• Is it really so wise to use your strategic bomber against Germany’s industry so early in the game?

    Me and my friends rarely use our bombers against IC’s unless it is to strangle a country completly(for instance if the russians are on ± 15 IPC’s left).
    In our humble opinion it’s better to save your bomber for battles, because it has a high success rate.


  • @FM_Rommel:

    Is it really so wise to use your strategic bomber against Germany’s industry so early in the game?

    Me and my friends rarely use our bombers against IC’s unless it is to strangle a country completly(for instance if the russians are on ± 15 IPC’s left).
    In our humble opinion it’s better to save your bomber for battles, because it has a high success rate.

    Very true, especially with UK bomber. Better send against baltic fleet, counter Egypt or sending to Moscow and then India or trading Norway/Karelia.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    The IC in India can be viable, but it takes resources away from Russia making Russia less viable.

    If you are going to do it, do it on UK 3 when Japan’s forces are too far away to congregate before you get a round or two of builds in.

    Otherwise, put an IC in S. Africa, own Africa outright without needing your fleet for more than a turn to land troops there and start landing forces in Arkhangelsk as soon as possible to invade THROUGH Russia into Novosibirsk against Japan.


  • You dont have a clue

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    @Adlertag:

    You dont have a clue

    I sure hope you are not talking to the reigning Kill Japan First Queen on the Internet with that reply.


  • For the skeptics….

    First of all the thrust for the US and UK should be to limit German IPCs.  The best way to do this is through strategic bombing.

    Putting an IC in S. Africa is nearly worthless due to the remoteness of the location and the small production value.

    I agree that avoiding Sea Lion is a must, but I have yet to see Germany pull that off when there is a competent UK player. The UK must find a way to get in the fight, and playing it safe on the Island is no way to do it.

    Adlertag, this was just a suggested strategy. Try to be somewhat mature about this please.  No one strategy is the best, however this one tends to be more successful than not.

    Germany taking Egypt is not a foregone conclusion on turn 1. Britain should have enough time to evacuate. This post was a best case scenario. Obviously your ships will be attacked in the Med, and everything won’t work out perfectly. Since it is hard to get UK troops on the mainland it is important to consolidate them and keep them from being killed in meaningless skirmishes.

    Sorry about the confusion on the poll and the question, this was my first post and didn’t quite understand the mechanics of the site. Thanks for all the positive feedback.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    I have found the IC in S. Africa to be a vital and valuable asset to the allies.

    1)  It prevents Germany from blitzing down and getting fast cash if Egypt goes well for them.
    2)  It prevents the need for England to invade North Africa
    3)  It prevents the need for America to invade North Africa
    4)  If Japan gets uppity, you have resources to put units in Africa without having to divert your fleet

    India, on the other hand, will fall on Japan 3 if you build the complex on UK 1.  I guarantee it.  Well, the only chance you have of survival is if Russia builds all tanks and shoves them down there as fast as possible (which means Japan doesn’t even have to attack Russia, they’re effectively SBRing for 20 IPC a round if you do that) or if you get amazingly lucky with the dice.

    Now, I HAVE found that a 3rd round IC in India is nice.  By this point, Japan’s good and scattered and will need to come back.  Also, Africa is 100% secured so you won’t be choosing between hitting Europe or Asia.  Top it off with America’s fleet already an established presence and threat in the Pacific and Japan may not have the resources for both - and once Japan loses the fleet, they are lost even if they have 6 ICs on mainland Asia (Manchuria, India, Kwangtung, FIC, China and Sinkiang) because they won’t have cash after the islands are gone.  And without a navy, there’s no way for them to build up enough to sink the Americans.

    So if you advocate a UK IC in India in round 3, then I agree.  Otherwise, the only valid location for an IC I can think of, on UK 1, is S. Africa.  Safe from attack, strategic in location, and pays for itself after just one round of holding Africa without diverting British ships for the process.


