Reliable 1941 Axis Strategy

[cheezhead1252]

@Argothair Wow, thank you for the great reply.

I am very interested in the Germany strategy as that’s where so have the most problems. I usually take the three territories you mentioned but the trading over these territories tends to wear me down and opens a landing spot for pesky Brit’s as I dump reinforcements east.

Definitely interested in trying the carrier out. I read some of Jenn’s old posts and she seemed pretty dead set against it so I haven’t tried that out yet.

Do you attack Egypt G1 as well? Even if it’s just a sideshow. And do you rush Italian tanks to the front or build infantry?

Also appreciate the thoughts on the Manchuria IC. I have done this and while I blitzed through India, China, and Siberia, I think it delayed things a turn to long for me to rush zeroes out to the eastern front and also the scenario you described occurred as well lol.

Many thanks!! I must beat my old man haha 😝

[Argothair]

@cheezhead1252 You’re welcome!

No, I think it is counterproductive to worry about attacking Egypt on G1 – especially with NOs off, it is just not that important, and you need every plane in the German air force to win 2 naval battles + 3 land battles on turn 1 at reasonable odds.

If you want to go heavy in the Med, you can get excellent odds on taking Egypt turn 2 by instead using the German med transport to shuffle another inf + tank to Libya on G1, where it will be protected by the Italian navy for a turn. Italy will do the same, shuffling another 2 units to Libya on I1. If you pre-position another 2 units in Italy / the Balkans on G1, then on G2 you can ferry them to Egypt with your transport, allowing you to attack with ~8 land units, plus the German bomber, which can now be spared from anti-British-navy duties, plus also a German fighter that should have landed in Morocco. This is far more than anything the Allies can bring to the region, and if you somehow roll poorly, the Italians are there to follow up with an equally hard punch (~7 units, 1 plane, and 2 naval bombards).

Italy can build any land units it wants for the eastern front; it’s just a style preference. Tanks allow you to threaten a ‘can opener’ for Germany in a larger number of territories, but they tend to be a one-and-done attack, since Italy doesn’t have enough cash to build many tanks; sooner or later Russia will call your bluff and force you to either attack with the Italian tanks into a stack of 2-3 Russian infantry, or else retreat. If you send in the tanks and Germany can’t take Moscow that turn or stack up with the survivors, then you’ll lose the surviving tanks next turn to a Russian counterattack, and you won’t be able to replace them anytime soon. But, if you build all infantry, then it takes longer to become relevant, and Russia can clearly see where it’s headed. There are pros and cons. I usually build a mix.

Good luck against your old man!

[cheezhead1252]

@Argothair said in Reliable 1941 Axis Strategy:

@cheezhead1252 You’re welcome!

No, I think it is counterproductive to worry about attacking Egypt on G1 – especially with NOs off, it is just not that important, and you need every plane in the German air force to win 2 naval battles + 3 land battles on turn 1 at reasonable odds.

If you want to go heavy in the Med, you can get excellent odds on taking Egypt turn 2 by instead using the German med transport to shuffle another inf + tank to Libya on G1, where it will be protected by the Italian navy for a turn. Italy will do the same, shuffling another 2 units to Libya on I1. If you pre-position another 2 units in Italy / the Balkans on G1, then on G2 you can ferry them to Egypt with your transport, allowing you to attack with ~8 land units, plus the German bomber, which can now be spared from anti-British-navy duties, plus also a German fighter that should have landed in Morocco. This is far more than anything the Allies can bring to the region, and if you somehow roll poorly, the Italians are there to follow up with an equally hard punch (~7 units, 1 plane, and 2 naval bombards).

Italy can build any land units it wants for the eastern front; it’s just a style preference. Tanks allow you to threaten a ‘can opener’ for Germany in a larger number of territories, but they tend to be a one-and-done attack, since Italy doesn’t have enough cash to build many tanks; sooner or later Russia will call your bluff and force you to either attack with the Italian tanks into a stack of 2-3 Russian infantry, or else retreat. If you send in the tanks and Germany can’t take Moscow that turn or stack up with the survivors, then you’ll lose the surviving tanks next turn to a Russian counterattack, and you won’t be able to replace them anytime soon. But, if you build all infantry, then it takes longer to become relevant, and Russia can clearly see where it’s headed. There are pros and cons. I usually build a mix.

Good luck against your old man!

I took the advice from your first post and applied to a game of triple A hard AI before you posted this response. I ended up coming to the same conclusions as above, so it is good to confirm I’m on the right track haha.

I agree that the juice in Egypt isn’t really worth the squeeze. I strafed them in G1 to kill some units. And they end up running to Persia once you pressure India anyways. So the French tank and an Inf got shipped to the Eastern front via Med transport and I did the same with Italian units too.

Also, the tip for transports to pressure India was money, getting it a round earlier than I had been was huge. Was able to rush in some planes to help defend Germany on J2 or maybe it was J3.

Was the first time I beat the AI without No’s, it felt great crushing Russia, not going to lie hehe. It’s a slog on the eastern front and you have to be extremely careful and concentrate your forces at the right spot at the right time or you’re fooked.

