Buying units - bait and switch

The only legal way of changing your buy after combat is to have bought too many units. If you can only place 3 units, and have bought 5, then you can chose which ones to place, and which ones you get your money back from. One reasonable way this can happen is if ANZAC has 25 IPC and buys 3 inf, 1 ftr and 1 sub. They could do this because they are planning a seacombat and an amphibious operation, and don’t know what kind of unit they need after the result. It is probably not a good plan, but it is not completely horrible either. US could also dabble with this with their prewar economy, while japan might also find it fun to be tricky in the midgame.

@ShadowHAwk:

@Kreuzfeld:

The only legal way of changing your buy after combat is to have bought too many units. If you can only place 3 units, and have bought 5, then you can chose which ones to place, and which ones you get your money back from. One reasonable way this can happen is if ANZAC has 25 IPC and buys 3 inf, 1 ftr and 1 sub. They could do this because they are planning a seacombat and an amphibious operation, and don’t know what kind of unit they need after the result. It is probably not a good plan, but it is not completely horrible either. US could also dabble with this with their prewar economy, while japan might also find it fun to be tricky in the midgame.

Though i could understand the confusion if you lost your major or you failed to repair 1 pip of damage from a factory. It should not happen with default factories.

There is nothing in the rules preventing this from happening tho. it is perfectly legal to buy more than you can place. The rules even mentions what happens in such a case.

Don’t forget the official FAQ:

@FAQ:

Purchasing Units

Q. Can I purposely purchase more units than I can mobilize with the intent of deciding which
units I want to keep based on the outcome of battles I intend to fight?

A. No. You may only purchase as many units as you will have the ability to mobilize after making repairs
to any damaged industrial complexes. The rules for returning excess units are intended only for
inadvertent over-purchasing.

then, that is just a badly written rule. When they explain how to buy units, they don’t say that you can overpurchase. When they explain how to place units they explain what to do with your overpurchase. This would have been a lot clearer if they stated that you can only buy what you can place in the purchase section of the rules.

Indeed, sometimes clarifications noted in the official FAQ are included in new releases of the rulebooks.
We will see…

it would even have been clearer if they didn’t include that part about overpurchases at all. Including it makes it seem like a valid thing to do.

Plus I also kind of hate the clause in the rule that if you overbuy units or you refuse to place said units, you automatically get a refund. I think that is too easy on players for failing to pay attention and/or do basic math.

@ShadowHAwk:

@Caesar:

Plus I also kind of hate the clause in the rule that if you overbuy units or you refuse to place said units, you automatically get a refund. I think that is too easy on players for failing to pay attention and/or do basic math.

Your not allowed to refuse to place units, you have to mobilize any unit you can.
And as opponent its wise to always count the numbers of units and correct your opponent on his number of buys so he has to correct them before battles start.

It may be a rule in 1941 as I swear I read it there saying that if you refuse to place units that turn, you must be refunded.

@Caesar:

@ShadowHAwk:

@Caesar:

Plus I also kind of hate the clause in the rule that if you overbuy units or you refuse to place said units, you automatically get a refund. I think that is too easy on players for failing to pay attention and/or do basic math.

Your not allowed to refuse to place units, you have to mobilize any unit you can.
And as opponent its wise to always count the numbers of units and correct your opponent on his number of buys so he has to correct them before battles start.

It may be a rule in 1941 as I swear I read it there saying that if you refuse to place units that turn, you must be refunded.

There is no “refusal-rule”, either, sorry.

@Caesar:

It may be a rule in 1941 as I swear I read it there saying that if you refuse to place units that turn, you must be refunded.

All the rules for all the editions are archived here, if you want to check:

http://www.axisandallies.org/resources-downloads/