New to Game; New to Forum–> I GOT QUESTIONS

[andrewhollinger]

Hello. Just got the game for Christmas. Read the manual, and played once (it’s hard getting people into a game) and I have a few questions.

1. How many combats can you have in one turn? The sample turn in the OM only shows one. But a computer clone A&A that I have, allows several combat moves. (i.e. Germany attacks UK and rolls dice through combat, then attacks Russia and rolls dice through combat.) Which is it?

2. I read up on air unit movements, and what I understand is that the 4 moves a fighter receives is 4 TOTAL, to the battle and from the battle. NOT 4 to the territory and 4 from the territory. Right?

3. I’m a little confused about the amphibious assault. I understand that if there are defending sea vessels, you need to conclude that battle first. What I’m a little fuzzy on is the move into the SZ is one move, and the move to land/offload is the second move, right? I understand shore bombardment (as long as there is no previous sea battle), but you can ALSO have other touching territories aid in the amphibious assault? AND you CAN’T retreat from an amphibious assault, at all. Is that correct?

4. Finally, how do you effectively use your fleet. My only game so far has been a minor victory, and we didn’t really need the fleet. What’s the best way to build up and use battleships, transports, subs, and destroyers?

5. One more. On subs. How do you submerge? Attacking subs can’t submerge? And when defending, you can submerge after the first round and then what? Get moved back to the game board because it’s not part of the battle anymore?

6. Is it worth it to develop technology?

Sorry so much. I’m confused. Thanks for any help.

Andrew

[balungaloaf]

1. all the moves you want that can be carried out legally.

2. correct

3.  you battle if needed.  then drop off troops.  those troops cant retreat.  what do you mean by other territories helping?

4.  alot of people dont build up big fleets.  japan usually sticks with the one they got b/c usually america goes after germany first.  if america screws with japan, they will both be buying a lot of naval units.  germany might buy an AC to defend sz 5 with.  usually if they build a fleet, the soviets will rape them.  america and britain usually buy transports as needed and other ships to protect those transports.  thats about it.

5. i thought attacking subs can submerge.  they just call off the battle and submerge just like the defenders can.  i could be wrong.  its been awhile since i played revised.  and correct, defending subs would be put back on the game board.  they are no longer in the battle.  they will be put up later on their turn again.

6. i usually have never gone with technology.  and if i do, its for rockets.

[Jennifer]

@andrewhollinger:

Hello. Just got the game for Christmas. Read the manual, and played once (it’s hard getting people into a game) and I have a few questions.

It’s very hard to get others to play this extra-ordinary game!  But once you get them to play, they’ll want more.  It’s very addictive!  BTW, welcome to the site!

@andrewhollinger:

1. How many combats can you have in one turn? The sample turn in the OM only shows one. But a computer clone A&A that I have, allows several combat moves. (i.e. Germany attacks UK and rolls dice through combat, then attacks Russia and rolls dice through combat.) Which is it?

You are permitted to have unlimited attacks in a round.  However, your units may only attack one territory in any round. (Tanks are an exception, they may drive through enemy or friendly unoccupied territories, conquering as they go for their full movement value, they just have to stop when they engage enemy units.)

@andrewhollinger:

2. I read up on air unit movements, and what I understand is that the 4 moves a fighter receives is 4 TOTAL, to the battle and from the battle. NOT 4 to the territory and 4 from the territory. Right?

Correct.  Aircraft use up their movement getting TOO the enemy and going AWAY from the enemy.  That means that England can attack W. Europe with their fighters and land in England again.  However, they cannot attack Ukraine and land those fighters in England again because they do not have the movement allowed.

Note that you MUST have a valid landing zone before attacking.  You may not use all your movement to get to an area and attack it planning to take the fighters or bombers as the first casualties.  Your pilots are not suicidal, they have mothers and girlfriends who love them and they want to go home some day!

@andrewhollinger:

3. I’m a little confused about the amphibious assault. I understand that if there are defending sea vessels, you need to conclude that battle first. What I’m a little fuzzy on is the move into the SZ is one move, and the move to land/offload is the second move, right? I understand shore bombardment (as long as there is no previous sea battle), but you can ALSO have other touching territories aid in the amphibious assault? AND you CAN’T retreat from an amphibious assault, at all. Is that correct?

