David Bohnenberger - 05:23am Aug 22, 2000 PST (#304 of 692) I am posting some answers I got from Tom D in reply to questions I sent several weeks ago. I realise that much of this has been hashed out here and may be in the "new" rules, but here it is anyway...#3 and #5 may be of particular interest. 1) Can Player 2's Naval units use their 4-hex move to join in a battle at their own base? NO. That would be attacking (even if defending). 2) How about Player 2's Air units? 4.5 states that Air units may use the 4-hex move only if they do not attack. Is this considered an attack? NO. Same story 3) Can marines retreat by sea if they are the defenders in a battle? Only if their side controls the sea part of the hex. That is, marines cannot retreat through enemy naval units in the same hex. 4) Is there any difference between US and British/Dutch bases? (besides supply lines?) By the rules, it seems that ANY Allied units can rebase to ANY allied base. However, the map boxes are a little confusing. South Africa, for instance, says "Rebase to BRITISH MAJOR Base". As the Japanese, I was a little annoyed when a pile of US units showed up in Calcutta just as I was about to strike. The rules right now say the US move to Calcutta was OK. Limiting US strategic movement to US bases only has some big problems re defending FIJI and AUSTRALIA. It's annoying at times for the Japanese player, but not unreasonable given the level of Allied codebreaking, and it only really works if the Allies go first in a turn. Had the Japanese attacked Calcutta first then the US units could not have moved there in the 2nmd turn. 5) Are US and British PPs separate? By the rules, I think not, but the example on page 9 shows them clearly separated. They are separate PPs. The British player has India, Burma. Singapore, South Africa, Australia, and what survives of Dutch East Indies. These points are used only to build British Commonwealth units. American points build US units. This area of the rules gave me heaps of trouble as you can probably tell from section 7.0. 6) What happens if a unit retreats into a battle hex in excess of the stacking limits? We assume they are destroyed. Yes. David Bohnenberger - 05:12pm Aug 23, 2000 PST (#330 of 692) Here are some more clarifications from Tom D...The first one I guess is obvious (I just wanted to be sure!) but the other two should be of interest. 1) In 5.5 "Retreats" it seems to me that step 2 should mention that defending air units (without army support) will retreat from attacking army units - unless I'm wrong about this. I assume this is the correct way to play because of the mention in 4.32 and also the rules of the original "Victory". Please tell me if I'm wrong. Your interpretation is correct. Army units displace enemy air units and gain land control from enemy naval units (although enemy naval can blockade and maintain sea control). The normal three rounds of combat are still fought when possible, meaning the enemy air and/or naval units can attempt to eliminate or force the army unit to retreat, but if they fail then the ARMY/AIR/NAVY control priority applies. 2) In 5.6 "Regrouping" it is confusing as to which player is the "Victor" in a blockade situation. We are playing that neither player may regroup in these situations, but this is just a made up rule. There are really two possibilities here: 1. Neither player has won the battle yet so neither can REGROUP. 2. Each player can Regroup what they can move into the blockade hex. That is, the player with naval control can regroup naval units, and the player with land control and regroup army or air units. Army units cannot regroup by sea. Army and Air units that regroup into the blockaded hex might be unsupplied and subject to attrition. LIke you, I prefer the first option because it is cleaner and easier. 3) There seems to be some argument about 7.3 "Merging Units". We assume that the merged units need to have the same capabilities. The obvious example involves merging regular and "Elite" battleships, but some units with the same cost also differ slightly. And what about merging units of different nationalities? No funny stuff here. Merging units must be EXACTLY the same unit type or no can do. Nicholas Barker - 01:30pm Sep 10, 2000 PST (#385 of 692) "If there are many more back home like you," a British officer tells one of the heroes, "God help anyone who goes to war with America." One American pilot says: "We're not anxious to die. Just anxious to matter." - Dialogue from Pearl Harbour. I had a reply from Columbia to a few rules questions I sent before I went on holiday. Interesting to see that the Dreaded Decoy Rule has been permanently binned as unworkable (it reminded me of Tri-Tactics). Many thanks for the response and for the helpful new 1.1 rules for PV, which I think is a very successful and enjoyable game. A couple more points, if I may: 1) Am I correct in thinking that you cannot merge units of different nationalities or combat values, even if of the same type? Eg British/Australian units or Elite/non-Elite naval units? Units must be EXACTLY the same to merge. 