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    randy vandyke

    @crockett36

    '19 '18

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    2014
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    Joined Last Online
    Location seabrook, nh Age 52

    crockett36 Follow
    '19 '18

    Best posts made by crockett36

    • RE: Introduce or Re-Introduce Yourself (Jan. 2019)

      Randy from ipswich, Ma, 49. About to move to Seabrook, NH after 25 years in Ma. I work for UPS as a delivery driver. I am married to my wife Sherrie and have seven children by her. My oldest is bvandyke on this forum, and my third son is the infamous hurricane known as dessertfox. I’ve been playing A&A since high school and have been on again, off again with it. Most of my games have been classic. Anniversary saw an uptick in my play time. When I turned 40, I had the pleasure of having Larry come to my birthday party. I’ve been playtesting with him since, especially with War Room and his latest.

      Grasshoppers tourney actually was the catalyst for my deep dive into global. I have a Youtube channel under the nom de plum crockett36. I am a tinkerer. Nearly every game we are adding something like multinational attack for the allies or paratroopers.

      posted in Welcome
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      crockett36
    • RE: We need an allied playbook.

      United States Playbook

      We do not play chess. The sides do not start off equal, and by the end of the first turn and even into the second, the ability of the Axis to destroy units within close proximity is enormous. The Allied situation is dire from the start and gets worse. Most games played online, even with bids, end with Axis victory.

      Therefore the principles that guide this Allied US strategy playbook are:

      1. to preserve the Allied starting units
      2. to give ground where it is hopeless or prudent
      3. to determine the place of the battle when possible

      The options we have are many and dependent. On the other hand they are not entirely reactionary. The strategic defensive objectives remain the same. We must save London, the Atlantic, Moscow, Egypt, India, and the Pacific. In that order in my view.

      The strategic offensive objectives are perhaps a little different than the Axis powers. Whereas they are going for either early London, Middle Moscow, middle or late London and an economy that is at parity with the United States at war, the Allies are generally not going to take Berlin or Tokyo or even Rome. Rather the Allies are going for a radical dashing of the economic ambitions of the Axis and a capitulation. Keeping the Germans contained on the Russian front to the gates of Moscow and no further, kicking the Italians out of Africa and keeping them out of the Middle East, containing the Japanese to a fight for China and southeast Asia should give the edge to the Allies.

      Accomplishing the suppression of Axis ambitions is achieved in two ways: and his ability to make war. The former is obvious, the latter may not be. Destroying an enemy’s ability to make war boils down to economics. Economics in this game is represented on the board by the cash values of the territories and the convoy zones on the map. In order to reduce your opponent’s income, you can do one of three things: take possession of his territory, disrupt his convoys, strategically bomb his factories. Conversely, it means not losing your own territories to the aggressors. These factors determine our strategic offensive objectives.

      Destroying an enemy’s ability to make war by disrupting his convoys can be a devastating strategy. In fact in several sea zones on the map, it is catastrophic if done in numbers. Parking your navies in the Sea of Japan and in sea zone 97 to the east of Rome are prime examples of this endgame tactic.

      Likewise, two strategic bombers will shut down minor factories and cost the enemy double to restore them to full capacity. Five bombers will almost guarantee shutting down a major factory. Losses will be high and costly to the ally who pursues this course of action but worth it. Be aware that Germany has two major factories so he can ignore the loss of one of them. Also be aware that German itself cannot be reached from London. A point in Scandinavia or Russia must be secured or maintained in order to thoroughly execute this strategy against the Huns.

      In the East, you must get very close to the Island of Japan in order to bomb her. Iwo Jima or the Soviet Far East seem the best candidates. Some have even suggested Korea. Allied planes and tactical fighters can reinforcement Korea from Hawaii if the Soviets were to capture it. A strategy that keeps Russian troops on the east coast of Russia must be used in coordination with these plans.

      Be careful of the kamikazes. You can non-combat move into a K-zone without triggering their wrath. An attack on a navy in Sz 6 with subs and air will not provoke Kamikazes.

