Italy a bad design

Well as far as I can tell Japan can take India regardless of what GB does if it wants to.  If Japan goes with force into India and does the J1 attack those planes will do next to nothing in the Pacific while in Egypt the secure the terriority.  Besides if I see that Japan is going to attack India on the cheep and does not do the J1 attack I can always fly the planes back in time for the final fight in India.

@calvinhobbesliker:

@miamibeach:

@calvinhobbesliker:

@miamibeach:

The UK Gibraltar fleet attacking the Italians in SZ95 is a mistake.  It can only work out ok for the Allies if the German player is inexperienced.  Please, use your imagination before you decide you are a perfect player and cant figure this one out.

The global game is not flawed or unbalanced as far as I can tell so far.  The global game seems to have been play tested very well.

Yes, AAP40 was unblanced as a stand alone game, but our group down here knew that the global game would include USSR and what ever assets they get.  USSR putting its 18 INF on the border with Manchuria is a huge mistake…they will end up getting wiped out.  The best USSR can do is keep it back and off the coast as a threat/block.

Why is it a mistake? What was a mistake was my French Fleet abandoning it

Too bad your French fleet abondoned it, because now you see an excuse.  If the French fleet would not have abondoned it, then you would now seen why its a faulty strategy.  The Germans should be able to sink everything, and…if they choose not to or cant, and there is anything left over, the Italians can mop up with their remaining CA, DD, 2FTR’s.

If that’s the case, they’ll die crippling the Italian fleet and make Germany lose planes instead of making Germany lose a few SS and planes by moving it arund the UK

The Italian fleet is still left with something, and even if it does’nt…they can start fresh with SUBS and a CV.  I like Italy getting its 5 IPC NO.  Germany has plenty of cash…but if the initial battle against the French/UK does not go well for some reason, the Germans can retreat and leave the rest for the Italians to take out.  It does’nt have to cost the Germans everything.

There is no need to use a blocker imho but is better for GB to mass all in Egypt then when the fighers land the math is heavily in the favor of GB.  We have played 4 games so far and each time Italy has lost in Africa with out GB spending to save it aside from bring in planes from the pacific.

@Chompers#2:

Well as far as I can tell Japan can take India regardless of what GB does if it wants to.  If Japan goes with force into India and does the J1 attack those planes will do next to nothing in the Pacific while in Egypt the secure the terriority.  Besides if I see that Japan is going to attack India on the cheep and does not do the J1 attack I can always fly the planes back in time for the final fight in India.

J1 attack vs UK/ANZAC is not a smart thing to do, and depends more on what is happening in Europe and if the Germans are ready with their strategy there.  If the UK sends the 4 FTR’s to Egypt, that might pause the Italians.  The longer the UK keeps their FTR’s there, the easier it will be for Japan…at some point UK has to send its FTR’s back to India, or, if not, eventually Japan will be in Africa anyway.

@Chompers#2:

There is no need to use a blocker imho but is better for GB to mass all in Egypt then when the fighers land the math is heavily in the favor of GB.  We have played 4 games so far and each time Italy has lost in Africa with out GB spending to save it aside from bring in planes from the pacific.

I have to admit I have not played against this UK tactic, but I have to ask…what is Japan doing in those games?  As the Axis, I would rather have India than Egypt.  After Egypt I see the Japs making a move on Africa…and it does’nt have to be Egypt, it can be Madagascar/S. Africa.

On turn on GB can fly the planes from india to a space in Africa. Have everything else fall back to Egypt.  Turn two the planes land in Egypt and now Egypt is next to impossible for the Italians to take alone as far as I can see.  I tried the best I could and died to man.

If you fly all your planes from India, who will protect India? Who will threaten the japanese fleet and force it to protect its transport while taking DEI? Who will help your footmen while they heroically try to defend Burma road?

Let’s say you bring in 2 planes (as Japan will probably not attack on turn 1, you should have time and money to replace 2 planes). 1 fighter and 1 tac. You have them in Kenya on UK1, in Egypt on UK2. If these are all your reinforcements, you may well lose if the Ethiopian army is free to attack you, or if Italy brings in planes, or if Italians troops come by transport .

