Newbie here

@risk:

Hi Forum

Welcome!

@risk:

im new here and to this game, in fact i bought it today :)

and i must admit it has overwhelmed me, me and my friends were keen risk players and thought this would also be cool, but there is a lot i dont understand and frankly trying to figure it oput by yourself takes so much time and i just feel that i would really benifit from people explaining a few things to me so i am hoping to get a few answers here…ill try tokeep to one question per thread

I’m sure that you’ll start picking it up fairly quickly once you get a handle on the basics.  There are plenty of friendly folks around here that are willing to help.

@risk:

offshore Bombardments:

ok my first question is about the bombardment function from battleships and cruisers, when bombarding the coast from the sea can normal units such as infantry and tanks fire back at the ships and sink them?? i kind of thought that thats too unrealistic as in real life they wouldnt have the range obviously so me and my friend in our first game made a rule that said only artilary and aircraft could fire back, but then that makes it almost impossible to fight back if you dont have those units on the coast, so can somone clear this up for me please?

Ships providing bombardment support for amphibious assaults can’t be chosen as casualties.  However, one thing that you have to realize is that this bombardment only happens in conjunction with an amphibious assault.  Ships can’t just start lobbing shells at ground troops anytime that they like.  Offshore bombardment is a one-shot attack that only happens in the first round of combat during an amphibious assault.

@risk:

also say if your invading Egypt from an djacent land territory and you have some ships in the mediteranian can they also fire at the defending units in Egypt during that assault? is there any point to doing this if what they hit goes into the “casualty” pile and then has to fight the invading land units anyway?

Ships can only bombard when there is a transport unloading land units for an amphibious assault in the same sea zone with the ships, and then only when they don’t have to fight a naval battle to clear the sea zone for the assault.  In addition, the number of ships that may bombard is limited to the number of land units that are unloading from the transports.  Think of it this way - if no troops are attacking from the sea, there’s no reason for any defenders to be on the coast to be bombarded.

Even though the units hit by offshore bombardment get to fire back, they still won’t be around in future combat rounds.  The extra attack on a 3 or 4 can give you a significant advantage in a battle for this reason.

@risk:

thanks for the reply some points of clarification please:

@Krieghund:

Ships providing bombardment support for amphibious assaults can’t be chosen as casualties.

so that means during this phase i can not attak them from onshore? i.e. shoot back at them??? what if i have planes on that territory surely they would be able to fly in and attack the ships???

No, the ships can’t be hit.  Defending units in the territory, including planes, only shoot at the invading land and air units.

@risk:

@Krieghund:

Offshore bombardment is a one-shot attack that only happens in the first round of combat during an amphibious assault.

ok so that means if after the first roll of the dice they have not sent all the units on that coast to the “casualty” area the landing does not happen and they have to withdraw from the attack?? so pretty much as long as the defender has more units than the attackers ships theyre guaranteed to be able to hold the position right? because each ship can only target one defending unit is this correct??? or am i missing something it seems that it would be extremely difficult to break a well fortified coast

No, that’s not how it works.  It’s just like any other combat, except the ships fire along with the invading land and air units, at the same time, but only on the first round of fire.  After that, the invading land and air units are on their own.  The landing can only be stopped if the invading fleet is repelled in a naval battle.

@risk:

also in addition to this after the Bomabrdment phase has succeeded can the attacking troops who are attempting the invasion retreat if the invasion does not go well? i.e get back on their transport ship and sail away??? if yes smeone please explain how this workd

No.  Amphibiously assaulting troops may never retreat.  They must fight to the death.

With bombardments. The ships fire. What they hit is moved to the casualty zone of the battle board. Then the attacking land units fire. What they hit is then moved to the casualty section of the battle board. The defender then rolls his dice for all his units including those in the casualty area. After he has done that the removes his units from the Casualty area. The ships only fire at the start of the  first round and the ycannot be taken as casualties by the attacker.

Only 2 fighters per aircraft carrier.

One transport can carry two infantry, or one infantry and one artillery, or one infantry and one tank, or one infantry and one AA gun. The maximum number of units allowed on a transport is 2. 1 infantry and 1 other land unit. The other land unit can be an infantry also.

