• Hey guys I just started playing A&A with a friend of mine and wanted to start playing online too, so if there was a site I could check out or a whatever any heads up on that would be greatly appreciated :)

    Also, I just wanted to get some veteran input. My buddy has played AA lots in his lifetime, and he crushed me with the allies in our 1st game. I found myself very overwhelmed as the Axis; it always seemed like there was too much to do. Examples:

    1. Defending Germany: I found that his attack with Russia was something I couldn’t ignore, so I retook the Ukraine on my 1st german turn. However this lead to him then taking Norway with the British. I found that with Germany the longer it went on, the harder it was to defend myself. Was I making poor tactical decisions with Japan by not pressuring Russia? which leads me to my 2nd point

    2. Japan: My 1st move with Japan was to take Hawaii. I won a completely decisive sea and ground battle, taking the Island with no casualties. in turn 1 I also conquered China, and failed to win in India. (overstretching myself I imagine). I loved the Japanese, unlike the Germans it felt like I had some freedom. In my 2nd turn I sunk the English fleet near Australia, but I felt like I wasn’t doing enough to put pressure on Russia by leaving them to their own devices in Asia. I felt like I had committed a cardinal war sin here; I was attacking the English navy, English ground forces in Europe, American fleets, and yet I probably did Germany no favours.

    Some veteran advice would be really appreciated thanks for reading :)


  • hey white out,

    i find gametableonline.com has a good free java version of the game.  some people have technical difficulties there but if it works for you it’s IMO alot easier than emailing a board back and forth.

    re: your observations as axis.  It is pretty typical for germany to slowly get ground down if the game goes long enough.  They can make some headway in africa to offset this, and of course tactical decisions matter alot, but in the end if all 3 allies focus on germany it’s up to japan to come to the rescue.

    as japan, killing fleets is nice to do, but successfully landing or producing large amounts of ground forces in asia is your best measure of success.  You can choose to hit russia earlier or india earlier, but either way you need alot of ground forces to finish the job.  This means building industrial complex’s or building and protecting new transports.

    Also important in that dynamic is to make the most of your battleships, coordinating with transport attacks and air force to fight and win coastal battles with a huge advantage, minimizing your losses.  If japan can dominate asia then when germany starts to get beat down japan is ready to take up the work of beating on russia.  Getting enough land troops into the pipeline is the key to getting this done.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Get a free copy of Abattlemap.exe (most widely used mapping program) or TripleA (second most widely used mapping program because it also does dice results for you) and you can play here or at aamc.net or at flamesofeurope.de and I’m not sure, but DAAK.de might still be around too.

    (PS, I prefer battlemap.  It takes a game to get used too, but once you do, it’s the most darn efficient program on the internet for axis and allies and it is usually the first one to be upgraded to new flavors of the game as they are released.)


  • If you are looking for diffrent strategies you may wish to try going to the Yahoo group named “Caspian Sub.”

    They have several strategies and game concepts that you may wish to consider or at least just simply be awear of.

    Try Googleing “Don’s Essays”  my most people he is considered the pioneer of written strategy for A&A.  He also coined many turms used today such as the “Infantry Push Mechanic.”

    Good Hunting

    LT


  • Hey White Out. Pretty much what everyone above said.
    Germany can do a lot in the beginning, but what you definitely want to keep an eye out for is to position your Luftwaffe in such a way that it poses a threat for any allied naval unit.

    Your opponent will either land ground forces and loose it’s valuable transports afterwards, or it will refrain him from landing in total, setting them back 1 or 2 rounds.
    IMO it’s very hard for Germany to both be on the defensive, and threaten Russia decently, so Russia should be Japan’s main target, snatching every possible IPC on the way there.

    As for online play, drop me a mail at wouter.dewever(a)home(dot)nl, and I can show you how TripleA works and set up a game.


  • @Woodstock:

    Hey White Out. Pretty much what everyone above said.
    Germany can do a lot in the beginning, but what you definitely want to keep an eye out for is to position your Luftwaffe in such a way that it poses a threat for any allied naval unit.

    Your opponent will either land ground forces and loose it’s valuable transports afterwards, or it will refrain him from landing in total, setting them back 1 or 2 rounds.
    IMO it’s very hard for Germany to both be on the defensive, and threaten Russia decently, so Russia should be Japan’s main target, snatching every possible IPC on the way there.

    As for online play, drop me a mail at wouter.dewever(a)home(dot)nl, and I can show you how TripleA works and set up a game.

    Germany should keep the Luft Waffe in W Europe.  They will (1) watch over the pacific, (2) can still support the Eastern Front and (3) can bring an allied invasion of Africa to a halt.

    Something else that I don’t think was discussed above was that yes Japanshould move into Asia to Moscow but Germany should move south into Africa.

    LT


  • Exactly what I meant LT, but I didn’t want to hand it to him on a plate ;)

    Btw…I’m confused. Could be a typo, or it could be my lack of english vocabulary or geography…but euhmmmthe Pacific =/= Atlantic right…right?


  • I also recommend the Caspian Sub group. They have around 20 or so “policy papers” that range from basic tactics to nifty strategies to abstract (and funny) discussions.

    The one you don’t want to miss talks about punch, count and skew – which are how powerful a force is (whether offensive or defensive), how many units are in that force, and how quickly that force loses its power when it takes casualties. That may sound like a lot, but it’s really just some basic math. Those three measurements can go a long way, because while you’re getting games under your belt and learning the normal strategies, purchases, etc., it’s always useful to kinda know when it’s a good idea to attack, fall back or sit still. And you have to make that decision with just about every single unit on the board every turn. So punch, count and skew basically just help you be really efficient with your troops so that when they die, they go down swinging.


  • @Woodstock:

    Exactly what I meant LT, but I didn’t want to hand it to him on a plate ;)

    Btw…I’m confused. Could be a typo, or it could be my lack of english vocabulary or geography…but euhmmmthe Pacific =/= Atlantic right…right?

    You are correct I made a mistake.  :-)

    @LT04:

    Germany should keep the Luft Waffe in W Europe.  They will (1) watch over the Atlantic, (2) can still support the Eastern Front and (3) can bring an allied invasion of Africa to a halt.

    Something else that I don’t think was discussed above was that yes Japan should move into Asia to Moscow but Germany should move south into Africa.

    LT

    I grew up in California near the Pacific ocean.  Moving to the east coast I still some times mix up the two.  :-)


  • thanks for all the help and tidbits guys. I’ve spent a lot of time on gametable with all countries, except germany, who continue to just annoy me. Not easy being the focus of all that attention! I’ve really developed a strong japan and uk strategy, and, well, the US strategy is very straightforward

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