Real value of units

[P-Unit]

We’ve played a dozen or so games and these units are never or very rarely purchased, sorted by least purchased first. I think all of these need a minor boost. Note, we do not play with techs.

• AAA [never; not even once]

• Cruisers [almost never]

• Mechanized infantry [rarely]

• Tanks [rarely]

• Subs [rarely]

[boldfresh]

U guys are funny but in a good way  :-P

[HopLight]

AA Gun I agree should be cheaper or hit 4 (hitting 4 would make Japan’s and Germany’s lives more difficult)

Tactical Is fine, attacking power is more important the defending power IMHO.

Cruiser Agree, drop price to 10/11 or make it supportable or make it so bombardment casualties can’t fire back.

Carrier Is fine I think, I shudder at the thought of giving God’s own airforce (Japan) landing pads with two hits and an attack value, would be too great of an Axis buff.

Battleships I don’t know, the ability to enter battles without taking casualties is very good, I could se only doing the bombardment thing.

Airbase Already VERY powerful when used right.

Harbor Already VERY powerful when used right.

And lets not boost Tanks, Mech and Subs shall we shudder :)

[knp7765]

@P-Unit:

We’ve played a dozen or so games and these units are never or very rarely purchased, sorted by least purchased first. I think all of these need a minor boost. Note, we do not play with techs.

• AAA [never; not even once]

• Cruisers [almost never]

• Mechanized infantry [rarely]

• Tanks [rarely]

• Subs [rarely]

I find it interesting the different playing styles of different people. In our games, we tend to buy lots of tanks and mechs for almost every country. The US and Germany tend to buy quite a few subs, especially for convoy raiding.

[atease]

@P-Unit:

We’ve played a dozen or so games and these units are never or very rarely purchased, sorted by least purchased first. I think all of these need a minor boost. Note, we do not play with techs.

• AAA [never; not even once]

• Cruisers [almost never]

• Mechanized infantry [rarely]

• Tanks [rarely]

• Subs [rarely]

No tanks or no mechs would make for a very slow game!

[Spendo02]

I think much depends on the nation you play.

Clearly you’re never buying anything but Inf and maybe Art as China ;)

Germany can basically buy nothing but Armor and Mech for the entire game.

UK can probably get away with never buying Armor, ever.

US can get away with never buying Mech, ever.

France can get away with never buying anything!

[P-Unit]

@atease:

No tanks or no mechs would make for a very slow game!

It does. We have a couple of players that buy a LOT of infantry, almost exclusively. The exception is when they are Japan. With Japan they “only” purchase about 40% infantry.

[knp7765]

@Spendo02:

I think much depends on the nation you play.

This is very true. The following buys are typical in our games:
Germany = tanks, mechs, fighters, bombers and subs
Russia = Offensive: tanks and mechs with occasional plane. Defensive: Infantry, infantry, infantry
Japan = A little bit of everything. With ICs on mainland it’s tanks & mechs. For transports it’s infantry & artillery. Plus warships and air power.
USA = Often the same as Japan at first, then mostly bombers and subs. Also most likely to develop tech because they have the money.
China = Infantry and occasional artillery.
UK Europe = Transports to get stuff from S Africa to Egypt, possibly an IC for Egypt or Persia, and fighters.
UK India = tanks & mechs plus occasional fighter.
Italy = Transports to try and get army to Africa and planes.
ANZAC = Same as Italy usually, although some games they buy masses of subs.
France = Whatever Germany is buying because Germany OWNS them.

[atease]

I always found using transports to go between South Africa and Egypt was a waste of time, given that mechs/tanks get there in two turns.

[Jennifer]

I’d point out that tactical bombers are great purchases for Germany as is.  For +1 IPC you gain +17% accuracy for that final assault on Russia.  Since Germany’s going to already have a stack of tanks for the hit, each of those tactical bombers are going to be utilized to maximum effect.  If we drop the price to 10 IPC we’re just going to exacerbate that problem.

To test your cost theories, try playing a few games where everyone has Improved Shipyards, it should give you a better idea on how that will effect the game.  Not perfect since it doesn’t also decrease TB costs, but I think the TB is fine as is.

[boldfresh]

is someone suggesting a tach should cost no more than a ftr?

[Eqqman]

@atease:

I always found using transports to go between South Africa and Egypt was a waste of time, given that mechs/tanks get there in two turns.

That’s true, but a UK player on a budget may not be able to spend that kind of money every turn or most turns.  Another big advantage of the TT shuck is that you can drop off these units into places bordering the Persian Gulf instead during emergencies, which you can’t do with landlocked buys.

[Amon-Sul]

@Jen

We are speaking about a no tech game.

How many battleships, cruisers, AA guns, tac.fighters have u bought agains Gamer, Hobo, Ziggurat or other top-players?

