Issue 3

July 2010 aaminis.myfastforum.org

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Unique IPs in the last 100 days: United States (US) 37,658 Canada (CA) 6,544 United Kingdom (GB) 3,183 Germany (DE) 2,729 Australia (AU) 2,505 Netherlands (NL) 1,881 France (FR) 1,261 Spain (ES) 1,170 Sweden (SE) 765 Poland (PL) 705 Italy (IT) 698 Belgium (BE) 638 Denmark (DK) 545 Romania (RO) 414 Japan (JP) 389 Austria (AT) 356 Czech Republic (CZ) 344 Hong Kong (HK) 339 Finland (FI) 307 Reunion (RE) 297 Norway (NO) 279 Philippines (PH) 237 Greece (GR) 216 Russian Federation (RU) 198 New Zealand (NZ) 196 Brazil (BR) 162 Argentina (AR) 156 Europe (EU) 147 Hungary (HU) 126 Portugal (PT) 109 Iceland (IS) 102 China (CN) 100 Jersey (JE)95 Ukraine (UA) 85 Turkey (TR) 77 Korea, Republic of (KR) 75 Croatia (HR) 73 Switzerland (CH) 64 Taiwan (TW) 55 Slovakia (SK) 54 Virgin Islands, U.S. (VI) 47 Singapore (SG) 46 India (IN) 46 Ireland (IE) 44 Luxembourg (LU) 42 Iraq (IQ) 41 Israel (IL) 41 Thailand (TH) 40

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Improving the looks of your AAM game Greek Navy in WAS Taking pictures of miniatures WAS probability tables AAM Scenario: SillaMount Belvedere Reviewing Condition Zebra A&A Campaign

Welcome to the third issue of the forumini newsletter. With an average of 650 unique visitor IPs every day, 50% from the United States and 50% from the rest of the world, our community appears to become increasingly international. It may be nave to deduce from this too much. Perhaps World War II or generally miniature games are becoming more popular globally or maybe our members travel a lot and cant refrain from visiting the

forumini during their holidays. In any case, being able to interact with people from practically every place in the world in the common language of gaming is a blessing and we may as well make full use of it. This issue features articles from Sweden, Romania, Australia, the UK and the USA. The focus is on practical info and practical advice, which is why we start with a splendid article by Baron on AAM game looks.

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Tired of your ordinary battlefield looks? Same old map, same plain looking green Sherman tank in your Army build? Did it happen to you? My first awkward moment occurred when my opponent asked me: Why all your grey tanks (Panzer IV F2) have the same number 316? So, of course, I have replied: For the same reason as all your Ronson tanks (Sherman) are plain green and dont have a number. Yep, they come out of the box like that. If you want to avoid the embarrassment of having all your Panzers identical, I could suggest how to improve the situation with minimum investment of time and money. So here it goes:AT fire. Just be careful not to hurt yourself either! If you are under 25 years old, dont do it, ask an adult! Use decals! A sheet of water transfer decals will cost you a few bucks and you will be able to customize many of your

tanks. Numbers, symbols, flags, all will transform a plain looking mini into something interesting. And if your tank already has a number on it, just apply a new one over, but be careful to use an obscure color decal number so it blocks the one underneath. This works mostly for vehicles, since planes are on a scale that makes it a little harder to find decals for. A few touches of paint wont hurt either! You do not have to be a master painter, neither do you need to buy all kinds of brushes and colors to do it! Be smart and choose 3 water based colors (the type used for painting those annoying plane kits, avoid enamel based colors though) and a thinner brush, the kind that kids use in kindergarten, and start!

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You dont have to use a primer, Aqua Colors from Revell can be applied directly on clean plastic (no dust!) without any risk. With White or Silver you can add kill rings on the barrels of your tanks (pick the long barreled tanks) or artillery. Also a few silver spots can be applied on the tracks and suspensions of the tanks simulating the metal to metal friction (as can be seen for the above Pershing). Black, Brown or a darker color can be used for painting exhausts, the tips of barrels, the shovels or tow chains present on some of the minis. What else? Well you figure it out, but keep it simple, 2-3 colors not more! Remember, you need to invest just a little time and even fewer money! Modifying your minis is also very easy to do. Gather your unused infantry that no trader will look at (like the Stalwart Lt. or the Tenacious Officer in the pictures), chop their heads off, with or without the body (sounds a little disgusting I know) and glue it over the hatches as if they seem to pop-out of the tanks. Remember you need to be quick, or they will bleed to death right?! For the tanks with Sideskirts you can punch a few small holes in the sideskirt (keep them small and superficial else you will hurt them!) in order to simulate AT fire. Just be careful not to hurt yourself either! If you are under 25 years old, dont do it, ask an adult! Most tanks had a hull MG, so you can try and add one, just glue a thin and short wire like material. Be careful where you add it, it should be as historical accurate as possible and paint it black! Artillery is even easier to tune up! Just glue to the bases a few infantry For example, the Panzerfaust or Mauser Kar miniatures are preferred for German guns crew, since they have that pose, just repaint the gun they are holding in black lets say (you have that color, we talked about that above), so they will look like carrying a projectile in order to be loaded into the gun (see photo with crew loading a Semovente self propelled gun). But what about Maps, you will say!? Thats even simpler! Buy a few model trees and put them over the hexes with

