Thanks again Black Elk for the detailed explaination. That strategy with the armor sounds like a lot of fun! It’s something different which is nice, and I could see it being an effective counter to the slow moving infantry if that is all Germany decides to purchase. I’m definitely going to give it a whirl in my next game. I especially find the early Russian tank idea interesting.
Latest posts made by The Lone Deranger
-
RE: Taking Down Fortress Europe
-
RE: Taking Down Fortress Europe
In the game vs Germany I didn’t have an infantry bid (to be honest I’m not even sure how bids work). I like to move one of the Russian fighters there on the first turn to protect it though. I like to use the British one there to attack the Japanese ships in the Indian ocean if I’m trying to kill Japan. Also, keep in mind that some of our plays may not be optimal as I don’t play online and I’m new to these forums. Most of what I’ve learned is from just playing with friends over-the-board at the local game store, but occasionally I do like to play vs myself or the computer AI with that TripleA program. With the US I try to build up a good amount of bombers early on to hit Germany’s economy (seems this is the only way that America can really help in Europe early on). I try to maintain about 5-6 of them in the UK for bombing runs, sometimes though I only end up with 3-4 if the AA guns start knocking them out.
In the game where I went after Japan my opponent maintained a navy in the Sea of Japan, but mainly built transports and troops to move into Russia and India. After a few turns he had purchased a factory. This is the first time I’ve tried to take out Japan first instead of Germany. I’ve play tested a few games with myself since then and it does seem that Japan can make things a bit more difficult if they focus everything on a navy. I’ve found spamming submarines can be the naval equivalent of spamming infantry on land.
My main reason for posting here is to try to find out how other players play and what some of the accepted opening strategies are and how I might improve on my own discoveries.
-
RE: Taking Down Fortress Europe
Thanks for the replies guys. I especially appreciate the detailed response Black_Elk.
I recently played a game with a friend and I decided to try something different. I decided to pressure Japan early on. I figured if I could grab those high value islands in the Pacific (the ones worth 3-4 ipcs) early on that would compensate for losing Russia later in the game, plus as you mentioned having naval dominance should really help in the endgame. I threw the UK navy at the Japanese fleet in the Indian Ocean turn one. Then with the US I built (if I remember correctly) 2 subs, 2 destroyers and an aircraft carrier. I sent the entire US fleet into the pacific to grab those islands as soon as I could.
The plan worked pretty well. Germany eventually took Russia, but at that point the 8 extra ipcs didn’t really boost them much. Even though I didn’t take mainland Japan they were pretty much rendered inert, they had no navy, no economy. I liberated India and started funneling American troops into Asia. It basically came down to a supped-up United States and UK vs Germany. Eventually I pushed back the Germans and took back the Caucasus. With Russia on the verge of liberation my opponent finally decided that he had enough and resigned.
-
RE: Taking Down Fortress Europe
Losing a bunch of games so that the other player grows bored of using the same strategy and does something different isn’t exactly what I had in mind :-P
-
Taking Down Fortress Europe
When playing as the allies one strategy I find very difficult to counter is when Germany just focuses on building up a ton of infantry starting on the first round (and maybe an artillery here and there).
This is generally how I play (keep in mind I’m no expert. I’ve played several games over-the-board for years but don’t really care for playing on the computer):
USSR: Almost all infantry. I just try to hold Moscow from Germany and Japan for as long as possible.
UK: First couple of turns I buy 2 fighters to help Russia, the rest goes towards troops in India. Hold India as long as possible then evac to Russia before it falls. Consolidate navy and hopefully around turn 4 start landing some troops somewhere in Europe.
USA: Build bombers and transports. Bring navy to Atlantic. Land some troops into Africa starting turn 2 and continue funneling troops in to push toward Europe and keep Japan and Germany out of Africa. Build up bombers to pressure Germany starting turn 1.
This seems to work really well for me, except if if Germany just spams infantry. In most games against my friends Russia will fall about the same time as Germany, but they usually build mixed forces (tanks, artillery, fighters, etc). I tried play testing vs. myself though and it seems that if Germany builds up a ton of infantry that it can hold Berlin down buy long enough for Russia to fall and then things look pretty grim for the allies.
Any thoughts on how to deal with this?