Topics created by wodan46

@HolKann:

But a good board game designer makes its games “easy to learn, hard to master”. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. Unfortunately, Larry Harris does not always adhere to this principle.

Yeah that guy sucks at making games. I never buy any of them.

…wait did you say Larry Harris?

Yup.

Just like in Classic England could build carriers and American fighters could land on them preventing Germany from having good odds at sinking the British fleet a second time.

@wodan46:

The central concept is that Britain loads units onto American transports one turn, then the following turn lands troops using both the American and British transports, then on the same turn land the American troops brought over by the transports in the first place.  This allows a huge One-Two punch against Western Europe.

This is works mainly if Axis doesn’t sink the UK Battleship/Transport and West US Destroyer/Transport, if they do, a different plan may be advisable.

Before Turn X: Britain focuses on getting an intact fleet with maybe 3 transports.  America builds 3 transports, and pulls its Pacific Fleet to the Atlantic.
Turn X: American Transports reach Britain and land a bunch of American troops there.  Britain builds a bunch of Ground Units.  America builds Bombers
Turn X+1: British Ground Units board American transports.  Britain builds Ground Units.  America builds Bombers.
Turn X+2: Britain invades Western Europe using both American and British Transports.  America then drops all their Infantry and Bombers into Western Europe.  Britain builds ground units.
Turn X+3: Take Germany, by first suiciding the British forces, then hitting it with the American forces.

X is ideally turn 2.  If you wait till Turn 3, you get the Pacific fleet as well.  Doing so lets you use 5 American Transports and 3 British Transports, meaning that you land 16 troops, then 10 troops, with air support.  For naval defense, you have something like 3 Carrier groups, 3 Destroyers, and a Battleship.  US goes to SZ18(Brazil), then SZ7(English Channel).

I think this is pretty interesting… it does put tremendous amounts of pressure on Germany very quickly.  The only thing I don’t like is that Italy will be able to dump max units per round into France at around the time that this is going to be ready to go, so I’m not totally sure that France will actually be able to be taken if Germany and Italy are doing their jobs with throwing units into the defense.  But anyway, the ship convoy can be redirected to other purposes if D-Day seems impractical (Algeria, Poland, or Scandinavia).  I’m going to try it the next time I play as the Allies and see how it goes, thanks for the idea. =)

@wodan46:

Also, for the last time, I’m experimenting, and trying to analyze what strategies are possible, rather than sticking to the same strategies over and over.  I offer an exotic strategy, take feedback, and alter the strategy to see if its possible to make a version that is feasible.

that’s cool and all to think out loud about stuff, but the experimenting part involves trying it, against players or at least solitaire.  if you are just think-tanking, don’t be too defensive when players who have played numbers of games may sharply critique it.  But i got it, i’ll discuss in theory.

@atarihuana:

ive seen many people hit sz56 yet often i refuse to do this and rather send 4 fighter to the BB for a clean kill. i dislike sending my only naval fodder unit to get killed round 1. also the british DD / TN off india gets kiled and the planes are in range.  the CA would  be at phillipines or at sz51 with the carriers.  so even if it is a tradeoff and i loose my BB, CA, DD  i still have 3 carriers + my naval builds while US has its remaining subs. not good.

since US has invested most to all of its money in the pacific its no big deal if it takes one more turn to take australia or india.

I had considered this as well.

I have even attempted it a couple of times.

I even thought of keeping the destroyer out and using only the fighters.

My conclusions:

The kill in SZ 53 is virtually assured.  It’s a matter of if you lose only the destroyer or also a fighter, if you send Destroyer, 2 Fighters in to attack the Battleship.

If you keep the destroyer, you risk a fighter, however, you have 9 fighters at the start of the game and 3 carriers, so you have some to spare.  Also, if you keep the destroyer, you can use it, in conjunction with at least 6 of your fighters, to attack SZ 56 if America puts submarines in the water.  This is a plus in my opinion because it means America either does not put only submarines in the water, puts them in SZ 10 instead, or builds surface ships which are more costly giving you an edge to get into position.

However, the added transport and Destroyer gives the American’s too much of an edge, IMHO.  Besides, when are you going to have a 33% chance to trade a fighter for a destroyer AND a transport (10 IPC for 15) and a 67% chance to lose nothing and get a destroyer and a transport in this game?

That makes it a lot easier to block ICs from producing sea units, Sea Zones 5, 56, and 62 in particular.  More importantly, it makes Subs more effective at blocking those zones, because they get to use their higher attack value, and also be reinforced by air/naval units.

Another situation would be if Germany put a sub in each sea zone around the UK.  If Britain puts a Destroyer in each zone to counter, then Germany sends its airforce, while using the Subs as fodder.

@Subotai:

I would like to play against this strat in TripleA low luck game, but sadly AA50 is not finished yet for release in the stable version.

If I think a strat is vastly inferior, then I could possibly be interested in playing reg dice, eventually good dice rolls can only bring you so far.

