Posts made by Hobbes

@Yavid:

Market Garden

If I could only make the map…

I wasn’t able to ask him again. What really surprised me was that he’s just 17 and recognized the game right away.

@Mallery29:

The only way I see this fully working is if Ukraine holds on (for the additional tank from the south and possibly the FTR from Ukraine).  My defense buy in a KGF was usually the Bomber/SS/5inf/2art, but by securing Iceland/Gibraltar/Karelia/WRus on G1, I wouldn’t even need the Bomber, and could buy 4 more inf (or 3 art).

I’d rather only get the bomber (since you can use it also on land, unlike the sub) for the initial buy, regardless of KGF or KJF.

I re-looked at the numbers and see that UK would be safe from a India crush if UK1 was 3FTRs and was able to stack every possible unit.  So J2 India wouldn’t happen for sure, but if Japan had bought 2-3 Transports on J1, they can load up Burma faster than what India can buy, so it would only be a matter of time (3 rounds?) before Japan would have the safe upper hand.

That’s why you need the US fleet to try to draw some of the Japanese fleet away from India… but definitely by all means prevent a J2 capture. Otherwise those Japanese tanks start rolling on turn 4…

@Mallery29:

They can’t get to Gibraltar, the first thing I said was kill the CA and take Gibraltar.  So now with Iceland and Gibraltar down, their only hope is to go south of the Sahara or go the long way around the world, but that still takes multiple turns to get to Russia.

Operation Fortress Europe 2.0 :)

So far I haven’t really faced a KGF but this sounds like a nice way to secure Europe. Germany could also try to further stall the Allies on the North Atlantic by landing on Iceland on G1 and if the US goes Atlantic and move 2-3 fighters there on G2 to prevent the US into moving into SZ2, depending on the remaining G subs…

@feuerfrei:

Hey Fellas.

I seems to have a problem when i try to play Axis & Allies online with Triple A. When i have downloadet the newest Alpha global map, the program doesn’t accept the map and says i have to download it although i already did that. This is regarding the 1940 global alpha 3.9

Is there anyone out there who have experienced this problem and know how to solve it?

Best regards Johannes

Go to the folders
C://Documents and Settings/your username/TripleA/Maps/
and ://Triplea_1_6_1_/Maps

and delete any existing copies of the Global Alpha 3.9

then try reinstalling World War Global from the map depot

@Mallery29:

Realize it diverts German units away from WRus, but that’s one hell of a sacrifice! � God save the Queen!

I wonder if 3Trans/3inf is the right buy to go down the rest of this route then? (As Japan)

UK can still send fighters through Gibraltar - Caucasus, although now it takes 3 turns to reach Moscow. Another reason why it may not be worth it is that once the UK drops a carrier it will be able to use it as a landing pad.

I like the Iceland move though… it forces the Allies to clear Iceland otherwise ships on the SZ can be attacked by German fighters 3 spaces away.

How about extra armor instead of 2 inf?

@Mallery29:

2. Without Iceland, the only viable place to get planes to Russia by UK2 is to land in Archangel, but with so much in Karelia/Baltic, would you land your planes there?

Good question. Most likely yes because that would divert some German units away from moving into West Russia.

3. Without the UK planes, Russia is without support from the outside, and India can’t get those planes either

The only downsides I could see here is the Russian SS would be off Iceland, and if the Allies try to go KGF, then the US could put out ships on US1 (2CVs,DD…have 2 US FTRs land on one CV, NCM CA to EUS), and have those UK FTRs land on UK2.
The plus side from Japan’s POV if they go KGF is pretty apparent…(the lack of UK FTRs in India will make J2 feasible).

I haven’t considered this situation yet because I’ve never faced this strat so far on 2nd Ed. On 1st Ed. the only way to for the Allies to stop this is to pull back all UK units on Africa/India to Caucasus to stop the German thrust while the UK builds its fleet as fast as it can.

