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GovZ (Allies +41) vs. oysteilo

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• • • oysteilo

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TripleA Turn Summary: Italians round 6
TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition

Game History
Round: 6 Purchase Units - Italians Italians buy 1 destroyer and 6 infantry; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; Combat Move - Italians 1 armour moved from Caucasus to Persia Italians take Northwest Persia from British Italians take Persia from British 1 destroyer and 1 submarine moved from 95 Sea Zone to 98 Sea Zone 1 bomber moved from Southern France to 98 Sea Zone 1 fighter moved from 95 Sea Zone to 98 Sea Zone 1 fighter moved from Southern Italy to 98 Sea Zone Combat - Italians Battle in 98 Sea Zone Italians attack with 1 bomber, 1 destroyer, 2 fighters and 1 submarine British defend with 1 submarine Italians roll dice for 1 submarine in 98 Sea Zone, round 2 : 0/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits Italians roll dice for 1 bomber, 1 destroyer and 2 fighters in 98 Sea Zone, round 2 : 2/4 hits, 2.00 expected hits British roll dice for 1 submarine in 98 Sea Zone, round 2 : 0/1 hits, 0.17 expected hits 1 submarine owned by the British lost in 98 Sea Zone Italians win, taking 98 Sea Zone from Neutral with 1 bomber, 1 destroyer, 2 fighters and 1 submarine remaining. Battle score for attacker is 6 Casualties for British: 1 submarine Non Combat Move - Italians 1 bomber moved from 98 Sea Zone to Greece 2 fighters moved from 98 Sea Zone to 97 Sea Zone 1 carrier moved from 95 Sea Zone to 97 Sea Zone 1 armour moved from Caucasus to Northwest Persia 1 aaGun, 1 artillery and 2 infantry moved from Ukraine to Rostov 2 aaGuns, 1 artillery and 2 infantry moved from Bryansk to Rostov Place Units - Italians 1 destroyer placed in 97 Sea Zone 6 infantry placed in Northern Italy Turn Complete - Italians Total Cost from Convoy Blockades: 0 Rolling for Convoy Blockade Damage in 99 Sea Zone. Rolls: 4,5 Italians collect 17 PUs; end with 17 PUs Objective Italians 1 Control The Mediterranean: Italians met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 22 PUs Objective Italians 4 Control Iraq Or Persia Or Northwest Persia: Italians met a national objective for an additional 4 PUs; end with 26 PUs Objective Italians 2 Roman Empire: Italians met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 31 PUs
Combat Hit Differential Summary :
Italians regular : -0.33 British regular : -0.17
Savegame
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NML 1914 game 13