The move getting your units off your transports, whether in non-combat or in combat (amphibious assault) is not counted as a “move” for your infantry and armor (and Artillery if you have Axis and Allies Revised.)  Your ground units move up all their movement allotments getting onto and then getting off of your transports, so all you have to worry about is how many spaces the transports have moved.

Note, you cannot move your units and then load them.  They must be loaded from the territory bordering the sea zone the transports are in.  You CAN, however, move your transports to get the ground units and then move the transports to a landing zone to offload them.

@andrewhollinger:

4. Finally, how do you effectively use your fleet. My only game so far has been a minor victory, and we didn’t really need the fleet. What’s the best way to build up and use battleships, transports, subs, and destroyers?

There is quite a lot of debate on this.  As you and your friends play more and more games, you will work out how to use your ships effectively.

Some hints to help you on your way are:

Battleships, in revised which it appears you have since you mention destroyers, are good ways to absorb hits, but not really cost effective to build.
Destroyers protect your fleet from getting killed by enemy submarines without you being able to return fire.  I find it best to always have a destroyer with my fleet, just one is all it takes to stop millions of enemy submarines from shooting at you and then submerging before you can return fire. 
Transports are the ONLY way to move your units from England and America to Japan or Germany. (Likewise, Japan needs transports to get to Russia and America.)
Submarines are great units to bulk up your fleet for large naval battles.  They are the cheapest combat unit and they add up to serious damage in decent sized stacks (we refer to multiple units as a “stack” because of the stack of chips under the unit.)
Aircraft Carriers are the queens of the sea.  Once you attack an Aircraft Carrier and 2 Fighters defending a fleet, you’ll understand why.  But just to help out, carriers defend at a 3 or less, which is huge in this game.  The two fighters both defend at 4 or less AND can attack enemy units to support your amphibious assaults.

@andrewhollinger:

5. One more. On subs. How do you submerge? Attacking subs can’t submerge? And when defending, you can submerge after the first round and then what? Get moved back to the game board because it’s not part of the battle anymore?

Defending submarines may only submerge if there are no attacking destroyers present. (Likewise with attacking submarines.)  Once submerged, I like to put the submarine(s) on its side on the game board until the end of the current country’s turn.  Once his/her turn is up, right the submarine because it is no longer submerged.

@andrewhollinger:

6. Is it worth it to develop technology?

Technology is an interesting wrinkle in the game.  I’d recommend not using it until you and your friends have worked out the major details of the game and have worked up some strategies between you.

That said, some people on this board will tell you that technology is a stupid endeavor to try and get.  I, on the other hand, feel that technology is a great way to add some frosting to your cake before you eat it.

For instance.

Let’s pretend that you are sitting in the Solomon Islands with 12 Submarines.  Now, according to the card, all your submarines attack at two or less, correct?  And, you have no Industrial Complex in the Solomon Islands (and if you did, the island chain is worth 0 IPCs so you would not be able to produce there anyway.)  So how can you improve their chances to sink the enemy fleet which is in, say, Hawaii?

Well, a last minute roll for Super Submarines with part or all of your money could quickly turn those 12 submarines from hitting at two or less to hitting at three or less.

We call this projected benefits because it improves the units you already have in position as opposed to building units to improve your position when they get a chance to move forward.

The same holds true for many of the other technologies.  If you have your Anti-Aircraft Guns near the enemy, then rockets may help you.  If you are just about to assault the enemy, and they have an Anti-Aircraft Gun, then you may want to get Jets so your fighters cannot be hit by Anti-Aircraft Fire anymore.  Long Range Aircraft can allow you to bring more fighters and bombers to the fight then you would otherwise had to do with out, this can also make a battle more decisive.

However, remember that getting and using technology will only make up for poor strategy and tactics for a very short time.  But, getting and using technology will augment your tactics and strategies at decisive points it you use them wisely.

I hope that helps.

