Let me reintroduce myself I’m GeneralHandGrenade from Prince George, BC, Canada. I like long walks on the beach and singing in the rain…oh wait this the wrong site for that.

I’ve been playing A&A since 1984 and been a member of this site for about 2.5 years. It’s great to see so many more new players getting into the game. I’ve noticed it not only on this site but on Facebook and YouTube as well. One of my favorite things to do is play with little plastic army men on the internet. I get such a kick out of knowing that over a quarter of a million times people have watched me do that over the last 2 years.

My go to game now is HBG’s Global War 1936-1945 and I’ve seen a large growth in that game over the last year. People keep asking me what they need to play the game so now that I’ve been playing that for awhile I’m going to put together a comprehensive list over the next week or so and release it on my channel. Unlike any version of A&A there isn’t a complete game that you can purchase, you have to build it yourself. Look for that before the new year as well as a continuation of the game that I’ve been playing for a few weeks now.

Here’s hoping we can throw some dice together sometime!!!

There is no guarantee that any of the French territories will become Free French. The only place one of their proposed capitals could be safe is London, but of course you can’t move any French units there until both them and the UK are at war. That’s why it’s important for the Germans to take France all in one turn. Well, that and so Britain doesn’t drop units into France.

I did have one game where France survived the whole game but that was because Germany smashed Russia instead. It was a brilliant move by them though check it out;
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXHm3hvGKezi3Skboy4wiUQciDYU_-sqb

While most Allied strategies are reactionary, the US is a nation that you can actually build a strategy for from turn 1 and stick to if you think it is being effective. When I’m playing the Americans I will almost always start the game with the London Calling strategy. The strategy only lasts for the few 3-4 turns and it’s purpose is to prevent an early game Sealion. It’s also a trap for the Germans and will lead to the likely demise of the German player if they insist on doing Sealion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0ZYQ-C4i28&t=19s

Assuming that Germany doesn’t fall for that trap and they head east, that’s when you transition the American units into another strategy. It’s good if you don’t do the same thing every time especially if you are playing against the same players for the most part. If I choose the Europe side then I will set up a floating bridge to the Med and combine forces with the UK to take out Italy as quickly as possible. The trick is to meet in SZ 95 on the same turn to build a larger defensive shield for the transports. The US takes out either Northern or Southern Italy and the UK takes out the one the Americans didn’t take. That leaves no possibility for Italy or Germany to liberate Italy. From there it’s on to Berlin. After Italy is gone it might be advantageous to move both fleets out to the Atlantic to continue the assault from the UK.

The other choice is move most or all of the American fleet from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Japanese might be thinking that they have an easy road and weren’t in a hurry to take advantage in the Pacific. Now all of the sudden every penny that that the US has spent is on it’s way across the Pacific. Neither strategy has to be reactionary but at the same time you have 3-4 turns to decide which direction to go. You can even decide to split up the forces but that hardly ever works out well against stiff competition.

@TheAandAClassicDude No not at all. Feel free to use mine to add the new units that you haven’t listed. The more materials we have out there for players the better.

The mechs can’t get to Southern Italy if you also take Northern Italy on the same turn. That’s the whole point of doing the double landing on the same turn. If S. Italy is stacked that early in the game then they couldn’t have accomplished anything in the game. I also try to have at least 2 landings from the UK ready to go (the first from Egypt when the UK fleet enters the Med and the second waiting in Libya) and of course unlimited amount of landings from the US. Italy is easy to to take out, Berlin not so much. The hope is you can get there (Berlin’s doorstep) before Moscow falls so you draw German resources away from Russia. If you’re going for Europe then you only send enough to the Pacific to keep Japan off of Hawaii. You can’t do both.You have to choose.

@ghetty said in Air Transport logistics:

I’m just trying to figure out the logistics of Air Transports. During a non-combat move, can my Air Transport fly from one zone to an adjacent zone, pick up an Infantry, fly to another adjacent zone, drop it off, and then return to it’s original zone (assuming I’m within it’s 6 or 7 move limit)?
Thanks.

Thanks for bringing to our attention that this was omitted in the rule book. The Air Transport may continue to move up to the limit of it’s movement capacity after it drops off an Infantry class unit on Non-Combat Movement and then land in a friendly territory. The Air Transport and the unit being transported do not have to begin the turn in the same territory. The Air Transport may only transport 1 Infantry class unit per turn.

@AdmScuttlebutt We all go through our ups and downs throughout the course of our lives. Your spirit seems unbreakable and I have little doubt that these trying times are only a temporary setback for you and that you will be back stronger than ever and rolling one’s like a vampire on a day pass. Take care my friend and if you ever make your way up to my neck of the woods I’ll share my little plastic army men with you. Merry Christmas!