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• • • captainwalker

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@Witt Turk repulses King John the Crusader 16.tsvg
Round: 16 Research Technology - Turkey Turkey spend 5 on tech rolls Turkey roll 1,5,4 and gets 0 hits Combat Move - Turkey 1 field_gun and 1 infantry moved from Caucasus to Volgograd 2 field_guns and 2 infantry moved from Arabia to Oman 1 field_gun and 1 infantry moved from Arabia to Trucial Coast 1 infantry moved from Mesopotamia to Al-Dammam Turkey take Al-Dammam from Britain 2 infantry moved from Cairo-Suez to Upper Egypt 2 fighters moved from Lower Egypt to Upper Egypt Purchase Units - Turkey Turkey buy 6 field_guns and 19 infantry; Remaining resources: 1 PUs; 3 techTokens; Combat - Turkey Battle in Volgograd Turkey attack with 1 field_gun and 1 infantry Russia defend with 1 infantry Turkey roll dice for 1 field_gun and 1 infantry in Volgograd, round 2 : 1/2 hits, 0.83 expected hits Russia roll dice for 1 infantry in Volgograd, round 2 : 0/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits 1 infantry owned by the Russia lost in Volgograd Turkey win, taking Volgograd from Russia with 1 field_gun and 1 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 3 Casualties for Russia: 1 infantry Battle in Oman Turkey attack with 2 field_guns and 2 infantry Britain defend with 1 field_gun and 2 infantry Turkey roll dice for 2 field_guns and 2 infantry in Oman, round 2 : 2/4 hits, 1.67 expected hits Britain roll dice for 1 field_gun and 2 infantry in Oman, round 2 : 0/3 hits, 1.00 expected hits 2 infantry owned by the Britain lost in Oman Turkey roll dice for 2 field_guns and 2 infantry in Oman, round 3 : 3/4 hits, 1.67 expected hits Britain roll dice for 1 field_gun in Oman, round 3 : 0/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits 1 field_gun owned by the Britain lost in Oman Turkey win, taking Oman from Britain with 2 field_guns and 2 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 10 Casualties for Britain: 1 field_gun and 2 infantry Battle in Upper Egypt Turkey attack with 2 fighters and 2 infantry Britain defend with 1 field_gun and 1 infantry Turkey roll dice for 2 fighters and 2 infantry in Upper Egypt, round 2 : 0/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits Britain roll dice for 1 field_gun and 1 infantry in Upper Egypt, round 2 : 0/2 hits, 0.67 expected hits Turkey roll dice for 2 fighters and 2 infantry in Upper Egypt, round 3 : 1/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits Britain roll dice for 1 field_gun and 1 infantry in Upper Egypt, round 3 : 0/2 hits, 0.67 expected hits 1 infantry owned by the Britain lost in Upper Egypt Turkey roll dice for 2 fighters and 2 infantry in Upper Egypt, round 4 : 1/4 hits, 1.33 expected hits Britain roll dice for 1 field_gun in Upper Egypt, round 4 : 0/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits 1 field_gun owned by the Britain lost in Upper Egypt Turkey win, taking Upper Egypt from Britain with 2 fighters and 2 infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 7 Casualties for Britain: 1 field_gun and 1 infantry Battle in Trucial Coast Turkey attack with 1 field_gun and 1 infantry Britain defend with 1 infantry Turkey roll dice for 1 field_gun and 1 infantry in Trucial Coast, round 2 : 1/2 hits, 0.83 expected hits Britain roll dice for 1 infantry in Trucial Coast, round 2 : 1/1 hits, 0.33 expected hits 1 infantry owned by the Turkey and 1 infantry owned by the Britain lost in Trucial Coast Turkey win, taking Trucial Coast from Britain with 1 field_gun remaining. Battle score for attacker is 0 Casualties for Turkey: 1 infantry Casualties for Britain: 1 infantry Non Combat Move - Turkey 4 field_guns and 1 infantry moved from Cairo-Suez to Lower Egypt 1 infantry moved from Palestine to Sinai 1 infantry moved from Mecca to Hejaz 2 field_guns and 3 infantry moved from Mecca to Arabia 1 infantry moved from Damascus to Palestine 4 infantry moved from Damascus to Mesopotamia 7 infantry moved from Fars to Sistan 5 infantry moved from Baghdad to Fars 1 field_gun and 1 infantry moved from Basra to Fars 2 transports moved from Sea Zone 64 Sea of Azov to Sea Zone 67 Black Sea 1 field_gun and 3 infantry moved from Constantinople to Sea Zone 67 Black Sea 1 field_gun, 3 infantry and 2 transports moved from Sea Zone 67 Black Sea to Sea Zone 64 Sea of Azov 1 field_gun and 3 infantry moved from Sea Zone 64 Sea of Azov to Caucasus 3 infantry moved from Georgia to Caucasus 1 field_gun moved from Constantinople to Dardanelles 1 infantry moved from Constantinople to Smyrna 2 fighters moved from Upper Egypt to Cairo-Suez Place Units - Turkey 4 infantry placed in Cairo-Suez 3 field_guns and 3 infantry placed in Mecca 5 infantry placed in Baghdad 1 field_gun and 4 infantry placed in Damascus 2 field_guns and 3 infantry placed in Constantinople Turn Complete - Turkey Turkey collect 89 PUs; end with 90 PUs
Combat Hit Differential Summary :
Russia regular : -0.33 Turkey regular : -0.00 Britain regular : -2.33
Still no tech, but battle dice were good, lost 1 unit, killed 7.
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dawg v Entek (axis) TRS #2

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• • • dawgoneit

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@Entek said in dawg v Entek (axis) TRS #2:

@dawgoneit sorry for the delay man.

