First turn Russia, an IC in Yakut.

[cystic crypt]

You know, i think i shat on your idea a little too early. Maybe a well stacked Yakut might better support the IC - drop the yankee fighter there, as well as the UK ftr, and move your stuff eastwards to reinforce it.
At the same time, there is a very delicate balancing act in order to keep Germany at bay and you need a well co-ordinated Allied defense of the motherland.
i like your thinking tho’.

[TG Moses VI]

I have to agree with CC, if I see a IC sitting there (even better if it can serve me tactically!), I’ll take it with everything I have. When that happens, Russia has just wasted 15 IPCs - 5 infantry or 3 ARM in losses. The main problem with an IC in Yakrut is that it’s too close to the Japanese mainland of Manchuria, making it an easy target for a Japanese build up. You could support it with the Yankee and Brit ftrs - however, that risks Africa and gives Japan easy pickings in SE Asia.

[Ansbach]

Wow! And my friends think my Russian opener is radical because I move all 4 infantry from Russia to Novo! :)

Guest: this is very short term thinking and would never work on experienced players. All you are doing is buying a factory for Japan and giving Germany a 5 infantry head start on the front lines. With a factory in Yakut, Germany and Japan are going to party like it’s 1939! groan :roll:

Also, the Magic number for the Allies is 110.

Your strategy might be fatal to an agressive attack by Germany and Japan - I would have to look at it in more detail. But below are some quick thoughts on a more conservative counter - I won’t detail every move, just the part that applies to your strategy. To understand why this would be effective and why your strategy is ineffective, you have to look at the bigger picture instead of just one or two turns ahead:

Germany: On Germany’s first turn, with 5 less infantry defending Karelia, I would straffe Karelia for 1 round - meaning I would attack with everything adjacent (except my planes) and then retreat to Eastern Europe after one round of combat. On average, this will kill about 5 more Russian infantry and I will lose about 6 German infantry (but I ‘rescued’ 3 infantry and a tank from Norway). Long term: Karelia now has 10 less infantry than it would normally have, which means there will be virtually no Russian pressure on Eastern Europe from Karelia until the Americans arrive several turns later. This frees up the German troops that are normally stuck in Eastern Europe, allowing Germany to send extra support to Africa as mentioned above.

Japan: Buy the standard 2 transports and 3 infantry. On Japan’s first turn I would ignore Yakut and the Soviet Far East, attacking China with 1 infantry from Manchuria and everything from Kwangtung, as well as all planes that can make it. There would be 2 infantry left behind in Manchuria, all fighters would land there, and the two Japanese transports would land 4 more infantry there as well. At the end of turn 1 Japan has 6 infantry and 4 fighters in Manchuria, so that a Russian attack from Yakut on turn 2 would be suicide. On turn 2, Japan will land 8 more infantry in Manchuria, still ignoring Yakut. On turn 3 Japan will take Yakut, attacking with 14 infantry, 5 fighters, and a bomber. Long term: the now Japanese-owned factory will start cranking out 2 tanks per turn while I transport 12 infantry every turn on to the mainland towards Russia.

Now, ignoring the details, there are two important tips to take from this example: a.) Russia has to put as much pressure as possible on Eastern Europe so that it ties up German forces in Germany and reinforcements to Africa are kept to a minimum, and b.) with a factory in Yakut, Japan will be landing 8-12 infantry per turn into Manchuria and your factory will soon be overwhelmed, then used against you.

Something to keep in mind - Axis and Allies is a game that changes style dramatically as you become more experienced. When you first start playing A&A, all kinds of wild strategies are possible and games will often end suddenly and violently in just a few turns. As you gain experience the game becomes much slower and more subtle, similiar to chess in a few respects: a.) there are only a few good opening moves with slight variations - anything else and you will lose several turns later, and b.) the games are slower paced and last much longer with an evolving beginning, middle, and endgame, and you have to look at the consequence of every move several turns in advance.

Then the day will come when you have perfected your game to an artform and you will be able to execute your plans with the style of a Grand Master. After hours of near-perfect play, you will see the inevitable flaw in your opponent’s game and make your move. Basking in all your glory as you transfer your units to the battle board for the decisive battle, you taunt your opponent. “Checkmate,” you grin.

Your opponent grimaces, closes his eyes, and rolls… 5 out of 6 1’s for his AA guns - costing you the game and prompting you to throw your dice across the room and into the wall - and you quickly realize that A&A is nothing like chess after all… :o

[Guest]

When I created this strategy I already thought about the possibility that the IC and Yakut would come in Japanese hands.

