Post by Admin on Dec 17, 2018 14:22:23 GMT
Hi guys,
need some tactical advice?
I had some contrasting feedback on the balance of the starter packs lately, so I thought I could offer some tips on how to use your teams most effectively…
First of all, the basic principle in 1-48TACTIC is that there isn’t a win all, good for everything, super hero Character that will win the game for you, until you have to buy the next new one and so on… I know a lot of games are like that and I realize we are probably shooting ourselves in a foot from a marketing point of view here, but we always wanted to make a balanced and enjoyable game for all, so if you are looking for a system where you can buy yourself an easy victory sorry to disappoint you, this is not it.
Now, with that out of the way, you need to look at each Character and see what he is best at and what he is not good at. Learn to know your soldiers and play in a way to make the best use of the strength of your team and avoid to get into situations where they can not give the best.
One aspect where there are always big differences is combat range: weapons optimized for close combat are not as good at longer distances, and conversely the opposite is also true.
Coming to the specifics of the starter packs, the US team has a clear advantage at a distance, with 3 out of 4 troopers armed with the excellent M1 Garand, which can be aimed effectively and also allows two shots per turn.
Even Kelly’s carbine, while it is certainly not the best weapon in play, can still throw 1+1 dice twice per turn at long distance (L distance in game terms, not that long a distance at all really, but basically “not very close range”) which is already twice better than what any of the German MP40s can do.
They are also all well trained, with at least 4 actions allowed per turn. This gives the US team a total potential firepower at “long” distance which is pretty awesome: 1+1, 1+2, 1+2 and 1+3, twice, that is a grand total of 24 rolls assuming you have enough ATs for it, obviously. Also consider that every single one of those attacks, including Kelly’s, can potential roll a double 6 critical hit.
On the other side the Volksgrenadier are armed mostly with small calibre automatic weapons that can belch out a very effective burst of lead at short distance, but are very unlikely to hit something further away, especially if it is well covered: the two MP40s can roll only 1 dice albeit twice (so no chance for a critical here), the k98 is a pretty decent weapon that can deliver a solid 1+2, but is a bolt action rifle and so can shoot only once per turn, and the fearsome sturmgewehr, while being easily the more versatile, glamorous and innovative weapon in play can still only deliver a 1+2 twice at L, which is no better than any of the American M1s. Total potential firepower is therefore only 13 rolls, dramatically less than the US theoretical one, just over half in fact, although in practice to achieve these totals you’d need an unrealistic amount of ATs anyway… also worth notice that at L range their overall chance to score a critical is less than half that of the Americans.
Now look how things change dramatically at short (S) range: the US theoretical total is still considerably higher at 1+1, 2+2, 2+2 and 2+3 twice, so 32 potential rolls, while the German one now becomes 2+2 once, 3,3 and 2+2 twice, 24 total potential rolls; still less, but much closer… but what really makes a difference here is the AT cost to deliver that firepower, while the Americans would require a pretty unlikely 16 ATs to roll all their 32 dice, the Germans could roll all their 24 for a much more reasonable 10, and can effectively deliver 20 rolls for only 8 ATs (if Christian shoots twice without aiming). Not only that, but most of them can do so while moving, possibly even moving twice, which would cost the GIs an additional 4-8 AT, giving the Heer the ability to seriously outmanoeuvre their opponents.
Alright, so these are just theoretical numbers that will realistically never happen in a game, but what all this shows is that the US have a clear advantage so long as they keep the battle a shooting at a distance contest, while the Germans immediately gain an advantage as soon as they can get into close combat range…
So, to wrap it up, US should try to start in, or quickly move to, good covered position as far back from the enemy as possible, then play turkey shooting.
Kelly’s Command Ability is best employed in boosting the firepower of one of his best placed team mates, allowing him to move and then shoot twice, both times aiming and/or then take cover afterwards. Staying well spaced out is critical in reducing the German ability to curtail the incoming fire using Opportunity, Suppression or Smoke Grenades.
The Germans on the other hand need to close in as fast as possible to gain the upper hand. This is usually best achieved leaving Dietrich behind in a support role, using Opportunity Fire from the back if possible, to cover his kamerads advance. Christian sturmgewehr makes him perfectly suited to work as a hinge in the middle, first helping Dietrich to cover the others, then joining them in the final assault. Depending by the situation could be better to rush in at full speed or move more gradually forward in smaller steps using Move and Fire, but in any case it is always very important to find a way to limit the ability of the US team to take carefully aimed shots at will…
This is not the end of the story yet, though. The Airborne is made of well trained, well fed, selected men in their physical prime, while the Volksgrenadier divisions were organized around small cadres of hardened veteran soldiers, NCOs and officers, but then bulked out with anything that was available: former non-combat personnel from the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe, wounded soldiers from broken formations returning to duty from hospitals, older men who would have been considered too old or too unfit for the peacetime army and under age teenagers were recruited into the ranks. This is reflected in their hand to hand values, and thus the American here are again at an advantage, so if the Germans get too close, rushing at them with the combat knife could be a better (if risky) option than wait to be sprayed by a shower of 9mm bullets...
Hope you’ll find this helpful, try it out, let us know and above all, have fun!
