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The Errant Knight Himself:
AxisSpec
Games
played: 204
Wins: 113
Losses: 91
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I've got 3 wives, 9 kids aged 33 to 84, and 6 grand-daughters, and we all live in the tourist capital of the world ~ Las Vegas. I used to be a part of the rat race within the casinos, where I dealt poker for about 54 years, but have since become semi-retired and have been taking it easy driving a taxi around town. It was my driving which eventually led to my decision to retire from Havoc, when I was offered a weekly column writing about my experiences. I've been writing "Cab Driver Diary" on a weekly basis since Jan 5th for the Las Vegas Mercury, but enough about the unimportant stuff.
S.S.: Viva N.Y.C.
HS: WOW!! Don't know what you're smoking there AS,but do us all a favor and send some to Rewster and HighC!
HS: When did you start playing a+a?
The same year Milton Bradley released the boardgame. I thought it would be dumb, no comparison to Risk or the 8-bit computer games I was into back then, like Miner 2049er.
HS: What do you love most about the game?
It's infinite possibilities. There are so many different factors involved in any one turn or round that even using the same opening moves and strategies never results in two games being exactly alike. This is also the reason that they could never possibly make a disk version of the game which has AI with an IQ in the double, let alone triple, digits. Look how long it takes a chess program to figure out its turn looking several moves ahead...and it only has 1 piece to move at a time!
HS: What do you hate most about the game??
High Cmmdr's dice rolls.
S.S. My old boss also loved to lose Only win I ever got. Read Havoc and see how well the HC does on the other end of the dice
HS: Do you prefer allies or axis?? Why?
Ummmm.....what's my name? Duh! I'm not sure exactly why, maybe because the German guys are gray, or maybe I just like playing the role of the underdog. I think it's because the Axis is more fun to play with, they're always attacking instead of just moving guys around the map.
HS:What's your favorite bid?
It varies, but it always contains a German sub in AZO and an inf in Lib and Kwa. If I think I can get more I'll add to this, but that's my bare bones bid.
HS:What's the craziest bid you ever faced?? Did you win??
My buddy bid minus 100 in a f2f game. I lost at least once to that bid, but I'm pretty sure I beat him when he bid minus 200...
HS:Who's your favorite opp?? Why?
Jeez, there've been so many it's hard to pick just one. Blackwatch would probably have to be my choice simply because he was one of the funniest opponents I ever had. It takes a lot to make me laugh, but he'd often have me cracking up.
HS:Who was your toughest opp?? Why?
That would be Rewstr, and because I never beat him. I don't know what it is about him. Just when I think I have him on the ropes it's like I fall asleep, and then wake up to find we've switched sides. I don't know how he does it, but he always does. Of course, I really suck.
HS:What was your sweetest vicory?? (tell us all about it)
Beating the cr*p outta High Cmmdr in my 1 out of 63 games against him.
HS:Any strategic wisdom for the masses??
Play guys like Rewstr, Spud and High Cmmdr for experience. Play guys like me for points.
HS:What was the best thing you did with Havoc?
I think the best thing I did with it was to make it a regular part of IAAPA. There were 2 writers and 8 issues in more than a year's time before I started putting it together. I decided to turn it into a monthly feature and met that goal for what? 20 issues? It was really cool to release it and then see that 200 people had visited the page in the first day.
HS: Do you miss writing Havoc?
Sure. I had a lot of fun doing it.
HS:Do you plan on returning to it?
Well, if you don't do a good job with it, or start slacking off and missing issues, I just might be tempted...
HS:What's your favorite thing about the IAAPA?
I'm kinda partial to the "P". The games, dummy, the GAMES!
HS:Any pet peeves??
Poor sports, like Gen Pyle. I once played a game against him where he bought nothing for the UK on UK1, and had moved all of the planes out. He'd forgotten about my German fleet and all my ftrs in WEu. Naturally, I was able to capture the UK on G2...and then he had the gall to say something like, "Nice dice." How many dice do you need when your opponent is just plain stupid?
HS:You are a very prolific player in the club.. do you find yourself glued to your pc to the detriment of 'real' life?? Are you an admitted addict?? :)
Well, as far as I'm concerned, my PC is real life. My wife is just background noise, know what I mean, Vern? And yes, I am an addict, and don't ever plan to change....not until I beat Randy.
