Blockhouse Talk 101

I still think for gameplay’s sake to make it a one turn build. And just have it as a bonus for defending infantry and artillery, like +1 defense for up to two units per blockhouse. Heck even call the unit entrenchment, and possibly to make it even more risky is if a unit becomes entrenched it cannot move any more. Or it takes a move for the unit to “un-entrench” first, then be able to move and attack. To make it easy, just add in a colored chip to put under units that are entrenched, make the cost like 5 IPC’s for two units and if they move they would have to rebuy the entrenchment bonus again if they wanted to entrench. It makes it to where we won’t see entrenchment spammers who think that an entrenched army can just jump up and move the next day like it is nothing. Just look at WWI, armies moved at a crawl because it is so hard to advance and retreat once you have dug in, it destroys morale and destroys the environment too. Dirt and rain don’t mix too well for trucks and men.

Cool idea as well. When the game comes out I suspect there are going to be a plethera of awesome house rules.

Okay how about this, Blockhouses raise the defense for all infantry and artillery +1 for the first round of combat only. I believe this is realistic because after initial round of combat the defensive positions are given away and thus targeted in the following rounds giving up any advatage they may have provided initially.

I think a per unit basis, just like pairing your artillery with infantry on the attack, you should just be able to entrench units but have the penalty of not being able to move immediately.

I dont see why movement should be limited, it might take artillery a little bit of time to be moved from a blockhouse but we are talking approximately 3 month turns. As far as how many pieces receive benefit from the blockhouses I would guess that would depend upon the cost of the blockhouses.

I think it should at least be barred from attacking, maybe allow it to move non-combat. I would say that merely for gameplay purposes, so people don’t spam entrenchments left and right. You can’t have cake and eat it too. This would make defense better but would that not just perpetuate dead zones for either side if an invader then decides to entrench? We would have WWI and that would not be actually accurate because bombers and artillery improved drastically, not to mention tanks. It made it suicide to just hole up and wait, (example: Japanese on any island invasion by marines). I can understand it for when you really need to use it as a last resort, thus limiting your options if you do entrench, remember you are in essence de-mobilizing your force to gain a defense advantage, does it make sense to be able to mount an offensive right after? It takes a little time to regroup, and I think the least for movement penalty should be no combat movement, but you can non-combat move.

Here are the actual reprinted rules from AA D-Day. Use this and come up with something based on the designers intent.

Blockhouses
Only the Axis has block houses.
Block houses do not move. They fire
in combat against land units in their
zone just as other land units do,
attacking on a 3 and defending on a 1.
Blockhouses also can make a special
targeted attack out to sea, directed
by order card 9. Each blockhouse
may fire once at an Allies land unit
in a beachhead box within its firing
arc. For example, the two
blockhouses in the zone containing
Bayeux can each fire on land units in
the Gold Beach box. (Not all blockhouses
are in a zone with an adjacent
beach head box.) A roll of 3 or less is
a hit. Each block house can fire on a
different target.

Naval Bombardment
The Allies can conduct a naval
bombardment when an order card so
directs. Naval bombardment targets
only blockhouses. Roll six dice, one
at a time : A roll of 2 or less destroys
the blockhouse.

The Allies choose a block house as
the target of each die roll; the same
block house can be chosen more than
once.

Okay along those lines: Attack = 3, Defense = 1, Movement = 0, Cost = 2. With no movement capability I am assuming that attack = 3 is for when it fires at ships. So in regular Axis and Allies you would have to limit this ability to ships that are supporting an amphibious assault. I am sure there are other ideas out there that follow along the guidelines that IL has indicated, but hey it’s a starting point.

Hello everyone,  :-)

How about this:

The Blockhouse unit can make a ‘first strike attack’ once per combat round on a 3 (even though it is defending) and cannot be chosen as a casualty until there are no other eligible defending units. So, all defending units must be destroyed first, before the Blockhouse can be taken as a casualty.

It can only hit enemy land units that have attacked via amphibiuous assault (not those from overland) and cannot hit enemy ships or aircraft. The attacker chooses the unit to be taken as a casualty.

It cannot attack at all on the owner’s combat move. Only one Blockhouse per territory.

Thank you for reading, and please improve upon this. It’s just an idea - I haven’t tried it out yet as I’m at work at the moment! :-)

Lozmoid

hey welcome to the forum! + 1 to you! do you mean block houses attack first on a 3? similar to subs first strike rule?

So do you mean first strike as in the same type that an attacking sub has, where there is no casualty roll?

@lozmoid:

Hello everyone,  :-)

How about this:

The Blockhouse unit can make a ‘first strike attack’ once per combat round on a 3 (even though it is defending) and cannot be chosen as a casualty until there are no other eligible defending units. So, all defending units must be destroyed first, before the Blockhouse can be taken as a casualty.

It can only hit enemy land units that have attacked via amphibiuous assault (not those from overland) and cannot hit enemy ships or aircraft. The attacker chooses the unit to be taken as a casualty.

It cannot attack at all on the owner’s combat move. Only one Blockhouse per territory.

Thank you for reading, and please improve upon this. It’s just an idea - I haven’t tried it out yet as I’m at work at the moment! :-)

Lozmoid

The blockhouse owner should be able to decide when to take it as a casulty.

I am not for the limit of one.

Blockhouses should also be able to defend against ground assaults.

Other than that I like your idea.

