Best posts made by The_Good_Captain

@TheJuggernaut “Russia Restricted” is not the only rule necessary to de-bug the classic, 2nd edition…IMO (as per the videos).

“Russia Restricted” is just the most obvious.

@Vital-Signs yeah they should work - i think you should be happy with the result. I will remove the board lines and crop and send them back to you. need about a month or so, maybe two with the holidays. I will post as soon as one is finished and then the other as soon as it is finished.

oh my and of course, @DoManMacgee

That’s nine warm bodies without trying to advertise. How many are in the G40 league?

@Krieghund In an amphibious assault, which occurs first, resolution of Air Supremacy or artillery pre-emptive strike? Here is the situation for context:

A French fighter and French infantry are in Egypt. In Piedmont is a massive German army with plenty of artillery but only one fighter.

The French move a transport to SZ 17, pickup the infantry, and declare an amphibious attack on Piedmont with the fighter FLYING (not offloading) into the attack. The goal is simply to try to destroy the German fighter in Air Supremacy - the presence of the infantry is just to make it legal (despite the overwhelming odds of being destroyed by pre-emptive strikes from artillery).

Do I have that right and is this legal?

Thank you for your service ;)

@CrazyIvan

Really nice post. Good read.

On the Med and Africa being worse off than the Russian front - Insofar as this game is merely a projection of military clout by the five major powers fighting in WW2, that particular situation approaches unrealistic whereas the situation on the East front IS unrealistic without RR. This is of course, an opinion.

What I would argue is less an opinion is that the Germans have a free ride in Africa. Even with good Axis rolls, generally, I don’t expect to have Germans in Africa after turn 3. I also expect to have lost the continent to the allies until the Japanese get around to it.

On my recommended strategy with the Russian tanks - their primary purpose is as a deterrent, not a cure all. I would be hesitant to use them in any manner beyond retaking India. Otherwise, I generally bring them back. This is somewhat situation dependent but that was the spirit in which I developed the strategy.

On the lack of classic players - I’ll bet you can get someone to play classic with you on this forum, just throw up a request! Otherwise, I’m generally always available.

Misc. - I’m open to house rules only in the most minimally invasive manner for several reasons. First, the more innocuous the change, the more likely the target audience will accept it. Second, there is less need to explain what the changes are and why they were made. Third, I want to retain as much of the original spirit and flavor of the game as possible. For example, the minute changes I spoke of earlier would be published by me using a photo edit software to change the digits on the oob setup cards. I would then make them available for download and title the file something very basic. “AnA classic setup v1.1” or something to that effect.

No, I haven’t played with LL but it seems to me a very “bean counter” way of playing. Like an order of magnitude higher than it already can be. At this time, I’m unwilling to try it, at least until I wrap up my time in Classic AnA.

If you would like to see some games where Russia has a good time with RR, check out either of my games with Avin:
https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/33264/classic-2nd-edition-avin-allies-vs-aceswild-axis-no-bid/27?page=2
this one is really two games in one. The first, the axis get horribly diced and the second I experiment with a G1 Mediterranean build.

But this one is the crowning jewel of a great game using RR and the axis strategy that I advertise:
https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/33336/classic-2nd-edition-avin-allies-vs-aceswild-axis-rr-no-bid-game2/104
it wasn’t clear who would win until about turn 8 or 9 and then just barely, it could have gone either way several times and I nearly conceded at one point.

I agree with you about the column rolling and AAA. And about the sense that rolling dice in person is much more interesting and entertaining in person. I will be submitting a request to the AAA developers to add an option in to allow for it. I really feel this is a subtle but crucial component to this game and I despair when opponents hand be their “order of loss list”. I would and will never do that. I was once asked what my order of loss would be for a big naval battle around japan and that my answer would dictate weather he would attack or not. My response, “You’ll have to find out for yourself.”

Give the enemy nothing…

@TheJuggernaut They’re the same setup. And to your point about Japan taking India on the first turn I would reference you to my British strategic video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtoh0UtsuQc&t=1006s

starting around minute 16, I explain that (in my opinion) the best way to industrialize India is to pull out on B1. At any rate, if you don’t use the optional rule “no new industries”, Allies can reliably win the game.

@Vital-Signs I have made some but not much. I use the free download program gimp and the clone tool in that program. thats about it. otherwise, give me another month and I might have conquest of the empire done.

Bottom line up front: Is anyone in this thread willing to run a classic tournament for 2025?

That is my question. I can’t do it. I run strategicon three times a year (face to face AnA tournaments in LA), youtube channel, just had a kid, and ever present full time job of course. I can’t do it but I have a fleet of committed players if someone can - including myself. I can support of course with rules clarifications and balance recommendations, optional rules configurations, etc

But I personally cannot run a classic 2025 tournament. Can anyone reading this do it or would they be interested?

@SuperbattleshipYamato said in Minefields question:

@Krieghund

Oh beep I’ve been playing it wrong this entire time [cries realizing that all prior games are essentially invalid experience].

Barring your experiences with other players, I don’t believe this is terribly interesting in terms of affect on the game. Excepting extraneous events, it means the Germans need to garrison Karelia/Finland with a few extra pieces than they otherwise would “normally”. I really don’t see much adverse influence outside of that - certainly nothing that makes your “prior games essentially invalid.”

