Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: composer99

Per the rules:
1- All on-map Reserve and MIL units (and all such units on the production track) are moved to the reserve pool when an active country becomes neutral.
2- All Reserve and MIL units in the force pools are removed from play

If the neutral major power once again becomes active, the units in the reserves are placed face-down on the map whenever the power calls out its reserves, and the units removed from play are returned to the force pools.

Edit: Edited after checking the rules.

quote:

Neutral major powers can’t have MIL units. When you go to war, add
your MIL units to your force pools. Reserve MIL units would be
placed on the map instead (see 9.6).
If at the end of any peace step your major power is neutral, remove its
MIL units from the game until you are next at war with a major power
(see 13.7.3).

quote:

4.1.2 Special additions
Neutral major powers can’t have MIL units. When you go to war, add your MIL units to your force pools.
Reserve MIL units would be placed on the map instead (see 9.6). If at the end of any peace step your major power is
neutral, remove its MIL units from the game until you are next at war with a major power (see 13.7.3).

quote:

9.6 Calling out the reserves
...
When the USSR comes to peace with Germany, move any reserve units with a “Germany” reserve status that
are either on the map or in the production pool to the reserve pool. Remove from the game all such reserve units in
the force pools.
When you come to peace with every major power (i.e. you are neutral again), move all your reserve units that
are either on the map or in the production pool to the reserve pool. Remove all reserve units in your force pools from
the game.

quote:

13.7.3 Mutual peace
If you are now a neutral major power, remove any MIL units designated Reserve you have on the map or in
the production pool and place them in the reserve pool. [Correction. Any other of your MIL units that are on the
map are placed in the reserve pool and are treated hereafter as regular (i.e., designated) reserve units - 2008 WIF
Annual.] Remove all your remaining MIL units from the game until you are next at war (see 4.1.2).

quote:

ORIGINAL: composer99

If the Germans are ready to go in March/April (except for the Caucasus front) then they should probably start the war and let the Japanese catch up next turn. It's not like the USSR is going to pile a big garrison in the Far East (yet another reminder, IMO, of how the USSR is much too weak in WiF).

As far as China goes, giving the US a boost from 40% to 50% chance of declaring war is probably not worth it (although I believe the die roll modifier also goes from -1 for Japanese units in an unconquered China to -2 for China being conquered) for a surrender. IMO I would wait till next turn when the US passes the oil embargo.

quote:

The top priority options for the US to pass in March/April are Resources to USSR and Oil Embargo. Lendlease to USSR is top priority in May/June.

US/CW need to crank out convoys to bring lendlease to USSR. Assuming factories can't get to Murmansk (they can rail to Archangel, too), the Allies can ship in 3 bp, 1 to Murmansk and 2 to Archangel, while the latter port is not frozen.

quote:

13.7.6 Surrender
...
Treat the surrender of a home country as a complete conquest (see 13.7.1) of the major power if it doesn’t
control any aligned minors. Otherwise it is incompletely conquered. [Clarification. Halve the US Entry effect of the
conquest of a country that surrenders - 2008 WIF Annaul.]

quote:

9.4 US Entry
When attempting to declare war on Japan:
-2 if China has been conquered.
-1 if China hasn’t been conquered but a Japanese unit is in China.
+2 if the US fleet is not in Pearl Harbor (see 13.3.2, entry option 26).

quote:

During any peace step, you can surrender a home country of a major power that controls less than half the printed factory stacks in the home country. You can surrender a home country with no printed factories if there is an enemy land unit there.
Treat the surrender of a home country as a complete conquest (see 13.7.1) of the major power if it doesn’t control any aligned minors. Otherwise it is incompletely conquered.

quote:

ORIGINAL: composer99

In the spirit of this still being part of the beta test, I suggest that the Chinese surrender and we see what happens with regards to the US DoW die roll modifier (and maybe ask ADG for a clarification while we're at it).

quote:

ORIGINAL: WIF_Killzone

This USA DOW talk aginst Japan has me thinking, if you are given the opportunity for USA to declare war on Japan first, can you position USA forces (plan and position for it now?) for a preemptive naval strike against some of the japan fleet? Would like to see the look on Yamomoto's face.

quote:

ORIGINAL: composer99

I may have mentioned upthread that US naval forces can base in the Philippines from the start of the game (e.g. US subs or convoy raiders in place) but I'm not sure if it had any traction.

