Hi all,
I only have ever found one other person to play Axis and Allies with :( everybody thinks it’s too complicated or difficult or boring in these high-technology days. But regardless I love the game and really cannot get enough of it. Since I’ve only played against one person ever (and the occasional computer game) I wanted to see what you guys think of my strategies and give me a fresh perspective on how you guys play, so I can see what I’ve been missing this whole time or major holes in my overall strategic plans.
Allies
I’ll start with my Allied strategy, since I’ve noticed that both myself and my opponent have a hard time playing the Allies. I find the Axis much easier to win with, so there’s a lot I need to learn about how to correctly play the Allies and make use of their huge economic advantage. I take a strictly Germany-first policy in my Allied games, and accept the inevitable fact that Japan will grow basically unchecked, but hope that Germany will be sufficiently weak to make up the slack (especially for Russia, who can take over Eastern European territories at the expense of defending its far east territories to maintain an almost-acceptable level of income).
Edit: this has taken a really long time to write so I will get to the Axis later, maybe in a separate topic
Russia
I buy 4 men and 3 artillery on Russia’s first turn, maximizing their 24 IPC’s. The artillery will be placed in the Caucasus along with 1 man. I usually only attack West Russia with the 5 men from Russia + Archangel, 2 planes, and the 3 artillery from the surrounding territories. Sometimes I will add some men from Karelia, which basically just depends if I want to defend Karelia with 4 men (2 stay there and I place 2 men there at the end of my turn) or 6 men (all men stay there plus the 2 new ones).
I gradually bring all of my men stationed in the far east back to Russia. The men in Evenki Natl Okrug travel to Archangel for a potential counter-attack on Karelia. Sometimes I bunch up 5 men on Buryatia SSR, in an attempt to stretch J1’s turn thin and keep its transports from being useful in Southeast Asia and China. I usually don’t want to sacrifice the men, however, which I feel can be better used to protect Russia’s core territories or even China. I’ll move my tanks and planes to the Caucasus, keeping a healthy defense against G1, defending West Russia, and threatening to advance into Ukraine if Germany is not careful. The rest of my moves are really just dictated by what Germany decides to do, and if they are acceptably distracted by the Allies, Germany will only be able to give minimal attention to Eastern Europe. I don’t want them producing stuff in Karelia so retaking that factory is my immediate priority, but once Russia can safely take Belorussia or Ukraine the game is preeeetty much decided.
United Kingdom
With the UK, I expect all of my Atlantic navy will be destroyed, with the possible exception of the Destroyer/Transport in Canada or cruiser in the Med. Regardless, my foremost priority with the UK is to rebuild my navy stat. I spend 14 of my 30 IPC’s on an aircraft carrier, which America can land a plane on during A1 (otherwise, it’s plane goes to Gibraltar and is really useless for a while). This gives the UK a strong navy which is unlikely to be sunken by the Luftwaffe, unless the German player really kept a lot of fighters on the Western Front, in which case Russia has more freedom and strength in return. With the remainder of my money I usually buy stuff to put in India. I really struggle with what to do in the Pacific region, how much money to spend in India vs building a navy/invasion force in London, etc. Some games I buy 3 men per turn and turtle in India. Depending on the situation in Egypt/Africa, I may bring men to Africa via the Indian transport, and if I still have the Egyptian plane, I may be so daring as to land 4 men in the East Indies and try to destroy the Japanese fleet in its surrounding waters, which sometimes goes horribly, in which case my transports retreat to India, giving it an extra 2 men. If it goes well, I potentially halve the power of the Japanese navy and really put a thorn in its side regarding its income, but this is usually just a dream. India usually falls after some time, and the Pacific fleet is doomed to eternal failure, but the hope is that the Allies can chokehold Germany well enough that by the time this happens Russia can turn its attention to Japan, who will need time to replenish its army. Alternatively, I sometimes bring the man from Burma into Yunnan, and bring all three of my Indian fellas and their AAA into Burma. I do this in tandem with putting 5 Russians on Buryatia, and these simple but decisive moves really slows Japan’s ability to expand and hopefully keeps Japan from reaching Moscow/India with any level of force before Germany has been sufficiently clamped down.
America
With America, I pray that the German subs in the Atlantic do not attack my destroyer and two transports (I will get to those Atlantic subs in the Axis portion) and just basically buy transports and men, whose ultimate destination will be France. If my destroyer and transports do not get killed in G1, I move one man from Western US to Central US and buy 5 men and 3 transports (36/42 IPCS). This allows me to field 5 transports worth of men, which includes 7 men, 1 arty, and 1 tank, by A2, while having some money left over. I bolster my Atlantic fleet with the American cruiser from sz19, but generally don’t buy any extra warships and rely on the UK fleet to protect my transports, while flying down my two planes from the mainland to land on British CV’s. I put all my men and transports in Eastern Canada so they can threaten to take France on A2 if they so please, perhaps coaxing the German player to needlessly commit a couple men to his Western front. They can also reach Norway/Finland on A2 this way, securing some extra income for the Allies and further occupying Germany. America basically turtles in the Atlantic and builds up a force powerful enough to land on France, kill any Germans there, and keep it along with the help of UK men and planes. I bring my Pacific fleet and transport down to Indonesia to hopefully threaten Borneo, New Guinea, the Philippines, and the East Indies, while also hopefully occupying the Japanese fleet from focusing on India or taking Australia. America is really just the central player in bringing Germany to it’s knees.