Dutch-1.tsvg

I’m not worried at all. thinking you were very busy. no hurry.
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L24 OOB cwglee51 X vs Martin L+44 #2

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• • • Martin

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At the same occasion, you can review the Italian losses during the US turn. Maybe would have preferred to keep an AA gun.
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WaW 1940 - Elrood vs Witt

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• • • Elrood

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@Elrood
1 Fighter moved from Wales to Brittany
1 Cruiser moved from 18 Sea Zone to 20 Sea Zone
1 Cruiser moved from 18 Sea Zone to 20 Sea Zone
2 Infantrys moved from Wales to 20 Sea Zone
2 Infantrys moved from 20 Sea Zone to Brittany
1 Infantry moved from Wales to 20 Sea Zone
1 Fighter moved from 20 Sea Zone to Normandy
1 Fighter moved from 20 Sea Zone to Brittany
1 Tank moved from Munster to Northern Ireland
1 Tank moved from Munster to Northern Ireland
1 Infantry moved from Wales to 20 Sea Zone
2 Infantrys moved from 20 Sea Zone to Normandy
1 Artillery moved from Munster to 18 Sea Zone
1 Artillery and 1 Transport moved from 18 Sea Zone to 20 Sea Zone
1 Artillery moved from 20 Sea Zone to Wales
1 Destroyer moved from 18 Sea Zone to 17 Sea Zone
1 T.Boat moved from 18 Sea Zone to 17 Sea Zone
1 T.Boat moved from 18 Sea Zone to 17 Sea Zone
1 Carrier moved from 18 Sea Zone to 20 Sea Zone
1 Fighter moved from 18 Sea Zone to Normandy
1 T.Boat moved from 18 Sea Zone to 17 Sea Zone
1 Artillery moved from Iceland to 9 Sea Zone
1 Infantry moved from Iceland to 9 Sea Zone
1 Artillery, 1 Infantry and 1 Transport moved from 9 Sea Zone to 18 Sea Zone
1 Artillery and 1 Infantry moved from 18 Sea Zone to Wales
1 Artillery and 1 Infantry moved from Belgian Congo to French Equatorial Africa
1 Infantry moved from Darfur to French Equatorial Africa
2 Infantrys and 2 Tanks moved from Lower Burma to S.Thailand
1 Artillery and 2 Infantrys moved from Upper Burma to N.Thailand
1 Transport moved from 65 Sea Zone to 60 Sea Zone
1 Infantry moved from Madras to 60 Sea Zone
1 Artillery moved from Madras to 60 Sea Zone
1 Artillery, 1 Infantry and 1 Transport moved from 60 Sea Zone to 61 Sea Zone
1 Artillery and 1 Infantry moved from 61 Sea Zone to S.Thailand
1 Battleship, 1 Submarine and 1 T.Boat moved from 65 Sea Zone to 61 Sea Zone
1 Transport moved from 95 Sea Zone to 86 Sea Zone
1 Infantry moved from Minamitori to 86 Sea Zone
1 Infantry moved from 86 Sea Zone to Iwo Jima
British take Iwo Jima from Yamamoto
1 Infantry moved from Wake to 95 Sea Zone
1 Artillery moved from Wake to 95 Sea Zone
1 Artillery, 1 Cruiser, 1 Infantry, 1 Submarine, 1 T.Boat and 1 Transport moved from 95 Sea Zone to 102 Sea Zone
1 Artillery and 1 Infantry moved from 102 Sea Zone to Ulithi
Purchase Units - British British buy 4 Artillerys, 1 Battleship, 1 Carrier, 2 Fighters, 19 Infantrys and 1 T.Boat; Remaining resources: 0 PUs; Combat - British Battle in S.Thailand British attack with 1 Artillery, 3 Infantrys and 2 Tanks Thai defend with 1 AAGun, 2 Artillerys, 3 Infantrys and 2 Tanks British win, taking S.Thailand from Thai with 1 Tank remaining. Battle score for attacker is 9 Casualties for Thai: 2 Artillerys, 3 Infantrys and 2 Tanks Casualties for British: 1 Artillery, 3 Infantrys and 1 Tank Battle in Brittany British attack with 1 Bomber, 2 Fighters and 2 Infantrys Italians defend with 1 Artillery and 1 Infantry British win, taking Brittany from Italians with 1 Bomber, 2 Fighters and 2 Infantrys remaining. Battle score for attacker is 7 Casualties for Italians: 1 Artillery and 1 Infantry Battle in Normandy British attack with 2 Fighters and 2 Infantrys Germans defend with 1 Factory and 1 Tank British win, taking Normandy from Germans with 2 Fighters and 2 Infantrys remaining. Battle score for attacker is 5 Casualties for Germans: 1 Tank Battle in Ulithi British attack with 1 Artillery and 1 Infantry Yamamoto defend with 1 Infantry British win, taking Ulithi from Yamamoto with 1 Artillery and 1 Infantry remaining. Battle score for attacker is 3 Casualties for Yamamoto: 1 Infantry Battle in N.Thailand British attack with 1 Artillery and 2 Infantrys Thai defend with 1 Infantry British win, taking N.Thailand from Thai with 1 Artillery and 2 Infantrys remaining. Battle score for attacker is 3 Casualties for