Combat in Guadalcanal?

[jonaswallace]

Please someone in lamens terms explain how combat works in this game. Me and my friend seriously argued for an hour over this. I mean if he has one fighter he can kill all my land troops without rebuttal if i have no units with the ability to attack air? Does that even make sense. We have to be missing something. PLEASE help me understand the combat system in this game.

[Krieghund]

Welcome, JonasWallace!

The first thing that you have to realize about trying to understand this game is that you have to take everything you know about previous A&A games and chuck it out the window.  When you read the rules, treat this game as though it were not an A&A game at all.  Any preconceptions you bring from other A&A games are just going to confuse things, as you are going to read things into the rules that just aren’t there.

That being said, when units attack other units, they only fire once per combat step (Air, Sea and Land) in which they have an attack value.  In your example, your land units would not get to fire at all during the Attack Air Units step, since none of them have air unit attack capability.  However, when his fighter fires in the Attack Land Units step, it will fire only once, and then combat is over for that step.  His fighter will attack your land units without any response from them, but it will only roll once.

Also, the combat steps are each performed once per turn, not repeatedly.  After each step (Air, Sea and Land) is done one time for each zone, the combat phase is over for the turn.

Does this help?

[frimmel]

@Krieghund:

Any preconceptions you bring from other A&A games are just going to confuse things, as you are going to read things into the rules that just aren’t there.

:-) Use a hammer to get this in your head if necessary.  :lol:

It is vitally important to learning G’canal (and BOTB.)  :-)

[jonaswallace]

That helps immensely. Only one clarification. I thought it said that battle continues (unlike D-day) until one side is spent etc.

[Krieghund]

The battle does continue, it just plays out over multiple turns.  As long as there are opposing units in the same zone, they will continue to fight turn after turn.

[frimmel]

@jonaswallace:

That helps immensely. Only one clarification. I thought it said that battle continues (unlike D-day) until one side is spent etc.

Nope. See the example on page number 20.

PDF download of G’canal rulebook. Example on pg. 20 is on pdf page 11.

[jonaswallace]

One more clarification (please dont think me dumb), but this game is really blowing my mind having played like 4 of the others. Does it go air battle, sea battle, land battle and then repeat and repeat till its done or does it go 1, 2, 3 and then move on with the rest of the phases and battle doesnt continue till next turn. Again thank you so much for your quick response and I hope I can be a good addition to this community.

[frimmel]

You do the air attack phase in each zone with units of both sides.

The sea attack in each zone with units of both sides.

Land your troops on desired islands.

Do the land attack phase on each island with units of both sides or where you are bombarding enemy land units from sea or attacking airfields.

1st player chooses the order to resolve the zones during each phase.

[Krieghund]

As Frimmel said, you do the Attack Air Units step for each zone in which air units are eligible to be attacked.  Then you do the Attack Sea Units step in each sea zone in which sea units are eligible to be attacked.  Ditto with land units.  Each eligible zone does one combat round in each step.  At that point combat is over, and you move on the the next phase.  You don’t repeat the combat cycle again - you only go through it once on each turn.  A turn can end with opposing forces still occupying the same zone.

As long as opposing forces continue to occupy the zone, the battle will continue on subsequent turns, one round per turn.  Unlike D-Day, forces are not locked in combat.  They can leave the zone any time they are eligible to move.