@gamerman01

Thanks so much for including me among the invitations, fellas! I’ll have to decline this time. I love classic and will get back to it sometime in the future, but having grade school kids puts me on the sidelines now. I plan to follow the posts to see how the tournament shakes out. Best of luck to all!

The other place that is still active is gamesbyemail.com. It’s called W.W.II on there. The platform isn’t as thorough as Triple A, but it’s a bit more user friendly and there are almost always opponents available. It’s not your place if you want to sit down and play a game straight through, however. Most players complete 1 or 2 rounds per day.

@AcesWild5049

I’m completely on your page for tech rolls. They’re too luck-dependent to use in the early rounds, but they’re a great option for salvaging a losing effort. They make for some out of the box turns, too.

Do you ever plan, from the outset, to send a combination of planes and ships to attack the American/British Navy in the Atlantic?  I’ve found this to be the most effective way to get Japan directly involved in the game rather than just nibbling at the edges.  The plan requires a skilled defensive strategy with Germany, likely with 100% infantry purchases.  It has worked well in my recent games, however.

Japan must accept that it will not significantly pressure Moscow, but it can still easily build enough infantry to take and hold SFE, Yakut, China, Sinkiang, India, and Persia by turn 6, while building 4 new fighters in the process.  On turn 7 the Japanese air force flies from Persia to Europe, and the ships have just arrived at Brazil from the Cape of Africa.  On turn 8, the successful destruction of the entire Atlantic fleet should be likely.

It doesn’t tilt the game in favor of the Axis, but it does increase their odds substantially in my opinion.  Is there a fatal flaw to this plan that I’m missing?

Sorry if this is covered in an old thread.  I’m coming back to the game after about 15 years!

@AcesWild5049 No, I’m hoping to get more use out of them in the long game than I would have in that battle. If I don’t catch some dice with Japan’s turn, however, there won’t be a long game :)

I also think 4 games is a good stopping point. I learned a ton from our games, and I’m eager to spend some time studying the board and playing a variety of opponents. A big thank you for taking the time!

Regarding the proper balance, I believe the game is 10 IPCs in the Allies’ favor. That’s based on giving the Axis extra IPCs to start the game. I’ve never played with adding units to the board. I would have said 12-14 before our games, but I like some the subtle wrinkles you showed in the Axis mid-game.

@the_good_captain I know, that super subs technology is a complete game changer ;)

What a fantastic game. I have about 5,000 thoughts that I’ll try to condense into a readable post in our chat this evening.

This game was remarkably low-stress through the first 8 rounds for me. While the J1 dice were frustrating, they set up a game in which I had nothing to lose and could feel free to take major risks. I didn’t see any traditional path to victory after round 1, and so I was thinking about weapons development from then on. I figured that if I timed it right, I could turn the tide with either Industrial Technology or Heavy Bombers. I also hoped that a situation might arise where Long Range Aircraft could create a mismatched battle. I’m not sure if you were consciously avoiding that type of situation, but it didn’t materialize. In retrospect I don’t think the Industrial Tech development would have been sufficient. It was heavies or bust.

One big lesson for me from the early mid rounds was your use of AA guns to prevent Japan from dominating the Middle East. I haven’t actually seen that before, and it seems to be the perfect use for some otherwise unusable assets for the allies.

It’s interesting to read in your write-up that you question your immediate response to my tech roll. I’m questioning my own read of the board at that point, as I was convinced I needed to put offensive pressure on Karelia with Germany to keep allied units away from Japan’s IPC base. When you shifted west to march on Berlin, I ran some numbers and immediately wondered what in the world I was thinking buying anything besides infantry with Germany. It wasn’t until I saw just how unlikely a march on Moscow was that I took a serious look at crossing the Pacific with Japan’s full fleet.

The dice were utterly remarkable in this game. It was like they were programmed to keep things competitive at all times. My tech roll is the obvious case. Your attacks on Eastern Europe were also remarkable for just how closely they matched the median outcomes of those battles. I would guess that at least 50% of the time those EE battles would skew far enough in one direction or the other to effectively end the game. And then the AA guns…from your very first British bomber getting shot down to all of my raids with heavies, it was like they assessed the board and only shot down planes of the player in the lead.
Gosh, it’s late. I’ve plenty more, but I’ll leave it there.

