Keep in mind that the game’s units are balanced out using the “Objective” in mind, not “Kill Everything”. The game ceases to be balanced that way, since the Vet. Tiger, despite being awesome, can still be delayed from getting to the objective, or at least disrupted and unable to contest it. The game isn’t set up for “kill everything” games. That’s part of your problem.
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@Der:
JCHANGES UP FOR DEBATE
88mm Flak - should it have Relocate 1 for playability purposes?
Covering Fire - should this SA require a hit to function?
I don’t think the Flak 88 should have relocate. But I’m a stickler for the historical aspect of the thing, that once it was set up it took a little while to break down. But it’s also a matter of scope: I mean, relocating artillery (even with veteran crews) should be beyond the time-scope of the game, but it isn’t… so I guess the Flak 88 should relocate 1 if the other big guns can do it.
But covering fire is iffy. You’re not rerally trying to hit; you’re spraying an area and forcing the enemy to keep their heads down. So my vote is keeping it as is.
Thus far everything is looking good, DL.
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I was just going to mention using Flamethrowers. Evil minds think alike.
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DJ, you seen to be echoing alot of concern I’ve heard elsewhere about the Veteran Tiger and the Heroes.
nods sagely
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ARGH! You said the “H” word! [Vader Impersonation] NoooOOOooooOOOOoooooOOOOooo!!!
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But if I didn’t get my hopes up how could WotC dash my dreams upon the jagged rocks of reality? And that’s what they do; I mean look at what they did to D&D…
:roll:
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The Partisans would get Defensive fire rolls if the tank moved to an adjacent hex… There’s no reason why the tank couldn’t move away though as long as it was on it’s own movement/assault phase- it can’t move away when it isn’t it’s turn (I’m not sure what you’re asking here).
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That pissed me off about set III actually. I hope set IV has the names on the bottom again.
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I think the fortifications look like poo’. I absolutely love the rules for them, but I hate the barbed wire model especially. I know they can’t do much better at that scale, but I’ll be making my own.
What do you suppose those two infantry models are? I have my theories, but they’re shaky.
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When I first got into the game I promised myself and my GF that I wouldn’t spend alot of cash on the game, so I haven’t bought more than 3 or 4 boosters for set 1, maybe 3 for set 2, and only 2 boosters for set 3, along with two starter packs (I wanted more terrain maps and counters, and basic rank and file). I did alot of trading too.
So my main two armies are the Germans and the Americans, with the British very close to them. I probably have a pool of 700 points for the first two and around 350 for the Brits.
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I’m no Grand Pubah of A&AM, but I’ll take a shot at these…
-How many units in a hex, infantry and vehicles, infantry with vehicles?
You can have 2 of your own in a hex, but no more than one vehicle. So you could have 2 Garands, or 1 garand and 1 Sherman, but not two Shermans. The grand total of units including enemy units is four units, but again, no more than one vehicle. So if you had that Garand and Sherman in a hex, the enemy could move two SS-Panzergrenadiers into the hex, but not one of them and a King Tiger.
-Do units have Line of Sight through friendly units, and if so can they fire through them at the enemy?
Yes.
-Does a hill give your units the capability of shooting over friendly units not on a hill?
See above question. Hills give cover, block line of sight and often funnel AFVs who have a hard time getting through them, but other than that they don’t do much (except for some special abilities, that function in hills).
-How does charging an enemy hex work?
You move into the hex and provoke defensive fire. Soldiers don’t provoke defensive fire from vehicles.
-If a unit dies from defensive fire, can it still fire back?
Yes, defensive fire only causes disruption (which means that the enemy who gets shot up doesn’t make it into the hex he was going for). The disruption is immediate in that you don’t wait for the casualty phase to flip it over. This means that the guy firing back, the whole who provoked the DF, has a harder time shooting back now (as per disruption).
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The Sniper SA isn’t negated by anything that ignores cover, because ignoring cover isn’t the same thing as negating cover. The cover is still there, so the sniper SA is still in effect. But yea Rex is correct: sticking another figure in the hex with a sniper is a recipe for doom, since Blast targeting the other figure will hit the sniper as well.
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The British one is awesome. I mean, they’re both good, but I’m not a fan of Romania until they get more units (y’hear me WotC?). Believe it or not, I predominantly play the Brits, but I still don’t have a Humber. I’m not one of those guys who spends a ton of cash on this game, so I haven’t scored one of these bad boys. I want one though. Oh how I want one… or three.
