• '17 '16

    The preemptive AA should be on defense only, for both common sense/historical purposes and for balance.
    It seems absurd to me that an attacking AA division would be able to sneak in and set up an intricate network of AA defense in hostile territory and then proceed to shoot planes out of the sky! lol
    Keep in mind, just because it doesn’t get preemptive AA rolls doesn’t mean it cannot shoot down planes, its just now ‘choose your own casualties’

    You had reason about preemptive strike.
    But why not give them 1 AAA shot@1 on 1 single plane (if any) on the opening round of fire?

    This AAA unit will still be much better on defense (up to 3 planes/ preemptive) than attack (1 single plane, no first strike) but somewhat keep is special ability (antiaircraft).

    We can think about what it implies on a strategical and tactical level to bring some AAA to get this shot on attack.

    AAA will be appealling against large number of defensive aircrafts in a territory but it would be a poor strategy to buy too many of them (same cost as tank) just to get 1 single shot on 1 plane.
    As always one A&A principle will prevail: mixed group of units always a better choice.

    We can rationalize about AAA unit on offense:
    The defender has some large part of his territory invaded by the attacker to create a line of communication going to the front line: an outward bulge, a salient.
    To destroyed those supply lines, defending planes are good at it, hence the @4.
    Bringing AAA division provide more AA platform to protect this supply lines.
    So AAA unit still on attack but protecting attacking unit against squadrons of planes of the defender.

    In this manner, it will be a completly consistent AAA ground unit.
    Keeping up the same killing ratio vs plane: a 1 time @1 either offense or defense.
    But still much better on defense: first strike +2 additionnals planes can be targeted.
    as OOB rule specified

  • '17 '16

    To everyone,
    what do you think could happen in the overall Global, if any attacking unit can bring AAA as regular unit @1, but on his first round can make a specific @1 attack on 1 defending plane (if present)?

    Is this a revolution, which create real unbalancing situation, or just some interesting tactical and strategical situation?


  • AAA rolling AA dice on offense is too much Baron

    Read this again I don’t think you it has sunk in yet

    Keep in mind, just because it doesn’t get preemptive AA rolls doesn’t mean it cannot shoot down planes, its just now ‘choose your own casualties’

    It changes the game way too much for starters, now you can lose planes to attacking AAA lol
    It would very possibly break the game

    I don’t see any advantages to it while I can pick out a lot of negatives

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Honestly, I’d still say give Battleships AA Guns per your normal, everyday AA Gun rules  1 shot at 1 for each attacking plane in the first round of combat, during opening fire, regardless of how many battleships either are, or are not present.

    Or Global SE 1940 AA Guns, per rules.

    Oh, and the AA Ability is removed if the battleship is in a damaged state.

  • '17 '16

    @Cmdr:

    Honestly, I’d still say give Battleships AA Guns per your normal, everyday AA Gun rules � 1 shot at 1 for each attacking plane in the first round of combat, during opening fire, regardless of how many battleships either are, or are not present.

    Or Global SE 1940 AA Guns, per rules.
    Oh, and the AA Ability is removed if the battleship is in a damaged state.

    First, it greatly depends whether it is OOB cruiser or OOB Battleship which is the less interesting buying.
    Second, giving AAA on defense only is still increasing the defending power of a fleet.
    Attackers have much less offensive punch, you have to consider this.
    CV get A0 but D2 / Fgt A3 but D4.

    When I played 1942.2, our Cruisers get 1 AA only preemptive strike but also always destroy a plane when rolling “1” either defense or offense.
    In our HR, it was Cruiser which were considered AAA naval platform.
    Uk bought many Cruisers to protect against Germans planes.

    The 2 hits soaker is very appealling to my friends, we never see the need to add an other capacity to BB.

    Maybe you can start a tread wether CA or BB is the less bought and neglect, and which is less usefull OOB, to discuss over this matter.