  • Jennifer,

    Thank you for the constructive critique of this strategy. I do see that you have many valid points. One thing that I have to point out though is that if you do build an IC in India first turn you have to be wise with your money. That is the only thing I would purchase on turn 1. The reason is that I would then have enough IPCs to buy three fighthers there in India for turn 2, and could get an additional 3-4 fighters there from egypt, my carrier, and GBR. This strategy is not fool proof, nor is any strategy. If Japan expends all effort to go after your IC on turn three then that will be a desperate battle on both ends. I would have to give the advantage to India because any attack by Japan would be against a lot of fighters with a high defense value. Also India has the AA gun, and any attack by Japan would be full of aircraft. I am hosting a game on Saturday and I am going to try this. I will post the results and see how it works. Thanks again for the tips.


  • Jennifer,

    I have been thinking more and more about the S.Africa Strategy for an IC location and it is a very good suggestion. The India option of mine was primarily to combat an aggressive Japan while not losing units to a German player that is deadset on taking Africa. Like all internet posts I think people forgot to critique this strategy in its original intent. I look forward to further discussions with you.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    I’m glad you thought about the S. African complex some more.

    As for your Indian Complex, I think you should realize that on Japan 3 you will be facing:  15 Infantry, Artillery, Armor, 6 Fighters, Bomber and 2 Battleships.

    You will have to figure out a method of defending against that and I do not think your fighter idea is going to be enough.  Also bear in mind that Germany is not just going to sit there, that means units taken from Russia without British replacement is really going to hurt you.

    I’m not saying it is impossible, just that I’ve been working on the UK 1 Complex in India for the better part of a year against some of the greatest minds the internet has to offer and I have not yet found a way to make it viable.

    Even round 2 is becoming a troublesome dilemma for putting a complex in India.  Round 3, however, seems to have merit depending on how the forces are laid out.  Basically, round 3 ends up giving you a good two rounds to build up before Japan begins to build against you and can force Japanese units out of Asia and off Russia’s back to come get that complex in India.

    Which, summarily, is why I like starting with a complex in S. Africa. (BTW, I have built a second one in Egypt before.  Nasty move when it’s done!)


  • @bcclark7:

    First of all the thrust for the US and UK should be to limit German IPCs.  The best way to do this is through strategic bombing.

    Actually, strategic bombing is the worst way to do this. On average, your bombers will take away 3.5 IPCs (assuming you only bomb territories with 6+ IPC values). Your bomber will be shot down, on average, on its 3rd or 4th bombing run, so you will remove around 10 IPCs from Germany’s pockets before your bomber is destroyed by an AA gun. If you are buying bombers specifically for this purpose, you’re losing even more, because you are immediately down 15 IPCs for each new bomber, but won’t remove ~10 IPCs from Germany’s wallet until the 3rd or 4th turn. Money has a time value.

    I only do strategic bombing in 3 cases:

    1. There’s no AA gun present and no better target for my bomber.
    2. It’s late in the game and, for whatever reason, I won’t need my bomber after this turn and can afford to lose it (really rare).
    3. I know exactly what my opponent needs to buy the next round and stand a good chance of preventing him from buying it with a bombing raid. This usually happens when I think he’ll buy something like 2 carriers or some other large naval buy.

    @bcclark7:

    Germany taking Egypt is not a foregone conclusion on turn 1. Britain should have enough time to evacuate.

    Basically the only time I see Germany forgo Egypt is when they’re setting up a Sea Lion attempt. If that’s the case, the UK doesn’t need to be playing around in India.


  • I have heard you mention that a turn 3 IC in India is a better move. If you can’t hold India with an IC and troop buildup against Japan, then how could you hold it without an IC there? It seems that by turn 3 when you want to build an IC there in India, Japan will already be in control of it. I am really glad I started getting into these forums. Another question……If you build your IC in S. Africa it seems that the whole goal would be to maintain the status quo at the beginning of the game by keeping the majority of Africa in British hands. If you wish to expand your IPC income, where do you attempt to do that? It seems with this strategy you can only maintain your income, not expand it. I understand that the UK is more of a supporting player. Is it safe to say that simply holding Africa and harrassing the Axis is all you can really want out of the UK?


  • You do it in Europe, through Norway.


