so by uk 6, they need 7+ fighters in Moscow to stay comfy, and if they can do that, then the Germans must wait till G9 to have a shot due to the whole 12 stack coming in on R7
Moscow Crush
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I’ve been thinking about a strategy to try in my next game as the Axis in which Germany and Japan both pull out all the stops to take Moscow.
Here it is:
G1:
Build 1 factory upgrade, 1 infantry, 1 artillery, save 3.
Attacks:
sz106: 2ss vs. 1dd
sz109: 1ss, 1ftr vs. 1dd
sz110: 1ss, 3ftr, 3tac vs. 1bb, 1ddThe purpose of these attacks is to eliminate Britain’s transports and destroyers while saving as much of the luftwaffe as possible for later use in clearing out the med and/or attacking Russia.
sz115: 1bb, 1ca, vs. 1bb
baltic states: 1inf, 1art (amphibious), 1bmr, 2inf
eastern poland: 5inf, 3armBy starting the invasion on turn 1, you can take out 6 Russian infantry at minimal cost and begin reducing their income.
France: all available land units.
Non-combat moves:
All unused land units march towards Russia. 1 submarine moves to sz125 to block Russia’s national objective.
Placement:
Upgrade Germany factory, place 1inf and 1art in Germany. These units will be shipped to the front next turn.
Japan’s turn:
Build 1 air base, 1 transport, 1 artillery. If Russia moves their 18 infantry to Amur, replace the air base with something else.
Do all the normal China attacks except bring only 1 bomber to support the Yunnan battle. Hit Kweichow with 3 bombers if feeling lucky. Bring entire navy to sz6 and land all fighters and tactical bombers in Manchuria. Bring all available land units into Amur. Land the bombers as far north as possible. Place 1 air base in Manchuria. On the following turn, Japan will be able to hit the entire Russian stack unless they moved the 6 Buryatia infantry to Yakut on the previous turn.
Italy will try to accomplish its normal goals, but may wish to take Gibraltar as well to hold Britain back a few turns.
On Germany’s next turn, use the Luftwaffe to help clear the Med for Italy, if applicable. Build 9 armor, an infantry and an artillery. Continue pushing into Russia.
On Japan’s next turn, build a major factory in Kiangsu and hit the Russian stack. Take as many Russian territories as possible. Dump 8 land units into Korea and keep your entire Navy in the sea of Japan. The purpose of the Navy will be to keep America honest in the Pacific. If they ignore you, you can hit Hawaii and/or British Colombia on the next turn and move your entire air force to Japan in preparation for a follow-up landing. If the Pacific is barren, you should be able to do the British Colombia strike and land about 22 aircraft on the following turn, causing major headaches for the US. They should be able to fight you off eventually, but they won’t be hitting Europe in the meantime.
On future turns, Japan and Germany will push as many land units as possible into Russia with the goal of surrounding Moscow by turn 8. If the battle of Moscow looks bad, don’t take it. Better to keep them penned in and not a threat than to give them the chance to come back. Pump a few infantry or artillery a turn until the battle looks good, devoting all other resources to fighting off America and the British and to helping out Italy.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
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Will this work in alpha setup?
I’m not sure you should attack 18 inf in Yakut with just planes.
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You might want to try just giving chase to the 18 inf with your land units in Manchuria/Korea backed up with enough planes to keep the russians running. If you push simultaneously through northern China you may be able to cut them off. I also like building an airbase in Suiyuyan on J3 so that from J4 onwards you can start strat bombing Moscow with your 4 (or 2 depending on setup, although I’ll normally have bought at least 1 more by now using Alpha setup if I’m trying this strategy).
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@calvin
I’m sure this wouldn’t be as good of an idea in Alpha setup. However, in OOB, if you use all 28 planes you should on average be able to eliminate all but one inf on the first round if if the Russians retreated 17 inf and left a blocker to stop the tank/mech blitz. That means they’re firing 18@2 total over both rounds, which will take out 6 fighters on average. That’s a loss of 75 ipcs including the air base in exchange for taking out 54 ipcs worth of infantry, so the Russians gain 21 on you. I think it’s worth it given that the planes have little else to do on the second round if Japan is holding off the war declaration and considering that Japan now gets to grab Siberia, make up the ipc disparity after a few rounds, stop the Russians from reinforcing Moscow, and eliminate the threat of the Russians liberating China. Japan could then focus entirely on China, eliminating them and making the Brits and the Aussies the only threats left (barring American intervention).
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@calvin
I’m sure this wouldn’t be as good of an idea in Alpha setup. However, in OOB, if you use all 28 planes you should on average be able to eliminate all but one inf on the first round if if the Russians retreated 17 inf and left a blocker to stop the tank/mech blitz. That means they’re firing 18@2 total over both rounds, which will take out 6 fighters on average. That’s a loss of 75 ipcs including the air base in exchange for taking out 54 ipcs worth of infantry, so the Russians gain 21 on you. I think it’s worth it given that the planes have little else to do on the second round if Japan is holding off the war declaration and considering that Japan now gets to grab Siberia, make up the ipc disparity after a few rounds, stop the Russians from reinforcing Moscow, and eliminate the threat of the Russians liberating China. Japan could then focus entirely on China, eliminating them and making the Brits and the Aussies the only threats left (barring American intervention).
I think you lose more than 6 planes since it’s unlikely you’ll kill all the inf in one round
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In OOB, you’re attacking with 14 at 3 and 14 at 4. This results in a pip value of 98, which means on average you’ll kill 16 infantry. If Russia left one to block a blitz, that’s 17 firing on the first round and 1 firing on the second for a total pip value of 36, which means on average you’ll lose 6 planes. If they didn’t block the blitz, you can add a tank and a mech to the attack, eliminating 17 on average in the first round and taking the cheaper land units as the first two casualties. If the dice don’t behave as they should you might lose more, but I tend to make plans based on what ought to happen. The Axis can’t afford to play conservatively.
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The Axis can’t afford to play conservatively.
Agreed but there’s a difference between a gamble and a calculated risk. 1 or 2 strings of bad rolls and Japan may lose too many fighters/bombers.
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You forgot one German attack G1:
Attack Yugo with everything in GSouthern Germany that can reach + 1 Inf from Romania.
Retreat after 1 rd to Romania
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You might want to try just giving chase to the 18 inf with your land units in Manchuria/Korea backed up with enough planes to keep the russians running. If you push simultaneously through northern China you may be able to cut them off. I also like building an airbase in Suiyuyan on J3 so that from J4 onwards you can start strat bombing Moscow with your 4 (or 2 depending on setup, although I’ll normally have bought at least 1 more by now using Alpha setup if I’m trying this strategy).
@ Chompers
I was thinking if this tactic on the way home from work today before I read your post. I figured I could set up about five bombers are so to start bombing Moscow every turn asap. I wondered if just maybe that would give Germany what it needs to finally crack this nut.
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Also @ Chompers
I like your strategic bombing idea and I’ll try using it in my “moscow crush” strategy. I sill like using my planes to knock out the stack on J2 though because from J3 onwards I’ll need them elsewhere on the board; either I’ll knock out the Chinese stack on turn 4 with them or take them and throw them at America as discussed above. Britain and Australia will be rampaging if I go through with this so I’ll probably want to use the planes against them eventually as well, if only to pin down the British stacks, stop them from entering China and/or take them out.
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Bombing Moscow seems like a good idea but it can be easily countered. It only takes a few fighters and the bombers will have a hard time getting to the target. The Russians start with a few fighters that can intercept and the Brits can send a few over from India to cover the Russian capital.
My two cents….
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