Let’s calculate it:
6 inf, 2 mech, 1 art, 1 tank, 1 fighter (attacked France turn 1, then went to Libya).
And certainly 2 inf from Ethiopia (unless you,ve attacked them on UK1, but then your defense would be weaker too).
Or 2 inf from southern Italy with transport, with 1 CA bombarding (I didn’t even count the second transport I would build with Italy on turn 1 knowng that the frenc-Uk fleet would sink on G2 under Luftwaffe assault).

So they have 8 inf, 2 mech, 1 art, 1 tank 1 fighter to attack. A power of 19 on 13 units.
You have 4 inf (1 from Sudan), 1 art, 1 tank, 1 fighter, 1 tac. A power of 20 on 8 units.
Every time Italy touches you, you lose 2 in defense, while he loses 1.

You are sure to lose.

Would you have 3 more infantry on the position (with an IC), I still think you would lose.

Not doing the the J1 attack slows Japan big time and insure they will face a much larger Pacific GB.  It gives the allies 60 more points to spend with America but Japan can also waste the Amercian troops and planes in Phillipines.  If Japan is not attacking GB turn one then it might be smart to fly the fighters back to India and build to British tanks in South Africa.  I think the advantage gained by J1 attack makes up for activating America early.

It is not likely that the UK will take out Italy’s 97 fleet on round 1.  tough odds with only a fig and cruiser

Fleet could move away or build a DD to block.  Germans could counter if the UK/French combined fleet stays in sz95/93

My friend did an interesting stragedy against me that I did not see coming.  In the game I played against my friend he did not even try to defend the burma road he massed all his inf in one space and stayed one space away from Japan.  As Russia he moved an AA gun over to meet his mass of troops.  At that point the stack of Inf started moving forward and reclaiming China territories.  I did the J3 attack in that game and it resulted in a much larger pacific GB.

This is a GLOBAL game. If you only think of Japan, then yes, you should be able to destroy India by attacking J1. But USA could afford to destroy Germany during the same time.

I completely agree that the game is broken. After all, not making the game so Italy can have a 50/50 chance of taking all of africa and making it very likely the Germans have to do it and regulating Italy to a subserviant role is completely broken. What were they thinking. It is like they were making a WW2 scenario in 1940 or something.

Oh and add the game being broken because of France too. I mean, really. France has no chance against Germany. Who would want to play France.

@Chompers#2:

Not doing the the J1 attack slows Japan big time and insure they will face a much larger Pacific GB.  It gives the allies 60 more points to spend with America but Japan can also waste the Amercian troops and planes in Phillipines.  If Japan is not attacking GB turn one then it might be smart to fly the fighters back to India and build to British tanks in South Africa.  I think the advantage gained by J1 attack makes up for activating America early.

J1 attack in AAP40 is the best strategy.  However, we’re talking global here.  You have to consider what is happening in Europe.  Also, what IPC’s can Japan really gain from a J1 attack?..Hong Kong(3), Phillipines(2)?..FIC(2) is auto without a J1 attack.

@miamibeach:

@Chompers#2:

Not doing the the J1 attack slows Japan big time and insure they will face a much larger Pacific GB.  It gives the allies 60 more points to spend with America but Japan can also waste the Amercian troops and planes in Phillipines.  If Japan is not attacking GB turn one then it might be smart to fly the fighters back to India and build to British tanks in South Africa.  I think the advantage gained by J1 attack makes up for activating America early.

J1 attack in AAP40 is the best strategy.  However, we’re talking global here.  You have to consider what is happening in Europe.  Also, what IPC’s can Japan really gain from a J1 attack?..Hong Kong(3), Phillipines(2)?..FIC(2) is auto without a J1 attack.

OOB(Larry is in the process of changing the P40 setup to balance it), Japan can kill the BB, 2 Tr, prevent UK from taking 2 DEI, take a DEI itself, kill the Hawaii Tran, kill the US bomber and fighter, and possibly kill the ANZAC SS, DD, Tr

Please, someone tell me, what is a BB, DD, SS. If battleship, destroyer, submarine, where is the extra letter coming from

@calvinhobbesliker:

@miamibeach:

@Chompers#2:

Not doing the the J1 attack slows Japan big time and insure they will face a much larger Pacific GB.  It gives the allies 60 more points to spend with America but Japan can also waste the Amercian troops and planes in Phillipines.  If Japan is not attacking GB turn one then it might be smart to fly the fighters back to India and build to British tanks in South Africa.  I think the advantage gained by J1 attack makes up for activating America early.