forest! No need for expensive trees, the cheap ones help the environment also! One tree per hex else your King Tiger will have trouble moving! City hexes? You can download some free paper models, print and fold them into 3D structures. Keep it simple, search for a simple model, a small house (see in the picture), you will find some nice models on the internet! Use the office printer to save further money! Last tip for the day is regarding the unit cards. We all remember the nice cards with artwork from the old sets. Since the arrival of Eastern Front, the cards got stripped of artwork all together and they are getting worse some say. Why? Most likely the game company wanted you to customize your cards, right? So what I recommend is you use that office printer and print either on sticker type of paper either on normal paper some relevant pictures with those units (just Google them for pics)! Then after you printed at a suitable size the unit picture, either stick it to the card, if it was printed on sticky paper, either slip it in the transparent plastic sleeve of the card. So, you get something like artwork and it will help you find the cards quicker. They also look cool, so multiple advantages. Same can be applied for the unrevised cards print the revised version of the card on sticker paper, then cut it off nicely and stick it over the old stats. Remember, the game is what you make of it!

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With a very useful G-class destroyer, a quirky armoured cruiser and a cheap coastal submarine, the Greeks are expected to see much more use in Allied fleets than the Dutch did in Set II.

carried the Greek government-in-exile back to liberated Athens. By the outbreak of World War II its speed had dropped from the original 23 to 17 knots, which in WAS should be speed 1. I cant blame WoTC for not knowing this though. You need to visit Averof to find out about such details. Luckily you can do so, as Averof is a floating museum in Athens. Proteus A Loire-Simonot type submarine, similar to the earlier Katsonis class, Y-3 Proteus was the first Greek submarine to be lost in World War 2. It was built in Nantes, at the At. and Ch. De La Loire, at a cost of 119,000 francs for the Greeks. Having sunk early, Proteus was the only submarine of her class that didn't serve under the control of the Royal Navy during the war. The fact that it didnt achieve much, makes it a curious choice of submarine for War at Sea.
19 Dec. 1940 - Proteus locates Italian convoy. Torpedoes and sinks Italian cargo ship "Sardegna" (11,452 GRT). Very quickly, Proteus is spotted by the Italian torpedoboat Antares. Antares drops 11 depth charges on Proteus, forces it to surface and rams it 40 miles East of Brindisi (4031'N, 1902'E). All hands lost. 10 Jan. 1941 - At 09:25, the Italian radio announces that a Greek submarine was sunk three weeks ago. On 19 Dec. 1940 Greek steamboat "Ionia" had intercepted the SSS distess signal of "Sardegna". As a result the Greeks were aware of the success of Proteus, but not of its fate until the Italian radio announcement.

Vasilissa Olga A modified version of the British G-class destroyers, Vasilissa Olga was the most modern ship of the Royal Hellenic Navy at the outbreak of World War 2. Together with her sister, Vasilefs Georgios, she was built by the British, but was fitted with German-made 127mm (5 inch) guns and 37mm AA guns. The installation of the armament was carried out in Greece as the Germans refused to ship the weapons to Britain. Until September 1943, when she was sunk by German bombers, Vasilissa Olga had distinguished herself as the most successful Greek ship in the war. Ironically, before she was sunk, she was known as the phantom ship of the Mediterranean destroyer flotillas, because of the several times she had escaped damage. Georgios Averof An immensely rich businessman and philanthropist, Georgios Averof (18151899) offered in his will 2,500,000 Gold Francs to fund part of the cost of a modern fighting ship. 12 years after his death, Greece bought from Italy a Pisa class armoured cruiser that was named after its sponsor. I doubt there has ever been a ship with more importance for a nation, as Georgios Averof fought off almost single-handedly the whole Turkish navy in the battles of Elli (1912) and Limnos (1913). During both battles, the ship suffered only slight damage, while inflicting severe damage to several Turkish ships. That earned it the nickname devil ship from the Turks, but more significantly allowed the Greeks to gain control of the Aegean Sea and liberate its islands. Amazingly, due to delays in the delivery of ammunition, Georgios Averof had fired its guns for the first time during the Battle of Elli. In 1941, Averofs crew disobeyed the orders to scuttle the ship to avoid capture by the Germans and sailed to Crete under constant threat of air strikes. In 1941-42, it was assigned to convoy escort and patrol duties in the Indian Ocean. Later, it was anchored at Port Said and on October 17, 1944, as the flagship of the exiled Hellenic Navy, it