@Mallery29:

If you are able to have success against Russia on R1 as Germany (Ukraine survived w/FTR and WRus took 3plus inf) and the Russian FTR is in Egypt, try this:

1. Kill UK CA, take Gibraltar
2. Take Iceland w/1inf
3. Take Karelia (4inf, 2tanks)
4. Kill UK BB (2SS, FTR, and CA ), i know said NOT to do this in my noob post, but this would qualify as more complex risky strat)
5. Kill EUS fleet with 2 SZ9 SS
6. Hit WRus with everything else (3 tanks, 3inf, 5FTRs, 1 Bomber) (82.4%)

This only leaves Archangel as a spot to land for the UK FTRs if they want to support Russia, but by having the 4inf/2tanks in Karelia (and maybe moving the 2 France and 1 Italian tanks to Baltic), this would provide the UK with no viable landing zones.  This may open you up to KGF (especially if you lose a lot of airforce), but a solid G1 buy could back this up.  This may be too risky as a German player to do, but curious to see how this would end up.  The remaining inf could move up into Belorussia/Ukraine as needed.

I know this as the West Russia G1 crush. :)

Why Iceland? I’d focus on sending 2 more inf to Karelia for the G2 counter on West Russia.

@P-Unit:

Hi,

I’ve created a playaid for A&A 1942 2e (soon to be released) but I also thought of a couple of other playaids that would make the game easier to play. I’m wondering if anyone knows if they have already been created and where I can find them.  I’ll create them if no one has.

• Victory Condition tracking sheet. A simple score tracker to keep track of the total # of Victory Cities each side has.

  The Anniversary Edition (AA50) had VC markers, 1 for each city with the name printed. Maybe those are available to download, print and glue them to a cip.

  • A stand with a flagpole and flag for each Victory City, giving all of the players an easy way to quickly see all of the Victory Cities. We often play with players who haven’t played A&A much, or at all, so I thought this would be nice helper.

  Anyone know if either of these exist? =)

  Flagpoles no, but there are pieces from other games that you could possibly use, like the city pieces from Fortress America, although it would be hard to get some of those.

I got my copy of 1941 today and I was showing it to some people and a kid from China looked at it and recognized it, saying that they had it on China (some sort of a copy) and it was called ‘A&A’.

Has anyone heard about this?

I just got the game today. I ordered Spring 1942, 2nd Ed. but they called me saying that they got this one and since it was so cheap I decided why not (I wanted the Tigers!)

I thought I’d dislike the game but I’m actually loving the whole idea. Very easy to carry around, love the pieces and the simplicity, my only minus are really the cardboard chips. I brought it to a youth camp, opened the game and set it up and everyone was curious about it.

@Mallery29:

Why are there five Russians on the Far East?  This is like placing troops in Madagascar to defend Africa.

To allow for the US fighter from the carrier on land there on US1.

@AxisBrutality:

Impossible. Here’s why:

On US1 you move the fleet to SZ64.
On J2 it buys 1 carrier and 3 subs, sends the transports to Egypt and masses everything on SZ60.
On US2 it is impossible to land on Asia because the Japanese will destroy the US fleet. So, US2 the US buys 2 battleships and on J3 more 5 subs for Japan for SZ60.

–----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for the reply. Ok, so lets say no IC on Alaska. I move all of the U.S. Forces to Iwo Jiwa which is SZ59. What do you do then, I would like to know, still buy 3 sub and 1 carrier on J2 ?

I would buy on US1 - 3 bombers and 1 sub = 42 IPC. Put them all on Western U.S. Cruiser from Panama to Western U.S. also. 1 FTR is on Alaska which came from Eastern U.S. 1 more FTR from Szechwan to Soviet Far East. Now I can on US2 attack all you got on SZ60, whatever that is, you will have to move EVERYTHING you got to SZ60 or else I can attack Japan.

OK, the US can only land on Japan with 2 infantry and 2 fighters (+ possibly 1 bomber and the bombardment shots) so that isn’t really a threat if Japan builds say, 4 inf and 2 fighters on J2. Plus an attempt to land on Japan would most likely result on the US fleet being attacked and destroyed on the next Japanese turn.

I would have 1 Carrier, 1 Transport with 2 INF, 1 Battleship, 1 Sub, 2 Destroyers, 5 FTR and 4 Bombers to attack you with on US2. Be my guest and do tell what you build and move on J2. �
The principle of my strategy can clearly be done anyway with no Alaska IC, the point is to scare Japans forces to defend Japan, so that India is safe and I can start having fun in FIC/Malaya and East Indies with the UK, where 7 IPC are.