J1 attack in AAP40 is the best strategy.  However, we’re talking global here.  You have to consider what is happening in Europe.  Also, what IPC’s can Japan really gain from a J1 attack?..Hong Kong(3), Phillipines(2)?..FIC(2) is auto without a J1 attack.

OOB(Larry is in the process of changing the P40 setup to balance it), Japan can kill the BB, 2 Tr, prevent UK from taking 2 DEI, take a DEI itself, kill the Hawaii Tran, kill the US bomber and fighter, and possibly kill the ANZAC SS, DD, Tr

Those are all things Japan “can” do, but can they do all of them, and would that be wise considering counter-moves?

The simple fact that this thread is already 5 pages long with everyone arguing back and forth about “you can do this and the axis is screwed” and then someone else states back "yeah but then the axis can do this back…and by the way, then the allies are screwed…) tells me that the game is pretty balanced.  There are a TON of stratagies that I still have not heard…for starters…The game seems to be 8-10 rounds to Moscow/Japan and Germany/Allies big battles - I think over all the years Larry probably got pretty tired of that…so…I wonder how Japan would feel about US’s 600+ IPC’s floating around the Pacific…Balanced enough for you?  The Axis victory conditions are based on Cities…quite a few of those in the pacific…

Personnally, I doubt more than 5% of games played are actually finished to the victory conditions laid out in the rules…

Also - This is a game based on the outcome of a little plastic cube that dishes out unbelievable amounts of random chaos!

Balance is up to YOU and your OPPONENT - maybe you think the game is broken because you are always losing, or maybe it is broken because you are always winning and can’t find a good challenger.

Quite complaining and start playing…talk to me in 6 months about game balance and maybe I will be a little more receptive…

And while I am at it - LOW LUCK SUCKS MONKEY BALLS!  Do you play cards without the 5’s, 9’,s and Aces?!?!?  Start rolling Dice!

@miamibeach:

The UK Gibraltar fleet attacking the Italians in SZ95 is a mistake.  It can only work out ok for the Allies if the German player is inexperienced.  Please, use your imagination before you decide you are a perfect player and cant figure this one out.

Twit.

Cant the German submarines in the Atlantic attack the British fleet near the mediteranian.  From the looks of it Germany has two submarines in 103 and 109 that could at least do a volley against the British forces in sea zone 91.  If you score a hit he will either kill the destroyer or take some damage on the carrier which wont allow him to fix launch the planes.  Either way this seems like a sensible German move and it might dissuade the British from attacking Italy.
Naturally there will be a cost to wiping out the British navy but that can be done in G2 if you dont have sufficient forces.

this is why we need a battlemap module!  Stoney please save us lol.

Couple of things i think people are missing as options.

1. Control of Gibralter.  There are many ways for germany to get boats into the med.  If both G and I have boats in the med and transports, they can continually trade gibralter to prevent the allies from entering the med.

2. Airpower.  With the airbase in france the germans can hit nearly any of the med sea zones.  You start with 8 planes vs 1 US boat, and a handful of UK boats (even less if they send the carrier into the med).  You should be able to purchase around 3 planes on G2, and continue to purchase atleast 2 a turn if not more afterward.  This will prevent the allies from coming at you in force.

3. Victory conditions.  Axis need 14 VCs.  Japan can easily have 7 by turn 4 or 5 if ignored by the allies.  The germans/italians start with control of 3 and gain a 4th from paris.  That leaves 3 remaining.  Japan should be able to secure Egypt and possibly even stalingrad or even LA if ignored, meaning germans only need to take leningrad for the win.

4. Good for the goose, good for the gander.  Japan has more planes to send to europe than the UK. Sikang to Romania is the quickest route i can see, and should be doable by turn 5ish I would assume.  Japan can also simply build nearly 7-8 a turn to continue to do this.