~Jennifer

[andrewhollinger]

Thanks for all the help. It’s really helped out.

I’m still a little confused about my first question.

Is this scenario legal:

I’m Germany. I’ve purchased my units. Now my combat move. I decide to attack a UK territory. I roll the dice and we battle. (Whether I win or not is irrelevant.)

Now I’m stoked. I attack Russia now, for the victory city of Leningrad. We go through dice rolls. I may win or not.

NOW I move on to my non-combat moves, mobilization, etc.

===

Is it legal for Germany to attack TWO DIFFERENT territories in ONE turn?

I do understand that I can “Press Attack” or “Retreat” in a single battle. But can I skirmish more than once in a turn? Just curious.

Thanks.

Andrew

[TimTheEnchanter]

@andrewhollinger:

Thanks for all the help. It’s really helped out.

I’m still a little confused about my first question.

Is this scenario legal:

I’m Germany. I’ve purchased my units. Now my combat move. I decide to attack a UK territory. I roll the dice and we battle. (Whether I win or not is irrelevant.)

Now I’m stoked. I attack Russia now, for the victory city of Leningrad. We go through dice rolls. I may win or not.

NOW I move on to my non-combat moves, mobilization, etc.

===

Is it legal for Germany to attack TWO DIFFERENT territories in ONE turn?

I do understand that I can “Press Attack” or “Retreat” in a single battle. But can I skirmish more than once in a turn? Just curious.

Thanks.

Andrew

You can attack many territories, but not in the way you describe.  You must conduct ALL your combat moves at once, before beginning to perform any of the actual battles.  If you’re Germany on turn 1, you will often see players counter-attack the russians in karelia and either belorussia or Ukraine, they will hit the british BB in the western Med, the destroyer in the eastern med, and at the same time make an amphibious assault on Egypt with troops from southern Europe joining the ones from Libya and a plane or two (and in answer to your question, even if only one unit in the original assault comes in on an amphib landing, all ground troops are committed to fight without retreat, even if most of them came in overland.  Planes, however, can disengage after the first round of combat if you wish.)

The trick is, you have to commit to ALL of these combat moves before you start ANY of the battles.  You can’t do one and see how your doing before deciding whether to move into other territories.

There is still value at times in carefully choosing the order you conduct your battles as results in one may make you more or less likely to retreat in another territory, but you must commit to at least one round of battle in all those territories.

[andrewhollinger]

I see.

So I need to “declare” all my intentions at the start of my combat move and complete at least one round of battle in all those territories.

Got it.

[trihero]

That’s exactly it! Remember there might be some strategy in which battle you choose to resolve first…

[Jennifer]

I agree with Bean.

For instance, if Russia attacks Ukraine and W. Russia, I find it wiser to do W. Russia first, to see how badly beat up my army is before rolling Ukraine.  No matter what,you have to roll at least one round of all declared battles, but if you got beat hard in W. Russia you may decide to retreat in Ukraine to conserve forces, if you did insanely well, you may take more risks in Ukraine. (Apply this to any set of battles.  Not just Ukraine/ W. Russia.)

[Crazy Ivan]

:-)
  One clarification, once you begin a battle, you must finish it. Win, lose, or withdraw after the completion of one or more rounds of combat, (attackers choice).
  Then you can move on to the next declared battle of your choice.
As a new player, you will probibly have a few more questions, so feel free to get the answers from these friendly folks here and on other sites dedicated to     
      Axis and Allies games.
  and as I hope for everyone,
        Good Luck, and
        Happy Gaming   
                :-D

[Petrucci08]

No matter what,you have to roll at least one round of all declared battles

Does this apply to subs too or can i use opening fire and then retreat before the first attacking round provided there isn’t an enemy destroyer present?

[Guest]

It applies to SUBs also.

Once you declare combat movement to engage the enemy, you must complete at least ONE FULL CYCLE of combat.

[Petrucci08]

thanks but one more noob question. Can a Battleship bombard to aid any attack or only during amphibious landings?

[Guest]

You must land at least 1 unit to a land territory from a transport in the same sea zone as the Battleship in order to fire the single bombard attack.