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Clausewitz

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Posts posted by Clausewitz

  1. One other thing to consider for the Pacific Islands. When the allies take Tinian, it will activate the atomic bomb option for the US to kick in against Japan in August of 1945. This can really help the allies out in regards to reducing Japanese national morale. In a game I am playing it reduced Japanese national morale from 112 to 87, plus it wiped out all MPPs going to Japan from convoys.

    I am confused by requirement for A Bomb. Script says allies control Tinian but I read script construction text to say allies must control Manila 341/116 and one of 340/103, 346/99,363/100,375/116 342/85? If so Tinian is not crucial. Thank you to knowledgeable person.

  2. Al, I am not a big fan of the loops. It allows for faster, unhindered, unspotted time travel that is unfair to the axis. To much surprise and able to arrive unharmed.

    The loops are a major advantage for the allies in several spheres. It is a magical way of Allied navies appearing right at the most critical spots out of nowhere. It negates the ability of the Japanese to surround Australia/take the islands for spotting/defense. It negates the German sub ability to do major harm. It allows surprise attacks to occur with amphibious units 1/4 of the world away. In the case of India 1/2 the world away.

    Totally agree. Force the allies to sail in open waters. I doubt one is going to see many amphibians from Los Angeles.

  3. Patch 1.03 is imminent. Games started under 1.02 will obviously be finished under 1.02. As soon as 1.03 is out then any new games must be played in 1.03.

    Many players are still in tournament which utilizes 1.02. The requirement of 1.03 will require players to have two versions running. Is this necessary or could ladder use 1.02 until possibly summer with a conclusion and then start new ladder fresh with 1.03?

  4. Gentlemen: Thank you for your thoughtful responses and per my reading the consensus support for the threads request of alleviating the axis capitals vulnerability to amphibious landings supported by CV/land based air. In my opinion there were many other ideas that have merit. However my preference and request of Cater/Bill would be to stay with a simple fix in 1.03that would not have unintended consequences and disrupt as Amadeus noted a very playable game. Amona mentioned OSAKA which was an item of puzzlement in our recent match. At one point I as axis player was presented with the Decision to move the Japanese capital to Seoul if Tokyo and Osaka were captured. I accepted but was doubtful of Osaka because it does not appear on map as alternate capital. If Cater/Bill do not wish to move both Tokyo and Seoul inland by one square then making Osaka a third capital would help. Thanks to all.

  5. After playing several matches in both tournament and ladder it has become very clear that experienced players quickly devise strategies that are clearly within rules but in my opinion distort game as a result of the map design. Three of the four axis capitals are directly adjacent to the sea and thus can be conquered without a land unit in close proximity. I am not a master at geography and map may be accurate but my issue is playability of game. In my opinion even at maximum builds the axis cannot compete with allied naval and that is fine for battle of seas but should not dominate land battles. If playing community concurs I believe this could be easily solved by giving Italy a second capital and adding a land square at either Tokyo or Seoul or both. I respectfully ask players to share their thoughts.

  6. I just had a match end and I do not have file so I hope I have the facts correct. A fortification was next to coast and a fighter was in fortification. Fighter was attacked and killed by multiple CVs. There was a naval unit next to fortification but no land unit. Fortification was destroyed when air was killed. This doe not seem correct to me. Should a land unit adjacent be necessary? Thanks

  7. Apparently I have been fortunate because to the best of my knowledge I have not experienced saved file. However I totally agree that saved file in not in the spirit of fun, competitive and honorable play. Speaking of honorable, I believe I am an honorable player but I was aware of Chengchow gambit and did use in this ladder. Unlike saved files I thought gambit was a creative move within 1.02. However if the ladder administrator wishes that gambit not be used I request a statement to all participants and I would be happy to offer my opponent a restart.

  8. Amadeus: I am confused by what appear as contradictions. #4 says match must be decided in 130 turns but remainder of conditions refers to days. I would assume if two players move at fast pace they can go as far as 130 days permit. It might be helpful to give an end date of second round.

    4) “Playing time” Every match has to be finished in 130 turns. If you play mirror matches you still need only 105 turns.

    5) “Playing speed” At least 1 turn a day has to be played in 105/130 days averaging!

    6) “Victory conditions” Due to the fact that it could be difficult to finish a game in 105 or 130 days the Axis minor victory conditions decides the match. Axis minor victory conditions are (after 105/130 days in tournament):

    Berlin, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Manila

    Allies minor victory conditions (after 105/130 days in tournament). One of these cities in Allied hands (REMARK: I know that the Allies minor victory conditions are different to this but we need a clear decision after 105/130 days)

  9. I would like to add a few clarifying comments as I see them for the benefit of Amadeus's deliberations. The six victory cities were not created by Amadeus they are the encoded six cities of an axis minor victory. Amadeus merely chose to use them for both axis and allies to accommodate the many and sometimes competing desires of players on a totally new release with many unknowns regarding playing strength. Both sides of this discussion quickly learned that for all the reasons discussed in these posts that modifications were advisable for round 2. In my opinion moving to the complete encoded victory conditions is less unilateral than artificially assigning point values to 10-15 cities across the globe. The game we all bought and love has no such point value approach anywhere in game. However if Amadeus determines for the good of the tournament that points values should be assigned to the encoded cities to judge tied games I believe we all would be satisfied. Speaking for myself I would also find it acceptable to judge games at the end of '45 using encoded cities with point values if this is Amadeus's conclusion.