If you want to expand your Greek navy with WAS repaints and proxies, the forumini navies can help. You will find there four Flower class corvettes (repaint of HMCS Sackville), two Katsonis class submarines (practically repaint of Proteus) and Vasilefs Georgios (Olgas sister). If you dont mind a lot about accuracy of model, you can also use proxies for land-based fighters and dive bombers, as well as the cruiser Elli and the survivor destroyer Adrias.

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If your pics are blurry and your camera won't cooperate Move back from the mini and try again. The mini might not fill the picture, but you can crop out the unwanted background later with either a program or an online service. The reason for this is that all cameras have a minimum focal distance. This is the distance within which the camera can not focus, if you move your subject outside this distance all is well again. Nrnstaswa also noted that if you have a macro option on your camera you should use it. It really helps in situations like this. On Canon cameras for example it's represented by a flower. Your camera focuses but the pics are still blurry and or dark Add more light. Either turn on more lamps or move closer to a window. Maybe you can move outside? The sun is the best light source. If you can't compensate with more light, then add stability. When there is insufficient light the picture will take longer to expose. And you can't keep your hand steady more than 1/50th of a second as a rule of thumb. So if your exposure is longer than that you need to fix the camera somehow. You can use a tripod or set it down on some books for example. Just as long as the camera stays still during exposure your picture should be sharp and well exposed.

sented by the 'f'-number, the smaller the number the more light the lens can let into the camera. More light is always good, but there is a trade off. The smaller the f-number gets, the short the depth of field gets. Depth of field is the area that becomes sharp and focused and it extends in front of and behind the focus point. If you have to use a small f-number because of lighting conditions but the depth of field becomes too short you can back away from the mini and try again. This lengthens the depth of field a bit and should produce a better image. You can also position your mini so that it is parallel to the depth of field,

that is you shoot it from the side on. Strange tints A lot of the times you get yellowish pictures from a digital camera. This is because the camera needs to calibrate the exposure to the color of the light illuminating the scene. A conventional lightbulb for example has a warm yellow light. Most cameras can do this automatically, but sometimes they get fooled. You can fix this by finding the setting in your camera called "white balance" and trying which setting produces the best results. You can also fix this with your computer if you have proper software. Happy shooting! And don't hesitate to post tips and questions at: http:// aaminis.myfastforum.org/about13939.html

Your pictures are sharp in some areas but not others MrKen brought this up. Your camera has something called an aperture which is the hole that lets the light in. It's repre-

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excellent histories read "And no birds sang" or "The Regiment" by Farley Mowat. Logres, who is Intel NCO, married his Fiance by proxy on May 10th. She left for Basic Training (US Army) in June to become a Combat Medic and Logres of course says that he misses her and sends her.

KondorsOverDakota Jr. Born 5lbs 14 ozs. 19.5 in long. Healthy and happy. Woohoo! Audacity was promoted Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Forces and given Command of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment. This much storied and decorated infantry Regiment is located in south central Ontario. For

Ehenry0623s 20th anniversary was last month and afilters 17th last week. RaySpruances wife got into graduate school. He is now looking to start his own business.

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Attack on Silla-Mount Belvedere, Italy Assaulting the Gothic Line February 18th, 1945 Historical Overview: The 1st Battalions assault against Riva Ridge was part of a larger operation conducted by the 10th Mountain Division and other Allied units, including the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, to seize commanding terrain in the central Apennines. In addition to the five peaks of Riva Ridge, the division attacked nearby Mount Belvedere and Mount Gorgolesco. However, the ridge was the 10th Divisions first objective since its capture would prevent the Germans from massing flanking fire against the units attacking Belvedere and Gorgolesco. Lieutenant Colonel Hampton chose to launch the entire battalion in a frontal assault targeting all five peaks simultaneously. He organized the attack by assigning a peak to each of the three companies in his battalion. The attack commenced at 7:30 p.m. on February 18, 1945. Except for the arduous climb over the rugged terrain, the units experienced few difficulties and encountered surprisingly little German opposition. At 1 a.m. on February 19, B Company reported receiving machine-gun and mortar fire; however, adhering to its training, the unit did not return fire and give away its position. Exercising tactical initiative, B Companys commander adjusted his units route of advance to move around the defenders. At 1:17 a.m. he reported Cappel Buso secured. By 4 a.m. four of Riva Ridges peaks were in American hands, and just before daybreak the detached platoon reported it had seized Pizzo di Campiano. Thus by 6 a.m. all five objectives had been captured. Maps: Map 7- Number is in the Upper Left Corner which is the SW Corner Replace Town & Pond Hexs with clear tiles. Adjacent to each of the five hills printed on the map add a hill hex tile on the north side and a mountain hex tile on the south side. 7 Turns Setup: German & Italian Forces deploy first on or south (adjacent) to the Hill Hexes. Fallshirmjaegers deploy as regular infantry. US & Brazil deploys second, anywhere on the North 1/2 of the map. Half Hexes are in play. US & Brazil have initiative for the first two turns. Darkness: Since it is night time, units on the map can only see up to two hexes away across clear terrain. In a hill, or mountain hex, the units must be adjacent to see one another. There is no defensive fire if moving adjacent through a mountain or hill hex.