Although a large portion of the attacking Japanese force will be destroyed, Yakut will be taken. For this reason I placed an IC (A1) in Sinkiang, because this gives you the opportunity to immediately react by crossing the neutral territory Mongolia with American forces located in Sinkiang and China.

England also has to react immediately in turn E2 by trying to make a sweep to Manchuria by first conquering French Indo-China from India.

Japan has now two options left, go North or South.

If they choose to go north, they of course will try to keep the IC in Yakut in their hands and put some pressure on Russia. If this is the case then South East Asia will be lost to the British army from India. Also they would have to hold off the American forces from Sinkiang. But by now you will probably think the British force they aren’t strong enough to make the sweep to Manchuria. I think they will make it to Kwangtung, by also using the Australian forces. By then their forces will be weakened and form no threat to Manchuria, Yakut and the already taken Soviet Far East. But reinforce these forces by building an IC in India.

The other possibility is that Japan decides to counter attack the British forces in the south and eventually capture the IC in Sinkiang. Japan will need the IPC’s from Manchuria, Kwangtung and French Indo-China to replace the fallen troops. Therefore they will first try to retake Manchuria and Kwangtung. This will give the Americans forces the opportunity to launch attacks on Yakut. This will result in heavy Japanese losses and even to the retaking of Yakut.

If they do manage to defend the IC in Yakut they still have a fair task a head this is because they need to withstand the British forces. The only solution for them will be to send in troops to conquer territories like China, French Indo-China and eventually make it to India. Although they will succeed in conquering most of the territories. India will not fall to Japanese forces because they will have the opportunity to retreat from Kwangtung, French Indo-China and set up a formidable defence in India. Therefore Japan will try to capture the IC in Sinkiang to put some pressure of the IC in Yakut. Because the attacks need to be launched from French Indo-China (to keep the British forces away) they will fail.

Because of the economic powers of the Allies Japan will not hold, they miss the IPC’s from the normally conquered Eastern Africa and Asia (possible the IPC’s from some islands like Australia, New Hawaii, etc.).

But anyway give me your thoughts, suggestions or comments on this strategy. I will be happy to read them.

[Ansbach]

I understand what you are trying to accomplish, but you are missing a few things after Japan 1:

1.) There are no US troops in China - I own it. (This is a ‘golden rule’ of Japan 1 - they should always, without exception, take China on their first turn.) All you have are 2 infantry in Sinkang - if you build a factory there I have a good shot at taking it on my second turn, depending on how many infantry survived in China and what my Burma infantry did. Sometimes I will even take Sinkang on Japan 1 from Burma.

2.) Even if I choose to ignore the Sinkang factory, I am attacking Yakut on Japan 3 with 14 infantry and 6 planes. US1 - build a factory, US2- build troops at factory… Yakut falls before US3. There are no US troops able to support Yakut in time unless you vacate Sinkang and give me a second free factory.

3.) The UK will not be ‘sweeping’ anywhere. There are 3 Japanese infantry in Burma at the start of the game. All England has is 3 infantry and a fighter, and the fighter will probably have to defend one of the factories. If you leave 3 infantry and a fighter in India on turn 1, I would probably hit that from Burma, spliting forces between India and China. Just 3 infantry from Burma, a fighter, and a bomber has a 70% chance of taking India - not a 35% chance. If I bring the transport and 2 more infantry it is a sure thing. (There is an odds calculator, “P10000”, that you can dowload from this website that is very helpful in evaluating strategies.) Also, it is easy to sink the transport if it tries to go to to Australia, which would only be 2 addition infantry on UK turn 3 anyway. I would probably ignore that move as well - let you bring the 2 infantry to me to be killed - saves me the trip out there. Also I’ll be glad to let you vacate Australia for me so that later on I can pop 1 infantry there and take it at my convience.

4.) Japan can still easily out-produce both Allied factories in this part of the world, so both will fall sooner or later. Allied factories in Asia are nothing more than a delaying move - to delay Japan’s push on Russia while they take care of Germany.

5.) By far most importantly, all this action in Asia means Germany is having a field day in Europe and Africa. Remember, every ‘positive’ move made by the Allies in Asia has negative consequences in Europe. If too much effort is spent in Asia by the Allies, Germany will quickly become unstoppable. One of the other players on this board has a good saying for the Allies:

“What’s the worst Japan can do? Take Russia. What’s the worst Germany can do? Win the game.”

