Posts made by lozmoid

I believe that any land/air units can be chosen as casualties from shore bombardment (aside from AA Guns and ICs).

Hmm… then what is the purpose of conquering them, I wonder? It surprises me that Neutral territories don’t have any IPC value. Krieghund, could we please have a clarification on this?

Also, while it would be perfectly normal to have a game the way you described it, what would be the advantage in it, over say, the way tech works now?

Well, I suppose my line of thinking here was to do away with the random factor. By making the techs incremental, it means that as long as a power continually invests in a given tech, it will obtain it eventually. The limitation is that you could only invest in each tech once per turn. Again, it would be totally optional. And also, it could be more historically accurate, as opposed to any power being able to gain any tech (as it is at the moment).

Hey, that’s a nice idea. So if you spend, say, 15 IPCs on research over three turns and then succeed, all remaining powers would gain the said technology for 15 IPCs each, yes?

Or how about this: Research & Development is no longer random but incremental. All techs for each power in the game will be based somewhere on a scale from 1-10, with 10 representing that power having reached the tech listed. You can spend 5 IPCs per turn to increase as many techs as you wish by One level each. For example, Germany may begin the game with the Rockets tech at level 8. She could spend 10 IPCs over her first two turns to gain the tech. United Kingdom would perhaps be closer to gaining Radar than the other powers. Japan and Germany may have higher levels of Super Submarines. UK and US may be closer to getting Heavy Bombers. What about that?

I will see if I can come up with rough stats to begin with…

Whoah… Standard ? Oh, that’s cool. Oh yes.

Krieghund, thank you for all your efforts.

I may be new here but I’ve been reading these boards for about a year or so now. I appreciate your hands are tied but do you know if WOTC will release any kind of weekly previews for the upcoming AAP40 game, like they did with Revised?

Many thanks again to you.

Hello Gn0m,

I normally go for an IC on the mainland, as well as a Transport, on Japan’s first turn. I think it’s important for Japan to start producing units on the Asian continent as soon as possible. And yes, I think it’s worthwhile to try and get some of those Japanese Infantry over to the mainland too. You’ll need them to help take India. I try tend to send Japan out in all directions at once but this is not always an easy task!

Krieghund, thank you again.  :-)

As an aside, have regular bombers now been officially designated as 'Strategic Bombers’? Or are they still just ‘Bombers’?

Thanks Krieghund.  :-)

So, am I right in thinking that Fighters, Bombers and Tac-Bombers benefit from the +1 movement if the Airbase is built on either a land territory or island? I take it that works during both CM and NCM…

And, I trust that only Fighters can defend in the adjacent sea zone surrounding the island that the Airbase is built on?

Many thanks.

If I may - I believe that the Airfield referred to is the actual Airbase unit? It allows Fighters stationed there to defend in up to 1 adjacent territory/sea zone? Just a guess…

I’m happy to play any of them but I’m really enjoying the challenge of Italy at the moment, who I’ll always pick if there’s a six player game going on! But normally, I usually pick United States as I have a lot of cash to build with and my territories are relatively safe from invasion. And so I voted for US.

Okay - I ran a dozen or so mock battles last night to test the Blockhouse/Fortress unit, and found it to be very powerful. The attackers mainly consisted of 5 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Tank, 1 Ftr, 1 Bmbr. The defenders mainly consisted of 4 Inf, 1 Tank, 1 BH. In most battles, the attacker managed to capture the territory with just the tank remaining! I liked the BH having the Surprise Strike at 3 as it gave a it 50/50 chance of knocking out an attacking enemy land unit, before that unit even got to fire.

However, I looked at the scale of the main game and compared it to A&A D-Day, where the official BH piece was first introduced. In D-Day, the BH fired upon the beachhead spaces with a targeted attack (the BH picks the enemy unit to be destroyed), and hit on a 1-3. However, that was done during a special step in the game as D-Day was not played within the regular phases of the main game. But when the BH was involved in a land combat in its own space, it defended on a 1. So, I started to consider reducing the Surprise Strike down to 2, in order to simulate that not all fortresses have a height advantage. I did not like the targeted attack as I felt this was just too powerful, but am still open to the idea so long as the strength of the defence roll is reduced… How about that?

Also, I was testing the outcome of battles where the BH could not be hit by air units. This worked just fine for the defenders. But I thought that this still made the BH a bit too strong. So, to counter this I thought: ‘hits from attacking air units cannot be assigned to a defending BH unless there is a land unit(s) friendly to the air units present in the battle.’ By this I implied that fighters and bombers needed land units on the ground to spot the BH, enabling it to be fired upon by the aircraft. That could work… making a combined land+air strike all the more worthwhile.

I also tried out giving the BH ‘two hits to destroy’ and found this worked very well indeed! It kind of made the ‘chosen last’ ability a bit redundant (as most players would want to keep a unit that gets surprise strike every round and can take two hits in the battle, for as long as possible). It came to my attention that the BH could now defend a territory all by itself against a small force; and in that case it wouldn’t necessarily need any friendly units to help defend the BH, but obviously the more the merrier.

So where does it all leave us? Time to look at the Pros and Cons…

Pros…

Defend: 2?

Surprise Strike: This unit rolls its defence die during the opening fire step of every combat round, and on a roll of a 1-2, a casualty is selected (targeted?) from the invading force and removed from play. Combat then resumes as normal, with the attacker rolling for all their units first, etc.

Cannot Be Hit By Air Units: Hits scored by attacking air units cannot be assigned to a BH unless there is a land unit friendly to the air units involved in the battle.

Two Hits To Destroy: This unit takes to hits to destroy.

Cons…

Cost: 10?
Move: 0
Attack: 0

Cannot Hit Air Units: Hits scored by a BH cannot be assigned to attacking aircraft.

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 where we are for the moment. I look forward to reading your comments and observations. Thanks everyone!  :-)

Hi Kuni2,

A&A1942 has the Cruiser pieces; Revised does not.
Revised has Technology; A&A1942 does not (but you could add it in if you wanted).
Revised has National Advantages; A&A1942 does not.
A&A1942 has much improved and updated rules.
A&A1942 has better sculpted playing pieces.

If I were you, I would not bother buying A&A Revised as the 1942 is much better in my opinion. I own both and believe me, Revised does not get played any more; just ravaged for spare parts! :-)

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!  :-)

Declaration Of War. In this case, I would have thought it meant ‘declared war on’.

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…

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  :-)

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