Thanks for the very thorough write up on your end.

Some further thoughts:

I believe you made the correct decision in not rolling for tech immediately on USA 8. Japan really needed Germany as a landing pad for its bombing. Otherwise it was out of range of UK/USA and was in danger of needing to fly over 2 AA guns to bomb Russia. If you hadn’t added more USA ground units for your invasion of Germany, it could have easily failed. In my opinion you had grabbed about an 80/20 advantage in the game by the time you sacked Berlin. One extra AA gun hit in those rounds would have done me in.

I think your only error was in responding 1 round too late to the invasion of North America. I was beginning to wonder if you ever make mistakes, so it was relieving to finally see one! I say all this with the caveat that I really don’t know how many rounds of failed attempts at Heavy Bombers would have doomed the allies. My sense is that you would have been in the driver’s seat if you rolled for heavies in the first three rounds after I got them and that you would have been in trouble if it took 4 or more rounds. I could be WAY off on that, though.

An area of surprise for me was the substantial effect of our optional rules in the late parts of the game. The hard neutrals rule was a small hindrance to my Japan strategy, as Mongolia was a logical spot to consolidate all my forces. The big influence, however, was your lack of ability to build a factory in Asia. It must have been maddening to have no UK or USSR naval option in the Pacific besides sailing boats all the way around the world.

Very well played, as always. I’m definitely looking forward to flipping sides and starting our next game here in a couple of weeks!

@gamerman01

Thanks so much for including me among the invitations, fellas! I’ll have to decline this time. I love classic and will get back to it sometime in the future, but having grade school kids puts me on the sidelines now. I plan to follow the posts to see how the tournament shakes out. Best of luck to all!

Well, I’ve tried all the simple fixes I can think of, including re-installing Triple A. It’s still giving me error messages. I’ll copy and paste my turn here. Sorry for all the edits that puts on you, but hopefully we’re back on track with your next post.

Round: 6

    Purchase Units - British
        British buy 2 armour and 6 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - British
        1 infantry moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Ukraine S.S.R.
        1 fighter moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Ukraine S.S.R.
        1 fighter moved from Anglo Sudan Egypt to Ukraine S.S.R.
        1 bomber moved from Anglo Sudan Egypt to South Africa
        1 armour moved from Kenya-Rhodesia to South Africa
        1 infantry moved from Kenya-Rhodesia to South Africa

    Combat - British
        Battle in South Africa
            British attack with 1 armour, 1 bomber and 1 infantry
            Germans defend with 1 armour and 1 infantry
            British win, taking South Africa from Germans with 1 armour and 1 bomber remaining. Battle score for attacker is 5
            Casualties for British: 1 infantry
            Casualties for Germans: 1 armour and 1 infantry
        Battle in Ukraine S.S.R.
            British attack with 2 fighters and 1 infantry
            Germans defend with 1 infantry
            2 fighters owned by the British retreated
            Germans win with 1 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is -3
            Casualties for British: 1 infantry

    Non Combat Move - British
        2 fighters moved from Ukraine S.S.R. to Karelia S.S.R.
        1 infantry moved from Syria Jordan to Anglo Sudan Egypt
        1 bomber moved from South Africa to French Equatorial Africa
        2 infantry moved from Kenya-Rhodesia to Congo
        1 armour moved from Kenya-Rhodesia to French Equatorial Africa
        2 infantry moved from Russia to Kazakh S.S.R.
        3 armour and 4 infantry moved from United Kingdom to North Sea Zone
        1 battleship moved from North Sea Zone to West Spain Sea Zone
        3 armour, 4 infantry and 5 transports moved from North Sea Zone to West Spain Sea Zone
        3 armour and 4 infantry moved from West Spain Sea Zone to Algeria
        10 infantry moved from Finland Norway to Karelia S.S.R.
        2 infantry moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Russia

    Place Units - British
        2 armour and 6 infantry placed in United Kingdom

    Turn Complete - British
        British collect 27 PUs; end with 27 PUs

TripleA Turn Summary: Russians round 6

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Classic, version: 2.0.0

Game History

Round: 6

    Research Technology - Russians

    Purchase Units - Russians
        Russians buy 1 aaGun, 1 armour and 5 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Russians
        2 infantry moved from Novosibirsk to Yakut S.S.R.
        2 fighters moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Yakut S.S.R.