      Having discussed how to destroy the enemies ability to make war, we move on to how to eliminate the units on the board. How to do this with the resources on the board and the limited time before a catastrophe like the fall of London or Moscow or Bombay occurs is the crux of the game. Historically it was agreed upon by the Allies that stopping Germany took primacy over stopping Japan. Victor Davis Hanson says that for all that kind of talk, a bifurcation developed that the West Coast produce goods for the Pacific war and the East Coast produce goods for the European theatre. Unfortunately, for playability’s sake, the US economy is not correctly represented. When you read VDH, there is a common refrain, “America produced more of … than all of the other combatants combined.” Obviously this is not our situation.

      Therefore kill Japan first strategy or kill Germany first strategies have been developed. I prefer the KGF strategy, and it was the agreed upon Allied strategy historically. The big question is can I pop Germany’s balloon before Japan’s expands beyond control. This question has validity. However, mathmatically it is nonsensical. If Japan’s economy grows to 70 or 80, it would still be dwarfed by the combined Allied income that would result from the shrivelling of the German Reich.

      In light of these encouraging thoughts, let’s look at KJF strategies. I have mentioned bombing Japan from either Iwo Jima or Soviet Far East. This can be done in two ways. Russian troops can move to SFE and be reinforced with American fighers and troops. That could be done very early in the game, even T1, assuming a J1 attack. Alternatively, the Russians could be gathered in Sahka on T1 and a subsequent move to SFE could be arranged by T3 with impressive results.

      Alternatively, an Iwo Jima assault would need to be a tour de force. It might take 2 or 3 rounds of navy and air builds before you could attempt it. If one takes the same meat grinder approach as seen on the Eastern front, US waves of ships cannot help but overcome the Japanese. You must be willing to bleed. A substantial number of subs in your fleet can directly impact the enemy’s capital ships. Bombers can be used against the fleet and turn around and impact the struggle for Eurasian.

      posted in Axis & Allies Global 1940
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      crockett36
    • RE: Grand Plans, 3rd Edition?

      black elk,

      can I read your post on my youtube channel? important stuff that might percolate throughout the community. Thanks.

      crockett36

      PS argothair, I posted your russian strat from allied playbook on my channel. thanks.

      posted in Axis & Allies 1942 Online
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      crockett36
    • RE: We need an allied playbook.

      Thanks Guam Solo! I am going to read the thing on Youtube today and hope to get to the British strategy as soon as I get a new laptop. I find England to be the most challenging of the Allies because they have to do so much with so little. Really cool that the game imitates history so well. Egypt is the key. I have that from a very high source!

      posted in Axis & Allies Global 1940
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      crockett36
    • RE: Grand Plans, 3rd Edition?

      Do you all think the splintering of the community is a problem? Some of it is natural, boredom, something new. Some is hopelessness caused by imbalance. And there is no house rule that will ever gain the acceptance of the community like a LH sanctioned version.

      I would want him to give us a handicapping system built into every new release, like all of those optional rules in the back of revised. The benefit would not only be to scale the community and create competition where there is a great disparity of skill and experience, but it would automatically account for unanticipated imbalances in the product.

      Myself, I don’t like the bid. I like the idea of Russian infantry as the equalizer. The best part about using ivans is that they can be used in almost all of the iterations of our beloved franchise.

      I’ve also mentioned on my YouTube channel a way to customize the game by recreating the phony war period. If g40 begins in May 1940, what about starting 6 months earlier, giving many of the participants a non-combat move and an extra build. This what I call owning the game.

      I also would like it if WoC would transition from the outdated idea of a single big get when you buy the game to putting out mods, packs, maps, sculps (like French) etc so that the buying public can get the official LH version if they so desire. Which is exactly how they make so much off of magic and dnd? Nickels and dimes.

      posted in Axis & Allies 1942 Online
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      crockett36
    • RE: We need an allied playbook.

      If Sealion or a G1 Dow, the Soviets have to react accordingly. Sealion is an opportunity to expand. I would recommend declaring war on Japan and sending everything mobile India’s way via the China or the Middle East. The northeast force should be withdrawn from the coast until the fleet and air force are out of position. At that, point surge back and capture Man and Kor. This is also a psychological message that says to Ger, don’t do Sealion. Your ally will pay. Mass your infantry in Bes and Fin in order to surge into the Balkans and Scandinavia. Poland is a loser because it is too close to the factory. Russia will quickly gain enormous wealth from the spread of communism.