Tonight, play out your USSR 1, UK 1, and then this Japan 1. See if you like the way things look for the Allies afterwards. I think you will find that a UK factory in India instead of the Russian factory will accomplish the same goals you are striving for, only much more effectively.

There is nothing wrong with trying out new strategies though, and it all depends on the experience level of your opponent. Your strategy could be devesating to a player unable to deal with it, and it might help you rack up a quick victory.

[Guest]

Thank you Ansbach for your reaction. I played again using my strategy and your German and Japan strategy. After that I had to come to a different conclusion then you. Post your thoughts, suggestions or comments on this strategy. I will be happy to read them.

Russia Turn 1 (R1):
Use the strategy I have created and place an IC in Yakut.

Germany Turn 1 (G1):
Use the strategy of Ansbach. One thing I want to point out don’t use the 2 Infantry (Use the Transport before the coast of Germany) from Germany. Because then you won’t be able to retreat and you will end up with 2 Tanks left in Karelia.

England Turn 1 (E1):

Non-Combat:

• • move to Karelia
    2 Fighters from Britain

Japan Turn 1 (J1):
Use the strategy of Ansbach.

America Turn 1 (A1):
Use the strategy I have created and place an IC in Sinkiang.

Russia Turn 2 (R2):
Reading Ansbach earlier post I read this sentence “Russian attack from Yakut on turn 2 would be suicide”, it was never my intention the fist Russian turns to attack for instance Manchuria. Use them defensive.

Attacks:

• • attack Ukraine
    5 Infantry from Caucasus

Non-Combat:

• • move to Ukraine
    4 Infantry from Karelia
• • move to Karelia
    2 Infantry from Russia

Deploying bought units:

• deploy 8 Infantry in Karelia

Germany Turn 2 (G2):
The German forces will be forced to defend Eastern Europe because if do intend to attack Karelia they will lead heavy losses and the threat of being counter attacked. This is the same with Ukraine.

England Turn 2 (E2):
Buy: 1 IC

Non-Combat:

• • move to Sinkiang
    2 Infantry and 1 Fighter from India
• • move to India
    1 Infantry from Persia
• • move to India
    2 Infantry from Australia

Deploying bought units:

• deploy 1 IC in India

Japan Turn 2 (J2):
Use the strategy of Ansbach.

America Turn 2 (A2):
Because Germany needs to constantly reinforce the troops in Eastern Europe just to keep up with the Russian forces Eastern Europe will be weakly defended. So invade Western Europe using the support of your Fighters and Bomber.

Russia Turn 3 (R3):

Deploying bought units:

• deploy 2 Infantry in Yakut
• remaining Infantry in Karelia

Germany Turn 3 (G3):
Germany probably will counter attack the invasion of Western Europe. This will not give them an opportunity to send all their reinforcements to the Eastern front.

England Turn 3 (E3):
Begin to reinforce Karelia with Infantry.

Deploying bought units:

• deploy 2 Infantry and 1 Tank in India

Japan Turn 3 (J3):
According to Ansbach strategy the time is come for you to invade Yakut. Yakut will be taken with 4 Infantry left.

America Turn 3 (A3):
Buy: 2 Infantry, Submarines

By now the Americans must follow the strategy I have posted earlier. So begin to invade Mongolia. Also if possible begin the invasion of Africa. The reason why I bought the Submarines is because they form a threat to Japanese Transport fleet. And therefore the Japanese planes will be busy with attacking the Submarines and will hardly form any support to the Japanese forces in Asia.

Deploying bought units:

• deploy 2 Infantry in Sinkiang

England Turn 4 (E4):
Britain begins his sweep as early mentioned in the earlier post.

After this your opponent grimaces, closes his eyes, and thinks this just cost me the game and prompt he throws his dice across the room and into the wall - and he quickly realize that A&A is nothing like Risk after all… :D

[Ansbach]

I think you are guilty of something we are all guilty of when we are working on a new strategy - there is a default tendancy to assume that our opponents will play exactly into our hands. You get excited about one specific strategy and you have tunnel vision focusing on that strategy.

For example:

America Turn 2 (A2):
Because Germany needs to constantly reinforce the troops in Eastern Europe just to keep up with the Russian forces Eastern Europe will be weakly defended. So invade Western Europe using the support of your Fighters and Bomber.

That’s just crazy! Even if you only have a few games worth of experience, I guarantee that if you were playing as Germany in a game there is no way you would allow the US to take Western Europe on the second turn of the game. So why do you assume your opponent will allow this?