  • Strategic Bombing

    You are absolutely right that strategic bombing generally costs more for the allies than it takes away from Germany. So if you are looking at the ratio of cost, you are right. What I think you need to understand is sometimes in the case of the US, losing some money to take money from Germany is still a victory. Strategic bombing is the best way for the US to inflict pain upon Germany. The UK should be able to handle Africa, with some assitance in the form of the torch landings by the US. The way the rules read is that each bomber can inflict a max of the territory value. It is not uncommon later in the game to be sending 4 bombers at Germany. Anytime Germany cannot send troops to the Eastern front they are losing. I have a friend who actually purchases 6 research dice for heavy bombers as the US on turn 1 and then for the rest of the game simply bombs Germany into submission. It is quite effective. Now I always thought that allowing each bomber to inflict the countries worth of bombing was a little excessive, but that is how the rules read. Our US player generally ignores Japan for the most part.


  • What you need to do to not make the game fail in that manner is make it so each raid can only inflict the max value of the territory. Instead of bombing Germany to nothing with six heavy bombers, he can kill 16 IPCs max a turn. The rulebook is not what you should be consulting in this case, as it is wrong.


  • @bcclark7:

    The way the rules read is that each bomber can inflict a max of the territory value.

    I haven’t read the rules in a long time, but this is not how the game is played. Like Nukchebi is saying, each strategic bombing raid can inflict the maximum value of the territory. So if you’re bombing a 6 IPC territory with 3 bombers, you’re only going to inflict a maximum of 6 IPCs of damage. The game is extremely imbalanced in favor of the allies if played in the way you describe :-).


  • Germany taking Egypt is not a foregone conclusion on turn 1.

    A typical G1 move in the Med and Africa could be:

    1. 1sub, 4fig to SZ 13 –> killing the british bb at the cost of a sub
    2. 1bb, 1trn, 1fig to SZ 15 --> killing the british dd for free
    3. 1inf, 1art (Lyb) + 1inf, 1art (bid to lyb) + 1inf, 1arm (Seu) +1 bom (maybe another fig if UKr wasn’t attacked) --> killing all british units in egy at the cost of 2inf

    I agree that avoiding Sea Lion is a must, but I have yet to see Germany pull that off when there is a competent UK player.

    I’m not talking about a G1 attempt of sealion, but on G2 if the german player sees the IC in Ind he could build some trn and maybe an AC. This will slow him aggainst russia but since you didn’t atacked the german fleet he can easaly have 4 trn by turn 3 together with the german airforce this is a considerable threat to London (you only brought 1arm on UK1 and bought nothing). So all I’m saying is: you now have to divert ressources to your capital and therefore India will be weaker.

    The same can be pulled of on turn 3 since Japan is going to have it’s attacking force positioned on turn 2 so the attack on India is going to happen on J3. (see Jens numbers)


  • It’s time for the bunneh to bare its paws!  Or was it claws . . .

    @bcclark7:

    For Turn 1 as the UK player here are some ideas to preserve units and more importantly consolidate them for a powerful counter-attack. Before going further this article is meant to provide a reactionary strategy for a German bid for Africa and a potential aggressive Japan.

    Main Entry:
        1ar·ti·cle Listen to the pronunciation of 1article
    Pronunciation:
        \ˈär-ti-kəl
    Function:
        noun
      d: a nonfictional prose composition usually forming an independent part of a publication (as a magazine)

    Nonfictional, nonfictional . . . hm . . .

    Purchase: 1 Industrial Complex to be placed in India. It is very important to have an ability to wage land war as the UK.

    Right, land war is good idea.  But India Industrial Complex on UK1 is not the best way to accomplish this.  Juxtaposing those two sentences does not in actuality make for cause and effect.

    I noticed in a later post you stated UK1 purchase is ONLY an IC, and UK2 recommended purchase is 3 fighters.  This also does not support the idea of “land war”.  You could try to make a case for UK using air to trade with minimal ground units purchased at India, but:

    1.  Japan should be running 4 units per turn from Japan to French Indochina and can outrace UK in production of units, meaning that US must ALSO build an IC in Ssinkiang, and/or Russia must reinforce India to prevent Japan from taking either or both.  This is entirely at odds with your later statements in the original post that India can reinforce the Russian position against Germany.  Only in the event that the US builds in the Pacific to place additional pressure on Japan does your idea stand a chance of working, and you totally neglect to mention that.