10th Mountain Division Red Devil Captain 10th Mountain Division Soldiers X4 (Use M1 Garand units for Proxy with Custom Card!) M1919 X2 US Engineer BAR Gunner X2 M1 81mm Mortar X2 M8 75mm Pack Howitzer Brazilian Expeditionary Force Infantry X4 (Use Buffalo Soldier Stat card & units for Proxy) Kesselrings Tenth Army LXVI Panzer Corp MG42 Mauser Kar 98 X4 Light Mortar X2 Veteran Fallschirmjaeger Fallschirmjaeger Italian Forces Breda Modello 37 Italian Conscript X3 Italian Alpine Troop X2 Victory Conditions: 10th Mountain Troops must capture and control all 5 Hill Hexes by the end of Turn 7 for a Major Victory 10th Mountain Troops must control 3 Ridge Hexes and contest the other 2 for a partial victory Germans must control all 5 ridge hexes for a Major Victory Germans must contest all 5 ridge hexes for a Minor Victory

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Herky80: I am thrilled with what Condition Zebra provides to the game. New units all around, with new nations and new special abilities. All this means new fleet builds and tactics, which is why we all have so much fun playing the game and collecting the models. My particular favorites in this set are Gneisenau with Long Shot 6, Chikuma with Scout Planes and Fuso with Split Fire. For the Allies I like the Dewoitine D.520 for a cheap and effective fighter, Sunderland for its versatility and Georgios Averof for its tough heavy armour. Tincancaptain: As a set I feel the Axis came out ahead but still lag behind the Allies as several cards need errata and clarification. I give this set a 7/10. The following is a detailed break-up of all new units: HMCS Uganda - Cruiser - 1944 Tincancaptain: Finally Canada is getting something other than destroyers even if it is a repaint. Stats are low for a CL but thats to be expected and Flag 1 is probably welcome addition for the Canadian. However, it seems unnecessary in a nation that consists only of one proper destroyer, one half destroyer, and now one light cruiser. Early Warning Radar is frightening- Ive already suggested in my gaming group that this unit cannot be in a build that also includes US ships. Imagine ten dice AA from an Iowa eight dice AA at range one from a Missouri or a double nine dice shot from and Atlanta. 7/10 Barn - Carrier - 1939 Tincancaptain: Hurray for Vichy Wildcats! The guns and torpedoes are interesting on a carrier but I almost cannot call this thing a carrier with Slow 3 and Poor Facilities. 6.5/10 Herky80: You could look at the Bearn like a slow heavy cruiser with 1.5 basing cap and Expert Bomber. Not a bad deal for 15 points, boosting the Vindicator to a 9 bomb rating while having the ability to attack destroyers at range 3. For 28 points, the Bearn/Dewoitine/ Vindicator combo supplemented by one or two more Vindicators to get through enemy AA is not the worst idea in the world. For those who like to play the French anyway. D.520 - Fighter - 1939 Tincancaptain: If the BF-109 is the Wildcat of Europe then the D.520 is the Zero. Nimble needs errata but I expect thats already in the works. 7.5/10 Herky80: Before 1941, the Dewoitine is the only Allied fighter option and it is both well-priced and effective with the same stats as the A6M2 Zero. However, it lacks Escort and would be an inferior choice to the Martlet if you have Vindicators in your fleet. Lamotte-Picquet - Cruiser - 1939 Tincancaptain: Im on the fence with this one. Main Guns, AA, Armor, and Vital Armor all seem low for a 12pt cruiser. Add in a lack of a secondary and I start to feel like the French are getting ripped off with this unit.