There’s un anstable version, but it works perfect.

http://triplea.sourceforge.net/mywiki/Forum

The only thing I noticed so far are some error messages in History. But you can ignore them, and still look at it.
For the rest, it seems to work great.

Keeping a consistent combat value as much as possible is better.
What about this?
StB
Attack 2
Defense 1
Gets +2A if starting from an Air Base against land units.
Cost 12

TacB
Attack 4
Defense 3
No more combined arms.
Cost 11
(This is the true bomber against enemy units.)

I agree with putting down as many units as possible as Germany and even Italy because the UK and USA can easily muster a massive bomber force for cutting down your production in just a few rounds.  I personally hate to lose the Baltic fleet because you just opened the path for naval invasions with minimal counterattacks.  I know the airforce could strike those fleets but that means they are not attacking Russians.  I strongly favor a ship/land unit build first turn to protect your fleet from a turn 1 UK slaughter fest.  Heck if Italy saves 3 IPCs and meets their NOs while also taking Trans-Jordan, they could build a carrier and have one powerful fleet to contend with.

For Revised, Enhanced rules modified the tech to be less random

See this thread for the discussion os using the AARe concept in AA50:

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=13277.0

@Imperious:

So if you were in North Carolina and bought a gasoline station and hired Gomer to serve the people at Mayberry your not making much of a trade, but if you instead went to Raleigh, your business would improve.

Sure, but since there is no anti-gouging law in NC, Gomer could charge as much as he wanted since he was the only station in Mayberry…

But on a more serious note, I remember way back someone had put together an idea for each territory to produce it’s ipc’s in it’s territory and then they had to be transported to a factory to produce, so you could build factories where-ever, but you had to get the materials there.  On land they could move, but over water they needed a cheap 'merchant ship to move them.  No ships, no movement of goods to factories.  More detail in the factories could be interesting time to put more detail in the raw materials production.

Imagine a round 3 situation:

Italy has its fleet in SZ 15, they maybe attacked Transjordan in round 2.
a clever move would be as UK - move your complete fleet to SZ 13, this fleet should be AC + 2 ftgrs, 2 Cruisers, 2 DDs and 1-2 subs. Yes, buy subs as UK if you want to kill that Italian fleet.

So that Italien fleet is trapped!
If they control Egypt and Trans Jordan, use your Inf from Persia and a Bomber to capture Transjordan, so the Italian fleet can’t escape via Suez canal.

So what can Italy do ?

Attack - that’s suicidal, especially with 2 UK subs and that Russian sub in SZ 13 (russian sub moved to SZ 13 first, UK followed)

leave - unfortunately they can’t ; SZ 16 is also 2 spaces away from SZ 13

block - the best option.

This is a 2 step move:
First take ground units from Italy and recapture Transjordan
Build a DD in SZ 14 hoping to block UK fleet and use Suez canal next round.

Next Round:

Now the Russian sub will have a use. :evil: Attack that newly build Italian DD with your sub and 1-2 fighters from Caucasus (you have to land all your Russian aircraft in Stalingrad or build new one there !!). SZ 14 is 2 spaces away from Caucasus, so that fighters can fly back in NCM safely.

It doesn’t matter if that sub survives, what matters is to destroy that DD - UK will move before  Italy and will destroy that fleet easily ! (use 2 subs and 1 DD plus aircraft, you will win with overwhelming odds - do not use your cruisers if not necessary, better attack France if possible but beware of German aircraft)

A few problems with that idea.

UK can probably retake alaska or atleast weaken your forces there with 1 inf 1 arm.

US keeps there NO because they’d have midway, wake, and Solomon.

You best keep your destroyer alive or else a sub drop alone will secure there coast (just the fact they can sink your carriers in response)

US can easily shift 1 inf, 1 art to central US, pull back the AA gun, and keep there planes in range to retake LA, stalling them at most 1 turn from africa.

I think you’d be better off hitting Hawaii and buying 2 transports + DD and shift the cruiser to japan, then threating a turn 2 grab of alaska + western canada and setting up for a train.  The interesting thing as well is if you move the BB to wake and have all 3 carriers plus your DD and within range and hit Hawaii there is absolutely no fleet purchase the US can make that can survive an attack on J2.  Not sure what can be done to capitalize on that but hey.

I agree as Russia i’d prefer the axis to take the ‘northern’ path so to speak as there are fewer IPCs there for me to loose, it is further from Moscow, and most importantly, UK can liberate it for me.  The only bad thing is it keeps me from taking Finland.

Moscow is the goal, and Karelia is a distraction.  I’d rather counter Ukraine on R1 honestly.

@wodan46:

Here is a Germany specific strategy, 1941, NOs on, Techs off or ignored.