The London Calling strategy all but guarantees that Germany will lose their entire navy and eventually London if they are foolish enough to go Sealion on G3 or G4. Combining it with Randy’s strategy would allow the Allies to make early landing in Europe on the western front. What concerns me though is leaving Italy to fester instead of putting them down early in the game. I’ve always been a Kill Italy First kind of player on the Europe side of the board. I have found from past experience that taking Rome out before Moscow falls gives me the best chance for victory when I’m playing the Allies. This is why I advocated earlier in this thread to take the UK out with the Germans. By leaving the Italians with a navy things will get out of hand quickly for the Brits. I like Simon’s suggestion of strafing the fleet with the Italians and then mopping them up with Germany. Depending on the rolls that might just work.

Under the current rules it doesn’t say that you can’t do it. However, V-3 rules have a separate reference card for Free France which states that Free France cannot research Technology.
That’s not the only change. It says that FF can place units at any Allied factory and that FF can invade Vichy territories.

Armoured Cars are not going to be added to the base game this time. I think they felt that it was more of a WW1 thing than WW2. That doesn’t mean that you can’t add them into your game though. The rules for them are already in the Expansion sets.

SPA will play like a regular artillery with 2 exceptions; 1. they move 2 spaces and, 2. they can pair with a tank to blitz. Of course they will cost 5 instead of 4 too.

The Gurkhas are mountain infantry that will also have first strike in jungle terrain.

Declarations of War
https://youtu.be/Kz5Kl9oOZSA

@hbg-gw-enthusiast That question was answered over a month ago on the thread that Trig referenced earlier. I didn’t re-answer it because the guy who wrote the rules gave the answer directly. When I have a question I ask him for the answer. His answers are more definite than mine.

@trig said in The FAQ Thread:

@generalhandgrenade said in The FAQ Thread:

@hbg-gw-enthusiast said in The FAQ Thread:

The moving player’s intent need only be declared upon entering a sea zone, sea zone by sea zone. The announcement is something like, “My fleet enters this sea zone and intends to keep moving to this next sea zone. Do you want to declare war before I leave?” Then say the British fleet reaches the final sea zone they want and they announce, “We now declare war on Japan and are going to try to perform an amphibious assault with these ships/units.” [If there are enemy naval units, then add, “These units are my screening force.”] So yes, they can move through a Japanese-occupied sea zone peacefully, only to immediately declare war and conduct combat in the next sea zone all within a single turn.

None of this is correct if neither of us has declared war on each other yet. Other than maybe some canals or straits, my naval movements are not restricted while I’m not at war with you. That’s why you have to put some thought into when you decide to declare war on your turn. In some cases, you might want to make some moves, declare war, then finish your moves. The reason is you would move your ships unimpeded, then if you needed to fly your planes over certain territories, you can declare war on those nation(s) and thus complete your moves (you can’t fly over a neutral nation).

Why not? That is what happens. You move through the sea zones, and a nation may declare war with you at any time as you are moving though. This is just the slow way of doing it, for instance if you had a really important turn like Japan’s sneak attack or something. There is nothing in that that refers to restricted movement, just giving the other player a chance to DOW. I find it a much more elegant explanation than “you can declare war at anytime, and then figure out what happens”
(Also, your previous post implied that someone would make their moves while everyone else wasn’t paying attention, or was off doing something different, and then be immune to a preemptive DOW. I find that that just rude and impolite. GW Enthusiast’s interpretation removes that obnoxious loophole.)

I was giving a literal interpretation of the rules. I wouldn’t wait for someone to go to the bathroom or out for a smoke to declare war on them. As you point out that would be rude. We don’t play our games that way. That said, I’m not going to tell you what my plan is nor am I under any obligation to do so. We explain this quite clearly in the rulebook on page 25. We even gave an example of what I said;

The example that was given in this thread by the OP was a rare occasion that I’m not sure I would put myself in as the British player. If I was making that move chances are I’m doing it just to bait the Japanese player into declaring war on me. You can bet that I’ll be sure and give him every opportunity and latitude to do that. If he doesn’t take the bait I might just change my move before I announce any combat. A more appropriate example that would be common would be moving past the American boats on my way to assault the main part of his navy. I would be doing so before he has the ability to declare war on me so I don’t have to form a screening force. Once there I would declare war on him.

Declaring war in GW 36 is very easy. So easy it takes up hardly any space in the rulebook as you can see from my screenshot. However, it is the most difficult decision to make in the game with consequences that could decide the fate of the game. I have work to do on GW 14 today and other stuff that needs doing. If I have time I’ll make a video on Declarations of War later. If not then I’ll get to it some time after I get home from the lake this weekend.

