Ladies and Gentlemen: It is once again time to pour through the annals of A&A literature and ponder some of the big questions in life. What exactly does this game mean? What sort of impact does it have on the world? Than we must be referring to the club's more contemplative and intellectual side....... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------~~~The Havoc~~~---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- Ahh, April, springtime, the sounds of birds chirping in the air and soft wind whistling between the trees. Also the time when armies march for war, and this month we have an extra dosage of carnage, mayhem and the like, coming from our: -------> Game Of The Month <------- Delving through the folders, the game that surpassed all others in terms of drama, excitement, and intensity, was game #3490. Where, The axis forces of Crazyfust took on the allies led by Stimpdoggg, with the GM LrdOfDrems. Although I won't go into great detail about the strategy involved in the game, a few high points stuck out: Namely, Even by Russia #3, Stimpdoggg as the Russians had amassed 23 INF in Karelia. The U.S. Developed Super Subs and began building a navy in Alaska, ending the game with 7 trns, 8 sub, 2 CV, 4 ftr, 1 BB ready for an assault on Japan. This entire mayhem climaxed with a battle between the Russians and Japanese in Novo on round 15. Russians attacked with 27 inf, 20 arm, 2 ftr against a Japanese force of 43 INF!! That's 92 pieces involved in combat! After 7 rounds, the Russians took the territory with 1 INF, 20 ARM. What was the bid for such a drawn out and competitive game? The rather average bid of 19, 3 INF in Manchuria, 2 INF in Eastern Europe, 1 INF in Finland, and an extra IPC for Germany. Alas, the armies of the Axis could not withstand the ever-increasing power of the allies and were forced to surrender on Germany #15. Well, I will bore you no more with game facts and other nonsense. If you wish to read about this truly epic struggle, see the ongoing game folders. Now, on to other, more thoughtful areas of the game, like bidding. This unique institution adds a wealth of strategy to our game and allows us to express our individuality more fully (whatever that means). Here are the three top: ~~BIDS OF THE MONTH~~ In third we have the rather unusual bid of 7: 1 ARM in Libya and 2 IPCs for Japan from Lukent@ in game #3700 For second place, we turn in another direction for bids, the highly risky ---Tech Roll Bid-- In tournament game #3798, bx095@ bid 20: ~~~~~4 Tech rolls for Germany!~~~~~ Now, as his opponent, yours truly thought this to be a highly illogical and just plain stupid bid. However, luck was in favor of the Germans and before the game even begin, they had acquired HEAVY BOMBERS and INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY ::Sobbing again over my ridiculously bad luck:: Now we come to the BID OF THE MONTH Which also happens to be our Lowest Bid of the Month: In game #3701, a rather confident tirpetz bid -4; -1 IPC from Germany and -3 IPCs from Japan Ahh, how can we speak about Axis and Allies, without mentioning some thoughts on the late Fuhrer (Whose birthday we forgot to celebrate on April 20):\ "Adolf takes a trip to Paris with Eva and contemplates whether world domination is really all that necessary. Sure, it would be nice to finally have the right white people running things, and to have all the inferior races assume their proper rolls, but maybe now isn't the proper time for all of that. Perhaps an opera will clear his mind......" This comes from the ill-fated CrazyFust in our game of the month, #3490. Our next tidbit comes from those continual statements about why battles are being fought. Strategists, dictators, and presidents alike have rationalized their assaults through all time. However, here is one of the WORST excuses for battle from this month: "Hideki Tojo has a mad plan: cutting off England's tea supply. "It's so blasted cold and rainy on that smelly little island, they would all go mad without tea. If I cut off their tea, I'll give Hitler a break!" Japan BMB, 2INF from Indochina to India. BMB land Indochina" This piece from hogan@inet.net. We can't ponder the reasons for battle without thinking of the reasons for no battle. Here are a select few of this months: REASONS FOR DOING NOTHING "Stalin too busy with the purges :-)" mojomutt@ #3641 "No combat, no noncombat just cowardly hiding." Gotchell@ #3681 "German soldiers take advantage of a standoff and cease fire on the eastern front to challenge the British to a game of soccer. The Germans win 4 to 3 on a controversial last minute penalty shot!" done.......GOAL!!!!!" CRAZYFUST #3490 Let us now reflect on the true random element of our game. Every roll of the dice provides such an element of surprise and excitement to this game, and to life. But, occasionally, the dice will go arry and against the norm. For instance, GM Saretano in game #3681 was so fed up with the one-sided results his dice were producing that he announced: "Okay, I have sent my dice to a FBI lab to be checked out. I will make sure to keep you updated about any findings. In the meantime I will use these dice I bought in Las Vegas. ;-)" ::I'm sure they'll be much better:: This game also included a quark of the dice involving a German Battle Ship, commonly referred to as the Gray Whale. This unique leap in technology accomplished by the Germans held the UKsz from Germany #2 until Russia #4 when it was finally destroyed by the lone remaining Russian FTR. ~~In it's stay in the North Sea, it consumed 3 TRN, 6 FTR, and 1 BMB!!!~~ We can not have an deep discussion into the meaning of Axis & Allies without some poetry. This particular piece comes from a man who is devoted enough to the game (and a certain German general) to name himself after it: ~~A A Rommel~~ In challenging the nearly unbeatable master of the tournament, EnemyThine, Rommel expressed his feelings in some well thought-out poetry: EnemyThine! EnemyMine? Don't say you're busy, say now is the time! My foes were good, yet they went down, now I am after the top gun in town. Others have come, they plead and beg, hoping to take you down just one small peg. They boast and blow, and soon are gone, and all that you have to show is a yawn. I promise more, a battle royal! Your perfect record I'm aiming to spoil. So come ahead, don't let me down. Let's see if you can hold on to that crown! That concludes our look into the deeper meaning of The Game. But, before we close, one last thing: NAME OF THE MONTH -----IDioT15963----- ::At least he's not afraid to admit his true intelligence?:: That has been your April edition of the Havoc. From your deep-thinking author, "Discretion is the better part of valor" Your Knight Errant "Assist and Amuse", {>> Jon <<} Remember, if you have anything funny/interesting/creative/stupid about the club/your game please send it to me (I can't read absolutely every post on the boards). If there's anything I should change about the Havoc, let me know. And, make sure to let me know if you think you have a recently completed game for our Game of the Month.