2) I find it almost impossible to understand how the Decoy rule works and more clarification would be very helpful. In particular, I don't understand the reference to being only able to use units which have been built as decoys, not units from the production pool. Delete the decoy rule. It was an attempt to formulate a rule for creative cheating and it simply is not working as intended, and confuses everyone. 3) Can the Japanese trace supply through China? NO. They can trace up the east China coast Hainan-Formosa-Shanghai provided they maintain Sea Control of those hexes. But they cannot trace through an all-land hexside in China. 4) Can infantry move 2 as per page 1 of the rules even though this is not specified in 4.7? Yes, but the only place where it is practical is Australia. Everywhere else (I think) infantry must stop (because of terrain) after moving one hex. Two-hex Sea Invasions are OK, of course. 5) If the Fanatic Defence optional rule is used, is this mandatory or optional for the Japanese player in each combat? Mandatory if there is NO retreat; otherwise optional. I'm curious how a Brit sees the game. The Pacific is such an American thing on this side of the Atlantic that the British, Indian, and Anzac part of the war is typically overlooked or undervalued. Regards TOM Bob Titran - 04:25pm Oct 10, 2000 PST (#422 of 692) Buffalo, NY Got an e-mail today from Tom at CG with answers to a couple questions. Here's a summary- Q1) Can infantry units cross an all-sea hexside as part of a regroup move? While the movement rules suggest no, the regroup rules state "any/all adjacent units." A1) No. Nor can they Rebase and then Regroup, etc. Q2) Do infantry get the double movement if not attacking and moving toward a friendly base as described on page 1 under operational moves? It would appear that this particular rule is obsolete (as air and naval units now move 4 hexes, rather than double movement). A2) Delete the last sentence mentioning double movement on page 1, Operation Movement. This rule, as you say, is obselete. Air and Naval movement is covered in 4.5 and 4.6 respectively, but we must add to Army Movement 4.7 a rule that Infantry units can move two (2) hexes (subject to terrain) if not attacking, and Marines can move four (4) hexes. Steffan O'Sullivan - 10:30pm Jan 8, 2001 PST (#527 of 692) Plymouth, NH, USA I just got e-mail from Grant at Columbia Games (yes, they do answer e-mail!). I asked him the question I asked above: can a one-round strategic attack (Carrier Raid, Sub Patrol, or Strategic Bombing) pin a force by itself, with no other units present, assuming they do not retreat on their turn during the first round and survive. His answer: Yes. Steffan Jeff Petraska - 07:52pm Feb 2, 2001 PST (#575 of 692) Starting a new career as a Rules Lawyer Hey guys, I'm back! I see you've managed to reach a concensus, and it agrees with my interpretation (yeah!). Let me just cap off this discussion with the official answer, received via e-mail from Grant D. during my absence: "My friend and I played this game last weekend for the first time, selecting the 1943 scenario. As the Allied player, I found myself constantly paying 15 PP to "recharge" my SHQ so I could make sea invasions, thus preventing me from doing much to reconstitute my eroding combat forces. We played under the belief that an SHQ is reduced by one point for each strategic move point used during the turn, so after making two sea invasions the SHQ unit is reduced from 4 to 1. I'm not sure if that's the correct interpretation of rule 4.8, which might also be interpreted to read that an SHQ is reduced by 1 point after all available strategic moves are performed for the turn. Which interpretation is correct; is the SHQ reduced by 1 point for each strategic move spent in a turn, or for each turn in which one for more strategic moves are used?" no! the SHQ is turned down one step per activation. Ie with a 4CV SHQ, you get 4 moves and then the SHQ goes to 3CV. grant