crockett36 l vs The Good Captain x

@crockett36 that’s not to denigrate what you and the other axis and allies teams did. I have extraordinarily high respect for any name in the credits of any game branded ‘axis and allies’. They’re exceptional games, the whole lot. I say this as someone who has stacked a lot of time over many war board games.

@crockett36

Game History

Round: 11

    Purchase Units - Germans
        Germans buy 10 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; 

    Combat Move - Germans
        15 infantry moved from Germany to West Europe
        1 armour moved from East Europe to West Europe
        1 bomber moved from Germany to West Europe
        3 fighters moved from East Europe to West Europe
        1 infantry moved from Germany to West Europe

    Combat - Germans
        Battle in West Europe
            Germans attack with 1 armour, 1 bomber, 3 fighters and 16 infantry
            British defend with 9 infantry; Americans defend with 2 infantry
                Germans roll dice for 1 armour, 1 bomber, 3 fighters and 16 infantry in West Europe, round 2 : 5/21 hits, 5.33 expected hits
                British roll dice for 11 infantry in West Europe, round 2 : 6/11 hits, 3.67 expected hits
                6 infantry owned by the Germans, 2 infantry owned by the Americans and 3 infantry owned by the British lost in West Europe
                Germans roll dice for 1 armour, 1 bomber, 3 fighters and 10 infantry in West Europe, round 3 : 2/15 hits, 4.33 expected hits
                British roll dice for 6 infantry in West Europe, round 3 : 1/6 hits, 2.00 expected hits
                1 infantry owned by the Germans and 2 infantry owned by the British lost in West Europe
                Germans roll dice for 1 armour, 1 bomber, 3 fighters and 9 infantry in West Europe, round 4 : 3/14 hits, 4.17 expected hits
                British roll dice for 4 infantry in West Europe, round 4 : 3/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits
                3 infantry owned by the Germans and 3 infantry owned by the British lost in West Europe
            3 fighters owned by the Germans and 1 bomber owned by the Germans retreated
            6 infantry owned by the Germans and 1 armour owned by the Germans retreated to Germany
            British win with 1 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 0
            Casualties for Germans: 10 infantry
            Casualties for Americans: 2 infantry
            Casualties for British: 8 infantry

    Non Combat Move - Germans
        3 fighters moved from West Europe to East Europe
        1 bomber moved from West Europe to East Europe
        2 infantry moved from Germany to East Europe

    Place Units - Germans
        3 infantry placed in South Europe
        7 infantry placed in Germany

    Turn Complete - Germans
        Germans collect 20 PUs; end with 20 PUs

Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Germans regular : -3.83
British regular : 3.00

G11.tsvg

@crockett36 the land battles have been atrocious for the axis and …land is where the IPC are so, I still think this is an Allied win but am glad that this is as interesting as it has been for sure. Really enjoy it. To answer your question, everything can be found in the history tab. I’m not exactly sure EXACTLY what you mean by “how much money”, but I think Japan threw seven or eight dice over two turns and made two breakthroughs.

I don’t like tech dice in any version but this one (but in almost every other version its optional, here it is not). I haven’t had a martini either, I just heard the expression ;)

@crockett36

Don’t you think the Anniversary edition tech token system (theoretically a laboratory) is better. The fact that it is optional is an absurdity. And the fact people insist on not playing with it tells me they are engineers or accountants. They don’t want anything to mess up their calculations. That’s why I do full frontal infantry assaults. Yes, I know the odds, but 20 percent of the time you are going to lose badly or win big.

My long form video response to that is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg_xYjP1Xm8

In short, due to the massive increase in on board pieces in Anniversary/Global, the doubling of tech breakthroughs, and the fact that tech is now “no risk” in terms of IPC loss (i.e. you buy one tech token, you’re guaranteed one breakthrough), it injects an element of catastrophic randomness. Examples are in the video but one of them is long range aircraft relative to unescorted (or even escorted) transports.

When I did my deep dive into anniversary, the games I played with tech (some of which were played against members of that anniversary tournament we were in) another issue arouse. The fact is that all but one unit influencing tech is offensive in nature. There were no outright defensive techs except for AA guns.

There are a few other issues I cover in the video. I think the best decision from the designers was to leave that an optional rule. I feel strongly under its current iteration, it removes a significant element of skill/experience from the game. I might play with it if we were all around a table drinking and not taking things seriously.

@crockett36 of course - and there is no obligation to play nice. Any criticism of ideas is welcome (if it gets personal, I generally ignore that anyway - in the end the board is the best place to work out differences). I am curious where you think where the weakness is though. For context, if/when I speak, its from a position of playing experience. I have played many games against many different opponents before opening my mouth, especially in regards to tech. Can I ask if/what I may have missed? I’m always open to having my mind changed.

@crockett36 said in crockett36 l vs The Good Captain x:

I think I see where at least some of the confusion or differences of opinion are:

So if the Japanese discovered jet fighters in a game, would not it be quite a hoot to play from behind and be victorious or make it close because you as the US have to now go hog wild with technology.

It would be, but in my playing experience and as I stated in the videos, simply purchasing a tech token as each power on the first turn almost guarantees that breakthroughs will occur before anyone is “behind” (statistically, by the end of turn two there are two breakthroughs).

As to tech in anniversary favoring the aggressor, that is actually a question for historians. Victor Davis Hanson says that technology swings defensive or offensive in cycles. Also I would love to have you then offer up solutions or variations that would correct the situation AND SAVE technology.

Historically speaking sure, but tech in Anniversary is a game mechanic. Historical context was never in my mind while shooting the video. In fact, I’ll just concede the historical argument. Which goes nicely into my “fix”.

My opinion is that tech was never broken. Classic had it “right”. There are six techs. They are extremely high risk to invest in and best employed as a legitimate ‘hail mary’ when there is someone who is behind in the game (as you point out).

A game of anniversary without tech is a game of 1941 or 2, not a world war 2 game. So then my question would be: if you had your dream tech rolls, what would turn 8 look like? And would that be enjoyable?

I don’t quite understand what to make of this. I’ve heard you say it before and I still don’t understand it. I’m also not sure what you mean by how I think turn 8 would look with tech.

I know from playing experience on this website and through TripleA that by turn eight, things tend to be very, very messy with tech as its written in anniversary. To be precise, I think I played against 3-4 different players in as many games. Each of those examples in the video was something I inflicted on someone or that someone else or had inflicted on me. The games generally ended more quickly and based on feedback in that player population (and including myself) all agreed to drop it.

@crockett36 the sub in the North Pacific sea zone survived. Where do you want him to retreat? Japan/Midway/Russia or Alaska? (purchases are in the bottom right)

@crockett36 missed the sub off Wake as well. He can go Okinawa, Japan, North Pacific , or Solomons