Otherwise it's hard for the US to actually do anything during a surprise impulse vs Japan. Can't leave non-convoy naval units at sea between turns so no start-of-turn port strikes; can only move 1 unit per naval move while neutral so no setting up an unexpected surprise impulse invasion.

If the US has AMPH or Marines + TRS in Honolulu it can certainly look at surprise impulse invasions. How well-garrisoned are the Japanese remote bases of the Marshall & Caroline Islands (especially Kwajalein & Truk)?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

quote:

ORIGINAL: WIF_Killzone

This USA DOW talk aginst Japan has me thinking, if you are given the opportunity for USA to declare war on Japan first, can you position USA forces (plan and position for it now?) for a preemptive naval strike against some of the japan fleet? Would like to see the look on Yamomoto's face.

Well, this isn't as easy done than said. In preparation for war with the CW, much of the CV fleet has moved to Canton, which is out of range of everyone except the "holding" fleet at Honolulu. I can pre-position that fleet for a strike on Tokyo or Canton and replace at least part of it with ships from San Diego, but if I don't have 10 BB and 2 CV in Honolulu, I get a +2 to the DOW die roll, which means a greater chance of failure. Additionally, the fleet might do some damage, but it would die extremely quickly after it did that.

The Japanese, fully expecting to have the USA make the DOW rather than the other way around, has held back from the forward positions that might make this a viable option. Even the SUB fleet at Pago Pago is too short-ranged to be a serious threat to the Japanese convoy lines just yet. The sole purpose of a DOW would be to get 10 extra BP per turn and to scare Japan. It also improves the odds of a DOW on the EuroAxis by 10% if the USA is already at war with Japan.

quote:

ORIGINAL: WIF_Killzone

quote:

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

quote:

ORIGINAL: WIF_Killzone

This USA DOW talk aginst Japan has me thinking, if you are given the opportunity for USA to declare war on Japan first, can you position USA forces (plan and position for it now?) for a preemptive naval strike against some of the japan fleet? Would like to see the look on Yamomoto's face.

Well, this isn't as easy done than said. In preparation for war with the CW, much of the CV fleet has moved to Canton, which is out of range of everyone except the "holding" fleet at Honolulu. I can pre-position that fleet for a strike on Tokyo or Canton and replace at least part of it with ships from San Diego, but if I don't have 10 BB and 2 CV in Honolulu, I get a +2 to the DOW die roll, which means a greater chance of failure. Additionally, the fleet might do some damage, but it would die extremely quickly after it did that.

The Japanese, fully expecting to have the USA make the DOW rather than the other way around, has held back from the forward positions that might make this a viable option. Even the SUB fleet at Pago Pago is too short-ranged to be a serious threat to the Japanese convoy lines just yet. The sole purpose of a DOW would be to get 10 extra BP per turn and to scare Japan. It also improves the odds of a DOW on the EuroAxis by 10% if the USA is already at war with Japan.

Well its all about positioning well in advance isn't it, according to ones strategy. Considering that a savvy US player would notice what the Japanese are up to (i.e. their strategy) by the way its fleet is positioned...etc, the US player would naturally re-position his (or her units)--are there any chicks that play this game??, hmmm). geez, now that was a speed bump, hehhe.

As i was saying, the US player would re-position his fleet to counter japans strategy...but, at the risk (which may be too high) for an opportunity for a counter-strike by Japan on the repositioned US fleet (assuming the benefits to Japan were worth the change in its strategy...my brain hurts.