HS: Now if only we can get a volume control for that 'background noise'... I use music (see Schmidt House) to drown it out...
HS:Any thing else you wish to share??
I got a nice semi-nude photo if you'd like?
S.S. Yes he does and he keeps it right by his bed!!
H.S. Hmmm... Is there something about Castle Havoc you guys forgot to mention??!!...
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This Months Catch:
EtherealWarrior
Games Played:8
Wins: 4
Losses: 4
EW is also an elected member of our supreme court
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My name is Aaron and I live in Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada. I am currently working for the Federal Government until the fall
when I am off to law school. I still like to live the college lifestyle,by partying on the town spending the fistfuls of diamonds I make from the
government(a man can dream). I play lots of computer games, especially RPG's. I am also an avid follower of the Sopranos, WWF wrestling and Law
and Order. It only makes sense thatI would spend my spare time
re-enacting World War 2.
I first played A and A in my first year of University, around 4 years ago. My room-mate owned the game, and in the 5-6 times we played(sometimes with other people) I ALWAYS played the allies and
ALWAYS lost!(which is why I find all the whining about the game being unfair to the axis amusing). I have yet to meet this opponent again since joining the club.
I prefer the allies because they are more flexible. You can goof up in the early game as the allies and still keep playing for a few rounds, even if you ultimately lose. One big misstep for the axis and you are dead before you know what hit you. My wins and losses are almost even with each side so it is apparent that I am equally bad at playing both sides, even if I do prefer the allies. Plus, in contrast to the great
Brutus, I like to play the "good guys."
HS:What do you love most about a+a?? What do you hate?
EW: I love the purchasing options, including tech. I love being able to sink all my money on pretty battleships(even if it loses me the game).
The thing I like the least(even though it is part of what makes the game so good) is the importance of the early rounds. One of the biggest complaints I get from new players I recruit for face to face games is
that a few errors in round one ruin the rest of the game for them since they can never recover. For example, there is just no way you can explain WHY EEU or KAR can't be lost permanently yet WEU can be traded back and forth to someone who hasn't seen a game through.
HS: Have you found a favorite bid yet?? Does it work?
EW: My first bid was a paltry $6 and I think I even won with it(my opponent had to conceed for other reasons). When my current strategy idol HIGHCMDR spoke of the virtues of 21 power Europe bids I was sold. This is the way I like to play the axis. Insurance in Europe so I can try the risky stuff in Africa and Asia. It also lets me play the allies a lot which is what I want. Recently I have been dropping it to 18 just so I can build my axis skills. I can honestly say that my losses as axis can never be blamed on the bid.
HS: What have you learned in your first few games??
EW: One word: INF. INF are boring. INF are slow. They just sit there. They are also the most important purchase any country can make. Some countries have to worry about getting their INF around the map, but it
is still the best buy. I would still rather buy battleships. I have also learned, because INF is what I HAVE to buy, I have to be more careful with planes, which aren't easy to replace, especially as
Germany. In my last game I threw away somany axis planes(bad dice had a lot to do with this) and it killed me. Another thing, there is no such thing as a "sure win" battle. The best units miss1/3 of the time. That's why
we roll.
HS:Do you have a plan to scale the IAAPA ladder??
EW: I have several plans to scale the ladder.
Plan A: get better at playing the game by learning something from every game. It seems to work, but I keep finding NEW things to screw up.
Plan B: Infiltrate the IAAPA government starting with the judiciary(no one would expect the elected supreme court justice to scheme!).
Plan C: Since I am relatively young, I could just outlive the better players until, in my senility I qualify for general stars.
HS: What are you gonna teach the ol greybeards??
EW: If I can ever do something that an experienced player hasn't seen happen before, then I will be extremely impressed. If said action doesn't result in me losing said game, all the better.
HS: How did u find the IAAPA??
EW: I first saw a link for this club on a strategy web site. I was looking for tips and pointers. When I visited this site, I wasn't allowed to look at the strategy pages until I was a member. The rest is
history.
HS: What do like about the club?? What do you dislike?? How would you change it??