Thai: 1 Infantry Non Combat Move - British 1 Infantry moved from Merauke to West Papua 1 Infantry moved from Assam to Upper Burma 2 Artillerys and 3 Infantrys moved from Bihar to Assam 1 Tank moved from Punjab to Assam 1 AAGun, 1 Artillery and 4 Infantrys moved from Delhi to Bihar 1 Infantry moved from Madras to Hyderabad 1 Infantry moved from Madras to Hyderabad 1 Infantry moved from Mysore to Madras 1 Tank moved from Palestine to Lower Egypt 3 Infantrys moved from Palestine to Lower Egypt 4 Infantrys moved from Iraq to Palestine 3 Infantrys moved from Cairo to Lower Egypt 1 Transport moved from 63 Sea Zone to 58 Sea Zone 1 Infantry moved from Mysore to Hyderabad 1 Artillery and 1 Infantry moved from W.Iran to 58 Sea Zone 1 Artillery and 1 Infantry moved from 58 Sea Zone to Italian East Africa 1 Infantry moved from W.Iran to Iraq 1 Artillery moved from W.Iran to Iraq 2 Infantrys moved from W.Iran to Iraq 1 AAGun moved from W.Iran to Iraq 1 AAGun moved from Iraq to Palestine 1 AAGun moved from Cairo to Lower Egypt 1 Infantry moved from Crete to 56 Sea Zone 1 Infantry moved from 56 Sea Zone to Mersa Matruh 1 Infantry moved from Manchester to Wales 1 Infantry moved from Manchester to Wales 1 Fighter moved from Normandy to 20 Sea Zone 1 Fighter moved from Normandy to 20 Sea Zone 1 Bomber moved from Brittany to Wales 2 Fighters moved from Brittany to 20 Sea Zone Place Units - British 1 Battleship, 1 Carrier and 2 Fighters placed in 20 Sea Zone 2 Infantrys placed in London 2 Infantrys placed in Manchester 1 T.Boat placed in 56 Sea Zone 2 Artillerys and 3 Infantrys placed in Cairo 1 Artillery and 1 Infantry placed in Madras 1 Artillery and 4 Infantrys placed in Delhi 2 Infantrys placed in Bombay 2 Infantrys placed in Iraq 1 Infantry placed in Iraq 1 Infantry placed in Dublin 1 Infantry placed in Iraq Turn Complete - British British collect 138 PUs; end with 138 PUs
Territory Summary for British :
London : 1 AAGun, 1 Factory and 2 Infantrys Italian East Africa : 1 flag, 1 Artillery and 1 Infantry Brittany : 2 Infantrys Normandy : 2 Infantrys French Equatorial Africa : 1 Artillery and 2 Infantrys French Sudan : 1 Fighter Minamitori : 1 flag Ulithi : 1 flag, 1 Artillery and 1 Infantry Eniwetok : 1 flag, 1 Infantry Iwo Jima : 1 flag, 1 Infantry Upper Burma : 1 Infantry Assam : 1 AAGun, 3 Artillerys, 5 Infantrys and 1 Tank Vancouver : 1 AAGun, 1 Factory and 2 Infantrys Bombay : 1 Factory and 2 Infantrys Dover : 1 Infantry Northern Ireland : 2 Tanks Hyderabad : 3 Infantrys Wales : 1 AAGun, 3 Artillerys, 1 Bomber, 1 Factory and 5 Infantrys Mersa Matruh : 1 Infantry Fiji : 1 Infantry Iraq : 1 AAGun, 1 Artillery, 1 Factory and 7 Infantrys Manchester : 1 AAGun, 1 Factory and 3 Infantrys Nubia : 1 Infantry Madras : 1 AAGun, 1 Artillery, 1 Factory and 2 Infantrys Montreal : 1 AAGun and 1 Factory Delhi : 1 Artillery, 1 Factory and 4 Infantrys Malta : 6 Infantrys Bihar : 1 AAGun, 1 Artillery and 4 Infantrys Nauru : 1 flag Tarawa : 1 Infantry Cairo : 2 Artillerys, 1 Factory and 3 Infantrys Palestine : 1 AAGun and 4 Infantrys Lower Egypt : 1 AAGun, 4 Artillerys, 15 Infantrys and 2 Tanks West Papua : 1 Infantry Port Moresby : 1 AAGun, 1 Artillery and 3 Infantrys New Ireland : 1 Infantry N.Thailand : 1 flag, 1 Artillery and 2 Infantrys S.Thailand : 1 flag, 1 AAGun and 1 Tank Alaska : 1 Infantry Cape Town : 1 AAGun and 1 Factory Dublin : 1 flag, 1 AAGun, 1 Factory and 1 Infantry Crete : 1 flag, 1 Infantry Amazon : 1 Infantry E.Iran : 1 flag, 1 Factory W.Iran : 1 flag Belgium : 1 flag N.Saudi Arabia : 1 flag S.Saudi Arabia : 1 flag Munster : 1 flag 18 Sea Zone : 1 Transport 20 Sea Zone : 2 Battleships, 3 Carriers, 3 Cruisers, 1 Destroyer, 6 Fighters, 1 Submarine and 3 Transports 17 Sea Zone : 1 Destroyer and 3 T.Boats 56 Sea Zone : 2 Battleships, 2 Carriers, 4 Cruisers, 1 Destroyer, 4 Fighters, 3 T.Boats and 1 Transport 61 Sea Zone : 1 Battleship, 1 Submarine, 1 T.Boat and 1 Transport 58 Sea Zone : 1 Transport 102 Sea Zone : 1 Cruiser, 1 Submarine, 1 T.Boat and 1 Transport 86 Sea Zone : 1 Transport
Production/PUs Summary :
Germans : 105 / 113 Russians : 102 / 102 French : 29 / 33 Italians : 74 / 78 Yamamoto : 75 / 81 Chinese : 26 / 31 Hisaichi : 50 / 50 British : 138 / 138 Anzac : 30 / 31 Dutch : 13 / 0 Finns : 16 / 17 Romanians : 21 / 23 Thai : 11 / 16 Americans : 117 / 122
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G40 OOB Cwglee51 L +40 v TinCan X Game take2