Moreover, in real-life(hmmm), a country was going to declare war, it would'nt normally just declare it to bump up production, it would have the assets in place, or nearly in-place to stick-it to em. It also wouldnt declare war if it was not ready. But, thats real-life.

Just a thought as I continue to ponder if chicks play this game .

quote:

You can’t move Allied land and aircraft units [Emphasis mine] to the Philippines until either you have chosen this option or an Axis land unit has entered the Philippines. Thereafter, there is no restriction.

quote:

ORIGINAL: composer99

The rule for the US entry option allowing the US to reinforce the Philippines states:

quote:

You can’t move Allied land and aircraft units [Emphasis mine] to the Philippines until either you have chosen this option or an Axis land unit has entered the Philippines. Thereafter, there is no restriction.

No restriction on naval units is mentioned.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Red Prince

quote:

Changes Since Versions 09.03.05
(as of January 18, 2012)

13. 9.03.05 Post #1 Michael January 9, 2012
Surrender. Not all reserve units are removed from the map.
Fixed - January 17, 2012. I changed the code so all reserve units go into the reserve pool when a major
power is at peace with all other major powers. Non-reserve militia units go into the future force pool. I also
added missing code so the country specific reserve units are moved back into the reserve pool once the two
major powers come to peace (e.g., if the USSR conquers Germany, then the USSR reserve units specific to
war with Germany go back into the USSR reserve pool).

Almost, but not quite there. This came up in the AAR, and here is all the information I found that might relate (all taken from the Rules as Coded):
-----
Note: Underlined text is what I see as pertinent to the discussion.

quote:

4.1.2 Special additions
Neutral major powers can’t have MIL units. When you go to war, add your MIL units to your force pools.
Reserve MIL units would be placed on the map instead (see 9.6). If at the end of any peace step your major power is
neutral, remove its MIL units from the game until you are next at war with a major power (see 13.7.3).

quote:

9.6 Calling out the reserves
...
When the USSR comes to peace with Germany, move any reserve units with a “Germany” reserve status that
are either on the map or in the production pool to the reserve pool. Remove from the game all such reserve units in
the force pools.
When you come to peace with every major power (i.e. you are neutral again), move all your reserve units that
are either on the map or in the production pool to the reserve pool. Remove all reserve units in your force pools from
the game.

quote:

13.7.3 Mutual peace
If you are now a neutral major power, remove any MIL units designated Reserve you have on the map or in
the production pool and place them in the reserve pool. [Correction. Any other of your MIL units that are on the
map are placed in the reserve pool and are treated hereafter as regular (i.e., designated) reserve units - 2008 WIF
Annual.] Remove all your remaining MIL units from the game until you are next at war (see 4.1.2).

This last part is key, and I think it overrides the others. MIL that are on-map go to the Reserve Pool and are treated as Reserve units until the nation is next at war.

quote:

When you call out the reserves:
- move your eligible reserve units from the reserve pool to the map immediately in the same manner as reinforcements (see 4.2) except that they are set-up face down; and
- put your eligible reserve units that have previously been removed from the game back into your force pools. [Emphasis mine]

quote:

ORIGINAL: composer99

Second, based on what we have seen so far in this AAR, it seems to me that Red Prince is generally skilled at single-theatre action for each major power (witness Germany's triumphs in France and then Spain and Italy's victory in Egypt as well as the Japanese victory in China); by contrast it seems he is not as skillfull when a major power has multi-theatre responsibilities (e.g. the difficulties the CW has encountered). For a more recent example, consider how the deployment of the German expeditionary force to the Caucasus was suboptimal both in scheduling and in unit composition.

(All that in addition to being barraged by piles of advice and suggestions from players with different viewpoints & play styles.)

quote:

ORIGINAL: composer99

RAW 9.6 also has this section:

quote:

When you call out the reserves:
- move your eligible reserve units from the reserve pool to the map immediately in the same manner as reinforcements (see 4.2) except that they are set-up face down; and
- put your eligible reserve units that have previously been removed from the game back into your force pools. [Emphasis mine]