Cheers,
Claudio
need some tactical advice?
I had some contrasting feedback on the balance of the starter packs lately, so I thought I could offer some tips on how to use your teams most effectively…
First of all, the basic principle in 1-48TACTIC is that there isn’t a win all, good for everything, super hero Character that will win the game for you, until you have to buy the next new one and so on… I know a lot of games are like that and I realize we are probably shooting ourselves in a foot from a marketing point of view here, but we always wanted to make a balanced and enjoyable game for all, so if you are looking for a system where you can buy yourself an easy victory sorry to disappoint you, this is not it.
Now, with that out of the way, you need to look at each Character and see what he is best at and what he is not good at. Learn to know your soldiers and play in a way to make the best use of the strength of your team and avoid to get into situations where they can not give the best.
One aspect where there are always big differences is combat range: weapons optimized for close combat are not as good at longer distances, and conversely the opposite is also true.
Coming to the specifics of the starter packs, the US team has a clear advantage at a distance, with 3 out of 4 troopers armed with the excellent M1 Garand, which can be aimed effectively and also allows two shots per turn.
Even Kelly’s carbine, while it is certainly not the best weapon in play, can still throw 1+1 dice twice per turn at long distance (L distance in game terms, not that long a distance at all really, but basically “not very close range”) which is already twice better than what any of the German MP40s can do.
They are also all well trained, with at least 4 actions allowed per turn. This gives the US team a total potential firepower at “long” distance which is pretty awesome: 1+1, 1+2, 1+2 and 1+3, twice, that is a grand total of 24 rolls assuming you have enough ATs for it, obviously. Also consider that every single one of those attacks, including Kelly’s, can potential roll a double 6 critical hit.
On the other side the Volksgrenadier are armed mostly with small calibre automatic weapons that can belch out a very effective burst of lead at short distance, but are very unlikely to hit something further away, especially if it is well covered: the two MP40s can roll only 1 dice albeit twice (so no chance for a critical here), the k98 is a pretty decent weapon that can deliver a solid 1+2, but is a bolt action rifle and so can shoot only once per turn, and the fearsome sturmgewehr, while being easily the more versatile, glamorous and innovative weapon in play can still only deliver a 1+2 twice at L, which is no better than any of the American M1s. Total potential firepower is therefore only 13 rolls, dramatically less than the US theoretical one, just over half in fact, although in practice to achieve these totals you’d need an unrealistic amount of ATs anyway… also worth notice that at L range their overall chance to score a critical is less than half that of the Americans.
Now look how things change dramatically at short (S) range: the US theoretical total is still considerably higher at 1+1, 2+2, 2+2 and 2+3 twice, so 32 potential rolls, while the German one now becomes 2+2 once, 3,3 and 2+2 twice, 24 total potential rolls; still less, but much closer… but what really makes a difference here is the AT cost to deliver that firepower, while the Americans would require a pretty unlikely 16 ATs to roll all their 32 dice, the Germans could roll all their 24 for a much more reasonable 10, and can effectively deliver 20 rolls for only 8 ATs (if Christian shoots twice without aiming). Not only that, but most of them can do so while moving, possibly even moving twice, which would cost the GIs an additional 4-8 AT, giving the Heer the ability to seriously outmanoeuvre their opponents.
Alright, so these are just theoretical numbers that will realistically never happen in a game, but what all this shows is that the US have a clear advantage so long as they keep the battle a shooting at a distance contest, while the Germans immediately gain an advantage as soon as they can get into close combat range…
So, to wrap it up, US should try to start in, or quickly move to, good covered position as far back from the enemy as possible, then play turkey shooting.
Kelly’s Command Ability is best employed in boosting the firepower of one of his best placed team mates, allowing him to move and then shoot twice, both times aiming and/or then take cover afterwards. Staying well spaced out is critical in reducing the German ability to curtail the incoming fire using Opportunity, Suppression or Smoke Grenades.
The Germans on the other hand need to close in as fast as possible to gain the upper hand. This is usually best achieved leaving Dietrich behind in a support role, using Opportunity Fire from the back if possible, to cover his kamerads advance. Christian sturmgewehr makes him perfectly suited to work as a hinge in the middle, first helping Dietrich to cover the others, then joining them in the final assault. Depending by the situation could be better to rush in at full speed or move more gradually forward in smaller steps using Move and Fire, but in any case it is always very important to find a way to limit the ability of the US team to take carefully aimed shots at will…
This is not the end of the story yet, though. The Airborne is made of well trained, well fed, selected men in their physical prime, while the Volksgrenadier divisions were organized around small cadres of hardened veteran soldiers, NCOs and officers, but then bulked out with anything that was available: former non-combat personnel from the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe, wounded soldiers from broken formations returning to duty from hospitals, older men who would have been considered too old or too unfit for the peacetime army and under age teenagers were recruited into the ranks. This is reflected in their hand to hand values, and thus the American here are again at an advantage, so if the Germans get too close, rushing at them with the combat knife could be a better (if risky) option than wait to be sprayed by a shower of 9mm bullets...
Hope you’ll find this helpful, try it out, let us know and above all, have fun!
Cheers,
Claudio
