A&A Global Concerns

[ItIsILeClerc]

What I have seen from Italy so far, is not so funny at all (for Italy ;-)),
because whatever they do, they must turtle up in Rome once the Americans show up (turn 2, 3 or 4, depending on when Japan DOWs), or risk loosing Rome for good.

This leaves only a few troops ‘abroad’ for Italy. Usually they tally a taskforce for a strategy, send it out, and send no more reinforcements because they have to defend like crazy.
The actions that I have seen range from:
A- Being active (together with Germany) with a few fast units in Russia. Often used as ‘can openers’, but it also gives Italy some more (and lasting) income.
B- Trying to get into North Africa/Middle east.
C- Being used as defensive HQ in Western Europe.

Against a UK that has not lost London, any African/Middle East adventures usually end badly for Italy. Unless the Uk-player is significantly weaker than the Italian one. The Uk victories in our ‘average games’ are so massive, that I am personally reluctant to try this seriously as I consider it ‘waste of men and materiel’. So I’d rather opt for plan A or C.

[ItIsILeClerc]

@majikforce:

(…) I just don’t see any allied help directly into Russia being effective at all (…)

Consider sending UK-spitfires into Moscow. This REALLY helps Russia staying in control of its capital. Check it with a battlecalculator if you want. If Russia…
-Produces only INF + (less) ART, only adding ARM + MECH if it has IPCs to spare (usually in turn 4 and 5);
-Sends their Siberian Hunters home (+ some surviving Mongols);

…Then sending 6 to 8 Spitfires into Moscow saves the day against GE6 through GE8. With substantial allied troops threatening to invade in the west, this should be enough to keep Russia alive indefinately.

If the USA hammers Japan and does not have a lot in Europe (on a KJF mission), Moscow wil surely fall GE9 or GE10. Unless the UK is willing to have a total of 20 FTR active in Moscow (I calculated that). Now I am a big fan of UK-aid for Moscow (12 aircraft is no problem for me as Churchill), but that’s even too much for me to feel comfortable with. Not that I couldn’t, but I wouldn’t  ;-).

[majikforce]

@ItIsILeClerc:

@majikforce:

(…) I just don’t see any allied help directly into Russia being effective at all (…)

Consider sending UK-spitfires into Moscow. This REALLY helps Russia staying in control of its capital. Check it with a battlecalculator if you want. If Russia…
-Produces only INF + (less) ART, only adding ARM + MECH if it has IPCs to spare (usually in turn 4 and 5);
-Sends their Siberian Hunters home (+ some surviving Mongols);

…Then sending 6 to 8 Spitfires into Moscow saves the day against GE6 through GE8. With substantial allied troops threatening to invade in the west, this should be enough to keep Russia alive indefinately.

If the USA hammers Japan and does not have a lot in Europe (on a KJF mission), Moscow wil surely fall GE9 or GE10. Unless the UK is willing to have a total of 20 FTR active in Moscow (I calculated that). Now I am a big fan of UK-aid for Moscow (12 aircraft is no problem for me as Churchill), but that’s even too much for me to feel comfortable with. Not that I couldn’t, but I wouldn’t  ;-).

I must say I have never tried sending ftr’s to Russia.  I will definitely try that out.  I would assume you would have to get them there early on.  My only concern is that if you send what ftr’s you start with early on then Italy will thrive while your fighters sit in Moscow idling.  And if you buy more that can be an expensive venture considering UK can have trouble making in the middle 30’s.  Can you detail your plan for sending fighters to Russia?  I would like to try it out.  Thanks!

[ItIsILeClerc]

Yw Majik!

Timing is indeed of the essence. The Uk has to realize that the FTR/TAC that it sends to aid Russia must land there UK5 if GE6 can make an assault on Moscow that Russia alone cannot withstand. I 'll leave that for you to Judge but Germany chanelling 100% of its income into units that march/drive (not sail) directly into Russia is kind of a give away… Especially if combined with a USA that wants/needs to focus on Japan and builds up an invasion force in Europe only marginally or even not at all.

So, lets ‘reverse-engineer’ 8FTR from landing in Moscow UK5.

• UK4 they have to end their turn in Nenetsia (north of Russia), NW Persia, Eastern Persia, a Carrier in ZS99 or one of the Chinese territories bordering Russia. As an alternative, you can land them in Crete, Cyprus or Syria (if you control it) and build an AirBase there. Too bad this will cost 15IPCs and you rather want some AB in Gibraltar or Malta if you need one, but sometimes it must be done if your schedule seems to become unachievable.