Units that are loading on a transport MUST be in a land square next to the water territory where the transport will pick them up at. Tanks cannot move and then load onto a transport. ALL units loading on a transport may get on the transport and then get off the transport in the same turn.

Yes you can buy units and place them in latter turns.

Submarines cannot submerge when a destroyer is present. So they can be target by air because a destroyer is present or if no destroyer is present they may submerge. Once they submerge they are placed on the game board on their side. They no longer are considered to be part of any battle once they submerge. They cannot fire at units and cannot be taken as hits.  In this state they act as if they do not exist. At the end of the non combat move stage they are then turned upright and considered to have surfaced.

@a44bigdog:

@risk:

basically, correct me if im wrong, but teh “ship bombardment” works more or less like he “sneak attack” of the submarine, right? in that they get to fire a shot and then withdraw from battle, is this correct.

and whoever they hit is actually killed and taken off the board, as per normal combat, somehow i thought the people they kill still get to live and take on the land units, i couldnt get my head around that but i think i just understood it wrong….

With bombardments. The ships fire. What they hit is moved to the casualty zone of the battle board. Then the attacking land units fire. What they hit is then moved to the casualty section of the battle board. The defender then rolls his dice for all his units including those in the casualty area. After he has done that the removes his units from the Casualty area. The ships only fire at the start of the  first round and the ycannot be taken as casualties by the attacker.

Correct.

@a44bigdog:

@risk:

how many fighters can you have on one carrier?

Only 2 fighters per aircraft carrier.

Correct.

@a44bigdog:

@risk:

and i dont quite understand how you work out how many units u can place in the transport ship, is it like you can have a maximum of 3 infantary and then one other unit such as tank or artilary per infantary?? is this right?? so a maximum of 6 units as long as three of them are infantary?

One transport can carry two infantry, or one infantry and one artillery, or one infantry and one tank, or one infantry and one AA gun. The maximum number of units allowed on a transport is 2. 1 infantry and 1 other land unit. The other land unit can be an infantry also.

Correct.

@a44bigdog:

@risk:

and given that Tanks can move a total of 2 squares at a time, can they travel forward to meet a transport ship that is “docked” at an adjacent territory? and board the ship and still get off at the transport’s destination all in the one move? or does the transport ship always have to go to the units it is picking up?

Units that are loading on a transport MUST be in a land square next to the water territory where the transport will pick them up at. Tanks cannot move and then load onto a transport. ALL units loading on a transport may get on the transport and then get off the transport in the same turn.

Correct.  Tanks also may not move after being transported.  Loading and/or unloading on a transport uses a land unit’s entire move for the turn.

@a44bigdog:

@risk:

can you buy units in one round and place them on the board on another round? or do you lose them if you dont place them.

Yes you can buy units and place them in latter turns.

But only if you can’t place them in the current turn.  You must place all of the new units that you can.

@a44bigdog:

@risk:

and air craft can attack submarines only if there is a destroyer present, correct? does that mean that they can attack them even if they are submerged??

Submarines cannot submerge when a destroyer is present. So they can be target by air because a destroyer is present or if no destroyer is present they may submerge. Once they submerge they are placed on the game board on their side. They no longer are considered to be part of any battle once they submerge. They cannot fire at units and cannot be taken as hits.  In this state they act as if they do not exist. At the end of the non combat move stage they are then turned upright and considered to have surfaced.

You’re carrying a little baggage from Revised here, A44bigdog.  When a sub submerges, it is simply removed from the battle board and placed back on the gameboard.  There is no need to turn it on its side or right it again at the end of noncombat movement.

@Krieghund:

@a44bigdog:

@risk:

and air craft can attack submarines only if there is a destroyer present, correct? does that mean that they can attack them even if they are submerged??

Submarines cannot submerge when a destroyer is present. So they can be target by air because a destroyer is present or if no destroyer is present they may submerge. Once they submerge they are placed on the game board on their side. They no longer are considered to be part of any battle once they submerge. They cannot fire at units and cannot be taken as hits.  In this state they act as if they do not exist. At the end of the non combat move stage they are then turned upright and considered to have surfaced.