OK, you have an idea of what you want to do with the Allies for the first few turns, right? So now you need to play devil’s advocate - play as the Axis against your Allied strategy and look for the best way to stop it. Then go back and tweak it, test it again, etc. - until you are happy with it. Then test it out against some live opponents.

Just as an example, you missed some important things on Japan 1: If you leave your 2 infantry and fighter in India you will lose them. I will attack them with 3 infantry and a fighter from Burma, and the bomber from Japan. I have about an 80% chance of taking India with one Infantry remaining on average. I will land 2 infantry in Burma to protect the bomber, and 2 in Manchuria to reinforce as above. So everything that you have planned out after Japan 1 is invalid in this case. No factory in India. No factory in Sinkiang - if you build a factory in Sinkiang, you will lose it on turn 2 - I can attack it on Japan 2 with 2-4 infantry and 2-5 planes. You will lose the Yakut factory on Turn 3.

I am assuming that by coming to this website and posting various strategies to get feedback on them, your overall goal is to become a better player as quickly as possible. Probably so that you can deliver a butt whoopin’ to your friends. :D
Well here are some good ways to get a jump start on that:

Below is a website that has several essays that are a great resource for newer players. The strategies aren’t as black and white as the author makes them out to be, but overall they are sound and will help improve your game significantly. Among other things they describe a UK India factory strategy that is decent.

http://donsessays.freeservers.com/
One relevant quote:

“… you will have to believe that your death will occur if you make a purchasing mistake on the first, second, and third turns against seasoned A&A players.”

As I said earlier, all of this depends on your opponents. If you are playing against friends who are relatively new to the game, there are a lot more viable strategies for both the Axis and Allies. But if you are trying to improve your gameplay as quickly as possible by posting strategy ideas on a board with a lot of experienced players, then you need to learn what works, what doesn’t work, and why.

Take an in-depth look at these essays, absorb them, and then practice the strategies in them against your friends. They won’t stand a chance - you will deliver some serious beatings!

If you do want to improve quickly, get the CD game if you don’t own it already and start playing others on The Zone. There are about 100 people playing every night. I’d be happy to meet you there and help you get started, both with the game and with your Allied strategy. You can send me an e-mail at jg2_ansbach@yahoo.com.

There are also three great Online Axis and Allies clubs:

War Club: http://www.axis-allies.com
BOP: http://www.balance-of-power.net
Spring 1942: http://www.spring1942.com

You can join any or all of them! They have a lot of newbie support and resources, as well as various levels of opponents. Your play will improve dramatically, you will have more potential opponents than you ever dreamed of, and you will have a blast!

Also, if you like it here you ought to quit logging in as a guest and join this BB community as well! Continue to post questions and strategy ideas so that we can disscus them with you. This board will help you improve your strategy as well, IF you take what’s discussed here and try it out in real games.

Good luck!

[Guest]

How about Japan doing a bombing run against the Yakut factory. There will be no AA on the first turn, so it’s a free attack. Maybe you get lucky and roll a 6 taking away 2 INF from Russia on turn 2. Plus, the Russian will be forced to waste another 5 bucks to buy an anti-aircraft unit or the Japanese player can buy more bombers and soon eliminate all of Russia’s income.

[TG Moses VI]

Yeah, that would work too! :)

[EmuGod]

Ansbach, I’ll take you up on that offer!

[Ozone27]

Ansbach is (as happens so often) correct. If you might indulge me a tad…

One year ago: I was our group’s worst USSR player. But as is so often the case, I became super-interested in USSR and stared at the board for hours trying to come up with the ultimate USSR strategy.

What I came up with was the ultimate “worst case scenario” strategy for T1 that enabled me under virtually ANY circumstances to live for at least 3 turns–if BOTH Japan & Germany attacked on T1 w/ everything they had. My strategy was based on judicious counterattacks to set the enemies back just long enough for a massive USA force to come charging in to the rescue.

The 1st (and only) game I tried this strategy, the Axis didn’t attack me from 2 sides T1–in fact, neither of them strongly attacked me T1 at all. Now I had this massive “counterattack” force just sitting there useless.

So I attacked Japan T2.