On J2 Japan can simply build infantry and fighters on Japan and send the fleet to land on FIC/Burma, stalling the UK advance and preventing any transports from being built on India.
Unless the initial transports survive (and they should be primary targets for Japan on J1) you need to buy ships to defend transports built on India, otherwise 1 bomber in Japan (or 1 carrier on SZ60) can sink them.

And don’t worry, I will make sure that Mother Russia has 5 INF on Soviet Far East to protect 3 U.S. FTR there (1 from Szechwan, 1 from Carrier on Hawaii and 1 from Hawaii itself) FTR from Westen U.S. lands on a Carrier which is now positioned on Iwo Jima. U.S. Bomber from Eastern U.S. goes also to Soviet Far East. That’s a really nice base right there, 5 Russian INF with 3 U.S. FTR and 1 Bomber :) I would also land Russian FTR after the attack on Ukraine, land it on Kazakhstan, in order to be able to attack any Japanese troops on R2 with 5 INF + 1 FTR.

Also the positionng of my U.S. FTRs is optional, I can also land 2 of them on the Carrier on Iwo Jiwa, 3rd FTR on Yakut from Szechwan and 2 more on Alaska, so am I able to attack you on SZ62 as well.

Now, before I do all this, I could buy 2 Bombers, 1 Tank on India with the UK, on UK1. Save 1 IPC in cash. Another Bomber from London goes to Evenki. Now UK has 3 Bombers which can strike your fleet on UK2 before USA starts having fun on US2. Do also tell what you buy on J1, and where do you put it?

You’re risking a bit on India…
J1: buy 2 bombers and 1 sub. Sink all remaining UK ships and land everything on Burma.
J2: attack India with 7 inf, 2 art, 1 arm, 4 ftrs, 3 bombers, 1 cruiser, 1 battleship. UK defends with 1 AAGun, 5 inf, 2 arm, 4 ftrs and 3 bombers… 60% for Japan.

The overall odds would depend on the number of Allied fighters (and Russian armor) but even without Japan attacking India it has forced the Allies to defend it (at the expense of other areas, like Europe) and avoided being forced to defend SZ60 or to lose ships to the UK/US.
On J2 the fleet could then swing back to SZ60 to add more ships or to SZ61 to land more ground units on Asia. Or even send the transports to crack Egypt/Africa open for the Germans/Axis to take…
Japan’s fleet can be like an octopus at the beginning… you can try to squeeze it with the Allies but it can slip and slip and will only be caught if it wants to, makes a mistake or if there’s nothing else to hide.

@Mallery29:

Yeah, I don’t think I would go for Wake…it doesn’t give the US options to strike much, and I’d hate to leave the US fleet in a bad position. � I understand why Wake could happen, but I think the Japanese would have to have blinders on to not realize what was going on with Wake.
Assuming Germany hits the EUS fleet with its subs, do you use the DD to go after the surviving German sub or just not combat that over on UK1?

Go after the sub(s), either at SZ7 or 11. If the German transport on the Baltic is alone then you can send the Russian sub after it and don’t need to use a fighter there.

@Mallery29:

Axis, I play total VC as well…  Losing irrelevant IPCs when important IPC can be gained is ok by me…here’s why in a stalemate strat, Yunan is the place to go.  Any advance by Indian forces can be met in Yunan.  They can hit FIC, Burma, and India all from Yunan.  So if you start spreading your forces out, you risk 3-5 transports hitting India (depending on buys, moments of opportunities).  The moment the Indians try to take FIC, you put yourself into a precarious position of having to defend 3 territories while only producing 3 units a turn, while Japan can hit you in either spot, outproduce you, and start reducing your defensive capabilities without a full assault.  This is like when Russia tries to landgrab too much.  If they only landgrab what they need, vice what they can, they are more stable in the long run.  Spreading out your Indian forces can result in the same catastrophe.

I noticed this also - it can be very tricky for Indian forces to advance on Asia and still defend India with that amount of Japanese transports active.

I’m glad Hobbes did the math…I’m tired of arguing failed allied Naval strategies.

A player who never faced it can easily make mistakes and have serious problems… and sometimes you really need to see it fail to believe that it will not work.

I agree with Hobbes that sacrificing a Japanese transport or two can be wonderful thing for the Axis to take Egypt, although, I’d probably just send a DD because with them and reroute the rest of the fleet back north.  Missing one DD in this Alaska Crush won’t completely shift the numbers in the Allies favor, and gives the UK a potential for losing valued units.