@hbg-gw-enthusiast said in The FAQ Thread:

The moving player’s intent need only be declared upon entering a sea zone, sea zone by sea zone. The announcement is something like, “My fleet enters this sea zone and intends to keep moving to this next sea zone. Do you want to declare war before I leave?” Then say the British fleet reaches the final sea zone they want and they announce, “We now declare war on Japan and are going to try to perform an amphibious assault with these ships/units.” [If there are enemy naval units, then add, “These units are my screening force.”] So yes, they can move through a Japanese-occupied sea zone peacefully, only to immediately declare war and conduct combat in the next sea zone all within a single turn.

None of this is correct if neither of us has declared war on each other yet. Other than maybe some canals or straits, my naval movements are not restricted while I’m not at war with you. That’s why you have to put some thought into when you decide to declare war on your turn. In some cases, you might want to make some moves, declare war, then finish your moves. The reason is you would move your ships unimpeded, then if you needed to fly your planes over certain territories, you can declare war on those nation(s) and thus complete your moves (you can’t fly over a neutral nation).

@nicbot23 Let me simplify this for you.

1. It is my turn and I’m not at war with you.
2. I can move as many of my units as I want after my production phase is over. I don’t need to say anything to you or anyone else around the table. If you want to declare war on me (or anyone else wants to declare war on any other nation for that matter) you may do so at any time if the rules regarding declarations of war permit.
3. When I’m done moving I have to tell you if I’m attacking you, what I’m attacking with, where I’m attacking, what kind of attack it is (strategic bombing, carpet bombing, regular combat, screening force, MAP, convoy raiding, amphibious assault, or anything else you can do to your opponent).
4. All nations that I have attacked can now react to my attacks (scrambling, submerging, interception).
5. Combat begins in the order that I specify. I don’t have to actually say I’m declaring war on you if I don’t want to. Telling you that I’m attacking you in step 3 here ^^ will suffice as a declaration of war.
6. After all combat has been resolved, the consequences of everything that has happened can now be resolved (income increases, alignments, basically anything in the rulebook or the reference sheets that specify some type of consequence to these actions that have taken place).
7. I finish my turn. I am probably doing the last 2 phases as you and the others are resolving the consequences.

@nicbot23 said in The FAQ Thread:

If a nation begins moving a naval force intended for an amphibious assault while they’re at peace, is it automatically assumed to be a declaration of war for the purpose of determining peacetime income increases?

No. They are not required to declare war until they actually reach Japan and announce an attack in your example. They could make multiple moves and then declare war if they want to. The only thing you can’t do related to this is make a combat move through a canal if you are playing with this optional rule.

For example, if a British landing force departs during the combat movement phase with the intention of landing units in Japan before either side has declared war, does this mean Japan is allowed intercept the invasion fleet without triggering USA’s 5 D12 worth of peacetime income increase? Or does Japan have to declare war first in order intercept and attack the British fleet? I don’t find it feasible that a nation can’t deal with an invasion headed their way without having to make the unprovoked declaration of war.

No. Japan has to guess if it’s a combat move and decide if it wants to declare war before the move happens. Once they British player has moved past the Japanese ships it’s too late to stop them. The Japanese declaration will trigger the income increase. I have to think that the British player would only do this if the Americans were near their wartime income anyway or they may be committing suicide taking on the Japanese by themselves. Declaring war in this game is always a dicey prospect regardless of who and when it is. There are many consequences and that’s why the time to do it is more flexible than A&A.
It’s the choice that makes it interesting. Sea zones are thousands of square miles, how would Japan even know that the British are making a combat move when they are not at war with them? In the real world, it would only be a guess assuming their patrols observed them. Note that if there were surface war ships in the sea zone where the amphibious assault was taking place that the British would have to assault them with a screening force.

@chris_henry It’s detrimental for a couple of reasons.
First of all there are tangible benefits for 2 of the 3 factions and you’re not 1 of them.
The other is that both of those factions are starting to cooperate which could lead to more cooperation. As long as they perceive their relationship to be beneficial they (especially Germany) can concentrate more resources on your demise.
Russia can’t win the game by themselves. It’s not in your best interests to have them turn to Germany instead of you for help. Remember, this game isn’t played solely on the board. The more players work against each other the more resentment and tension that’s created between them. At some point you cross the line and instead of winning your main goal becomes making sure that jerk doesn’t win because he screwed you. This pact does absolutely nothing for the Allies except make the hill they need to climb steeper.