How often are this units bought? Rarely, almost never comparing to inf, art, mech, tanks…

Tanks are also too expensive for what they offer. Major ICs are bought in every 50th game.

This needs to be changed.

[Eqqman]

@Amon-Sul:

@Jen

We are speaking about a no tech game.

You may have missed the point.  The suggestion is to try a game with the techs that reduce unit costs so that you can simulate the results of these infrequently purchased units being cheaper.

[Jennifer]

Thanks, Eggman.

Yes, Amon, I was recommending trying a game where everyone had Improved Shipyards just to see how that effected the game.  I feel it is a good starting point because it’s a rule already.  Also, it’s a good starting point because you can apply it in TripleA without too much effort.

Of course, it isn’t perfect, but it was an idea of where you could start and then work around from there.

and yes, Boldfresh, the recommendation was to have tactical bombers cost the same as fighters and I said it isn’t a good idea in my opinion since Germany would royally abuse it, IMHO.

[knp7765]

Major ICs NEED to be expensive. I realize they are extremely rarely purchased. One reason for that is the very strict placement limitations – Must be your own original territory and worth 3 IPCs or more.
So, as for the cost of 30 IPCs. There are only 3 nations that could purchase a Major IC with their starting income: USA, Russia and Germany. The USA can’t place any because outside of their three main territories E USA, C USA and W USA, which already have Major ICs (or will as soon as they are at war), no other territories are expensive enough to handle a Major IC. Russia doesn’t have any original territories outside of Russia itself worth 3 or more IPCs.
So, that just leaves Germany with 5 original territories that are capable: Norway, Holland/Belgium, Greater Southern Germany, Hungary/Slovakia and Romania. If we lowered the cost of Major ICs too much, could you imagine Germany with 7 Major ICs? On the other hand, why would they need that many and how much could they really afford to place at them?

The ability to plop down 10 units at once in one place is pretty powerful. If Major ICs were any cheaper, it might make those countries too strong. This would only help out the Axis powers by the way. Besides Germany, the only other countries that would have the capabilities of purchasing a Major IC are Japan (Korea), Italy (S Italy and that would simply be an upgrade) and France (S France, also an upgrade). Although France is an Ally, this would not be a benefit to them no matter how low you made the cost because they usually get taken out Round 1 and even after being liberated are never in any position to purchase an IC.

By the way, the only games I have seen a Major IC purchased was by Germany when they decide to forgo Sealion and head right into Barbarossa. They plop a Major on Romania to build a strong southern army and take the Ukraine, Caucasus and Stalingrad fairly quickly.

[Amon-Sul]

Improved shipyard seems interesting but it is not standard league rule Jen, how many players play that way?

[Seador]

@Amon-Sul:

Improved shipyard seems interesting but it is not standard league rule Jen, how many players play that way?

I would if given the option, I think ships are too expensive across the board.  Not because of the price, but more because of the ratio of price between land and sea.  It is far too easy to get diced in the ocean, and not only get bent on position, but also in cash.

[Jennifer]

@Amon-Sul:

Improved shipyard seems interesting but it is not standard league rule Jen, how many players play that way?

Well the idea was to see how it effected warship production so as to give an idea of what costs could be adjusted to achieve the results you desired.

Tech is a standard league rule this year, it’s just most players opt out of using it.  Or I guess you could say some players opt in to use it.  (effect is the same either way you look at it.)  And Imp Shipyards is a codified rule in the rulebook, so it’s not really a house rule either.

If someone was to arbitrarily adjust the cost of naval units, that would totally be a house rule.

As for me, when I play with friends we always play where each nation picks a technology to start with and there are no rolls for technology at all for the rest of the game.  Been that way since forever (except in classic we said no one could pick heavy bombers, because that really was an “I win” button!)  It adds a lot of dynamics to the game based on who chooses what. (We go in reverse turn order, btw.  France goes first, Germany goes last.  I think we got that idea from AARe and their National Advantages system, could be wrong, could have come from somewhere else.)  I love tech, personally.  In tech games I always throw at least 1 die a round into the mix with major countries.  I just wish tech tokens had not been discarded!

[knp7765]

Hey Jen,
When you and your friends play and choose techs, does everyone have to get a different tech or can techs be shared by more than one nation? If it is the latter, how do you keep everyone from choosing Heavy Bombers or Long Range Aircraft (still the two most powerful techs I think)?
I realize the choices could depend on people’s playing styles or the particular strategy they have in mind for that game. Super Submarines would be pretty good for Germany at the start, and if they kept buying more subs. Improved Shipyards would be great for Japan and USA, perhaps Britain too. Radar would be good for anyone planning a more defensive strategy (I don’t know how many times I have attacked with planes and just missed getting shot down because my opponent rolled a “2” but didn’t have Radar).
Still, HB and LRA are very powerful techs and could fit into just about any strategy. I would be surprised if in your games you didn’t have a big stack of control markers on one or the other.