Thanks again for the great advice and I look forward to kicking some allied booty, cheers!

[cheezhead1252]

@Argothair

Old man is out for my wedding next week so we are going to get a game in this weekend. Going to use these great tips on him.

Haven’t played much anniversary edition since our Christmas game, mostly played 1942 online. So I have a better grasp of fundamentals now and can understand your tips more fully now.

Thanks again!

[Argothair]

@cheezhead1252 Good luck, and have fun!

…oh, and congratulations! :-D

[cheezhead1252]

@Argothair said in Reliable 1941 Axis Strategy:

@cheezhead1252 Good luck, and have fun!

…oh, and congratulations! :-D

Thank you!

We just played again and I fear I’ve lost it haha. Japan is doing great but Germany lost Baltic on G1 and could never get my man force to Karelia. Dying a slow, slow death lol

[Argothair]

@cheezhead1252 Hmm, sorry it didn’t work out. The Baltics start with 3 defending Russian infantry. I’d suggest attacking with about 3 inf, 1 art, 1 tank, 1 fighter – that will give you about 99.5% odds of winning the battle with a surviving land unit.

My guess would be that you either sent less than that (a mistake if you’re building a carrier; the carrier is useless without a credible threat to Leningrad) or you just got very unlucky.

[cheezhead1252]

@Argothair said in Reliable 1941 Axis Strategy:

@cheezhead1252 Hmm, sorry it didn’t work out. The Baltics start with 3 defending Russian infantry. I’d suggest attacking with about 3 inf, 1 art, 1 tank, 1 fighter – that will give you about 99.5% odds of winning the battle with a surviving land unit.

My guess would be that you either sent less than that (a mistake if you’re building a carrier; the carrier is useless without a credible threat to Leningrad) or you just got very unlucky.

I definitely sent less than that. Couldn’t remember what I did last time that worked so well. Got diced a bit as well.

Oh well, you live and you learn. Overall, it’s a great strategy. Japan goes bonkers but takes a bit to get land troops flowing. And I’ve been slow to get Australia.

I also committed a bit to Africa a bit more this game to do something different.

[Argothair]

@cheezhead1252 If you want to go hard after Africa, consider skipping the carrier – instead, build something like 4 inf, 2 art, 1 fighter on G1. Don’t bother attacking the Baltic States at all on G1, and instead use your transport to ferry extra infantry to Norway on non-combat. The overall idea is that after you take Egypt, you can pressure Stalingrad from three sides – the Germans push through Ukraine with tanks, the Italians push through Jordan with infantry, and the Japanese push through India with a few land units and a lot of fighter support.

There are interesting opportunities for a 1-2-3 knockout blow. E.g., Germans barely take Stalingrad but can’t hold it; this prevents Russia from building there, which limits how many units they can deploy next turn. Russia retakes Stalingrad, barely, but can’t afford to retake it hard because they also have to guard Moscow against German tanks in Ukraine. Japanese take Stalingrad against the weakened Russian defenses, accepting fighter plane losses to get more land units into the territory, and then Italy sends a couple of tanks and a couple of fighters to reinforce – now Russia can’t take back Stalingrad at all, and Japan is producing 2 inf + 2 tnk every turn right next to Moscow. This is basically game over for Allies even if by now the British have taken Norway & Finland and even France.

[cheezhead1252]

@Argothair said in Reliable 1941 Axis Strategy:

@cheezhead1252 If you want to go hard after Africa, consider skipping the carrier – instead, build something like 4 inf, 2 art, 1 fighter on G1. Don’t bother attacking the Baltic States at all on G1, and instead use your transport to ferry extra infantry to Norway on non-combat. The overall idea is that after you take Egypt, you can pressure Stalingrad from three sides – the Germans push through Ukraine with tanks, the Italians push through Jordan with infantry, and the Japanese push through India with a few land units and a lot of fighter support.

There are interesting opportunities for a 1-2-3 knockout blow. E.g., Germans barely take Stalingrad but can’t hold it; this prevents Russia from building there, which limits how many units they can deploy next turn. Russia retakes Stalingrad, barely, but can’t afford to retake it hard because they also have to guard Moscow against German tanks in Ukraine. Japanese take Stalingrad against the weakened Russian defenses, accepting fighter plane losses to get more land units into the territory, and then Italy sends a couple of tanks and a couple of fighters to reinforce – now Russia can’t take back Stalingrad at all, and Japan is producing 2 inf + 2 tnk every turn right next to Moscow. This is basically game over for Allies even if by now the British have taken Norway & Finland and even France.

I will have to try this next time! I really appreciate the conversation as there isn’t much in this edition.

He backed out of India and Egypt completely but that kept me boxed in a bit. He retreated some Australia units.east to Africa and flew planes down so it slowed me down. And he built a South Africa factory.

Russia built stacks of tanks which dead zoned Baltic so I had to give up Scandinavia.

America went full green skies so once I was severed from Karelia, my factories in Italy and Germany were shelled.

As it stands, I could take Africa and Austrailer next turn but I just conceded as I fly out tomorrow and it would be a long, drawn out game haha.

Thanks again