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~GRIM~ you got your wish! (what a waste of a good wish)
Hhahahaha! Dude seriously! I shoulda played the Lotto.
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Thank WHATEVER they’re not all rare. I don’t plan on using heroes, so if my Rare turns out to be Rommel or something I’m going to be ticked. I’d probably melt the figure out of spite.
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It should be good. Heroes might be broken but then just don’t play with them.
Except they will be the rare you get in the booster, which would suck.
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About time! With the Char Bis being out, maybe the French will finallt be a fieldable army on their own w/o having to field the same stuff every single time. Yea, I’m stoked for set IV.
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Yea, that’s true: every person that swears off A&AM is another eBay set up for grabs. Of course, enough people swearing off A&AM means no more expansions, so it’s one of those “be careful what I wish for” deals. 
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The ruins and bocage are pretty cool. I don’t like the guys trees, but trees are cheap to buy anyway. I’d definately do it up with the first two things though.
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There already is a BoB set of scenarios out, and I think SPR is done too. The Avalon Hill A&AM forums has a scenario sections. You can find them there.
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I actually am expecting French Resistance of some kind in the D-Day set. They’d probably have stats as bad as the ones the Soviet Partisanss get, but I tend to field armies for flavor as opposed to “L33T-P0WARZ”, so I’m not going to be too broken up about that. I’d love to be able to recreate several battles from the movie The Longest Day, so so having some Resistance blow out some train tracks would be sweet.
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@Der:
At the beginning of your move phase you may replace any number of your MG42s with Sandbagged MG Teams, and vice versa.
That’s along the same thinking I’ve been doing.
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Also, how long do the games run?
The AH site says 30-90 minutes, but for what size battle is that?If you don’t count the time to formulate your armies, games rarely last only 30 minutes. 30 minutes is usually for a scenario that gets you into the action right away. Tournament games usually last between 60 and 90 minutes. Recreational games can last up to 2 hours if you’re taking your time. You’re first few games will probably last 2 hours.
Not for what point total he wants to play. It’s usually 45 minutes-1 hour/ 100 points you do. At 250 point armies, which is reaching the limit for point totals maintaining game balance (post 300 you’ll see huge balance issues), expect to play and hour and a half- 2 hours, maybe more in the beginning as you learn the rules. It also depends on the scenario you’re playing.
What size is the standard playing surface?
Well, normally it’s the 2x2 maps they give you. But you won’t be able to play on that surface with the point totals you want to do. You’ll need at least one more starter set to have the ability to play on 4x2 maps or 3x3. Hell, I sometimes consider getting a third starter set for even more maps, as sometimes I feel like 4x2 isn’t big enough. I play 150-200 point battles.
Is there good after market support for terrain and miniatures?
The terrain are maps that come with the game. Some people eventually play using 3-d terrain, but then you have to either play using houserules, or go out and buy hex-terrain, which is a whole new set of expenses.
What scale is 15 mm anyway?
Basically 1:120. It’s more like 1:121, but 1:120 is the accepted number for buying terrain for the game.
Are these plastic minis easy to mod and repaint?
Yes.
I would like to have the ability to field a 250 point army
That’s like fielding a 6,000 point army in Warhammer: it’s really big and might make the game take longer than you want. Before making any army goals, play the game a few times. Having a crapload of miniatures to choose from for army building is sweet, but actually fielding 250 points might be hefty for you, since you mentioned that your kids impede gaming somewhat. 150 points is usually big enough to have alot of fun and see lots of units, but small enough that the game doesn’t last forever.
Welcome aboard. May you make every cover save and ignore enemy Superior Armor… 
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15mm is 1:121.92 in size, so 1:120 is the way to go.
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Yea, the hero thing is probably going to suck. Maybe, just maybe they’ll do it cool; afterall there’s hero characters in Flames of War and they don’t throw balance off. But then again, FoW is a different scale game.
The “Dug In” SA should have been a tactical option for certain units rather than a special unit. Why can’t all MGs and Artillery dig in? Infantry and vehicles could too, but for the sake of game balance and time, let’s pretend they can’t. But Artillery and all MGs should be able to. Either that or change the deployment of the game. If units can deploy differently, then maybe the Dug In MG will be useful, but as it stands it’s useless to me. We play on 4x2 and 3x3 maps, so this unit won’t work. And I know from reading this forum and the other A&AM forums that I’m by far not the only one who plays this game on a larger scale.
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