  • I agree with Baron. Cruisers need a buff more than BBs

    I like cruisers at +1 movement over an AA ability
    We finally got that as an official rule too in 1914

    BBs were vastly overrated and proved very ineffective in WWII, I prefer it to be that way in the game as well

  • '17 '16

    @Uncrustable:

    AAA rolling AA dice on offense is too much Baron

    Read this again I don’t think you it has sunk in yet

    Keep in mind, just because it doesn’t get preemptive AA rolls doesn’t mean it cannot shoot down planes, its just now ‘choose your own casualties’

    It changes the game way too much for starters, now you can lose planes to attacking AAA lol
    It would very possibly break the game

    I don’t see any advantages to it while I can pick out a lot of negatives

    I was aware of the possibility of getting a hit on plane because defender choose 1 plane for casualities.

    I’m just saying that is not that so terrible to give 1 regular single attack @1 against 1 plane per AAA.

    For sure, it will be an incentive to buy at least 1AAA and going forward to the front against planes put in the front line.
    However, I don’t see it as a game braker because many times, specially in Germany and Russia trade offs. The no man’s land is also a no plane’s land. So you can put forward those AAA but it will be for nothing.
    The AAA first attack will probably usefull against a large stack of ennemy (in Victory city or Capitol).
    In this case, straffing 1 round with some AAA can be interesting.
    But does everybody will submerge the battleground with many AAA (at 6 IPCs) instead of buying an Armor (A3D3M2) to get this single opportunity to get down a plane behind the infantry screen?
    I think it will be a bad strategy.

    More, we used cruiser as AAA platform (1942.2) which can always hit a plane everyround if it get “1”. In naval battle, it was not that overpowered.
    In Hawaii opening, I get only 2 shots with japanese, on offense with the cruiser and get something else as casualities because I rolled a “2” or a “3”.


  • Baron with AAA having an AA dice on attack and with cruisers with AA abilities as you stayed,
    It will wreck plane purchases

    I certainly do not want this

    Just give cruisers +1 movement and could even give them ASW as destroyers do
    And No preemptive AA shots on attack for AAA

    Players would start to suicide AAA into enemy positions just to try to take out planes

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Hmm, I honestly don’t think Cruisers are that maligned.  They get short bombardments and cost almost half what a Battleship does so you generally see many more of them being produced than Battleships, or at least I do.

    If you look at historical reality, the Aircraft Carrier would be the ship that would have the superior AA Gun screen.  But since the Carrier is SO well loved and so utilized in the game, I hardly think they need another benefit.  The Battleship is still a capitol warship (cruisers are not in my opinion) and I almost never see anyone but the US produce any new battleships.  Couple that with stories of the Bismarck almost single handidly taking out the RAF for mile after nautical mile and it seem plausible that the battleship would have superior air defense capabilities.

    Just a thought.


  • @Cmdr:

    Hmm, I honestly don’t think Cruisers are that maligned.  They get short bombardments and cost almost half what a Battleship does so you generally see many more of them being produced than Battleships, or at least I do.

    If you look at historical reality, the Aircraft Carrier would be the ship that would have the superior AA Gun screen.  But since the Carrier is SO well loved and so utilized in the game, I hardly think they need another benefit.  The Battleship is still a capitol warship (cruisers are not in my opinion) and I almost never see anyone but the US produce any new battleships.  Couple that with stories of the Bismarck almost single handidly taking out the RAF for mile after nautical mile and it seem plausible that the battleship would have superior air defense capabilities.

    Just a thought.

    WHAT? What ‘stories’ were you reading lol

    “In the course of the warship’s eight-month career…Bismarck conducted only one offensive operation, in May 1941, codenamed Rheinübung. The ship, along with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, was to break into the Atlantic Ocean and raid Allied shipping from North America to Great Britain. The two ships were detected several times off Scandinavia, and British naval units were deployed to block their route. At the Battle of Denmark Strait, Bismarck engaged and destroyed the battlecruiser HMS Hood, the pride of the Royal Navy, and forced the battleship HMS Prince of Wales to retreat; Bismarck herself was hit three times and suffered an oil leak from a ruptured tank.
    The destruction of Hood spurred a relentless pursuit by the Royal Navy involving dozens of warships. Two days later, while heading for the relative safety of occupied France, Bismarck was attacked by obsolete biplane Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal; one scored a hit that rendered the battleship’s steering gear inoperable. In her final battle the following morning, Bismarck was neutralised by a sustained bombardment from a British fleet, was scuttled by her crew, and sank with heavy loss of life. Most experts agree that the battle damage would have caused her to sink eventually.”

