Axis and Allies 1914 FAQ/Question and Answer Thread

Real quick.  Can you move naval units in to a contested sea zone, but not conduct combat, just leaving them there for the opposing navy to have to choose whether to attack to move, or otherwise, on their turn?  I thought I read that as such, that the naval units to not have to conduct combat when moving in to a contested zone, but still roll for mine damage at enemy port areas.

Yes, that’s correct.

Sweet.  Thank you, Krieg!

Captured naval base questions:  (I’m seeing conflicting answers on these issues.)

Situation 1: Germany captures KAR turn 3.  UK moves to SZ6 on turn 3, does UK roll for mines?

Situation 2: Germany captures KAR turn 3.  If GE still controls turn 4, can they repair in SZ12 and mobilize new ships in SZ12?

Situation 3: Germany captures KAR turn 3.  Russia contests in turn 4.  Can Russia mobilize ships in SZ12 (or SZ6)?  ALSO, any mines go back to Russia, right?

In the FAQ (and rules) under Sea Zones, in the last sentence there is a phrase “(origional territories only)”, what is that trying to imply?

@Carolina:

Situation 1: Germany captures KAR turn 3.  UK moves to SZ6 on turn 3, does UK roll for mines?

No.  Mine fields are only active while the naval base is under the control of either its original controller or another power on the same side.

@Carolina:

Situation 2: Germany captures KAR turn 3.  If GE still controls turn 4, can they repair in SZ12 and mobilize new ships in SZ12?

Germany can repair battleships there, but not mobilize sea units.  New sea units may only be mobilized at a naval base that the power originally controlled (not captured ones).

@Carolina:

Situation 3: Germany captures KAR turn 3.  Russia contests in turn 4.  Can Russia mobilize ships in SZ12 (or SZ6)?  ALSO, any mines go back to Russia, right?

Yes to both, assuming that Moscow is not controlled by the Central Powers.

@Carolina:

In the FAQ (and rules) under Sea Zones, in the last sentence there is a phrase “(origional territories only)”, what is that trying to imply?

It means that the naval base must be located in a territory that your power originally controlled (at the start of the game) in order to be used for that purpose.

Thanks- had it all correct except the mine fields. The original rule on page 17, second sentence has not been amended- and is correct as-is. When searching forums, there seemed to be conflicting interpretations.

Amphib question:  Do you have to declare the destination territory before making mine field attacks?  This situation arose with a reinforcement by 2 transports to 2 different territories that bordered same sea zone, and one was hit.  So, does the moving power have choice of which territory the surviving transport gets to offload?

And as follow up, there is the phrase “declared territory” twice in the rules, on pg 17 (under Amphib Assault 3rd para) and pg 22 (under Sea Combat 2nd para).  What does that imply?
Can you clarify the movement phase, do mine attacks precede the territory declaration step.

Mines are rolled for at the end of the Movement phase, so the destination territories for amphibious movements must be declared before the mines are resolved.  The moving power does not have a choice as to which transport is hit, as each unit is rolled for individually.

Yes, understand, no choice on which transport hit.  But was wondering if choice on which territory to land after mines resolved.  But, your answer is no choice - territory declaration occurs before mine attacks.

I have a question about minor alligned powers. Say austria  attacks serbia (only cause it has to), and loses, does russia then on his turn gain control of those units?

@DessertFox599:

I have a question about minor alligned powers. Say austria  attacks serbia (only cause it has to), and loses, does russia then on his turn gain control of those units?

Russia gains control of the units as soon as they are mobilized.

Contested areas:  If these 2 things occur during same move for a power, 1) completely leave a contested area and 2) enter same contested area from another territory.  ie. I leave contested MES to PER and enter MES from ANK.

QUESTION:  Is all of this simultaneous, and battle is NOT required?  OR once I left, it became controlled by other side, and the other move became a new battle?

It would seem a new battle is NOT required.

The check for your abandonment of the territory doesn’t occur until the end of the Movement phase, so you can move all units out without changing the territory’s status as long as you move other units in.

Artillery defensive fire vs. amphibious attack or amphibious reinforcement:  I require a clarification of this rule, because it has sparked an obdurate disagreement among our group and only an official ruling will solve it.  The rules are not clear (pages 17-18 and the example diagram on page 21) as to artillery pre-emptive fire vs. amphibious attack or amphibious reinforcement.  Do defending artillery units fire only ONE time pre-emptively and that counts as their first round of combat?  Or may a defending artillery unit fire BOTH pre-emptively at off-loading attacking units and then AGAIN with any other  defending units as part of the regular combat round?

My take has always been that the pre-emptive die roll counts as the artillery’s die roll for that first combat round but it is argued by others that, no, the artillery gets to roll again as part of the defending force after pre-emptive fire.  This allows artillery units TWO rolls in a single combat round, a unique attribute, and important, so I’d like to know what the official position on this is, please!  After years of play, we still cannot resolve this question among ourselves, different folks interpret the printed rules differently. Thanks!

It’s on page 22:
@rulebook:

Immediately before the combat is resolved, any defending artillery
present in the attacked territory can make a pre-emptive strike against all of
your offloading land units and fighters as they come ashore.
…
Surviving attacking units then land in the territory and move on to land combat.
The land combat is conducted in the same manner as any other land combat with one exception. If there was no sea battle, any battleships that are in the sea zone(s) from which units offloaded from transports can conduct offshore bombardment.

The bolded segment states that there’s no difference to the land combat with the remaining land units preventing the artillery from defending. If there were, they would have to specify “don’t put defending artillery on the battle board” or something along those lines.

Note also that artillery pre-emptive fire and/or battleship bombardment apply only in the case of an amphibious assault, and not in the case of an amphibious reinforcement, even if there is a battle subsequent to that reinforcement.

Thanks for these clarifications!  I just  now also found this answered in another board, but it took a lot of scrolling and reading to find my question put by someone else.

We will adjust our play accordingly now that we have the straight dope.

I think this should be emphasized, however, in a future rules revision, and also the diagram on p. 21 might be modified to the artillery piece in the example numbered 4 ALSO has an arrow beside it indicating that its attack is not limited to the pre-emptive fire (as shown in diagram no. 3).

Mined sea zones: clarification, please, on a small but important point?

If I interpret the rules correctly, ships entering or moving through a hostile sea zone with mines are subject to mine damage. Fine. However, what about ships that already begin their turn in a hostile, mined sea zone and do not move? (or move to an adjacent, non-mined or non-hostile sea zone).  They already faced mine damage rolls the last turn – are they now exempt from having to face mine rolls again, as long as they stay put? And do not leave and return on the same or a following turn?

This comes up frequently.  We have played with the understanding that once a ship has survived a mine field it does not have to roll against mines again if it simply stays put – say, the survivors of a German fleet next to Karelia or London that fought a naval battle and won but the land area, the port, remains hostile.

But maybe that’s wrong?

Evening piper909.
You have understood it correctly. If you stay put , you do not have to roll for mines again. You only roll when you enter the mined  zone and when at war with the minefield’s owner.