    Combat - Russians
        Battle in Yakut S.S.R.
            Russians attack with 2 fighters and 2 infantry
            Japanese defend with 1 infantry
                Russians roll dice for 2 fighters and 2 infantry in Yakut S.S.R., round 2 : 0/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits
                Japanese roll dice for 1 infantry in Yakut S.S.R., round 2 : 0/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                Russians roll dice for 2 fighters and 2 infantry in Yakut S.S.R., round 3 : 0/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits
                Japanese roll dice for 1 infantry in Yakut S.S.R., round 3 : 0/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                Russians roll dice for 2 fighters and 2 infantry in Yakut S.S.R., round 4 : 2/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits
                Japanese roll dice for 1 infantry in Yakut S.S.R., round 4 : 1/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the Japanese and 1 infantry owned by the Russians lost in Yakut S.S.R.
            Russians win, taking Yakut S.S.R. from Japanese with 2 fighters and 1 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 0
            Casualties for Russians: 1 infantry
            Casualties for Japanese: 1 infantry

    Non Combat Move - Russians
        2 armour moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Russia
        3 infantry moved from Novosibirsk to Russia
        1 armour moved from Novosibirsk to Russia
        2 fighters moved from Yakut S.S.R. to Novosibirsk
        1 aaGun moved from Russia to Novosibirsk

    Place Units - Russians
        1 aaGun, 1 armour and 5 infantry placed in Russia

    Turn Complete - Russians
        Russians collect 22 PUs; end with 22 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Japanese regular : 0.00
Russians regular : -2.00

Savegame

TripleA Turn Summary: Americans round 5

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Classic, version: 2.0.0

Game History

Round: 5

    Purchase Units - Americans
        Americans buy 2 armour and 7 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Americans
        1 infantry moved from Novosibirsk to Sinkiang
        2 fighters moved from Novosibirsk to Sinkiang
        1 infantry moved from Novosibirsk to Sinkiang

    Combat - Americans
        Battle in Sinkiang
            Americans attack with 2 fighters and 2 infantry
            Japanese defend with 1 infantry
                Americans roll dice for 2 fighters and 2 infantry in Sinkiang, round 2 : 2/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits
                Japanese roll dice for 1 infantry in Sinkiang, round 2 : 1/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the Japanese and 1 infantry owned by the Americans lost in Sinkiang
            Americans win, taking Sinkiang from Japanese with 2 fighters and 1 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 0
            Casualties for Americans: 1 infantry
            Casualties for Japanese: 1 infantry

    Non Combat Move - Americans
        2 fighters moved from Sinkiang to Karelia S.S.R.
        1 armour moved from Finland Norway to Russia
        2 infantry moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Russia
        6 infantry moved from Finland Norway to Karelia S.S.R.
        1 aaGun, 1 armour and 4 infantry moved from Anglo Sudan Egypt to French Equatorial Africa
        1 bomber moved from West Canada to Karelia S.S.R.
        1 carrier and 1 submarine moved from North Atlantic Sea Zone to North Sea Zone
        1 fighter moved from North Atlantic Sea Zone to Karelia S.S.R.
        1 armour and 9 infantry moved from West US to West Canada
        6 transports moved from North Sea Zone to East Canada Sea Zone
        11 infantry moved from West Canada to East Canada Sea Zone
        11 infantry and 6 transports moved from East Canada Sea Zone to North Sea Zone
        11 infantry moved from North Sea Zone to Finland Norway
        1 infantry moved from Alaska to West Canada

    Place Units - Americans
        2 armour and 7 infantry placed in West US

    Turn Complete - Americans
        Americans collect 33 PUs; end with 33 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Americans regular : 0.67
Japanese regular : 0.67

Savegame

TripleA Turn Summary: British round 5

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Classic, version: 2.0.0

Game History

Round: 5

    Purchase Units - British
        British buy 3 armour and 4 infantry; Remaining resources: 3 PUs; 