    So Bismarck sunk ONE ship before it got sunk lol
    And it essentialy was crippled by a BIPLANE! lmao
    What a waste :P

    Its sister ship  ‘Tirpitz’ didnt fare too much better.

    “In September 1943, Tirpitz, along with the battleship Scharnhorst, bombarded Allied positions on the island of Spitzbergen, the only time the ship used her main battery, in anger. Shortly thereafter, the ship was damaged in an attack by British mini-submarines and subsequently subjected to a series of large-scale air raids. On 12 November 1944, British Lancaster bombers equipped with 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg) “Tallboy” bombs destroyed the ship; two direct hits and a near miss caused the ship to capsize rapidly. A deck fire spread to the ammunition magazine for one of the main battery turrets, which caused a large explosion.”

    So the Bismarck class was an epic failure. Massive waste of resources, and on the other side of the Globe Japan did the same dumbassr thing with the Yamamoto class.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Yea, because the biplane was all England had left - or so I’ve been told.  Keep in mind, I am Russian, your stories of past events may not mirror my stories of past events wholly and completely.

    For instance, your Patton is considered a hero, but to us, Patton was a tyrant and a threat to the stability of world peace.  We do agree he was a general of the American 3rd Army, however.

    (Yes, the victory over the hood is known even where I grew up.)

    As for massive disaster, uh…well they DID sink the pride of the British navy!  The diplomatic coups from that alone makes the warship at least partially successful.  However, if you want to compare it to those things skulking beneath the waves and sniping poor, innocent, surface going ships, then yes, treachery and deceit usually beat honor and virtue when in battle.


  • @Cmdr:

    Yea, because the biplane was all England had left - or so I’ve been told. � Keep in mind, I am Russian, your stories of past events may not mirror my stories of past events wholly and completely.

    For instance, your Patton is considered a hero, but to us, Patton was a tyrant and a threat to the stability of world peace. � We do agree he was a general of the American 3rd Army, however.

    (Yes, the victory over the hood is known even where I grew up.)

    As for massive disaster, uh…well they DID sink the pride of the British navy!  The diplomatic coups from that alone makes the warship at least partially successful.  However, if you want to compare it to those things skulking beneath the waves and sniping poor, innocent, surface going ships, then yes, treachery and deceit usually beat honor and virtue when in battle.

    Stories? How about facts lol

    Bismarck lasted only 8 months while only scoring 1 kill
    And was crippled by obsolete biplanes, which directly led to its defeat lol

    Those are facts, not stories

    The Yamamoto in the pacific is an even better example of the poor performance of large BBs in WWII

    They were outdated by the advances in aviation, esp the carrier

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Bismarck was in the ocean for months, blowing up and disabling British ships and taking out British planes when an old, WWI British torpedo plane scored a lucky hit locking the rudder in place.  If the British were not so bloody riled up about her, she would have been repaired easily and stayed out to raid enemy shipping. :P