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• • • cwglee51

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TripleA Turn Summary: French round 7
TripleA Turn Summary for game: World War II Global 1940 2nd Edition

Game History
Round: 7 Purchase Units - ANZAC ANZAC buy 1 carrier, 1 destroyer and 1 transport; Remaining resources: 1 PUs; Combat Move - ANZAC 1 artillery and 1 infantry moved from Queensland to 54 Sea Zone 1 artillery, 1 infantry and 1 transport moved from 54 Sea Zone to 35 Sea Zone 2 destroyers and 1 submarine moved from 54 Sea Zone to 35 Sea Zone 1 fighter moved from New South Wales to Queensland Non Combat Move - ANZAC 1 artillery and 1 infantry moved from 35 Sea Zone to Philippines Place Units - ANZAC 1 carrier, 1 destroyer and 1 transport placed in 54 Sea Zone Turn Complete - ANZAC ANZAC collect 21 PUs; end with 22 PUs Trigger ANZAC 1 Control Original And Malaya: ANZAC met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 27 PUs Objective ANZAC 2 Control Strategic Islands: ANZAC met a national objective for an additional 5 PUs; end with 32 PUs Combat Move - French Turn Complete - French
Combat Hit Differential Summary :

Savegame
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Why I Don't Play Ranked, And Sample Game With Commentary

Axis & Allies 1942 Online
• • • aardvarkpepper

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Eh, playing it out a little. Couple things I thought I should put in the writeup in case players are interested.

