be playing. I’m unchanged. NATO should win 6/7 games at least. If that’s not happening, there was some extreme dice event or NATO was mishandled. But I leave my mind open to being changed over the board. If something can be demonstrated repeatedly, I absolutely will abandon this position after investigating why/what was so misleading - but experience tells me that is unlikely.

If the game ends up being balanced or less in favor of NATO, I believe it will come from increasing the risk profile of the soviet opener to an… unreliable but at least threatening chance of success as @Ragnell804 did. But you’ll still need very good dice.

OR

…get to the Fusion bomb asap. This is the “heavy bombers” of East and West. Maybe through some combination of spies and tech, the soviets can make up the massive TUV advantage by blowing away pieces in a truly economical way.

As a side note: the NATO “at start” nuke is very impactful in the ways that are considered secondary. Removing 5 Russian infantry might be a letdown, but when you do this to the SFE industrial complex on the turn you land in Kamchatka, you ensure the Russian counterattack is less likely to succeed because they’re down five infantry and can’t move their fighters due to EMP. Finally, on the Russian turn, because the IPC value has been reduced, the Russians can only add two Russian infantries instead of four.

This typically forces the Russian player into a horrific choice. Abandon the territory leaving the fighters to be destroyed because they couldn’t move. Or fight a losing battle in SFE and die with the fighters albeit at higher NATO cost. If NATO is using the nuke in some other way, imo - it’s being used inefficiently. Full stop. The NATO nuke is for the critical territory of SFE timed when landing in Kamchatka.

@kwaspek104 @DoManMacgee

good game gents - I do feel the Germans were fairly run through by the dice - this was a helpful game nonetheless

I’ve just posted two videos that review the statistics around very common openers for both Germany and Japan in Axis and Allies Classic (MB 2nd Edition):

Germany: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG55y5vyyqQ&t=101s

Japan (and why you shouldn’t attack that fleet around Hawaii): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ48LJurAhU&t=8s

@RogerCooper this sounds so fkn awesome. Post a link once you’ve got it dialed in and ready. My intent will be to acquaint myself with it and then release a video on my YouTube channel announcing it. I’ll throw as much credit as I can your way. You rock man.

@VictoryFirst @kwaspek104 End of round one is Germany: -6.86

By the numbers and from aggregate experience, there is a very solid chance the Allies win this game. Moscow ‘shouldn’t’ be 100% allies but it ‘should’ favor them is my prediction (assuming Germany balances defense of Germany and attack on Moscow equally).

This also an example of why I don’t take the Germans against the USA fleet on G1. The British destroyer guarantees USA air an easy attack on their turn thanks to the odd game rules about allied naval units.

The following is a video that is a “how-to” script on this extremely devastating strategy for Japan in Global 1940:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRi3aIsj8P8

Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/h3p3rbk0hq9xeiu/Revised.png/file

@ozymandiac I’m in.

@SuperbattleshipYamato said in WW1 1914 Balance Recommendation:

@Team-6-Zimmi

Pretty sure each turn is one year. Russian Revolution occurs on turn 3, or 1917, out of box rules also make the US enter the war 1917, or turn 3.

You can change the scale but the out of box rules are clearly one turn per year.

Also, the Revolution is not available until on or after Turn 4, not turn 3.

@DoManMacgee

Game History

Round: 6

    Purchase Units - Germans
        Germans buy 14 infantry; Remaining resources: 2 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Germans
        18 armour, 10 artilleries and 54 infantry moved from Belorussia to Moscow
        8 armour moved from East Poland to Moscow
        1 armour moved from Caucasus to Iraq
              Germans take Iran from Middle_East
              Germans take Iraq from Middle_East
        5 fighters moved from East Poland to Moscow

    Combat - Germans
        Battle in Moscow
            Germans attack with 26 armour, 10 artilleries, 5 fighters and 54 infantry
            British defend with 1 fighter; Americans defend with 7 fighters; Russians defend with 1 aaGun, 3 armour, 4 artilleries, 1 factory, 5 fighters and 73 infantry
                Russians roll AA dice in Moscow : 1/5 hits, 0.83 expected hits
                1 fighter owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
                Germans roll dice for 26 armour, 10 artilleries, 4 fighters and 54 infantry in Moscow, round 2 : 31/94 hits, 29.00 expected hits
                Russians roll dice for 3 armour, 4 artilleries, 13 fighters and 73 infantry in Moscow, round 2 : 31/93 hits, 35.33 expected hits
                31 infantry owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
                31 infantry owned by the Russians lost in Moscow
                Germans roll dice for 26 armour, 10 artilleries, 4 fighters and 23 infantry in Moscow, round 3 : 30/63 hits, 23.83 expected hits
                Russians roll dice for 3 armour, 4 artilleries, 13 fighters and 42 infantry in Moscow, round 3 : 24/62 hits, 25.00 expected hits
                1 artillery owned by the Germans and 23 infantry owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
                30 infantry owned by the Russians lost in Moscow
                Germans roll dice for 26 armour, 9 artilleries and 4 fighters in Moscow, round 4 : 13/39 hits, 18.00 expected hits
                Russians roll dice for 3 armour, 4 artilleries, 13 fighters and 12 infantry in Moscow, round 4 : 19/32 hits, 15.00 expected hits
                9 artilleries owned by the Germans and 10 armour owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
                12 infantry owned by the Russians and 1 artillery owned by the Russians lost in Moscow
                Germans roll dice for 16 armour and 4 fighters in Moscow, round 5 : 7/20 hits, 10.00 expected hits
                Russians roll dice for 3 armour, 3 artilleries and 13 fighters in Moscow, round 5 : 11/19 hits, 10.67 expected hits
                11 armour owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
                1 fighter owned by the Russians, 3 armour owned by the Russians and 3 artilleries owned by the Russians lost in Moscow
                Germans roll dice for 5 armour and 4 fighters in Moscow, round 6 : 4/9 hits, 4.50 expected hits
                Russians roll dice for 12 fighters in Moscow, round 6 : 9/12 hits, 8.00 expected hits
                4 fighters owned by the Germans and 5 armour owned by the Germans lost in Moscow
                4 fighters owned by the Russians lost in Moscow
            Russians win with 8 fighters remaining. Battle score for attacker is -82
            Casualties for Germans: 26 armour, 10 artilleries, 5 fighters and 54 infantry
            Casualties for Russians: 3 armour, 4 artilleries, 5 fighters and 73 infantry

    Non Combat Move - Germans

    Place Units - Germans
        14 infantry placed in Germany

    Turn Complete - Germans
        Germans collect 44 PUs; end with 46 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Russians regular : -0.00
Germans regular : -0.33
Russians AA : 0.17

G6 GG.tsvg whatever you did, please do it again lol - same sides please. You’re doing the lords work.

Germany strategic video is up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpZw0ugggMM&t=397s