    Combat Move - British
        1 infantry moved from Syria Jordan to Persia
        1 bomber moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Persia
        2 fighters moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Persia
        1 infantry moved from Congo to Kenya-Rhodesia
              British take Kenya-Rhodesia from Germans
        1 armour moved from Anglo Sudan Egypt to Italian East Africa
              British take Italian East Africa from Germans
        1 armour moved from Italian East Africa to Kenya-Rhodesia
        2 infantry moved from Anglo Sudan Egypt to Kenya-Rhodesia
        1 armour moved from Anglo Sudan Egypt to Kenya-Rhodesia

    Combat - British
        Battle in Persia
            British attack with 1 bomber, 2 fighters and 1 infantry
            Japanese defend with 1 infantry
                British roll dice for 1 bomber, 2 fighters and 1 infantry in Persia, round 2 : 3/4 hits, 1.83 expected hits
                Japanese roll dice for 1 infantry in Persia, round 2 : 1/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the Japanese and 1 infantry owned by the British lost in Persia
            British win with 1 bomber and 2 fighters remaining. Battle score for attacker is 0
            Casualties for British: 1 infantry
            Casualties for Japanese: 1 infantry

    Non Combat Move - British
        1 fighter moved from Persia to Anglo Sudan Egypt
        1 fighter moved from Persia to Karelia S.S.R.
        1 bomber moved from Persia to Anglo Sudan Egypt
        10 infantry moved from Finland Norway to Karelia S.S.R.
        2 infantry moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Russia
        10 infantry moved from United Kingdom to North Sea Zone
        10 infantry moved from North Sea Zone to Finland Norway

    Place Units - British
        3 armour and 4 infantry placed in United Kingdom

    Turn Complete - British
        British collect 25 PUs; end with 28 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Japanese regular : 0.67
British regular : 1.17

Savegame

TripleA Turn Summary: Russians round 5

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Classic, version: 2.0.0

Game History

Round: 5

    Purchase Units - Russians
        Russians buy 1 armour and 5 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Russians
        1 infantry moved from Karelia S.S.R. to East Europe
              Russians take East Europe from Germans
        8 infantry moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Russia
        1 armour moved from Russia to Karelia S.S.R.
        1 armour moved from Russia to Karelia S.S.R.
        1 armour moved from Russia to Novosibirsk

    Combat - Russians

    Non Combat Move - Russians

    Place Units - Russians
        1 armour and 1 infantry placed in Karelia S.S.R.
        4 infantry placed in Russia

    Turn Complete - Russians
        Russians collect 25 PUs; end with 25 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Savegame

TripleA Turn Summary: Americans round 4

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Classic, version: 2.0.0

Game History

Round: 4

    Purchase Units - Americans
        Americans buy 1 armour and 9 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Americans
        2 infantry moved from West Canada to Alaska
        1 bomber moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Alaska
        1 infantry moved from Novosibirsk to Sinkiang
        2 fighters moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Sinkiang

    Combat - Americans
        Battle in Sinkiang
            Americans attack with 2 fighters and 1 infantry
            Japanese defend with 1 infantry
                Americans roll dice for 2 fighters and 1 infantry in Sinkiang, round 2 : 1/3 hits, 1.17 expected hits
                Japanese roll dice for 1 infantry in Sinkiang, round 2 : 1/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the Japanese and 1 infantry owned by the Americans lost in Sinkiang
            Americans win with 2 fighters remaining. Battle score for attacker is 0
            Casualties for Americans: 1 infantry
            Casualties for Japanese: 1 infantry
        Battle in Alaska
            Americans attack with 1 bomber and 2 infantry
            Japanese defend with 1 infantry
                Americans roll dice for 1 bomber and 2 infantry in Alaska, round 2 : 1/3 hits, 1.00 expected hits
                Japanese roll dice for 1 infantry in Alaska, round 2 : 1/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the Japanese and 1 infantry owned by the Americans lost in Alaska
            Americans win, taking Alaska from Japanese with 1 bomber and 1 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 0
            Casualties for Americans: 1 infantry
            Casualties for Japanese: 1 infantry