First, probable end of game:

Currently end of J6.

6ec0661c-58b7-4b97-9368-e6d0f8d61634-image.png

Projected G8 vs Moscow: 98.6% capture. (Probably USSR gets a few more infantry than I put below, but whatever, it’s still some high percentage of success)

https://axis-and-allies-calculator.com/?rules=1942&battleType=land&roundCount=all&defInfantry=27&defArtillery=8&defTank=4&defAAGun=2&defFighter=12&defBomber=1&attInfantry=41&attArtillery=17&attTank=9&attFighter=6

Japan has a 5 inf 3 art 1 tank 7 fighter 1 bomber followup.

I did a writeup some time ago (not this thread, but an article with numbers and probability distributions and other such things) about Germany pushing Ukraine, West Russia, then Caucasus in that order, where (among other things) I wrote UK attempting to hold India too long is a mistake. This picture is a pretty graphical illustration why, plus various other points I mentioned earlier in this thread are pretty starkly illustrated too.

First, again, this is an atypical game; Axis didn’t get much in the way of crucial battle bad luck which had an aggregate effect over turns of making Axis stronger than expected, Allies tried a lot of greedy plays and got bad dice, which also had an aggregate effect, and I also think Allies simply tried a lot of stuff that didn’t have good mathematical percentages. Not that I’m saying Allies were strictly “wrong” to do so; sometimes players should test opponents, and maybe the Allied player had different risk preferences and strategic outlook, but nevertheless when looking at the hard numbers I think there’s something to be said about Allied misplays. (Probably Axis misplays too come to think on it, but being the Axis player I don’t know what my mistakes were offhand. A lot of games I don’t pay attention, and even this game I was pretty rusty, but at least I think I avoided any too-obvious blunders?)

Anyways -

Germany will almost certainly capture Moscow, and if anything the Axis could just keep drawing out the game because the Allies are well and truly cut off from Moscow; the percentages will keep getting worse for Moscow and better for Axis.

Something I’ve written a lot about is “stack building and bleeding”; I had a whole article series planned but that’s another story. Anyways, with the calculated projection above you can see the expected IPC swing is around 120 in favor of Axis.

Suppose I cut 10 infantry off that projection, which could easily have been the case if Allies made better decisions (and perhaps had a lot better luck but I digress.) The IPC swing changes to 50, and the win percentage drops to 67.7%.

When I say stacks are important, this is why. When I write about timings, this is why. If the Allies attempt to defend Moscow and things go as fairly expected, the Allies in one shot lose the equivalent of around two turns of income - counting USSR, UK, and US. Not even accounting for ongoing stack issues, local production, strategy, or tactics, that’s a big big loss.

So if Allies are going to almost certainly lose, then what should Allies do instead? Obviously, not fight.

But look at the board. What do the Allies do? If the Allied Moscow stack moves towards India via Kazakh, Germany crushes the Allied major stack anyways from Caucasus.

So the Allies should hit northeast Asia. A major Allied stack will roll over Japan’s thinly spread forces and won’t face serious resistance until hitting the coast.

But this means Germany rolls over India, then with Moscow, Caucasus, and India in Axis hands, the Axis eventually clean up Asia. Almost certainly Axis win on victory cities, but even if no victory cities would win in the end anyways.

But not if the Allies can somehow stop cleanup of Asia; typically this means a pretty developed KJF. On this board, though, the Allies tried KGF, and really don’t have position to do much.

But imagine if UK abandoned India early. The Allied Moscow stack would last longer, giving the Allies more time to develop counterpressure against Germany. Losing India is bad, but given other considerations, the Allies shouldn’t fight a losing major-stack engagement, but that’s inevitable one way or another if India is held. So, abandon India.