      G1 Dow is the worst and most intense. Options are limited. Outside help or a fighting retreat is your only option. Hope for a wide front. This is ambitious and was a military error on the Hman’s part. Usually this strategy will leave you an opportunity for a counter attack. Always attack the tanks or planes. Take the fifty-fifty attacks. Even the 45% ones. See how the battle is going. You don’t have to redo little big horn. Strike and fade (retreat).

      If ger is doing a bowling ball, you just have to fall back and cry for a second front or air support, like it happened btw. You may have to retreat out of Moscow. The determining factor is how many rounds of combat can you last. If you can make it go 4 rounds you will likely get into his planes and tanks. Any less and those tanks and planes will gobble up territory too fast for the Allies to counter.

      Russia done!

      posted in Axis & Allies Global 1940
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      crockett36
    • RE: G40 Variable start to turn order: Opening roll

      What about cross pollination with War room: Bidding for turn order. Simultaneous resolution?

      posted in House Rules
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      crockett36
    • RE: We need an allied playbook.

      @Guam-Solo My preference is 110 because, in coordination with the British, you could land in Germany. I’m in a house rule game with Dessertfox. I had to abandon Paris and W.Germany because of his large transport navies and air forces. 110 makes it an existential war, knife to the throat. Do or die.

      My purpose, though, is to be general enough to layout different plans of attack. Also, I will rarely ever do anything the same way twice. In addition, I will almost always have an experiment going on. Right now I’m playing Germany with only the original tanks. The extra money is going into an ever larger air corps. I’m also buying soldiers as Japan instead of tanks or mechs, the extra money going toward air and fleet maintenance. Just playing around.

      posted in Axis & Allies Global 1940
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      crockett36
    • RE: Announcing Axis & Allies Online

      Can’t wait to see your version the game!

      posted in Blogs
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      crockett36
    • RE: We need an allied playbook.

      @crockett36 Other sandbagging areas include Yunnan and by extension Bombay, Egypt, London, New South Wales, and Hawaii. These are all Axis targets, assuming one is playing with the OOB victory city conditions. Of these, Hawaii rests almost entirely in our hands. In the early game, it is easy enough to get three transport’s worth of troops to the island and a token destroyer blocker or two. If we were to see Calcutta or Sidney about to fall, prudence demands an entire build or two be put toward securing the waters around the island, complete with destroyer blockers. This is more effective than turtling there. One could assume that the bulk of the IJN would be in the Indian ocean. To get from there to Hawaii would take several turns. An air force and navy comparable to the enemy must be produced. Defensively, loaded carriers, battleships and destroyers are amazing. Offensively, a fleet of subs and bombers can do incredible damage on the cheap with versatility for later asymmetrical warfare Probably the most effective defense for the island proper would be a round of air power builds that could not be blocked from landing and be used for the offensive against the blockaders and the approaching fleet.

      posted in Axis & Allies Global 1940
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      crockett36

    Latest posts made by crockett36

    • RE: dawgoneit vs crockett36 oob

      @dawgoneit dawg-it4.tsvg

      posted in League
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      crockett36
    • RE: bvandyke x vs crockett36 l g40.2 oob big tech as the balancing mechanic

      @bvandyke01 benuk9.tsvg

      posted in Play Boardgames
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      crockett36
    • RE: dawgoneit vs crockett36 oob

      @dawgoneit dawg4.tsvg

      posted in League
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      crockett36
    • RE: Crockett36 vs The Master

      themaster.tsvg

      posted in Play Boardgames
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      crockett36
    • Crockett36 vs The Master

      We’ll do out of box. I’ll have you take the axis.

      posted in Play Boardgames
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      crockett36
    • RE: dawgoneit vs crockett36 oob

      @crockett36 thanks for the bump. sorry for the delay

      posted in League
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      crockett36
    • RE: dawgoneit vs crockett36 oob

      @dawgoneit triplea_36454_4rus.tsvg

      scramble?

      posted in League
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      crockett36
    • RE: Guam Solo L vs crockett36 X G40.2 oob

      @guamsolo triplea_35758_9rus (1).tsvg

      posted in Play Boardgames
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      crockett36
    • RE: Guam Solo L vs crockett36 X G40.2 oob

      @crockett36 finally

      posted in Play Boardgames
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      crockett36
    • RE: Guam Solo L vs crockett36 X G40.2 oob

      @guamsolo germany9.tsvg

      posted in Play Boardgames
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      crockett36