    The Battleship Bismarck was launched on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 1939.  On May 18, 1940 the Bismarck is sent out to attack the enemy (along with support ships.) May 23rd 1941 the Bismarck group attempts to engage the cowardly British naval forces who realize their situation and run like hell for home, artfully evading the German kriegsmarine.  May 24th 1941 the HMS Hood & Prince of Wales engage the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen.  HMS Hood and another British battleship sunk, 2 British Heavy Cruisers damaged and assumed unfit for combat (they fall back and “observe”) while Bismarck changes heading to return to port and replace a generator that became damaged in the battle. #4 generator, to be exact.  Suffolk, Prince of Wales and King George harry the Bismarck, achieving nothing while taking minor damage themselves (still May 24, 1941.)  May 25 the HMS Victorious (Aircraft Carrier) launches night air raids against the Bismarck causing 1 casualty aboard the ship and “insignificant damage” an unknown amount of planes is reported shot down by anti-aircraft fire (8 torpedo planes are reported to have survived the mission from Victorious.)  May 25th, Bismarck changes course and evades British tracking, after numerous inconclusive exchanges of fire with Prince of Wales, King George and Suffolk (but this point, the Prinz Eugen had already been sent home for repairs.)  Essentially, we have a mostly useless British carrier (most planes destroyed, what they have left is aging) and 3 pansies commanding warships staying at max distance tracking the valiant and mighty battleship Bismarck!  In the late morning of May 25th, the Bismarck suckers the British into getting close enough for a real engagement and destroys / cripples all remaining British warships tracking her (Carrier is not one of the attacking warships, of course.  Carriers don’t attack, they defend, they send aircraft to attack.)  Bismarck’s greatest damage from the engagement is the loss of one of their radar arrays.  May 26, 1941 the Bismarck is sighted by British patrol aircraft.  England knowing that it cannot take the Bismarck in a fair fight, does what it can, it send every available plane it has left at the Bismarck: 810th, 818th, and 820th Squadrons from carrier Ark Royal resulting in multiple hits on the Bismarck by torpedoes, of all the torpedo hits from THREE FULL SQUADRONS OF ATTACKING AIRCRAFT against a SINGLE WARSHIP THAT HAS EFFECTIVELY DESTROYED THE BRITISH NAVY AT THIS POINT, ONE gets a lucky hit and locks the rudder in place.  This is damage that can only be repaired in dock, but there’s no way the British are going to let the Germans retreat honorably (as the Germans allowed the British on numerous occasions thus far) and get tugged back to dock for repairs.  Admiral’s report back to HQ West:  “Ship is weaponry-wise and mechanically fully intact; however, it cannot be steered with the engines."  Essentially, the boat STILL isn’t sunk after taking 2 carrier’s worth of aircraft, multiple battleships and heavy cruisers and anything else the British could throw at her. May 27th 1941, a U-boot is sent to retrieve the ship’s log for safe keeping.  Assumed at this time British cowardly and will keep attacking even though the defenders can do nothing but steam for home.  HMS Rodney and HMS King George catch up to the Bismarck on May 27, 1941 and score the first naval hits against the great battleship, disabling two forecastle turrets.  Full cowardice of Britain exhibited:  Battleship Bismarck virtually defenseless, all major gun ports damaged, rudders still locked, two engines down, is signaling surrender meanwhile HMS King George and HMS Rodney drive up to point blank range to maintain fire: “0936-1016: Receives an indeterminable number of hits from point blank range between 2,500 and 4,000 meters, but is still afloat.”  Remarkably, the Bismarck is STILL FLOATING!  20 minutes later, German saboteurs scuttle the Bismarck to prevent it falling into British hands.  At 10:39 in the morning, the Battleship Bismarck is officially sunk.

    So, essentially, that’s the record of the Bismarck.  I left out all the details about them testing this, or testing that, or fixing a crane that broke in dry dock cause no one cares.  The ship was afloat for 2 years and 2 months in total.  It took on the RAF and the Royal Navy destroying just about everything that was put in its way until the tide turned with a lucky torpedo hit, one that managed to hit the only part of the ship to do any significant damage.  The ship is ruthlessly and mercilessly hunted down like a rabid dog and even when they signaled surrender, the British KEPT pounding it, yet were unable to destroy it, and it was finally scuttled and sent to the bottom of the ocean.

    However, note that the ship was able to survive 6 squadrons of enemy aircraft.  It had to have had one helluva AA Gun screen!

    Now, yes, I am sure that being an Anglo-Saxon country that the US is, for the most part, and that England wrote the history books about the battle that was probably used in the local schools here in America, you may have a different flavor of history.  There is probably no mention of British cowardice and British brutality in your books.  Since the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was not IN that battle, nor have or had any racial ties to England that would make us more sympathetic to their version of the story, our books describe the battle as listed above.  Pieced together by ships logs & radio logs from the Wales, King George, Bismarck and Prinz.

    To be honest, the only ones who can know what the Germans or British were thinking are probably below the surface of the ground and the waves now.

  • '17 '16

    Maybe it lacks a bit of spaces to be more readable, because it worth the effort to learn about it.