But if UK moves India stack to Persia, Germany crushes it from Caucasus? And the Allies really don’t even want to lose a mid-stack battle?

Of course. Which is why India must be abandoned before the German stack hits Caucasus. Not even just before, but a turn before that; the India stack must be on Persia, then Germany moves into West Russia, then India stack to Kazakh, Germany into Cacuasus, India stack moves safely to Moscow.

Few other wee points I’ll bring up - but before that, and this bears repeating, I’m saying most games shouldn’t play out like this. A unit or two more or less in a position changes probable outcomes, and often things are wildly different just off one or two units more or less. So where I point out tactical and strategic choices, it’s not that I’m saying Axis should always do such and such, but there’s a lot of different wee tricks in the Axis arsenal, and these are just a few.

So far some of the major lines of play I mentioned for Japan are major stack shifting (where Japan tries early to increase its unit count in Asia to the point where it becomes the major Axis stack controller), positional play (where Japan uses air against KGF to threaten Allied choices so they’re pressured into more restricted lines of play than they would otherwise have freedom to make.) But in this game, you can also see the positional ground play, which I haven’t brought up much in articles.

Some years ago, Black Elk wrote the best logistic line Japan takes towards Moscow is, via transport, Tokyo-Yunnan-Szechwan-Kazakh, and perhaps there was some discussion over Kazakh being similar for Japan as West Russia is to Germany. And apparently now there’s this whole meta thing where Allies stack Kazakh; it’s inconvenient for Allies to have multiple stacks, but if Kazakh breaks then Allies have to split defense and it just gets unpleasant.

But I prefer the Buryatia-Yakut-Evenki line. The reason is practical logistics.

For Japan I find “single optimal line through Yunnan” very restrictive. Deviate one territory, and Japan adds another whole turn to its route. The Allies know exactly what’s coming, and it’s only coming down one path.

Contrast with Evenki. If USSR pushes to hold Evenki, that’s further from Moscow and closer to Tokyo than Kazakh. By fighting there, Allies stretch Allied logistics lines while shortening Japan’s.

But if USSR does not push to Evenki, then Japan can hit Archangel, Vologda, and Novosibirsk; Sinkiang too at need. I’m not saying Japan should not drop to Yunnan; that line still pressures Kazakh. But I’m saying instead of just pressing Kazakh, I think Japan should consider dropping to the north as well, especially either after India is captured, or if Axis won’t be in a position to capture India soon.

From Archangel too, Japan can trickle infantry into Karelia, which can help an Axis hold. But the interesting thing is a few Japanese infantry accompanied by massed Japanese tanks. The Allies can threaten any mass infantry push with attacks-with-intent-to-retreat (though even that comes at some cost). But the Allies find it very hard to stop tanks blitzing from Evenki to Karelia, which can be a big boost to holding that position - and Japanese tanks are far cheaper than fighters.

Of course, personally I like fighters as I use them in various ways, but in certain circumstances tanks are a consideration.

Speaking of fighters, I’ve written elsewhere about Japanese fighters on Karelia, but it’s important to realize Axis typically should not leave anything in one spot for long. I moved German tanks to Karelia to help hold it, then I moved German tanks to Ukraine to help hold it, in typical KGF games I’d expect to move German tanks to Baltic States later too.

Similarly, Japanese fighters don’t just stay on Karelia; they shift around to Ukraine, West Russia, Caucasus, France, to help Germany hold position and to threaten Allied shipping, and this happens constantly.

“If air is so great then I’ll just build German air” - not really. A German bomber can help in Africa and has range to hit Allies in north Atlantic and Mediterranean, true. But the point I made earlier about Germany losing 10 infantry, well, a bomber costs 4 infantry. A lot of small decisions where Germany is looking at the shiny “bling” means Germany is not working to Germany’s strengths, which are largest starting Axis stack, high income, and high production. Instead of trying to fight the Allies on their own ground (UK/US have a load of income combined), instead Germany builds on its own strengths for as long as it can, then transitions if necessary.