Hi guys,

Thanks very much for the welcome and for your cool feedback!  :-)

Yes, the Blockhouse gets a ‘first-strike attack’ - exactly the same as submarines, i.e. it fires once in the opening fire step, and on a roll of 1-3, a casualty is selected among the attacking force and eliminated before it gets to roll its attack. Then the attacker rolls for all attacking units, and the defender rolls for all defending units (but not for the BH as it has already fired). And the BH can do this every combat round!

Okay - I now agree that the BH should also be able to fire upon land units coming from overland (not sure why I was just thinking of beach defences.) However, as much as I love the idea that the defending BH can pick its target casualty, I just feel that this could be too powerful… I don’t know. I think that’s why I suggested just the limit of 1 BH per territory. It will remain a major threat as long as there are still some surviving land units in the defending tt, as it is chosen last - just like a Transport.

I might add that the BH can be hit by attacking enemy land or air units, and cannot be hit by sea units at all. It may not even be selected as a casualty as the result of Shore Bombardment. However - and get this - as the BH cannot hit air units, it can be easily destroyed by enemy air units if left undefended. Just like when attacking a TT, there is no need for the BH to roll a die - just remove it from play!  :-D

That’s all for now. Thanks again  :-)

All right Lozmoid. Now you’re talking. I like your new presentation. Welcome to the jungle. A +1 to you. Now let’s listen to all the smack from the others about your idea.

Thank you Brain Damaged. I’ve been roaming these boards for months and just felt it was time to get involved. Been playing Axis & Allies for about 8 or 9 years now and own one copy of each game: 1984 MB edition, A&A Europe, Pacific, Revised, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Guadalcanal, A&A50, A&A1942. Can’t wait for the new P40 & E40 games! I also got into the miniatures for a while but found it too costly.

So, to recap on the Blockhouse unit:

Cost: ?
Move: 0
Attack: 0
Defend: 3

First Strike: This unit rolls its defence die during the opening fire step, and on a roll of a 1-3, a casualty is selected (by the attacker?) from the invading force and removed from play. Combat then resumes as normal, with the attacker rolling for all units attacking etc.

Chosen Last: This unit cannot be destroyed until there are no other defending land or air units in the territory being attacked.

Cannot Hit Air Units: This unit cannot hit attacking air units, and therefore is defenceless against them when left undefended by friendly units.

Cannot Hit Sea Units: This unit cannot hit sea units as they are not placed on the battleboard in a land combat. This unit cannot be chosen as a casualty by the owner as a result of shore bombardment.

That’s it for now…

That is quite a collection, I think from now on I will only get the full games that contain money and the ability to build units, that is haf the fun!

@Lozmoid:

Thank you Brain Damaged. I’ve been roaming these boards for months and just felt it was time to get involved. Been playing Axis & Allies for about 8 or 9 years now and own one copy of each game: 1984 MB edition, A&A Europe, Pacific, Revised, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Guadalcanal, A&A50, A&A1942. Can’t wait for the new P40 & E40 games! I also got into the miniatures for a while but found it too costly.

So, to recap on the Blockhouse unit:

Cost: ?
Move: 0
Attack: 0
Defend: 3

First Strike: This unit rolls its defence die during the opening fire step, and on a roll of a 1-3, a casualty is selected (by the attacker?) from the invading force and removed from play. Combat then resumes as normal, with the attacker rolling for all units attacking etc.

Chosen Last: This unit cannot be destroyed until there are no other defending land or air units in the territory being attacked.

Cannot Hit Air Units: This unit cannot hit attacking air units, and therefore is defenceless against them when left undefended by friendly units.

Cannot Hit Sea Units: This unit cannot hit sea units as they are not placed on the battleboard in a land combat. This unit cannot be chosen as a casualty by the owner as a result of shore bombardment.

That’s it for now…

I think the blockhouse should be able to target naval units that are engaging in shore bombardment.

Hmm, I think that the Blockhouse is rather powerful as it is already without being able to target ships too…

I want to start playtesting the BH unit this week but am undecided on its cost. I think 10 is about right. (Remember that this unit gets Surprise Strike at 3 and can fire every turn!) What do you guys think would be a fair cost for it?

I thought about build placement too. I expect that most people would be in favour of being able to place the BH on any territory/island that the owner controlled at the beginning of their turn. However, I did consider the idea of only being able to build them in coastal territories/islands. What are your thoughts on this?

Another idea I had recently was the possibility that the BH cannot be hit by aircraft. By this I imply that only land units can get close enough to the BH in order to be able to destroy it. That way, the BH is safe from air and sea attack as it is considered to be well concealed in the surrounding terrain…

Okay, I will see what else I can come up with… Many thanks for your comments!  :-)

Anyone think that the Artillery, AA, and Blockhouse should all be combined into one unit?  Doing so would probably result in an increase in cost to 5, which would help balance the new Tank.

Artillery: 2-2-2-5
Powers
1. Gives +1 to an Infantry when attacking
2. Before the first round of a sea invasion, gets a potshot for 2 or less vs. landing units, casualties removed before rolling
3. Before the first round of any combat with enemy aircraft, gets a potshot for 2 or less vs. air units, casualties removed before rolling.

In this setup, I would also gives Fighters a potshot of 3 against aircraft, and Fighter-Bombers a potshot of 1.

As far as blockhouses go, I think we could institute something like this, but so far I’m still thinking that this will only end up in huge stalemates along the fronts. Isn’t the advantage that infantry get already on defense enough? I mean there is a reason they roll at a 2 or less, right?