    2.  In the event that you plan to use air power at India, you are still constrained by the 3 unit per turn limit at India.  UK should either buy a bomber or a fighter on UK1 as well, and fly it towards India, increasing the localization of forces there.

    3.  You promote the idea of “land war” but ignore the cost effectiveness gained when concentrating force.  In a situation in which territories can NOT be simply traded (four unit buildup per turn at French Indochina prevents simple trade for the India-French Indochina border), you want the MOST forces available at an area as possible.  A LARGE force attacking a SMALL force will take less losses as it inflicts more casualties in the initial rounds of fire.  But notice that UK London has a production capacity of 8 and India only a production capacity of 3.

    Furthermore, note that the transports necessary to initiate land war from London can receive the support of US fleet in the Atlantic where the Allies are in a position to force Germany to attack (and can hence defend), while at India, UK will be stuck in a position in which both UK and Japan build forces but neither can break the deadlock until either US starts grabbing Japanese islands or Japan presses through Ssinkiang into Kazakh forcing the Allies to pull back from India to defend Caucasus/Russia.

    Without even mention of the US role, your “article” is no more a proper article than a child’s scribbles and dreams of conquest are a general’s battle plan.

    India is an excellent option because Egypt is too risky, and India puts pressure on Japan while being able to reenforce Russia. This strategy will result in having a very large force in India and a large fleet off the coast of India. These tactics will give you a very strong foothold in India and should give russia a sigh of relief because you can get troops to their back door very fast.

    If you are building units at India, you are not sending them somewhere else.  This “sigh of relief” you speak of is VASTLY overstated.  If US and UK were stupid enough to build nothing all game and make no combat moves, then I suppose ANY plan of action no matter how defective would indeed offer a “sigh of relief”.  But the “sigh of relief” you speak of could very well come from, say, a UK/US infantry feed into Archangel following into Russia to secure Russia for all time.

    Combat: Strategic Bomb Germany with your bomber from the UK.

    Just a bad idea.  A bomber has 1/6 a chance of being shot down and gains 1d6 IPCs.  Contrast with a 0/6 chance of being shot down while helping to gain a 2-3 IPC territory and also lessening by 4-5 IPC (the cost of an artillery or tank) needed to claim that territory, or gaining an 8 IPC transport from Japan that must be rebuilt, or making feasible an Allied air/navy attack on German navy, etc.  The UK bomber is FAR better used for any number of purposes.

    Non-Combat Movements. This will be one of the largest tactical consolidations ever during your axis and allies experience.

    I myself pioneered G1 Long Range Aircraft Sea Lion in my area, but I do not flatter myself that my ideas were unique - anyone performing capable of basic analysis would have arrived at the same conclusions as I.

    As for consolidation of the Indian/Australian fleets, neither are you a pioneer that is doing something that has never been done before.  So don’t embarrass yourself by making such grandiose comments.  Honestly.

    Move 1 Infantry from W Canada to E Canada

    Standard, and sometimes combined with early leaving of UK transport at E. Canada to pick up both infantry and tank (but not when UK dumps to Algeria on UK1), and sometimes combined with UK loading onto a US transport in unusual circumstances.  More often than not, though, the UK infantry is left stranded (acceptable).

    Move 1 Infantry out of S Africa to Rhodesia (maybe)

    Almost certainly NOT, given an African bid.  If UK moves out, then it risks 2 tanks 1 bomber eliminating that UK infantry, followed by a G3 claim of South Africa and tanks moving back to Anglo-Egypt.  Far better is to try to make Germany commit two tanks to take S Africa on G3, where they will be out of position to move back to Anglo-Egypt for pickup until G5, far too late to help.

    Evacuate Egypt to trans Jordan, Persia, and India.(this means put your infantryman into trans Jordan, your tank in Persia, and your fighter in India)

    Frankly, Germany should have smashed the crap out of Anglo-Egypt, ESPECIALLY with the African bid you mentioned.  I rate Anglo-Egypt (land) and the UK Med battleship as Germany’s only two “must do” battles, barring situations that allow G/J tank dash of course.  This makes a UK1 hold of India FAR more difficult, making Russian reinforcements necessary.

