Really noob question

[Kang]

Hi guys - completely new to the game and trying to get my head round the rules!

Please can someone explain to me what it means when it says a unit ‘defends on a ‘1’’? Does this mean it’s allowed to defend on a ‘1’, or that its return fire only scores a hit on a ‘1’ - or something else?

Thanks! Sorry it’s such a noob question, especially for people who have been playing the game for so long….

[frimmel]

Defends (or Attacks) at X means that the unit gets a hit/causes an opposing casualty on a dice roll equal to X or less when in combat on that particular side.

@Kang:

or that its return fire only scores a hit on a ‘1’

[Kang]

Ah, excellent; so it seems that by ‘defending’, they mean ‘returning fire’. Thanks for that :)

Another question if I may - when doing strategic bombing raids, it appears to me that you move your planes to the are where they are to fight, then conduct the combat, then they return to base to land. To do this, they use any remaining movement points that they didn’t use in their move TO the area they bombed.

How do you remember which aircraft have used how many movement points? Say a bomber flies from Bonin Is. to Japan and bombs, and other aircraft fly there from other bases. There could be like six or more bombers in there; how do you know which ones are in range of their bases? Granted, the bombers from Bonin Is. could land in China if a space is Allied controlled in order to ‘strategically’ redeploy, but how do you keep track of these units?

[Kang]

In fact the same could be said for any air units that deploy in the Combat Movement phase and land in the Non-Combat Movement Phase. How do you know/remember which planes of your air armada have the range to get back to their original bases?

[Krieghund]

Some people use small dice to place next to planes to indicate how many movement points they have left, and some people use adam.hall’s excellent Aircraft Range Markers.

[Kang]

Wow, those really are nice. Downloaded; I have some lovely glossy labels to print them on to too. Thanks so much :)

Another question on a similar subject; how do players generally distinguish between pieces that have moved during Combat movement, and those that have not (and presumably want to either stay in place or move during non-combat movement)? Do peopel flip the non-movers on their sides and then you know which ones can move?

I realise that those units in areas with enemy units have almost by definition moved under Combat Movement, but after combat they may be the only pieces left in a space so this is not a reliable indicator. What, then? Flip 'em on one side?

[frimmel]

Except for planes pieces that have been in combat can’t move. The easiest way other than ‘just remember’ is to wait to place or remove control markers till after non combat movement. Any of your pieces (excluding planes) not in an Allied territory when you finish combat is eligible for non-combat movement. Do your moves then update/clean-up your markers and IPC score chart. Although you’ll still have to remember if any units have retreated.

[Kang]

Another odd little query if I may - to ‘capture’ a convoy route or centre, the attacker has to go in to the space during Combat Movement.

Combat Movement has to be into or out of a space which is either enemy-occupied, or enemy-controlled as far as I understand.

So, what happens if there’s no enemy units near the convoy space, such that the space is out of the range of normal Combat Movement; there’s no enemy units to move ‘to’ or ‘from’ in order to make it Combat Movement?

Is it that only a submarine can control it, then, by being in the space at the start of its movement and so on? Or does the convoy count as if it’s an enemy-controlled space and therefore eligible to be moved into under Combat Movement?

It just seems a little odd that it has to be Combat Movement, when this is not always possible. Also, am I the only person that thinks the rules are not all that clear? For other board games, I’m an established Rules Lawyer; A&A is quite difficult to understand imo :)

[frimmel]

@Kang:

Or does the convoy count as if it’s an enemy-controlled space and therefore eligible to be moved into under Combat Movement?

This. Convoys represent enemy shipping.

Convoys are elaborated on a bit in the FAQ available here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/faqs/axispacific

Also here: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=12024.0

[Kang]

That makes sense, thank you. But, I assume that the presence of the convoy ‘shipping’ does not mean that a fleet not wanting to stop is not ‘held up’ by the convoy, in the same way as if it would have had to stop if there had been enemy units in there?

[Krieghund]

That’s correct.  Warships moving through a Convoy Center or Route may take control of it and move on, much in the same way that a tank does when it blitzes through an unoccupied enemy-controlled territory.

[Kang]

Fair enough. But, only on Combat Movement phases, right?

[Krieghund]

Yes.  They may move through a friendly sea zone that contains an enemy-controlled Convoy Center or Route during noncombat movment, but they may not take control of it when doing so.