    Non Combat Move - Americans
        1 bomber moved from Alaska to West Canada
        4 transports moved from North Sea Zone to East Canada Sea Zone
        1 armour and 6 infantry moved from West Canada to East Canada Sea Zone
        1 armour, 6 infantry and 4 transports moved from East Canada Sea Zone to North Sea Zone
        1 armour and 6 infantry moved from North Sea Zone to Finland Norway
        2 infantry moved from Finland Norway to Karelia S.S.R.
        2 infantry moved from Russia to Novosibirsk
        2 fighters moved from Sinkiang to Novosibirsk
        11 infantry moved from West US to West Canada
        1 aaGun, 1 armour and 4 infantry moved from French Equatorial Africa to Anglo Sudan Egypt
        1 submarine moved from North Sea Zone to North Atlantic Sea Zone
        1 carrier moved from North Sea Zone to North Atlantic Sea Zone
        1 fighter moved from Karelia S.S.R. to North Atlantic Sea Zone

    Place Units - Americans
        1 armour and 9 infantry placed in West US

    Turn Complete - Americans
        Americans collect 31 PUs; end with 31 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Americans regular : -0.17
Japanese regular : 1.33

Savegame

TripleA Turn Summary: British round 4

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Classic, version: 2.0.0

Game History

Round: 4

    Purchase Units - British
        British buy 10 infantry; Remaining resources: 3 PUs; 

    Combat Move - British
        1 infantry moved from French Equatorial Africa to Congo
              British take Congo from Germans
        2 armour moved from French Equatorial Africa to Anglo Sudan Egypt
              British take Anglo Sudan Egypt from Germans
        2 infantry moved from French Equatorial Africa to Anglo Sudan Egypt

    Combat - British

    Non Combat Move - British
        2 infantry moved from Persia to Syria Jordan
        2 fighters moved from Caucasus to Karelia S.S.R.
        6 infantry moved from Finland Norway to Karelia S.S.R.
        10 infantry moved from United Kingdom to North Sea Zone
        10 infantry moved from North Sea Zone to Finland Norway

    Place Units - British
        10 infantry placed in United Kingdom

    Turn Complete - British
        British collect 27 PUs; end with 30 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Savegame

TripleA Turn Summary: Russians round 4

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Classic, version: 2.0.0

Game History

Round: 4

    Purchase Units - Russians
        Russians buy 1 armour and 4 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Russians
        1 infantry moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Ukraine S.S.R.
              Russians take Ukraine S.S.R. from Germans
        1 infantry moved from Novosibirsk to Yakut S.S.R.
              Russians take Yakut S.S.R. from Japanese

    Combat - Russians

    Non Combat Move - Russians
        1 fighter moved from Novosibirsk to Karelia S.S.R.
        1 fighter moved from Russia to Karelia S.S.R.
        4 infantry moved from Russia to Novosibirsk
        1 transport moved from West Spain Sea Zone to North Sea Zone

    Place Units - Russians
        1 armour placed in Russia
        4 infantry placed in Karelia S.S.R.

    Turn Complete - Russians
        Russians collect 25 PUs; end with 25 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Savegame

TripleA Turn Summary: Americans round 3

TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Classic, version: 2.0.0

Game History

Round: 3

    Purchase Units - Americans
        Americans buy 11 infantry; Remaining resources: 1 PUs; 

    Non Combat Move - Americans
        1 aaGun moved from Algeria to French Equatorial Africa
        4 infantry moved from Algeria to French Equatorial Africa
        1 armour moved from Algeria to French Equatorial Africa
        2 infantry moved from Karelia S.S.R. to Russia
        2 infantry moved from East US to East US Sea Zone
        1 submarine moved from East US Sea Zone to North Sea Zone
        1 battleship moved from East US Sea Zone to North Sea Zone
        1 carrier moved from East US Sea Zone to North Sea Zone
        2 infantry and 1 transport moved from East US Sea Zone to North Sea Zone
        2 infantry moved from North Sea Zone to Finland Norway
        1 armour moved from West US to West Canada
        8 infantry moved from West US to West Canada
        5 transports moved from West Spain Sea Zone to North Sea Zone

    Place Units - Americans
        11 infantry placed in West US

    Turn Complete - Americans
        Americans collect 31 PUs; end with 32 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Savegame