Multiple Clarification Questions

[Chris_Henry]

Hey all. Sorry to put all in one topic here, I figured I wouldn’t spam the wall with multiple topics. Had a couple questions based on our current game.

1. Scrambled Fighters: When fighters are sent to assist a naval battle via their scramble ability, they have to stay in the fight for the duration of the battle, and do not have the choice to retreat, correct? My brother was insistent that he should be allowed to retreat his scrambled fighters. Even worse, he thought he could make a defensive role with said fighter, and then be allowed to retreat. I don’t think he’s allowed to do either of those, but hoping someone could confirm.

2. Argentina Activation: In our game, I was lucky to roll a 1 and activate Argentina as the Germans! I was shocked I did so. It’s late in the game, and the US is already at war/at full production. The alignment table in the rules at table 4-6 says “Increase US income by D12 if successful.”. Does this happen even though the US is already at full production? My assumption was that this should be in reference to only if they still need to get to war-time production. But it doesn’t technically say so in the rules. Thoughts?

3. Vichy France as a Neutral: The rules state the Allies can attack minor neutrals, but have to pay 10 IPP’s to the bank to do so. The US reference sheet, under the can US declare war on section, has an area for Vichy France that reads “Vichy France: Yes, if USA is at war with Germany.” I’ve took this to mean that yes, they can attack Vichy France, but would still have to pay the 10 IPP’s to the bank to do so. My brother insists that since it has it’s own category outside of the specifications for attacking Neutrals that it doesn’t apply. The rulebook states that Vichy France is a Neutral country. What’s the thought here? Does the US have to pay 10 IPP’s to attack Vichy or not?

4. Sleeping Bear/USSR ability to declare war: Couple parts to this one here. First, the “Can USSR Declare War on” section of their reference card says that they can declare war on any Neutral and the Axis and Aligned Minors “Yes (January 1939 or later).” I’ve took this to imply that they could do so, but only after reaching their wartime economy. Is that not the case? Can they declare war at any time starting in January 1939, regardless of their income status? That brings me to the “Sleeping Bear” rule too, which states: Starting July 1939 the USSR’s income increases gradually. The USSR player rolls a D12 each Collect Income Phase and adds that much to his income until reaching his Wartime income. If another nation initiates war with the USSR the USSR’s income automatically increases to its full Wartime income. If the USSR initiates the war its income does not increase." How could the USSR initiate war if they are not allowed to until reaching their wartime economy? Have I just missed something? Are the USSR able to declare war on any non-Allied nation beginning 1939 regardless of their income status? That would seem a bit odd to me, but curious. I understand that their economy would not jump to wartime income right away if this is the case, and would still be subject to the D12 roll until reaching it.

5. Amphibious Assault: I’m feeling dumb for this one. For an amphibious assault, do the double-casualties take place after the first round as well, or is that only for the first round of the assault, and all subsequent rounds are normal casualties?

[GeneralHandGrenade]

1. Only the attacker and (attacking and defending) submarines are allowed to retreat.

2. No. None of the Allies or Russia goes above their wartime income with the D12 rolls in any circumstance. Similarly, if the US was …say…5 IPP’s below wartime income and they rolled a “10” they would still only go up to their wartime income level. The only way that any of them would collect more money would be if they captured enemy territories or had wartime bonuses.

Their wartime level is the sum total of their original territories. The rolls represent their inching towards war and that’s why certain events add to their income levels. The increases are the nation becoming more motivated to go to war due to those events that they deem to be egregious.

3. I have to agree with your brother on this one. They list Vichy separate from the other neutrals in the section that states who the US can declare war on. Also it says; Vichy Diplomacy: “Vichy is a neutral nation” rather than listing them as a “Minor Power”. I don’t believe you would pay the 10 IPP’s.

4. It clearly states that you can declare war on the Axis and their aligned minors in 1939. Obviously then, they would not rise to their wartime income level if they were to be the nation declaring the war. What you’re probably referring to is that the USSR isn’t allowed to declare war until it reaches wartime income BEFORE 1939.

5. Yes it’s only the first round of combat. After that the casualties are normal.

[Chris_Henry]

Thanks GHG.

That’s what I thought for questions 1, 2, and 5. Thanks for confirming.

Interesting for number 3! Another thing I hadn’t even considered until the question was asked. I’ll need to let him know that when we reconvene.

And thanks for the clarification on number 4. I don’t understand why they’d even bother writing USSR’s production as “Wartime Economy” if that’s not what it is. Seems misleading to me. I get it says differently elsewhere, but when the rules state a default rule, you’d think there would be no room for error in interpretation of deviation of those rules. There is no wartime economy in the same way as the Allies have. So that’s good to know moving forward too!

[GeneralHandGrenade]

@Chris_Henry That is Russia’s wartime economy. If the Axis were to declare war on them at anytime their income would rise to that level if it wasn’t already there. They need a specific level so the Russian player would know where to adjust their income to. If you look at the other reference cards you will notice that the Axis powers have wartime income levels too. For all nations it’s the sum of their original territory values. It’s listed as that so you don’t have to bother counting up all of their territories.

[Chris_Henry]

@GeneralHandGrenade Thanks again! Yeah, that’s a good point that it’s listed that way for the Axis powers too. Didn’t think about it from their point of view. I had definitely been playing the USSR wrong. In hindsight, I don’t know how often it would matter. The USSR would have to see quite the opportunity to attack the Axis early and risk not having their income jump up to wartime levels immediately by starting the war themselves. But, you never know in this game!

[GeneralHandGrenade]

@Chris_Henry The only time I would consider it would be if I was only a few bucks short of wartime income. It would be a good idea to negate Germany’s advantages in the first round of combat against Russia. For the Germans to get those advantages they have to be the ones to declare war first.

[Chris_Henry]

@GeneralHandGrenade very good point. Hadn’t considered it would negate the bonus Germany gets that first turn at war. Very interesting. Something more to think about for future games! I appreciate you clarifying that whole thing for me.