    Very interesting side of history.  :-)

    This is a U.S.A. point of view here:
    in French
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiCL42AiUds

    In English
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuTNJ2oz1aE

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    I think I saw that special on History. Â

    I get that, from the Anglo-Saxon perspective (verses the Bolshevik perspective) the Germans were the bad guys and I understand that a lot of this has to do with their U-boot campaigns.  It’s my opinion that much of the dislike of the German U-boot campaigns rubbed off on the crew and ship of the Bismarck.  Kind of a guilt by association thing?

    War is war, it’s really hard to say “good guys” and “bad guys” you know?

    Edit:

    And yes, watched it again, on Netflix, I’ve seen it a few times.  It’s okay, but it’s definitely edited for a western audience, not a German or Italian or Russian one that’s for sure.


  • Yeah it had nothing do with German death camps
    And killing Jews  :lol:

  • '17 '16

    @Uncrustable:

    Baron with AAA having an AA dice on attack and with cruisers with AA abilities as you stayed,
    It will wreck plane purchases

    I certainly do not want this

    Just give cruisers +1 movement and could even give them ASW as destroyers do
    And No preemptive AA shots on attack for AAA

    Players would start to suicide AAA into enemy positions just to try to take out planes

    About cruiser:
    it is a good thing to get M3 in Global. But in 1942.1 and 1942.2, the oceans are smaller and there is no naval base to increase movement of the others ships.
    It is more useful to give CA (AkA: cruiser) somekind of AAA.

    At first, it seems terrible to destroy a plane on any “1” from the cruiser but in many naval battle, it is also a “no nuisance casualty” since, no matter what, the other player will destroy a plane anyway instead of a cruiser or some bigger fish in his fleet.

    In Atlantic, very often, there is only german’s planes left to destroy Uk’s and USA’s fleet, so anyway a “1” is not a dramatic hit.

    About AAA in offense:
    in my rationalization of this Anti-Aircraft Artillery  Division on offense,
    it will be better to give them the opportunity to take down 1 plane only on the second round. AAA on offense must move and built their defensive AAA. That’s why, I prefer this ability come in handy only on a second round of an offensive. It takes time to create as salient worthing the effort to fortified it with AAA guns from a mobile division.

    So the special AAA ability come:
    in first round (on defense) as First Strike and against up to 3 planes (whichever is less);
    in the second round (on offense) as a regular attack against only 1 plane.

    And keep the regular attack @1 for the first round and after the second round and others following.

    Thus, this restriction will limit by himself the case of suicidal (and awfully dumb) AAA strategy.

    In other part, would you really consider an effective strategy of putting in harm’sway some lonely AAA (for a single roll @1) instead of keeping them behind (for a triple roll @1)?

    Like you said before, if someone is foolish enough to buy many AAA to doing it, so be it.
    Don’t forget, it is the same price as an armor A3D3M2C6 vs A1D1M1C6, 1@1 for 1 plane?!


  • You make it too complicated now
    Change NOTHING from OOB except:
    -AAA defend at 1 as a NORMAL unit in NORMAL combat
    -AAA can move 1 space during combat move phase
    -AAA attacks at 1 as a NORMAL unit
    -Increase cost of AAA to 6 IPCs

    AAA still get 3 preemptive rolls at enemy aircraft before normal combat begins DEFENSE only

    OR,
    Change NOTHING from OOB except:
    -AAA defend at 1 during NORMAL combat as a NORMAL unit

    AAA still get 3 preemptive rolls at enemy planes before normal combat DEFENSE only
    No change to cost


  • Cruisers:

    What does naval bases have to do with giving cruisers +1 movement?
    And why do you say the +1 movement is not good in the 42 versions?
    If anything it would be even more effective because of the smaller map/less SZs

    Cruisers +1 movement works in any version
    And it’s less complicated and it’s being extensively tested (1914)

  • '17 '16

    @Uncrustable:

    Cruisers:

    What does naval bases have to do with giving cruisers +1 movement?
    And why do you say the +1 movement is not good in the 42 versions?
    If anything it would be even more effective because of the smaller map/less SZs

    Cruisers +1 movement works in any version
    And it’s less complicated and it’s being extensively tested (1914)

    I mean, that cruiser with M3 either work independently from the fleet core ships, or work with BB and CE and must slow down to 2 move pace.

    IMO, it doesn’t give much incentive to buy more CA.

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