  10. Thank you Highlander! Amen, Amen, Amen, At the risk of repeating myself the game design favors allies in playing strength but that strength takes time to develop thus the need for longer games. The balance to allied player strength is easier axis tactical victory conditions. The skilled players in tournament playing mirror matches will find their own path to a well earned victory. We do not need to artificially guide or impede their battle plans. All due respect to differing opinions but the design team has built a great game.

  11. Amadeus; I believe the game is best when played using the standard victory conditions and allowed to play until conclusion. However, I agree with the comments in this thread that some mechanism for resolving ties should be in places pre start of round 2. In my opinion when one adds cities beyond standard victory cities one starts to artificially influence a player's battle plan. Thus I would favor only assigning values to victory cities.

  12. I hope this post is not too premature but from what I can judge from two tournament mirror matches both at end of '43, Carter, Bill, and all beta testers have produced a great product. The '39 game has both a good historical basis and in my opinion good balance between standard victory conditions and playing strength. The game favors allies in playing strength but axis on standard victory conditions (axis only needs to hold one capital to achieve a tactical victory while allies cannot achieve any victory unless they achieve a minor which basically requires they conquer everything that was theirs at start of game). It appears (admittedly only two matches) that if the allies throw everything against Germany it is likely they will run out of time before they can conquer Tokyo and avoid a axis tactical win. Thus the allies will need to think long term in both Europe and Pacific to have a chance of minor victory. In my opinion this is a great outcome. No more Germany crushing everyone with no fear of losing and the added benefit of most games going the distance. Many of the aspects of Gold which I did not like appear to be gone in AoD (such as the excessive impact of unit experience and destructive power of Tac Bombers and naval bombardment of ground units). I expect as more games are played to conclusion that some potential adjustments will surface and may possibly include lower allied MPPs. However at this point in my opinion a great job. Congratulations! Hopefully other players will add their thoughts!

  13. I would ask gentlemen involved in the AoD Tournament their opinion about our victory conditions. Here are few thoughts of mine collected over many multiplayer and hotseat games still going on.

    First of all, it appears extremely difficult to contain Russians let alone beat them sure enough to free up german forces for the 1943-44 allied threat. In every test I have run and 2 multiplayers I have heard of, German forces were stalled long before they can take Moscow or Stalingrad. It seems Russia has questionnable starting Tech. Anyway, we can't change it now but we can adjust victory conditions.

    The main problem as I see it would be the obvious allied strategy players will quickly figure out. Among Seoul, Tokyo, Manilla, Berlin, Rome and Paris, the last one is by far the easiest to reach. Since the allied player only need one of those cities to get a win, it doesn't take a 10 hours analysis to conclude that EVERY things on hand should be thrown over there, air forces, fleets, land units for a massive, repeated assault on France.

    Now, here is my point. The russian front will absorb close to 70% of all german mpp/units available no matter how successful the axis player can be. In the short run- games ending in 1944 because of time/turn limitations- the allied player can virtually ignore the Pacific theater and concentrate 80% of his American, British forces on the Paris objective. The Japanese income and force pool are not big enough to turn japanese offensive into a winning drive before 1944. So the allied player will get away with his victory even if he has lost India, Australia, Alaska, Hawai, etc.

    My suggestion would be:

    A) the Allies need to take 2 of the aformentionned cities

    A+) The Allied need to take at least 2 of these cities, one in the Pacific theater ( Seoul, Tokyo, Manilla), one in the european theater ( Berlin, Rome, Paris)

    B) We give a score to a whole lot of significant cities in AoD ( for instance Bucharest, Cairo, Bakou, Bombay, Calcutta, Melbourne etc) Some would be 1 point victory worth, other 2, other 5, etc) I let you come up with your own list and rating.

    Time will tell if I am wrong but I do suspect Paris will be the winning strategy for most allied players. I also feel the burden on the Axis player is no trivial and requires an almost mistake-free game or unusual poor allied gameplay to bring him victory. Maybe some veterans with superior generalship can make it, I want to see it though.

    I am currently playing two mirror matches in tournament (my only experience with 1.02) and I agree with much of Monster Claude's analysis. It may be difficult to change rules for games in process but I favor option A. The other options all dictate strategy in some form and I prefer to permit Allies to choose their own battle plan. All my respect to Amadeus and his judgment.

  14. Amadeus: I would appreciate hearing other players opinions but I believe the highest level of interest in the tournament is when many players still have a vested interest. Eliminating half of the players after one match is in my opinion not the best approach. I believe participation not speed of tournament should be the goal. Three players per bracket with two advancing promotes continued involvement. I realize with 15 or 16 players this might complicate later rounds but I am confident you could overcome this issue.

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