Germany (with Afr Bid) -
I go heavy Egy, which means all lib units (with bid), then 2 more from SE and the bom. You can expect to take with 4-5 units left over. This is uncounterable by the UK and with either 2 or 3 tanks (depending on bid or what you brought from SE) you can have all of Afr (except Safr) by G2.
I max out infantry buys early, meaning all inf with no more than 1-2 arm (or rt). IMO tank dash won’t work against experienced Allied players and there is no sense on getting to Russia if Japan isn’t ready to help out.
I use minimal defense in WE, maybe 1-2 inf per turn, but if you can get away with placing early armor there do that b/c of their mobility.
I look to take and hold Ukr by G4-G5, that means armor leaves WE by G3-G4.
Also anytime you can safely take away a trading territory from Russia with a heavy stack do so. This could mean a German stack in Kar on G1, or German Stack in Belo on G2.
Japan
I go everything to Pearl, everything else to Chi. (pick off any wandering UK ships like the DD if it is sitting in Sz 59).
Rd 1 - I buy 3 trns and either 1 rt or 1 arm.
Rd 2 - 1 trn + 7 ground units
Rd 3 - 1 IC + 8 ground units
Rd 4 - 1 IC + 10-11 ground units (I only buy the 2nd IC if I can get to the 10 unit mark, otherwise you don’t need it).
You can wait on the 2nd IC if you look to place it in Sin, since it helps much more with supply lines.
Other than that I really look for the Cauc IC to become my 2nd or 3rd J IC.
If you go 6-7 inf to Chi on Rd 1, you’re looking to take with about 5 inf leftover this puts Sin in jeopardy on J2 b/c of the Japanese air and most players will abondon it.
You can land 4 units in Bury, 4 Fic and then place 3 at your first IC (assume Fic), while your 5th tran picks up Aus on J3, NZ on J4, Hi on J5. Or you can go Hi, Nz, then Aus.
I’ll also do both Hi and Aus on J3 (minus 2 inf to Asia) and then the Hi troops go to Nz and the Aus ships to Mad, you can then plan to meet up your fleets in the South Atlantic which can cause major trouble for the Allies Mid game.
Since I’m looking to Stack Ukr with Ger on G4, I shoot for a nice size Sin/Yak stack by J4. You might need a turn of build up but you are looking for a heavy move to Kaz or Nov as Ger sits and waits in Ukr.
The best option is a G to Wrus move followed by J to Kaz, in this case Moscow or Cauc is guaranteed to fall, but that is pretty difficult to pull off without taking Cauc first, so I’ll try to move J to Kaz first. This cuts of Persia and likely forces Russia out of Cauc since you can 1-2 it with Germany and Japan. After that Germany just has to play defense and stack Wrus and hold Berlin while you wait for the Yellow Hordes to take Moscow.
And of course this is easier said then done. :-D