She does make up for the low scores and missing secondaries at least in part with a two-dice torpedo attack at range two as well as being Frances only flagship but it is still only a Flag 1. Im not sure how valuable Scoutplane Attack is going to be its only for the first turn, can be stopped with an AA roll of three, and is only a two dice bomb attack (Whats the plane dropping a hand grenade?). 6/10 Herky80: I am trying to find some redeeming quality about it but have failed. Two bombs- seriously? For a second there I thought we were playing a WWI game. Provence - Battleship - 1940 Tincancaptain: Why anyone would take this over a Dunkirk is a mystery to me. One point more and you gain a (very) slightly better Main Gunnery, better secondaries, a tertiary attack, and Shore Support, but lose TD, Excellent Spotting, a die of AA, and get saddled with Slow 3, and it costs 1 point more. Only if someone really wanted to build a French BB fleet and had classed out the other two can I see this ship being reasonably included in a build. 3.5/10 V-156F Vindicator - Divebomber - 1939 Tincancaptain: Decent little dive bomber that is cheap but frail. At least it has Press the Attack, which is more than can be said for the Stuka. Export Version seems useless as both the US and UK have better options when it comes to dive bombers. 8/10 Herky80: In 1939 US and UK have no better options. Of course US has no options, but if playing a 1939 game and you field the Victorious with Expert Bomber, this unit could help. At 7 points, it costs the same as the Stuka, but with one less Bomb die and vital armor. But Press the Attack makes up for that and based on Bearn or Victorious and you have that one die back. It is therefore on par with the Stuka and should be fine against early German AA ratings. 8/10 Georgios Averof - Cruiser - 1940 Tincancaptain: What can I say other then poor Schleswig Holstein, Averofs main gunnery is a little lower, secondaries are a little better, armor, vital, and hull are all the same Averof lacks Holsteins point blank torpedo but has better AA, slow 2 instead of speed 1, a flag rating (Really? The French had to wait four sets and the Greeks get it out the door?!?) , and I know that Inspiring Example will see infinitely more use then shore support. All this Averof has over Holstein yet costs 4 points less. I think RB got paid off by someone :cough:ND:cough: for this unit to be this good. 4/10 (for being broken) Herky80: Cant say I really agree with my counterpart here, except for the comparison to S-H. The 6 armor makes me feel good inside and will be an effective counter to Italian ships, both the under-gunned battleships and plethora of cruisers they have. Greek-Italian matchups should be fun now. Proteus - Submarine - 1940 Tincancaptain: Well its better than Casabianca, but not by much. Risky Attack is interesting. 7.5/10

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Herky80: Compare it to the Ambra and it looks good to me. Of course now Italy has Da Vinci, but still it will be a great sub to use against Italy. Vasilissa Olga - Destroyer - 1940 Tincancaptain: Decent 7 point destroyer good ASW and torpedoes Guns and AA a bit light but to be expected for the price, Evade Bombs is an odd choice for a destroyers SA. 8/10 Witte de With - Destroyer - 1940 Tincancaptain: Nothing special torpedoes are underwhelming, guns nothing to call home about, AA is at least descent, and ASW leaves something to be desired. Protect cripple maybe useful but it is also limited. 7/10 HMS Cossack - Destroyer - 1939 Herky80: Identical in stats to Haida and Arunta with the exception that Cossack is available in 1939 and the other Tribals are 1942. The other Tribals also have Sub Hunter while Cossacks Special Abilities give a better defense and an extra torpedo against battleships. If playing a 1941 or earlier game, the UK Commonwealth had only one 5 ASW rated ship, the Javelin at 9 points. Now they have two. The u-47s 4 armour threat in early games makes bringing a 5 ASW rated ship important, and although Javelin with Smoke Screen and Sub Hunter is the UKs best choice, Cossack can hold its own at two points cheaper. 7/10 Tincancaptain: If I had a choice between Arunta and Haida, Aruntas Close Escort would always put her before Haidas Destroyer Hunter, but this is much harder to chose between due to Valiant Stand. HMS Royal Oak - Battleship - 1940 Herky80: The Royal Oak provides firepower equal to most other UK battleships at a much cheaper cost. However, this inexpensive ship also has the new Slow 3 SA and lacks a Flag 1 rating. But its guns wont jam and it has no fatal flaws. A great choice to add a second battleship to your fleet because at 41 points, you can spend the extra points on other units. 8/10 HMS Victorious - Carrier - 1941 Herky80: The first and only British carrier with the Expert Bomber SA, the Victorious is two points cheaper than Illustrious because it lacks the Sneak Attack SA. An Illustrious/ Victorious combination with two fighters, a dive bomber and torpedo bomber is a good tactic to now employ. The versatile Barracuda will benefit from the Victorious, dropping 9 bombs instead of 8, making its 12 point cost a bit more economical. 7/10 Sunderland Mk. 1 Herky80: This unit has many functions and will be busy hunting subs, bombing ships smaller than battleship size and if time permits, drop an aerial mine to make an enemy think twice about moving into or through a sector. No matter what your opponent brings, you will have a use for the Sunderland, making it well worth the 10 point price tag. 9/10 B-24D Liberator - Patrol Bomber - 1942 Tincancaptain: Bomb 8, Hi-Level Bomber enough said. 2/10 Herky80: I like this unit because it is a cheap air option and although it doesnt have Loiter, it does have the new SA Excellent Endurance, giving it a repeat performance. It will add a little sub harassment or bomb destroyers and cruisers, making it useful for the low price tag. USMC F4U-1A Corsair - 1943 Tincancaptain: Another US super fighter yeeee-