Yeah, although I’d rather lose the transports than to kill an UK fighter and lose the Japanese fleet on a failed attack because that destroyer wasn’t present. Some battles I just don’t like to take ANY chance ;)

@Mallery29:

A CV for Russia?  Really? REALLY?  Oh, that’s cute!

@AxisBrutality:

ou know that Russian Carrier was just something I wanted to test out, didn’t argue to buy that, it’s for testing to see what kind of effect does UK have when it is allowed to build a UK fleet right away from UK1. Something that needs to be tested out. You must play boring when you never test out things.

Guys, I think I started this attitude of ‘i know everything about the game’, so I do apologize for that and I’ll do my best to retain an open mind.
AxisBrutality, sorry if sometimes I’m just too skeptical of new ideas, but as Mallery29 mentioned most of those ideas aren’t new to me or players who migrated from 1st Edition or Revised… and from experience some are just crazy to try again experienced players :)
But keep firing them - I’m enjoying this creative exercise :)

@Mallery29:

Hobbes, I’m going to put your “balanced” US theory to work this weekend, but what are you recommending for US1-3 buys on it?� I figure 2DD/Trans for EUS and DD/SS for WUS for US1� (although a CV would be nice here though too for WUS).�
When you went after the Japan DD/Trans, did you go for Borneo as well?

I’d send first buy all to the Atlantic (carrier + 1/2 destroyer(s) + 1/2 transport(s)) - this fleet needs to be hit Morocco on US2 and Norway/France from US3 onwards and the German air and sub threat is too great.

US1 should hit Solomon or Wake (watch out though - the starting Japanese airforce can kill this fleet if supported by some ships) - the objective is to divert part of the Japanese fleet away from India and send lone transports to take the money islands, forcing Japan to respond and disrupting its transport scheme.
US2 - 1 transport for the Pacific (to replace the starting one on the Pacific after it is lost), the rest for Atlantic, and US3 should all go to the Atlantic to set the supply chain.
At one point Japan can try to get rid of the US fleet by going after Hawaii, although it takes 2 rounds from Japan to reach it. If Japan is moving towards Hawaii, then the US can pull back its fleet to WUS, drop 6 subs on the Pacific - and dare Japan to take Hawaii.
But more likely Japan will focus on India and Moscow before trying to get to Hawaii. You can also build 1 sub on WUS each turn and send it towards SZ60… costs Japan 8 for a destroyer to sink it, but I’d rather focus everything on Europe for the initial turns.
Afterwards, it really depends on a lot.

@AxisBrutality:

yeah, but at the same time with the Axis I’d probably make a spoiling attack on Egypt on J2 to kill some of those units there and then hit it again on G3 before the Allies could reinforce it. I don’t know the math but after Egypt falls then Germany focus on Africa and Russia and on J2 starts stacking on airpower and subs.

ICs on Alaska are a waste. You can’t threaten Phillipines/Borneo/East Indies to reduce Japan’s income, otherwise both countries will be almost matched at income production after Japan takes China (-4 for US, +4 for Japan, total of +8 for Axis
–---------------------------------------------------------------

You can do a “spoil” attack but only with 2 INF, 1 Art, 1 Armor. And 2 Transport. Now do you intend to protect those 2 Japanese Transport, or do you accept that they will die when UK3 turn start? If you don’t accept them dead then you need to send additional ships to protect them, and what does that mean? Less ships around Japan while the U.S. is building on Alaska.  That is perfect for the U.S.

The Japanese transports either are sent without an escort and most likely will die. Since the IC in Egypt should fall to Germany it’s a perfect trade.

In addition to this, you will remove 4 units from FIC, which means 4 less units to defend when India pays a visit there, and they will by UK3.

I don’t see a problem with losing FIC on UK3 - quite natural if Japan is swinging to stop the US on the Pacific.

Yes, you can threaten the Phillipines on US2, but for how long can you hold it before Japan destroys that U.S. Fleet? Not for long. The point with Alaska is to build a massive U.S. fleet which will constantly threaten Tokyo directly + supplies to Russian Far East territories can be easely shipped there. It’s a matter of priority, do you want the U.S. to fight in the Phillipines or help Russia and India actually by drawing the whole Japanese fleet outside Tokyo.