    Move 1 Infantry from Persia to India

    Load 2 Infantry from Australia and move transport and submarine to SZ 30

    Move fleet from India to SZ 30. Leave fighter on board carrier for now. This will allow you to have a fleet large enough to ward off any Japanese naval battle in turn 1.

    Oh, so it’s the old - and I do mean old - consolidate to SZ 30 west of the sea zone southwest of Australia.  Japan should TOTALLY use its Kwangtung transport to kick ass, and the Japanese Solomons sub can be used for additional fodder at Pearl Harbor.  These are both SEEMINGLY small bonuses for Japan, but in a game in which you are trying to contest Japanese control of the Pacific Rim, small bonuses will add up.  Don’t think you’ve gotten away with something clever.  UK Indian fleet consolidation has benefits, but also detriments.

    Move Destroyer from Med to SZ 32. (This will be a great supporting vessel to your fleet in the Indian ocean)

    Yeah, I bet that would be a great idea if it weren’t already killed by the German battleship on its way escorting the German transport to move more units into Anglo-Egypt.

    Fly two fighters from Britain to Russia. (doing this bolsters Russias defense, but more importantly allows you to fly them to India on turn 2).

    Transport 1 Tank from E. Canada to England

    With a passive Atlantic fleet, consolidation of UK fleet at SZ 1 is probably better, allowing that otherwise passive infantry from W. Canada moving to E. Canada to be transported somewhere on UK2.

    I would somehow link up the battleship you have in the Med with the one in the Atlantic. These can be used to deter Sea Lion attempts and to shatter the German fleet.

    Who is the moron that ignores G1 Anglo-Egypt AND the UK Med battleship?  No, don’t tell me.  It isn’t worth my time to know.

    The only reason why Germany SHOULD ignore these things is something like a failed R1 3-4 territory attack with Russia with 6 infantry left at Burytia, leaving the gates open for a G/J tank dash to Moscow.  Come to think of it, maybe that is the case.

    Turn 2

    Purchase: 3 Fighters to put in India. Maybe purchase 3 infantry to put in GBR, or save money.

    Combat:

    Strategic Bomb Germany with one bomber

    I reiterate this is bad.  For reasons, see above.

    Possibly attack German atlantic fleet if it looks vulnerable.

    With what?  Your bomber, which might already have been shot down by German AA on UK1?  Your fleet?  Note your UK fighters are in Russia, far out of range of the German Atlantic fleet.

    You will want to unload the 2 infantrymen from Australia and the 1 fighter on your carrier into India this turn. If necessary use your fighters in India and your fleet to destroy the Japanese ships in the region. If there is no enemy fleet off of the coast of India then land your troops and consolidate your navy with the lone destroyer nearby.

    That’s laughable.

    From SZ 30 where your fleet is supposedly at at the end of UK1, you can reach East Indies and New Guinea, and there is no reason for Japan to have put any ships there.  The SINGLE UK fighter you have in the area can reach the waters south of French-Indochina, but at the very least Japan can have a battleship there if it so chooses (there are probably better options for it anyways).

    Pearl light, which you leave open without an attack on the Jap Solomon sub, is 1 sub 1 destr 4 fig 1 bomber, having 4 fighters land on carriers at Solomons, with optional Jap battleship escort additional at Solomons.  With NO Allied air in the area, this means that at end of J1, you have 1 battleship 2 transports in various sea zones and 3 transports in the sea zone east of Japan (optimal) plus Solomon fleet.

    More realistic is this - MOST of which you did not bother to mention, in much the same way that a building contractor may not bother to mention that your proposed house location is sitting on top of explosive swamp gases:

    After UK1, on J1, Japan builds 3 transport 1 tank, Japan transports units to Kwangtung and Burytia and Pearls with 1 sub 1 destr 4 fig 1 bomber, takes China, starts pulling infantry off the isolated islands.