TGC - Allies
Wool - Axis
No Bid, RR

The following link contains an edited and much easier to read version of all the Don Rae Essays.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/s1fbbddjic865af/Don_Rae_Hindsight_2020.docx/file

It’s been roughly twenty years since the release of the “Don Rae Essays”. These documents, still freely available for download on the web, are best known for presenting and/or confirming the argument that Milton Bradley’s version of Axis and Allies is imbalanced in favor of the Allies. They have since become a part of Axis and Allies lore and are the origin of game terminology such as “shucking”, the “strafe attack”, and the “dead zone” among others. Given the legacy of these documents, I felt it interesting, if not prudent, to revisit this work and see if it could use an update for the year 2020.

What follows is a compilation of all the essays for which I have acted as editor. The original was (still is) filled with grammatical and punctuation errors, wordy and imprecise sentences, and braggadocios smugness that detracts from the overall messaging. Some of the examples and recommendations clearly lacked the use of proper battle calculation (use of a battle calculator). The game economy is largely ignored and referred to only in the abstract. The use and implementation of optional rules outside of the Restricted Attack (“Russia Restricted”) are not mentioned at all. The same is true for Technology rolls. Finally, in my opinion, the most fatal flaw was that the essays left no room for growth. In other words, these essays are presented as containing ALL the answers to your Axis and Allies questions.

Despite this, and though I cannot endorse these essays, they do contain concepts that are invaluable to understanding Axis and Allies game mechanics, especially for newer players. In this regard, I recommend essay #4 and #5. The strafe attack and more importantly, the dead zone have been thoroughly and well explained here. Additionally, though not the only (or in my opinion, ideal) first-turn strategies on offer, these essays contain a starting game plan for each individual power. For these reasons and their legacy, I have worked diligently to make the “Don Rae Essays” more presentable and easier to read.

Who am I, you might ask, to be worthy of such a task? To begin with, I am a huge fan of the Milton Bradley version of Axis and Allies. I am so much a fan that I began a YouTube channel that tries carefully to presents tactics, strategies, and game concepts learned over the course of many games with many different opponents. Many of these games are a matter of public record and are visible on the axisandallies.org forums. Finally, I am a published author and have applied all my experience regarding professional editing that I can offer to this essay.

As a disclaimer, I have corrected all misspellings and punctuation errors. Overly wordy sentences were trimmed down for ease of reading. All pompous and egotist comments have been removed. All font sizes have been standardized. Finally, all editorial commentary is clearly discernible in blue italics. My interventions in this way were done sparingly and only when the matter being discussed was erroneous or misleading. What’s left should be a MUCH smoother read of the concepts and strategies of the “Don Rae Essays”.

-The Good Captain

@Vital-Signs

https://youtu.be/2M366akcWm0?si=INArkdTc_5pNKmuA

Would you all be so kind as to try out our Classic tournament? If so please post here that you are interested.

@DoManMacgee
@VictoryFirst
@Ragnell804
@kwaspek104
@Martin
@elche
@dawgoneit
@gamerman01
and myself

Also, the godfather emeritus: @ericwool if you are still out there and wanted in.

@mcclellansGhost great question. In my experience its best to think of Canada as the place where all us purchases from the turn prior move to. It is from here that they will deploy to another front.

I like to get USA up to seven transports and split them however you like (I usually split them 6/1) with the base sz being Canada and the shuck SZ being 8, 15, or 16 as needed. very easy to spread the love in this way or react to threats.

7 transport flip shuck

AcesWild5049 - Allies
Echo - Axis

No Bid, Russia Restricted

Hey guys! Check out the first video in my new series:

Episode 1 - [In Defense of] TWITCH live stream:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEkkgKQfutA&lc=UgynI6x562tgLy4W-Mt4AaABAg

@Vital-Signs

I have this for Conquest of the Empire: https://www.mediafire.com/file/1hf6u38ni6680by/cote_map.jpg/file

I don’t have Shogun. =(

I feel strongly that the baseline game should use 2nd Edition rules configured with these optional rules:

Restricted attack (out of box rule)
Neutrals out of play (house rule)
Tech available on and after turn 4 (house rule)

Restricted attack is to prevent a catastrophic material imbalance that favors the allies. Neutrals out of play is to remove “Spanish Harlem”. Tech available on turn 4 is to prevent the USA tech spamming heavy bombers starting on the first turn AND ALSO to decrease the rate of games that go into 20+ turns.

As for bracketing, while I agree with @DoManMacgee, I feel strongly @gamerman01 should have full power to organize as he sees fit since he is assuming the burden of running the show.

@gamerman01 I have tied in with all of the gentlemen in the list. We are ready on your mark.

@Tamer-of-Beasts Right, I wondered about that as I was responding. Italy would have no choice but to be mean as you say. And it is risky for AH in that case. I would still run the strat with Russia even with that piece count. I would deviate only given dice that went too far off the bell curve in one direction or the other.

@Derek_Davidson thanks for the game! Let me know if you wanna rematch!