You’re carrying a little baggage from Revised here, A44bigdog.  When a sub submerges, it is simply removed from the battle board and placed back on the gameboard.  There is no need to turn it on its side or right it again at the end of noncombat movement.

If one is using the battleboard!
However after few games even my new friends, which are playing Anniversary with my playgroup for the first times, are used to resolve the battle “on the map”. To keep track of the submerged subs it is useful to turn them on their side if the unit are not moved to the battleboard. (IMHO using the battleboard add a lot of overhead to an already long game, we use the battleboard only in really big battles)
Sure, the rule are just as you say Krieghund but for a newbie it is also interesting to have such information! :)

Good point, Romulus.  If you’re not using the battle board, turning subs on their sides is still a good way to represent submerging.  However, you can right them immediately after the battle rather than waiting until after noncombat movement.

@risk:

do AA guns fire on air craft passing over a territory that contains the AA if the final destination of that aircraft is not that territory? for example bombers flying from Britain to Germany passing over France or north western Europe would they be fired upon if there were AA guns in western or northwestern Europe? as well as the fire they recieve from theGerman AA guns?? also do these guns fire on the aircraft on their way back to Britain? i.e. in the non combat phase of the air crafts movement?

AA guns only fire on planes that are actually attacking the territory that the gun is in.  They don’t fire on planes that are simply passing over them in either combat or noncombat movement.  This is a change from previous A&A games.

@risk:

and something that was also bugging me was the fact that a comber leaving the U.K could potentially bomb targets in North Africa and land in Egypt provided that it does not fly over Europe and instead fly over the sea zones in the atlantic ocean, around Gibralter, and through the mediteranian, even tho in real life this would actually increase the distance that the bomber would have to travel because its not flying in a straight line over Europe, yet in this game because of the density of territories in Europe you cant actually fly over Europe because it would be more than 6 territories to attack and land, where as because the sea zones are bigger in size on the map, the bomber can fly over the ocean and reach its target. not thsi seems a bit odd, apart from the fact that no way a WW2 bomber could fly from Britain to North Africa uninterrupted it also doesnt make sense that it could take a “short cut” by flying around europe rather than over it, is there a rule that says you cant do this, or that planes must fly in the straightest line possible or something, or is this simply a “feature” of the game which doesnt quite sit right with me?

It’s just a feature of the game.

Welcome to this cool game. Just wanted to point out something you said that was slightly incorrect. Not sure if you meant it this way but you said:
basically, correct me if im wrong, but teh “ship bombardment” works more or less like he “sneak attack” of the submarine, right? in that they get to fire a shot and then withdraw from battle, is this correct.

Thats not exactly how subs work. Subs fire a sneak attack(assuming no destroyer) and then the defenders may take losses, but then the defenders do get to fire back. Then you can either have the subs stay and fight another round, or submerge(if no destroyers).
Just thought I would point that out.
Subs cant hit air btw if you hadn’t seen that rule.

If a sub has first strike capability it conducts its attacks first each round of combat and any ship it hits is destroyed and does not get a defensive fire roll.

When a sub submerges that is it for that battle. That is why I explained it the way I did even if it is a hold over from Revised.

You only get 1 break though per turn no matter how many 6s come up. And when you do achieve a breakthrough all of your research tokens must be handed back in.

at the beginning of each round of combat that a destroyer is not present subs may either submerge or conduct their “first strike” this includes defending submarines as well. The decision to submerge is made before any dice are rolled.

every round of combat that an enemy destroyer is not present all submarines roll first before any other units. Whatever ships are determined to be casualties are removed immediately.

@risk:

ahh i see…ok this is another thing that i understood differently, i thought that the ‘sneak attack’ was a special attack that only happened ONCE during the entire battle…wow this makes subs very powerful. can anyone else verify that this is the case?

sorry a44 its not that i dont believe you its just more reasuring when other people also chip in :D

Just take a look at the official FAQ/Errata at

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/article/ah20081212

It’s the last question in the “Submarines” section:
Q. Does a submarine’s Surprise Strike occur in every round of combat if there are no enemy destroyers, or only the first round?
A. Submarines get a Surprise Strike in every round of combat in which no enemy destroyers are present.