    With a UK2 fleet/land consolidation to India, India now has MODERATE holding forces of 7 inf 1 fighter, with the Indian fleet with 2 trns 1 sub 1 carrier 2 fighter 1 destroyer; the UK bomber should also be in range increasing the threat.  UK can capture French Indochina with its probable holding force of 0-1 inf.

    J2, Japan reclaims French Indochina (if it was lost, which is PROBABLE).  Probable also in a KJF is US fleet buildup on US 1 at Pacific, forcing J2 fleet consolidation to east of Japan (for various considerations that I will not discuss here).  This means that UK can aggro a bit against French Indochina again, as J2 transports won’t drop units French Indochina.

    J3 is a different matter, though, with 5-6 Japanese fighters plus bomber in range if UK fleet stays at Africa, with a Japanese fleet of 2 battleship 2 carrier 3 transport (2 other transports left east of Japan ot shuttle) moving in to claim French Indochina.

    The future -

    At that point (J3) US is building its Pacific fleet, Germany is reaming Africa, and Europe will be seeing the beginnning of the Ukr push (G1 infantry at Berlin move to Ukr at end of G3, but a REAL push is improbable until G4, when G2 infantry arrive (plus probable offload from Med fleet).

    With Ukr claimed, Russia is forced to retreat from W. Russia to Caucasus previous to G5, allowing Germany to push its secondary front on Karelia, eliminating UK reinforcements to Archangel with the German air threat to destroy UK fleet and German ground to pose a more direct threat.  Germany starts the serious threat on Russia around G5 with the threatened permanent loss of the Caucasus to Germany that would allow Germany to build units on Russia’s doorstep and forces Russia to pull units back from its fronts.

    Allies can respond either by flying reinforcements to Russia (not cost-effective), or pulling units back from India (allowing Japan use of that industrial complex).  This buys Russia more time, which the US will have to put to use by claiming Japanese islands and pressuring the coast, hopefully effectively eliminating Japan as a player and allowing the Russian infantry/Allied air defense of Moscow to stall Germany out until the Allies can reclaim Africa and start a push.  Of course, there is no guarantee the Allies will be ABLE to do this; it could be that the various Allied ways of sapping the German advance will fail and the Germans will successfully claim Russia.

    Non-Combat Moves:

    Move 1 Infantry from Trans-Jordan to Persia

    Move 1 Tank and 1 Infantry to India from Persia

    Fly Fighters from Russia to India

    Transport 1 Infantry from Canada to GBR.

    As previously mentioned, a lot of that ground stuff (“survivors” of Anglo-Egypt’ should just be DEAD.  Notice the additional turn required to bring the infantry from E. Canada to London in your non-com above, which could as easily have been UK infantry/tank to Algeria or Norway.

    THERE, now that’s something that APPROACHES an article.

    This will be the greatest enlightenment of your Axis and Allies experience . . .  :roll:

  • Official Q&A

    @Complexity:

    @bcclark7:

    The way the rules read is that each bomber can inflict a max of the territory value.

    I haven’t read the rules in a long time, but this is not how the game is played. Like Nukchebi is saying, each strategic bombing raid can inflict the maximum value of the territory. So if you’re bombing a 6 IPC territory with 3 bombers, you’re only going to inflict a maximum of 6 IPCs of damage. The game is extremely imbalanced in favor of the allies if played in the way you describe :-).

    In the box rules, each bomber can inflict damage up to the value of the territory.  In LHTR, the damage is limited to the value of the territory per turn.  One more reason to use LHTR!  :wink:


  • @Cmdr:

    I sure hope you are not talking to me

    No way  miss Russia, I was refering to the thread starter, who accidentaly changed the questions in the poll after I voted. Now my wote is given to Egypt, and I can assure you I have never build an IC in a contestet area or a Deadzone. I am not that retarded yet.

    I wish the poll would include:

    India (also known as Jewel in the Crown)
    South Afrika (if you want to keep African income)
    Australia (playing KJF)
    Persia (the famous Persian plunge)
    Egypt
    Norway

Suggested Topics

  • 16
  • 17
  • 21
  • 29
  • 92
  • 15
  • 17
  • 9
Axis & Allies Boardgaming Custom Painted Miniatures

24

Online

17.0k

Users

39.2k

Topics

1.7m

Posts