aaaaaazzzzzzzZZZZ , Im not even going to get into the cost comparison. You know the one. 6/10 Herky80: The gold standard for a fighter option. In larger fleet builds, it will make an appearance to target that #1 bomber you most want to shoot down. Or roll 11 dice to try to destroy a fighter. USS Allen M. Sumner (DD 692) - Destroyer - 1944 Tincancaptain: US version of HMS Javelin better AA and Raider (What did this thing Raid?) For a point less. 7.5/10 Herky80: ASW of a Saumarez! Looks like the best US destroyer but alas, the year is 1944. The Smoke Screen/Sub Hunter combination is the best you will find in a destroyeraside from perhaps Close Escort. This should make an appearance in every late war US build. USS Houston (CA 30) - Cruiser - 1941 Tincancaptain: Good prewar heavy cruiser, stats are solid, Flag 2 is unneeded for the US but now they have a 1941 option other then Enterprise. 9/10 USS Lexington (CV 2) - Carrier - 1941 Tincancaptain: Ive been waiting for this ship. My granddad was on her and he has always been my personal hero having this ship is personally great. That being said, how the hell is anyone supposed to sink it? Armor 5, Vital 12, Hull 5, TD, and AA7, the best way to kill US super planes is to (Try to) take out the carriers under them but good luck trying that with this ship. 6.5/10 USS S-37 (SS 132) - Submarine - 1941 Tincancaptain: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ahhh, Worn out Boat, at least Casabianca is no longer the worst sub in the game. 9.5/10 for being such a good punch line. USS West Virginia (BB 48) - Battleship - 1941 Tincancaptain: When did this ship exist? She has the radar and AA abilities of after she was refit and the secondary tertiary armaments she had before sinking at pearl. Im used to ships and planes having their earliest availability and latest stats but this has both late and early armaments it is neither pre nor post refit?!? 6/10 Herky80: The new Radar Solution SA should make night battles difficult for opponents who were once happy to avoid ER4 shots. Once die might not sound like much, but when cracking that tough battleship armor or going for a vital, it could make a difference. And the West Virginia seems to be a great price for what you get. Arkhangelsk - Battleship - 1944 Tincancaptain: Finally a real battleship for the Soviets not a glorified heavy cruiser. Slow 3 means shes a slug but at least the gunnery, AA, and armor are all up to BB standards inactivity is humorous. 8.5/10 Vainamoinen - Cruiser - 1940 Herky80: Vainamoinen is a strong but slow cruiser with ER4, good AA but no torpedoes. We see the emergence of a new Special Ability here, the Coastal Deployment. This adds to other Axis SAs such as Lead the Attack, Establish Screen and Flank Speed that bring units close to objectives early in the game. 7.5/10 Tincancaptain: This thing is a really powerful, expensive, sinkable, shore battery, compared to what the Greeks got, Vainamoinen is disappointing. 5/10