EW: I like the fact that everyone here wants to be here and contributes something to the club. I like the fact that my inane questions on the BBS are actually answered. I like the fact that I can play 4 games at
once to get my war fix.
I joined almost a year ago, just before the summer controversy. I was disappointed in that because it brought out the worst in some of the members. All in all though, I think the club is stronger now than it
was a year ago, and I'm glad I stayed.
My biggest peeve is the logs/ranking system. I understand that it is a
hard, thankless job, but nothing is more frustrating then having your rank not reflect what it should be. And why is the newest log still 7995? The only other thing that bothers me is "shelfers." Those whose
response time changes exponentially when a game stops going their way. Everyone is busy, and we all have times where we fall behind. But those jerkweeds who send a turn a day when winning and drop to a turn a week
when a key battle goes against them really #%!& me off.
HS: You have joinded the ITSL.. tell me about your team...
EW: "Team Fresh Meat" was never going to be our team name. It was just a hook to draw other rookies into the team. That was before I realized the format of play was still one-on-one! My team is called, "The Insurgents" and our mantra is that we will overthrow the status
quo. We're all new to the club and we intend to disrespect authority with style!(except the supreme court). My teammates are, Atulla and Patrick4. They are both extremely gifted players and I consider it an
honor to serve with them.
HS: Anything you wish to add??
EW: Thank you to all the people who voted for me last month!
HS: It's nice to see these young pups getting involved!! It's an extra bonus when they let old dogs like AS win a game (8211). ;) Happy Hunting Insurgent!!
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Govt. Who's Who:
Quality Control Guy : STIMPY
Currently I am the IAAPA Quality Control Manager which is part of
the Legislative branch of government. I view my position as an intermediary between the
members of the IAAPA and the Minister of Internet Operations. As a
Legislative officer, I represent the membership.
Members with questions/concerns regarding club information and/or policy
should contact me if that information isn't readily available on the web
pages. I can either direct them toward the information or discuss the
scenario with the Minister of Internet Operations to make sure that if the
information warrants it, to have it posted on the internet.
In addition, I'll periodically surf the website myself for inactive
hyperlinks, or bring to the attention of the Minister of Internet any faults
brought to my attention from any members.
Question: What one thing would u change (if u could) to improve the club??
Stimpy: This is simple. I'd like to see more information available to the
common membership pertaining to game logs and game reports. As it stands,
game logs are in a dismal back log. Which is why I am told that they cannot
be accessed from a player(s) game history. However, the game logs provide
crucial information for those who desire to research it, and it is not
available. Not only that, but several high ranking players have very little,
to no, game logs listed as even being submitted. Yet the IAAPA currently
requires game logs to be sent in in order to recieve full credit for a game
to be played. So I see two choices here. (1) Improve the speed at which
game logs are made available to the membership, or (2) remove the requirement
of having any game log at all.
In addition to this, I would like to see the Game Results page for a
particular game include the itemized bid results. It is redundant to tell
membership that they can look up the game log for a particular game to get
that info when in fact the game log is not available.
Tell us a little about yourself:
I'm a long time A&A player....WAY back when it first came out. One fine day
many years after that, Stimpy got on the internet. With the wealth of
information out there, he sought out fellow gameplayers. It was then I found
the A&A Club on AOL. So I signed up, amazed there were actually 2nd Edition
Rules! Shortly thereafter, I had my second A&A game, complete with 2nd
Edition Rules.
My first game with the A&A Club was #520, my most recent game is 8431. So
I've been involved before IAAPA was actually IAAPA.. In that time I have
held every rank from Private to Gen*. I religiously seek opponents in the
player pool and will leave no challenge unanswered, from any player, when my
name is posted. I promptly remove my name when I can handle no further
games.
As with everybody in the IAAPA, I love this game greatly. Many a night has
been spent--to the disgust of a significant other--churning out turns when
the 'ole email box was full. By volunteering some of my time helping the
game and the IAAPA along,I can return the favor the IAAPA has given me:
many, many players of all skill levels.
As I routinely have problems with spam email, I highly suggest somebody
emailing me to have A&A somewhere in the subject title if seeking to contact
me for the first time :)
Stimp
Reach Stimpy HERE!
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