-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Miller - 09:54pm Apr 21, 2003 PST (#1662 of 1671) MacArthurs War question (also posted on that folder) 1) May you trace supply via captured rail lines that are in the enemy country? Specifically may the NK use the Souths rail lines? This seems odd to me in that it allows the NK to avoid supply problems when far down the Peninsula. 2) The US has a division in Europe (the 43rd) that is not highlighted. How does the US get this? Should it be considered highlighted and available along with the other unit (the 1st division) when the GE units become available? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Anderson - 11:43am Apr 22, 2003 PST (#1663 of 1671) Holy smokes! People are still playing this one. 1) May you trace supply via captured rail lines that are in the enemy country? Specifically may the NK use the Souths rail lines? This seems odd to me in that it allows the NK to avoid supply problems when far down the Peninsula. As written they can. I didn't put that much thought into the supply rules. Did the NK have supply problems while they attack the Pusan perimeter? I suppose it could be played either way. It would make the game quite challenging if players are not allowed to use captured rails. 2) The US has a division in Europe (the 43rd) that is not highlighted. How does the US get this? Should it be considered highlighted and available along with the other unit (the 1st division) when the GE units become available? The 43rd is supposed to be a National Guards unit. Sheesh, 7 years in the public and you're the first to notice. Maybe you're the first to actually play the game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Miller - 04:39pm Apr 22, 2003 PST (#1668 of 1671) Rules Question - some cities (Inchon, Pusan) also have posts in them. Does that count as VPs for both the city (2) and the port (1) for a total of 3 VPs rather than 2? Observation - At total War the UN always wins the game. Just expend all your atom bombs (400 vs 36 max for a +36 DRM) in Europe and you will ALWAYS defeat Russia and win the game. Should Total War always be a US victory? You want to know an easy way to win the game? As the UN player, stop at the 38th parallel, do not cross the border, do not escalate to limited war. It is then up to the Communists to roll for a successful escalation. Then again, if you did that you'd be a yellow-bellied Commie sympathizer. We unfortunately spotted that already. The UN ships in enough units to win, but not go over the # of VP points in the South. The UN ALWAYS can win provided they make their escalation to Police action die rolls. If they fail once they are at risk. IF they fail both they lose. I think that in real life to just push the aggressor back without some sort of punishment should be a loss. The game shouldn't encourage the UN to play to win at the Police Action level. If the UN only retakes South Korea and goes no farther I consider that a minor loss. They stopped the Commies for now, but showed the Commies there is no downside to an invasion so they might as well rebuild and try again. Or maybe the KN get +1 VP per turn they hold Seoul, just to force the UN to go North. The problem is the Escalation/VP system should encourage the UN to go a bit further north. If the US pays the 3 VP penalty to escalate to limited war rather than the NK thats a 6 VP shift which is a lot. The game was not easy to balance as one would have to balance it at 5 escalation levels. To no one's surprise, I didn't actually do that. Instead, I tried to ensure appropriate historical results. The game is not unbalanced per se, it's just that victory can be... a little dicey. Don't use this game in a tournament. Instead, play the game for the historical experience A simple fix would be the UN loses the game if they just retake the south. Then they will pay the 3 VP to escalate and its balanced again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerry Anderson - 06:27pm Apr 22, 2003 PST (#1669 of 1671) Rules Question - some cities (Inchon, Pusan) also have posts in them. Does that count as VPs for both the city (2) and the port (1) for a total of 3 VPs rather than 2? Correct. Observation - At total War the UN always wins the game. Just expend all your atom bombs (400 vs 36 max for a +36 DRM) in Europe and you will ALWAYS defeat Russia and win the game. Should Total War always be a US victory? -800 VP each side for collateral damage. Both sides lose! A simple fix would be the UN loses the game if they just retake the south. Then they will pay the 3 VP to escalate and its balanced again. You're working on the premise that the game is broken, which it is not. The "easy" victory is a gutless victory. Besides the Chinese have two 2/3 chances of escalating to a limited war.