Impossible. Here’s why:

On US1 you move the fleet to SZ64.
On J2 it buys 1 carrier and 3 subs, sends the transports to Egypt and masses everything on SZ60.
On US2 it is impossible to land on Asia because the Japanese will destroy the US fleet. So, US2 the US buys 2 battleships and on J3 more 5 subs for Japan for SZ60.
On J3… Japan can hit SZ63 and destroy the US fleet, depending on the J1 buys. US has 4 battleships, 1 carrier, 1 cruiser, 2 destroyers, 1 submarine and 2 fighters. Japan has 1 battleship, 2 carrier, 2 destroyers, 1 cruiser, 4 submarines, 4 fighters and 1 bomber. Add 2 Japanses destroyers to those numbers (from my J1 buy) and choose first the carriers as casualties and Japan has 86%.
On US3… completely impossible to land on Buryatia without being destroyed - US has 4 battleships, 1 carrier, 1 cruiser, 2 destroyers, 1 submarine and 2 fighters. Japan has 1 battleship, 2 carrier, 2 destroyers, 1 cruiser, 9 submarines, 4 fighters and 1 bomber… 97% odds when attacking the US fleet at SZ63 on J4.
This continues… since Japan and the US are almost matched in income and naval production (due to Japan retaining the money islands) it’s impossible to advance with the US to Asia soon, unless you want to lose your 4 US battleships. Japan stalls the US advance on the Pacific/Asia and that Alaskan IC can’t be used for anything else.

@wittmann:

Thanks Hobbes.
I see your point with the ��� transport: is close to the action and better taken out.
Can the Axis  win if the Philippines are lost? If I were the US I would grab and hold on to them. Even build an IC!
Not played enough though, admittedly.

You can make an VC grab on the Philippines to try to get the 10 VCs for the Allies or to prevent an Axis win at the end of the US turn. If the Allies managed to hold to all of their starting cities and get Rome, Paris and Manila at the end of the US then that’s victory for the Allies.

@wittmann:

Thanks Hobbes. How do you make the Philippines safe from the US while Japan’s fleet(presuming the EI fleet has been sunk on UK1) is off trying to take India?
Sorry, probably not the thread to be asking in!

With a KGF I would not attack SZ37. I’d rather sink the Japanese transport and destroyer since those are a bigger threat on the medium run than the Japanese fleet. The function of the US Pacific fleet here is to pin down the Japanese fleet to the Pacific (instead of Japan sending the ships to the Atlantic and/or its airforce to Europe) and protect Honolulu (and if necessary reinforcing the US Pacific fleet later on).
Taking Philippines with the US can be a distraction for Japan but nothing more - the goal is to secure Russia and Europe.

@AxisBrutality:

Lets do something radical or at least experimental with russia, just a suggestion, here it is: 2 FTR take on German cruiser and transport, and the German cruiser and transport sink, russia may lose 1 FTR but germany lose 19 ipc,
this strategy is to help uk in a lot more complex way, although i like the safe option, just flying FTR to Egypt , and building IC on Egypt worked also. But lets try this, after 2 russian FTR take care off cruiser and transport, i am considering building 1 carrier, 1 art and 2 inf for russia OR 1 battleship, 1 art. Carrier or the battleship would be placed North of karelia. Now Uk would buy 2 carriers on London and 1 inf on India. Uk lands 2 FTR on one of the carriers. canadian destroyer and transport join the fleet. 1 FTR from USA lands on 2nd uk carrier. Now R2 turn, russian battleship or carrier with 1 russian FTR on it joins the uk fleet before G2 turn. Also there is a russian sub there from early on. So I would try to buy 1 carrier, 1 art and 2 inf for russia. Germany have 1 FTR from norway and the bomber which could threaten russian carrier with 1 FTR on it but it’s a very even game if Germany decides to attack. But then again, germany Will not have resources to take our uk battleship, 1 russian sub and the fleet outside the USA . I have to try this out, do comment what You think:)

Against an experienced German player Russia is dead. It loses 1 FTR it needs to trade territories and it spends all its first turn income on naval while it already starts at a disadvantage on the ground. Germany buys 3 inf, 2 art, 4 armor, hits the UK Battleship on SZ7 and the US fleet and ignores the Russian carrier/battleship (why would it want to attack it? just to please the Allied player?).