League General Discussion Thread

[gamerman01]

JUST FOR FUN

In my opinion AA is underestimated by many players

AA is a good deterrent to hit and run for at least 2 reasons:

1. Don’t take it as a casualty, and when only AA is remaining the enemy cannot retreat
2. With AA you can smash planes to the ground in a hit and run whereas infantry only cannot, because the attacker can take off only cheapest units and most likely lose no air

In addition, the unpredictability of taking out air before the first round attack can wreck an attack and if the attacker understands this, it is a deterrent.

I actually have that situation in a game right now - prospect of taking AA hits immediately threatens defense of fleet if fighters are lost.

I also lost a big game not long ago where one big factor was losing 2/3 Russian planes in the big stack attack vs. Germany. Without AA, it would be a much safer hit and run.

AA is subtle and nuanced. The battle calculator shows you the average, so that is very misleading when AA is involved.

It seems more of us want a less dicey game than a more dicey game. You make AA cost only 4 and games will be more dicey 🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲🎲

[gamerman01]

And I know we’ve a lot of posts on the same topic and they are in the league discussion thread.

But it is about modifying the game like BM and PTV which represent a majority of league games played so if no protests I’m good with keeping all this here. Have a great day, guys.

I’d also like to explicitly state that I for one do not expect that this (fun) discussion will pressure any changes in BM or PTV whatsoever, but if those teams would like to tweak their creations, then super.

[farmboy]

@gamerman01 I think I know the big game of which you speak! And I agree that AA is underrated.

I’ll add that in large battles, even with the battle calculator average, adding AA (as long as they would be able to roll a die) is comparable to buying figs in terms of its impact. And since so many smaller attacks involve small numbers of land units supported by several air, having one AA in the mix really complicates the choices for the attacker.

That single AA in Caroline Islands has probably won some games for Japan.

[Martin]

Hello,

Can you please remind me of the rules of how often you can play the same opponent in the same game version? If I remember it right, you had to complete a certain number of games in total during a year before you could play a 3rd and 4th game against the same opponent.

Thank you,
Martin

[gamerman01]

We had that rule for many years, but it has been abolished effective January 1, 2024.

No limit.

[Martin]

Great - thank you very much for your quick help!

I am glad I was not completely mistaken :-)

[Amon-Sul]

@farmboy said in League General Discussion Thread:

@gamerman01 I think I know the big game of which you speak! And I agree that AA is underrated.

I’ll add that in large battles, even with the battle calculator average, adding AA (as long as they would be able to roll a die) is comparable to buying figs in terms of its impact. And since so many smaller attacks involve small numbers of land units supported by several air, having one AA in the mix really complicates the choices for the attacker.

That single AA in Caroline Islands has probably won some games for Japan.

other boosting (instead of lowering the cost and increasing the number of planes u can hit) of aa guns could be

• moving at 2 moves (like mechanized aa gun - maybe with a cost of 6 )
• shooting at planes that fly over the territory regardless if they are attacking it (especially in CM)

but i think that even if they stay on 5 IPC , its ok since u guys brought some good reasons for it

and my opponent in the last game, told me after the game finished, that until that game of ours, he didnt realized the importance of aa guns (he more or less thought they are of small benefit) -

P.S.i moved all the aa guns from UK and USA to Europe, bided 3 aa guns with UK Pacific, brought those from India forward, and bought several with UK in the Middle East

[Amon-Sul]

ANZAC aa guns were doing trouble to Japan too in the islands

so, they can be tricky, i agree

what abut transports? we dont mention them? need any correction ?

[pacifiersboard]

@farmboy said in League General Discussion Thread:

I’m not opposed to the changes proposed around
[…]

agreed! Nice reading here. Another two cents: Eponymous balancing has been aiming to between X and L more than between the units (costs) - independent of bidding ?
Between gameplay and historicity I am favoring the former. I like playing a strategic boardgame and only accept the (world) war theme…
(dunno if I made a point, but have arrived at the office))

[Amon-Sul]

just one more comment about aa guns

It seems to me that the greater level of the player, the greater use of aa guns

Best players tend to avoid risky battles (not just big ones, but small ones too) and achieve victory over strategic dominance, and thus avoiding the dice related cases in which luck can prevail on the opponent`s side.

That said , in games among very good players (and i think that the general level of play on this forum is really big and growing) aa gun cost of 5 IPC isn`t that much expensive i would agree.

As for the side thing, since the allies use aa guns more , a change it that perspective would lean more to their side - but since they are bidding already maybe it wouldnt be such a bad idea, like the negative impact (on the allies) of making fighters expensive and tacs cheaper about which Farmboy has spoken

[Amon-Sul]

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris said in League General Discussion Thread:

of practical proposal, I would have cruisers cost 10 and battleships c

Just one note on this great post.

I think we all agree that its normal that we buy more subs and dds then cruisers and bats.

But is normal that my opponent and I play 18 rounds and we buy 0 cruisers and 0 battleships.

I think it isnt.

And that just happened in my latest game.

[crockett36]

@Amon-Sul

For my two cents as a person who is a grinder, not a champion, but a play tester and an allies advocate, I say don’t mess with the unit costs. normalize tech. I completely agree about aa guns. Love them. They fail me sooooo many times, but once in a while… Tech would do the same thing. It would make the game more interesting, more historical. Every one of those tech options AND MORE were in the war by 45. And the enemy never alerted you of the change either. Completely shocking and horrific, but immersive!

I am talking to people who care about the W. I like to win, but care about fixing and flavoring the game more. And passing it on to future generations. It is a good hobby. Good for the soul. character. So I believe that the game that this group plays ought to be as close to OOB as possible with the bid and encouraging tech. I think that you brilliant gentlemen can, by including tech–a real gap in Larry’s masterpiece that needs to be filled.–take this game to new heights, new metas.

Larry didn’t know what a meta was. I think I piqued his interest, describing the tendency to go with a kjf these days. And the larger bids.

[crockett36]

https://youtu.be/1tM86tvidZ0

[crockett36]

@crockett36 I didn’t ask, but I made this public. just about aa guns.

[crockett36]

@crockett36 Okay. No one’s going to bite on tech. Though I was told last night that if I gave it a go I’d get used to it!!

Anyway, how about this challenge: make bm5 allied favored so the Axis need the bid. There is a moral component to the game that the classic rule book recognized. If you care about the w you end up meditating on how to get the bad guys to win for endless hours.

[gamerman01]

Should have done this a long time ago,

This is the place to take your ideas/feedback for the balanced mod. I don’t know if there’s ANY hope for effecting any change in 2024, but maybe there’s a chance.

https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/27121/g40-balance-mod-feedback-thread/3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA&ab_channel=ViCross

[Me1945]

In BM4 can a power, that just DOW to neutrals, fly over a neutral territiry to attack a non neutral power?
Particularly, UK DOWs to neutrals, and sends fighters from Gibraltar (w/air base) to W Germany. Years back it was prohibited. Can someone advise how it is ruled in BM?

https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/40942/l24-bm4-me1945-vs-pacifiersboard-l-22

[pacifiersboard]

@Me1945

imo it is crucial that the neutral country is also attacked (by either ground or air unit), not only declared war at

[farmboy]

@pacifiersboard Its interesting that this issue has come up several times and I still remembered it wrong. I had thought pacifier was right but I found a thread here from panther that confirmed that you can’t do it. If you attack a neutral territory, all the units that fly over must be attacking it. Once it has been attacked (regardless of the outcome), than anything goes.

[farmboy]

https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/34899/can-air-units-fly-over-a-strict-neutral-if-other-units-are-also-attacking-that-neutral