Escort service

@all-encompassing-goose said in Ways to make the game better?:

@cernel I do have a bad track record for accidentally making posts in the wrong topic but I got Spring 1942 from Ebay. Unless the seller makes a mistake and gives me the 2nd edition, I know I’m receiving Spring 1942. Also, you cannot get 2nd edition anywhere in new condition for less than $60 which I state in the post I ordered SE for $30 (with all the shipping added)

Definitely worth the money (assuming it’s like new), but your decision to pick the 1st edition does not make a whole lot of sense to me. If you wanted a game that could take less than the 1940 games and still have the Axis&Allies experience, I would think the 2nd edition of 1942 is the most obvious choice (unless you are still playing the first edition of the 1940 games).

This said, one thing that Spring 1942 has going for itself is balance: the game is fairly balanced (being only very slightly unbalanced in favour of the Axis) and can be reasonably played with no bid (and no optional rules picking) at any skill levels, which is rare or even unique for any Axis&Allies world games.

My suggestion, however, is to alter the starting set-up by relocating the American destroyer into the sea zone next to the Eastern United States territory: it near-to-perfectly balances the game (by giving a very small advantage to the Allies) and avoid the very dicey attack by the German sub in than zone on round 1 (being either a +26 or a -6 swing value for the Axis).

@panther Thank you very much panther…

@Du-Bist-Toten said in General Questions:

FURTHERMORE, the rules introduce another VERY interesting concept. They actually say that a sub can be held hostage in a zone, unable to go anywhere unless 1) the enemy destroyer above it leaves or 2) the sub fights its way out. In other words, a sub, when under an enemy destroyer, must either fight or “be frozen”. So it’s kinda trapped! Just move your destroyer to the same zone as a sub and then choose not to fight it; then the sub will be frozen until you move! The sub won’t attack you on the sub’s “turn” (even though the option is there) if the firepower of your fleet above it is too powerful! This “freezing of the sub” occurs because the rules say “If a submarine enters a sea zone containing an enemy destroyer, it MUST end its movement there.”

I’m afraid you’ve got this wrong. The rule you quoted means that a sub must stop if it encounters an enemy destroyer after it starts moving. If it begins its movement in such a zone, it may leave, as it did not enter the zone during its movement. Moving into a zone with an enemy destroyer merely stops a sub’s current movement - it does not pin the sub indefinitely.

So my question here is as follows: If a sub decides to fight it’s way out, and after one round of combat an enemy destroyer is still above it, can the sub just “chill out” and “just be frozen under the water” again AFTER the enemy retaliates for that round? OR does the sub have to fight to the death?

In this situation, if a sub were to attack rather than move away, it would have to fight to the death, as it could not submerge and would have no legal way to retreat. However, as I mentioned above, it may leave the zone, so it could move to an adjacent friendly zone and come back in combat movement before attacking, thus establishing a retreat route.

BUT, if NO DESTROYER is present, can the sub attack the fleet above for just one round, and then move two spaces away during non-combat movement IF the counter fire didn’t kill the sub? If a destroyer IS present above and the sub DOES kill it, can the sub move two spaces away during non-combat movement?

Neither of these is legal. Any land or sea unit that either made a combat movement or participated in combat may not move in noncombat movement.

I hope this helps.

@amp12 What were you doing with these Allied countries in Europe at the same time? Just curious.

It’s quite worth it. My favorite version of the game.

@Concealer:

With transports being completely defenseless in A&A1942 what is the best way to protect them? Keeping a pipeline into various areas seems much more difficult to obtain with this new rule. There also is no easy unit in the sea to produce and buy each round to stack next to them like infantry.

I have been hiding my transports and keeping them out of range as best as I can but that kills any real stream of units (for example from the UK into Norway). The best thing I have come up with so far is to try and build a buffer around the mass of transports. I just occupy all land zones or sea zones with at least one unit that aircraft cannot fly over so they will need to enter into combat before they can reach the transports. However, I find it to be costly and hard to maintain. Any suggestions would great!

Best/cheapest/most effective defense for transports is a loaded carrier and a destroyer (or two).  Destroyers are your fodder, and if you have to lose a plane the US can usually afford to send one to replace it.  If you need to stall the German navy place a destroyer by the Baltic and force Germany to lose air.

Like KH said, you can’t stall aircraft.

Now that I’ve read up on sub vs sub, I’m happy to know that the defender has to declare submersion before the megalomaniacal attacker rolls. Upon exploring this escort/interceptor rule, hearing that escorts without defending interceptors are useless, I got to thinking. Does the defender declare if he is using interceptors before the strat bombing? It would suck to bring your airforce in to risk aa fire and not be of use due to the defender deciding not to use his fighters as interceptors. I suggest
1. Declare strat bombing
2. Defender declares interceptors
3. Attacker declares escorts
4. combat ensues.

I know it won’t fly, so to speak, but just as my pals were waiting to see if my attack sub would miss before deciding to submerge, a rule I will have to school them on… I feel the defender has an opportunity to dupe the attacker into sending fighters into a trap. I understand the defender needs the advantage, but I would like the opportunity to turn my escorts around when there is no resistance. Pros?