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Fi167 - Torpedo Bomber 1940 Tincancaptain: Decent plane but not needed by Germany at all. 5.5/10 Herky80: This unit makes larger early-war games possible with another air option for Germany. Gneisenau - Battleship - 1939 Tincancaptain: Hurray! TD Long Shot 6 (it really should be against carriers but hey, Im not complaining) its everything Scharnhorst should have been. 10/10 Nurnburg - Cruiser - 1939 Tincancaptain: Kln with Mines instead of lead the attack Ill take it. 7/10 Z32 - Destroyer - 1942 Tincancaptain: Holy ... a destroyer with range three gunnery, descent AA, and good torpedoes. 10/10 Herky80: I think range 3 for this destroyer is going to be huge when dealing with enemy destroyers that cannot fire back. Sub Hunter is nice too. This truly makes Germany much better. Ascari - Destroyer - 1940 Herky80: A nice cheap little destroyer that has a great 5 ASW rating- which Italy needs. It has less guns and armor than Luca Tarigo, and lacks Sub Hunter, but makes up for that in price and ASW rating. Smoke Screen might keep it alive a little longer, considering it has a 2/6 armor/vital rating. Pair it with the Sub Hunter Pegaso so that once they do reach a submarine, something is intact to drop depth charges. 8/10 Caio Duilio - Battleship - 1940 Herky80: Caio Duilio is a good size to supplement Veneto or Littorio. A solid all-around battleship with ER4 and TD1 along with the new Covering Fire SA. Covering Fire might as well be called Draw Fire, causing players to attack this unit the next turn, to avoid the penalty. A good improvement over Cesare- for three more points you buy Covering Fire and Flag 1. 8/10 Leonardo da Vinci - Submarine - 1940 Herky80: +1 Vital and Hull for only two more points will make Italian players choose Da Vinci over Ambra every time. Fighting Instinct is an interesting SA that will be exciting to try out and can apply to many other units. 9/10 Trento - Cruiser - 1940 Herky80: A solid Italian cruiser with a little bit of everything- good guns, torpedoes, armor and all at a fair price. If you can only choose one Italian cruiser, this one is a good choice. High Speed Run combined with Establish Screen could put Trento challenging objectives very far out front early. 9/10 Z506 B Airone - Patrol Bomber - 1940 Herky80: At least it is a little better than the LamottePicquets Scoutpane. The ASW Pinpointer could make the Tarigos 3 ASW average instead of just plain terrible. 5/10 Agano - Cruiser - 1942 Herky80: A Yahagi without the Flotilla Leader or Flag 1 but with Night Fighter and one point less. Agano is the cheapest IJN cruiser of choice and consider combining it with Myoko, Jintsu, Murasame and Yukikaze for a darkness advantage (but at a steap price). 6.5/10 Chikuma - Cruiser - 1941 Herky80: This unit will find its way into most Japan fleet builds. Chikuma adds a +1 bonus to all torpedo attacks

against one ship. Combined with Emily, it will give Jill three torpedo dice at range one not only once per game but every turn. Now who is complaining about US air cheese? 10/10 Second opinion: Now who is complaining about US air cheese? Still me. But Chikuma really is a great unit. 10/10 Fuso - Battleship Herky80: This is the Yamashiro without Flag 1 but with one die better main guns and 1 point more in cost. Unmask Guns is replaced with the new Split Fire SA that essentially improves the secondary guns by weakening the main guns. Firing two ER4 shots with eight dice each against cruisers or smaller battleships is the real beauty here. 9/10 Second opinion: Fusos gunnery still falls behind other 12 x 14 gun battleships but it is better then Yamashiro for sure. 8.5/10 Junyo - Carrier - 1942 Herky80: Expert 2 is always a nice bonus over the usual 1, and at 15 points, Junyo is a great purchase. Although armor 2 causes this ship to stay in the back, it will probably find its way into a sector with Tone as both provide bonuses to bombers. 8.5/10 Tincancaptain: Sure shes fragile but Determination can quickly make this ship the most annoying carrier the IJN can bring, I have loving memories of Exeter running around crippled until she killed the last enemy battleship with torpedoes. 9.5/10 Matsu - Destroyer - 1944 Herky80: A little destroyer that has a bit more punch with Long Lances to attack with and an ability to protect the Kinai Marus. Although weak armor makes it vulnerable to strafing fighters, the Matsu has decent AA and ASW ratings with an opportunity to hurt any ship. 7/10 Murasame - Destroyer - 1941 Herky80: This is an Isokaze that is one point cheaper at the expense of 1 main gunnery die. To replace that disadvantage, Murasame is a Night Fighter. But since youll be hunting subs with this ship any way, choosing it over the Isokaze makes sense if you need to save some points. 8/10 N1K1-J "George" - Fighter 1944 Herky80: George will delight IJN players who have faced US air and lost. Although the George costs one point more than the Corsair, since you cant choose one over the other, it doesnt really effect the game much. Who wins on a one point fleet build advantage anyway? 7/10 Second opinion: Fair is fair and this is neither when compared to the Corsair. Until errata is issued I won't be using this unit. 4/10 Suzuya - Cruiser - 1941 Herky80: Suzuya is a solid heavy cruiser which has effective main guns with a +1 bonus against destroyers. Torpedo Swarm throws one more long lance into the mix, which could get deadly when added to Aobas Aggressive Tactics and Ois Torpedo Run. If timed right, there could be a lot of long lances in the water at one time. 8.5/10 Tincancaptain: Torpedoes are a little disappointing compared to Nachi and Aoba classes, but the AA and Torpedo Swarm make up for it. 9/10