Really that’s just how the numbers work and how the game often plays out. If a Germany player builds 2 tanks on G1, then they’ll have 4 infantry less on the final push. That’s just how it is. On the other hand, if a Germany player builds 2 tanks on Berlin on G3, then those tanks can hit Moscow on G5, where German infantry on Berlin wouldn’t reach. That’s also just how it is. Early infantry, late tanks. And the more Germany bleeds out to get all these cool flash in the pan things that are admittedly useful, the less fundamental boots on the ground Germany has for the crucial major stack battles.

I am not saying G1 11 infantry 2 artillery is the ultimate build. Different situations should use different builds. But I am saying instead of players just boringly saying “this is the meta I must build this and nothing else I don’t need to think I don’t need to look at the board I don’t need to do anything but build what the meta says and do what the meta says I should do” - that’s how players lose!

Germany never built a single air unit for the entire game. That’s part of the reason Germany’s stacks are huge.

But here, Japan built a load of air. Lost 2 fighters on UK1, will end J6 with 9 fighters 2 bombers 9 transports. And unlike some players that just buy things and don’t use them, in this game Japan controls almost all of Asia, hit Alaska, and so forth. The raw ground count of Japan is not high, but Japan’s strength is in flexibility; precise application of power using transports and air where needed for maximum effect.

The sea zone south of Persia is often neglected as a carrier/fighter spot for Japan, but this spot does many good things. Fighters in that sea zone can reach Karelia to reinforce, hit India, hit Moscow, hit the sea zone south of France, and various points in between; navy in the sea zone can reach the Southern Europe sea zone if both sides of the canal are controlled, the sea zone is adjacent to both sides of the canal so the Axis can land units to try to control the canal in the first place, etc.

Karelia, and really everywhere, is a trap for Japan considering turn order. Germany moves, then UK, then Japan. So if Germany abandons a position, then UK can strike before Germany can move to safety. Imagine if Japan landed 4 fighters on Karelia; if Germany wanted to move its Karelia stack away to threaten Moscow, then UK could land units and crush Japanese fighters at little cost.

Yet, the fact that Japan lands fighters can make a position tenable - in fact, this is how the Axis really secure territory in Europe early on; the numbers just don’t support Germany making an unsupported push in most games.

So Axis must plan carefully to move Axis air around safely. It can get very weird.

On this board, for example, Germany had 6 fighters on Karelia, using 3 fighters from Ukraine (where they threatened West Russia and were part of a threat that pressured Allies to retreat from West Russia) in Africa, and 3 fighters from Karelia (ditto) to trade NW Europe. In their new positions, those German fighters couldn’t threaten Moscow, but with West Russia abandoned Germany didn’t care; Germany wanted to wait for a 10-stack of German infantry to join Germany’s main stack at Caucasus next turn before seriously attacking Moscow. So German fighters moving off station this turn is no real problem.

Japan has a bomber that it uses to threaten Western Canada, and two fighters in Western Europe now. Having those Axis units in place reduces the burden on Germany to have ground units in place to defend France, which leaves more for Berlin. If the Allies are really passive, Germany may even purchase Berlin bombers to support the attack on Moscow.

But Japan needs those fighters to pressure India, which still isn’t captured? Eventually, sure. But Japan doesn’t really have the infantry support needed to support an attack as it is, and any premature commitment by Japan could see all of Moscow’s fighters flying to India while the Moscow stack runs away, especially as the Allies can’t really defend Moscow well anyways. Then Japan can do nothing but waste time.

In closing, Japan has an IC on East Indies, which normally I don’t like as it requires tying up Japanese transports. But in this game, a Manchuria IC would be 3 spaces from Evenki or Kazakh, and wouldn’t manage to put sustained pressure on India, and Japan had a lot of transports, a lot of income, and not a lot of ways to spend income to begin with.

I really don’t like purchasing Japanese ICs, but looking at the board it can be seen how thinly spread Japanese ground forces are. If I just bought more and more air, at some point Japan would be trading air for ground, and that’s just no good. So, an IC, and given the particular circumstances of this game, East Indies. Though again, rather the exception than the rule.
A

PTV ArtofWar (Ax+12) v AxisDominion (Al)

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• • • ArtofWar1947

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@axis-dominion

40777-AD-G9.tsvg