It seems pretty obvious to me that Germany gets more benefit from the pact than Russia does. That doesn’t always mean that it’s a bad idea for Russia to sign it. It depends on Russia’s overall plan for the game and how they plan on defeating both of the other factions. If you’re the German player and you’re playing against a top level Russian player, you better beware that he has got a plan to defeat you and he’s using the pact as a means to that end even if you can’t decipher what that is. If he’s a new player and it just sounds like a good, safe thing to do then Germany will take advantage of him and beat him like a rented mule.
One thing is for sure, it sucks if you’re the Allied player. There is no upside to the pact for them.

@insanehoshi said in The FAQ Thread:

Can Fighters/Tactical Bombers land on friendly/aligned aircraft carriers. For example an ANZAC plane landing on an American Carrier? In the US turn if the carrier combat or non-combat moves, does the ANZAC plane come with it? Does it participate in any attacks?

Yes you can land your fighters/tactical bombers on an aligned carrier. They will participate in defensive combat but will not be used on offence by the owner of the carrier. They will move with the carrier but will only be considered as cargo. They will fly and fight on offence only on their own turn. The rules regarding damaged carriers still apply to them.

Assuming an evolved Chinese power, Does the USSR and CCP (or USA and KMT) share rail movement or no? Can the USSR rail 2 units in the USSR and then can CCP rail 2 units?

The USSR and CCP are 2 different nations. The US and the KMT are 2 different nations. Their economies and per turn limits are separate from each other.

A German submarine is in a sea zone with a British destroyer and an escort carrier with a fighter on board. On the British turn the fighter goes on MAP and attacks pairing with a destroyer. The submarine is hit and decides to defend, and it rolls a 1 and gets target selection. Can it target select the escort carrier?

The rules for target selection are defined clearly on page 38 under the heading “All Rounds of Combat.” Since the submarine only scores hits on ships, it is up to the owner of the submarine to decide which ship they choose as a casualty.

When are units subject to terrain rules that affect their movement. Lets assume three Land Zones: LZ1: Mountain, LZ2: no terrain, LZ3: no terrain. If a tank starts in LZ1 can it move to 2 and then 3? If a tank starts in LZ3 can it move to 2 and then 1?

To simplify this for everyone, movement through terrain is best described this way; The territory you are standing in does not count when it comes to movement. Assume you are standing right at the border. The first territory you encounter determines what type of terrain you are moving in. If there are no terrain features you have to cross in the first territory you cross then you can move into a second territory if your unit has movement points left. Cavalry is the only unit that could move through a territory with terrain (mountain) and into a second territory.
On the other hand, there are restrictions involving blitzing. For instance, you cannot blitz out of a city. That means that if you moved into a city on combat movement phase and successfully conquered that territory, then you can’t subsequently move into a second enemy territory as a blitz.
You can’t blitz into a mountain territory or over a mountain border. That means that you can’t attack an enemy territory with no terrain on combat movement and then blitz into a second enemy mountain territory and conquer it. You could, however, move through a friendly territory with no terrain and then attack a mountain territory as that is not considered a blitz. The first territory you entered did not restrict your movement.

@insanehoshi said in The FAQ Thread:

If the U.S.S.R. is attacked by Major Power it goes to full income. Does this refer to originally owned USSR land zones, or any owned land zone with or without USSR Units. In the Operation Frostbite YouTube game, the USSR player took Romania and Slovakia. The Germans counter attacked Slovakia, does the USSR player now have full income? One could say that since the USSR is now at war, they don’t get their peacetime increases, but how is that functionally different from say Germany declaring war first, but not attacking?
Germany would have declared war on the USSR if they attacked any land zone owned by the USSR regardless of whether they had units there or not. There is no difference between a German attack on an enemy or Germany declaring war verbally on them.
On a similar note (and this is just me being dumb most likely) where does it say a nation goes to wartime income if attacked/DOW’d (Of course the USA goes to full income if japan declares war, I just cant see that anywhere).
You will find them on the National Reference Sheets under the Peacetime Income Increases section. Note that Russia and the Axis don’t have a wartime income. Russia goes to full income and the Axis start the game there at full income.
USSR’s Ice Free VP is as follows “Score 1 Victory Objective if the U.S.S.R. possess one of the following (a) a Major Naval Base with a sea zone # of 8 or greater or (b) Crimea and Istanbul.” While it is obvious that the intention is that any Black Sea Major Naval Base doesn’t count unless Istanbul is soviet occupied, however rules as written don’t actually seem to restrict this, as the Black Sea has sea zones of 31 and 32 and any naval base there would count (rules as written). Also this means both Leningrad and Vladivostok count towards this VP (despite them not exactly being Ice Free Ports; which is a bit weird in my eyes.).
The Victory Point is awarded as written. The name of the VP was never changed from V2. There will be a drastic change in the VP’s and how they are awarded in V4. It’s possible we might reveal them at the Spring Offensive this July in Prince George. If not then it will be in the fall on a YouTube game.