G1build(31): 1 Carrier(land 2 Fighters on it), 2 Transports, 1 Infantry
G1attack: Take Baltic States, East Poland, and Ukraine.  Use transports to move an additional Infantry and Artillery to Baltic States and Ukraine.  Make sure that all Tanks are in range of Karelia, and that at least 3 Tanks are in Baltic States or otherwise near water.  Use Subs, Fighters, and Bombers to wipe out all British Naval units save the Destroyer/Transport pair.  Use African units (2 Infantry, 1 Tank) defensively only, to protect Libya and Algeria.
G2build(45): 1 Transport, 6 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 1 Cruiser
G2attack: If you can kill Britain with 3 Infantry/Tanks, a Cruiser, and your Airforce, DO IT.  If Britain to tough, hit Karelia, transporting as many Infantry/Artillery as possible there.  Retain control of the 1st NO as well, using your air force ideally.
G3build(52): 8 Tanks, 1 Cruiser
G3attack: If you can kill Britain with 4 Infantry/Tanks, 2 Cruisers, and your Airforce, DO IT.  If Britain to tough, ship the G2 Build from Germany to Karelia.  Retain control of the 1st NO as well, using your air force ideally.
G4build(52): 2 Tanks(in Karelia), 3 Bombers, 2 Infantry
G4attack: Retain control of the 1st NO as well, using your air force ideally.  Move the 8 Tanks to Baltic States, and advance your Karelia forces to Belorussia, capturing Archangel as well if possible
G5build(55): ???, dunno
G5attack: Forget Britain, you should be able to hit Moscow with your builds from G2, G3, G4, and a good portion of your starting forces

In short, threaten both Britain and Russia at once with the Baltic Fleet.  The transports can be used to either to attack Britain, or to allow you to shorten the distance Infantry need to travel, allowing you to build Infantry on Turn X, Tanks the on X+1, Bombers on X+2, and have them all reach Moscow on X+3.

First of all, the fleet idea doesnt work. Ive tried it. All GB has to do is build 5 subs and 1-2 fighters and blow your fleet out of da water. when your fleet is gone, your russian stratagy falls imediatly. Russia reenforces Karelia and your lack of tanks (because of your 1 turn purchases) becomes a problem. so you are left with a smaller army then russia’s and no fleet. Figure out how dat works.

@wodan46:

@Unknown:

So you’re hitting Philippines with 1 TP only??

You would use the Infantry/Artillery, and you’d support with either a Fighter or Cruiser (Battleship can handle Destroyer)

If you send the 2 fighters against the Indian Ocean fleet, then you don’t have the ability to send a different fighter against the Philippines.  In an amphibious assault, the cruiser must either join in wth the naval battle, or move in during the noncombat phase.  The rules don’t allow you to split your fleet and say that 1 part is conducting the naval battle, and the other part will shore bombard.  :-(  I wish that it did.

That means, that if you only send 1 loaded transport against the Philippines, that there is a very good chance (the battle becomes about a 33% chance that you capture, 67% chance that you don’t) that you won’t take it.  This means that you don’t elliminate the US’s NO for the Philippines, and unless you either take New Guinea or the Solomons (both of which leave you open to be attacked), then you don’t get your second NO (the 4 of 6 one)

So, you probably had better send 2 transports to capture the Philippines, because IMHO, sending the 2 fighters against the Indian Ocean fleet is pretty key.

I agree.  The use of subs with aircraft is a gret combo for naval combat  (even better if you have super subs).  You can even make it cheaper if you have long range aircraft and jet fighter, transforming your fighters in better weapon than the original bomber.

I’m sorry to disagree, but long range aircraft benefits bombers so much it would be a waste to switch to fighters. Although saving 2 IPC per unit is nice, being able to bombard any territory or sea zone on the map at will is much too good to give up on - and thats what long range bombers do!

For comparing out abilities, putting 600 subs vs 120 BB or 200 Cruisers vs the BB or whatever may help to show the statistical differences, but you’ll never have 600 subs or 40 BB in a real game.  Usually you will have them in a combined fleet of ships or you would prefer them to be.  They are often alone though.

I was thinking of the beginning setup of AAE.  In the Gibraltar Strait you have a Destroyer, which for all intents and purposes has the stats of a Cruiser in AA50.  To take that I have often see merely a fighter and a sub take it on, and the sub being sacrificed.  Or the Italian fleet comes over and lands on Gibraltar at the same time, having the BB absorb any possible hits.
  But at the outset of AAR, there is a BB in that strait and often a larger force is brought to bear, that because 2 hits are needed so the goal is to get them on the 1st round rather than give the BB 2 shots.

So there is a larger difference in the mental impact of a BB vs other ships.  There is a thread in the AA50 section about how a Cruiser/Destroyer combo is always more useful and versatile than a BB for the same cost. 
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=13648.0
Not advocating for/against on that, just pointing out the discussion at this point.  But in that you are talking ship combos, not all BB vs anything else.  For BB you get some additional mental agony for the opponent while you get some additional financial agony.

adding interceptors to factory defense lineup after the AA guns fire can help to balance the heavy bomber threat to production centers.

That’s one epic game.