Needless to say, Germany swamped me T2 with massive forces and Japan (after defeating my “1-shot”) attack, came in T3. My reputation as the group’s worst USSR player was secure. :o

Since then USSR has become only my 2nd-worst country (after USA). But also since then I have learned the cardinal rule of Naval Combat (and by extension, any combat):

Never prepare for what you think the enemy WILL do. Rather–prepare for what the enemy COULD do…

Ozone27

[Corporal Punishment]

Ok, guest, I’m going to be very harsh with you because, well this is an awful idea. First of all, I dont know how your Eastern front can possibly last with 5 less INF there on T1, and I dont know why you think it can. Didn’t Ansbach run the numbers earlier in this thread? I sort of skip over the long posts, but I’m fairly certain this idea is suicide. Second of all, you can accomplish the same thing a Yakut IC would accomplish (2 INF in Yakut every turn) by marching 2 INF from Russia and Novo over the whole game. That would only take 2 INF out of Europe every turn, instead of 5 the first turn and 2 after that. You’ve grasped the big picture idea - stalling Japan, but you really need to look at the details and realize that Russia cannot afford an IC.

[Ansbach]

@EmuGod:

Ansbach, I’ll take you up on that offer!

Sure thing! Just send me an e-mail and let me know when you want met up - weekdays between 5pm - 11pm CST work best for me.

jg2_ansbach@yahoo.com

[Xi]

I agree with Ansbach’s first post. It also leaves the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine to clean the Royal Navy’s clock.
–--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Try Again!

[Yanny]

An IC in Yakut is unneeded. Its only 2 spaces from Moscow. I have 2 infantry going east every turn usually. Once the patern is established, its like having an IC there. Every turn, 2 infantry arrive from Evenki.

[Xi]

Guest,

Guest First post

Japan T1…Japan will have an opportunity to take over India using Infantry from Manchuria…

You goofed here(in case no one else pointed it out). Infantry from MAN CANNOT reach India…NO WAY…NO HOW.

Guest First and Second post

GB T1 (E1):
Buy: Infantry and Transports

You goofed again! With Germany concentrating Navy& Air on the Royal Navy nothing would be left to defend these TRNs. YOU JUST WASTED 16-24 IPCs!
–----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Try again!

[Xi]

Another goof,

Guest Second post

Russia Turn 2 (R2):
Reading Ansbach earlier post I read this sentence “Russian attack from Yakut on turn 2 would be suicide”, it was never my intention the fist Russian turns to attack for instance Manchuria. Use them defensive.

Attacks:

• • attack Ukraine
    5 Infantry from Caucasus

Either attack you are making a mistake in most cases.
Yes, use Eastern USSR forces defensively, except when you can easily knock off a valuable piece(e.g., lone ARM or FTR[maybe ARM or FTR with one INF after you’ve built up and Japan has spread out, T3/T4).
5 INF attack from UKR(MUST ROLL 1s to hit) AGAINST WHAT? It might be 4-5 INF [and 1 ARM](rolling 2s or less, your opponent would love it.
I know, I know, you were thinking it was 1-2 INF. WRONG! Stretch your brain, not your lips.

Oh, by-the-by, since Ansbach’s plan takes the USs IC in Ssinkang(sp.?) on J2 and USSRs IC in YAK on J3(TRUST ME,he can and WILL do it :P )
WHACHA GON DO?

Try again. :wink:
–----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ansbach… it’s 2 INF, 1 FTR for Japan in FIC to start…and 2 INF, 1 FTR for GB in India to start. - Xi

[Guest]

You all lick balls! You suck! We should have won back then! Wir sind es nicht vergessen!

Wir fahren gegen england!

[Guest]

ok, you mention that on G2 germany will not attack karelia for fear of heavy losses!
you have 10 inf maybe 2 fighters there even if you had 18 germany can hit it!
germany will have 8 arm, 9-11 inf and air power! Plus if you leave 5 inf in ukarine, i will just hit that! i should kill all 5 for 2 infantry. move in ukraine hard, and move 8 more infantry to eastern europe. If the usa takes western europe, i will counter with air (not armor) That way my armor will still be crushing russians. With all those factories, the allied “shuck-shuck” is going to be slow. With your strategy, you leave the russians in “dead zones” This allows germany to kill alot for very little. If i have extra men in libya, i might consider transporting them into europe to kill russia even faster!
Your yakut strategy would work alot better if you made different moves as russia! (i’m not saying that it’s optimum though)

[Xi]

Guest, methinkest thou wasteth thine index fingers.
This thread has been inactive for over 6 months.
I think the original guest has learned his lesson and then some.

Look elsewhere on these fora for a good discussion.
In fact, try “General Discussion!”