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F o r u m i n i

A x i s

a n d

A l l i e s

C a m p a i g n N e w s B y a f i l t e r

The foruMINI has launched our first Axis and Allies Campaign. This game is modeled after the original Axis and Allies Campaign started by WoTC in 2007. Form the original campaign announcement 4/13/2007 by David Devere: Think of it as a massive multiplayer online board game. The board games will be our strategic determiner, defining where and when. The miniature games will resolve the battles and this website will be where you, the commander of the forces, will get your new battle orders and submit youre After Action Reports. Each battle, every build, every loss and every victory has an effect. Unlike a scenario each battle will directly affect the course of the war. Your ability to execute the orders from High Command will determine what forces are available for the next turn and how High Command will proceed. Unlike the original WoTC campaign game we are putting our own foruMINI spin on things. First off we now have access to the king of all Axis and Allies Board Games "Axis and Allies 50th Anniversary Edition" which is the basis for all the strategic movement that determines which great battles will be fought. In the coming weeks and months you, the members of the foruMINI, will have the opportunity to refight some of the largest battles in history as well as many that never happened using your Axis and Allies Minis and War at Sea Fleets at home or here on the foruMINI using the online gaming forum. Once again it is 1941 and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. You are challenged to take command of Armies and decide the fate of a nation as well as the world. As an Admiral you may be asked to fight a desperate struggle to stave off massive advancing forces with a rag tag fleet in order to buy valuable time. Are your command abilities be up to the challenge? The ForuMINI campaign officially started June 3, 2010 with Round 1 The battle begins: http://aaminis.myfastforum.org/about14434.html Round one is now complete and Round two is scheduled to launch in early July. The second round will finish up the

fighting in 1941 and conclude the first full turn of the AA50 Board game that the campaign is based on. So far the Axis has dominated the world stage. Germany has struck deep into Russia before finally being stopped at the gates of Leningrad. Japan is still running rampant across Asia and the Pacific. The Japanese Army continues to sweep across the Far East striking at the UK and China. They have also neutralized the threat from the United States by wiping out any Far East naval presence and invading the Philippines as well as destroying the USN Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Round two will see the UK, China and the U.S. attempting to strike back at Japan to stave off the Imperial Japanese onslaught. Italy will also become a player on the world stage as they try to succeed when Rommel failed in North Africa and continue to maintain an Axis Presence while the Desert Fox regroups the Afrika Corps. How does this work?

If you have not already been participating in the campaign it is not too late to start. Anyone can play at anytime. Each round of the campaign contains a narrative of the current situation on the game board and a number of battle tickets which are scenarios generated from actual engagements on the AA50 game board.

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Once the time has expired for the current round the results are all calculated and then applied to the AA50 game strategic board. Each round we intend to have several battle tickets with a mix of both land and sea engagements so everyone can get something from it. If you play strictly AAM then just fight out the land battles and the same for WaS players. Of course the action on the strategic game will determine what battles will be fought, so it may not always be even. Additionally, some battles on the strategic board are so lopsided when converted to AAM and WaS that those battles are simply resolved using the AA50 game system. The Campaign Moderators will determine which battles will get a battle ticket and which ones are resolved on the strategic board. Round one is complete, and round two is just starting, so there is plenty of time to join in on the fun. Make sure your troops are ready to move. Prepare you fleets for action. The world is depending on you. Are you ready to rise to the occasion? To get more information on the campaign please check out the new ForuMINI Axis and Allies Campaign forum: http://aaminis.myfastforum.org/forum69.php Come join the action....the battle for world domination has begun!

SPONSORED BY

Miniature Market is proud to support such an involved and active community. We will continue to appreciate this customer base and do what we can to make expanding the product. lines easy and affordable. www.miniaturemarket.com

Field Marshal Games is proud to sponsor the Axis & Allies forumini. FMG is committed to bringing the Axis & Allies community the best in accessories for the miniatures and board games. Check out our site to see what we offer, including Combat Dice, Custom Dice Towers and more. www.FieldMarshalGames.com

12-7-Games is a proud sponsor of the forumini. We are committed to the Axis & Allies community by offering the broadest selection of AAM/W@S miniatures, including the hard to find, out-of-print miniatures. We recently added Field Marshall Games, Fantasy Flight and Avalanche Press board games and accessories to our growing list of items. Please visit our site to see what we offer at http://www.12-7-games.com

Zazzle is not a sponsor, but for each sale there is a small commission that goes to the foruminian designer of the product. Products include the ww2 airborne assault tie, buttons for every kind of achievement during an AAM or WAS game, hats, mugs, t-shirts depicting ww2 tanks, aircraft and ships, etc. www.zazzle.com/forumini TrollAndToad.com is excited to be a sponsor of the Axis & Allies Forumini! If you have any questions about Troll & Toad, feel free to send a PM to Murdokopolis on the forum. www.trollandtoad.com

This third issue of the newsletter was compiled by NeuralDream