• UK3 they must end in Scotland or anywhere in Africa/ME from where they can get to the zones mentioned above (so they can be active, especially in the med/North Africa). Egypt is perfect landing zone for this.

• UK2, you get the picture ;-)

This means that a few of the designated FTR/TAC will be active in Africa untill UK4 and a few that have remained in London can fly into Scotland this turn. The Air from India + the ones that Calcutta manages squeeze through production usually go into ME and then Africa first and then move towards Russia UK4. Be careful that moving FTR from Egypt towards Russia should not weaken Egypt if Italy is still able to attack here. So have reinforcements ready to fly into Egypt. Good staging areas are Algeria/Malta/Gibraltar and, if you must, French West Africa or an active Carrier.
That is the wonderful thing about the RAF (and aircraft in general): they are so wonderfully flexible and can fly over the enemy reinforcing areas beyond them! I Love it!

Try to avoid flying allied aircraft into Russia itself UK4 as long as the Murmansk route will still generate the NO for Russia RU5. Germany will usually close it GE5 anyway so landing in Nenetsia should not be too painful for Russia but sometimes you have no choice and what does Russia prefer -loosing 5IPCs or loosing Moscow?

[axisandalliesplayer]

rjkesq82,

I’m going to throw out a couple of things for you to consider from the allied perspective, take what you will from it and keep in mind that you can’t follow a single winning formula for each and every game. There are way too many variables for that, one of the reasons why Global is such a great game. The axis do have an early advantage. The longer the game goes and the worse their chances become. Turn 7 is usually a turning point of sorts. Generally it’s when the axis have reached a high water mark. If they’re in position to win that turn or shortly afterwards, than they’re sitting pretty. I don’t have any data to back me up, but it’s what I consider to be the key turn; second only to the first turn.

UK London
The top two priorities should be keeping London tan and neutralizing Italy. 6inf, ftr buy for London is generally enough to dissuade a SL attempt by Germany. Keep in mind there is NOTHING London can do if Germany makes the right moves/purchases and is willing to absorb the losses that a London capture will entail. The best you can do is to make it hurt Germany and take out as many units and especially air with you.
As far as Italy goes, UK should move to take Persia on turn one and then take out Iraq on UK2. Then put a factory and maybe even a 2nd on one of those two terr in the first 3 turns. UK has a great shot to kill the Italian fleet in sz97 on UK1 (fleet + tac in sz98, ftr from Malta, and bomber from London). I usually take the hits on the carrier and land the air in Malta. If Germany flies in a ftr/tac to scramble, than UK will need another fighter. The fighter from Gibraltar can reach as well as both fighters in London. Usually I send the ftr & cruiser off/in Gibraltar after sz96. If the dice are good, you can easily kill 2/3rds of the Italian navy in the first round.
After that, just pump units out of the middle east factory(ies). The great thing about them is units built there can reinforce Egypt, India, or Moscow depending on which one is under the greatest threat. And they (the ICs) make a great linchpin for a forward defense of Egypt if Moscow falls (Axis still need 1 more VC if they have all their originals, Paris, and all of Russia’s). Indian troops can get to the ME quickly as long as Japan has been neutered and can’t threaten India. Germany will have a hard time getting through that defensive position as long as both India and London are sending troops there and if US is committed to the Atlantic.

Russia
Russia’s one goal is to buy the allies time. The longer they stall the Germans, the worse the axis chances of victory become. So for Russia, discretion is the better part of valor. Keep falling back on your capital and ensure that none of your troop stacks get cut off from Moscow. This means giving up the defense of Novgorod quickly if the Germans start pushing in in strength.

If Russia can make a stand somewhere outside of Moscow (maybe Bryansk or very rarely Belarus) then do so. But fall back if you don’t have the odds. Don’t let Germany defeat your stacks in detail! Mainly stick with some infantry purchases, but don’t overlook getting a handful of offensive units to force Germany to respect your threat and stick together. If you can trade Ukraine/Novgorod with Germany to delay any builds out of there, than do it.
Don’t be afraid to kill any small groups of Germans in a terr if you can manage it, especially if they’re tanks. But try to protect any tanks you have with your main body. Russia by itself can stall Germany for at least 6 and maybe 7 rounds without allied help if they play smart and don’t get diced somewhere. Especially if Germany’s just tank rushing you. Throw in British help from the middle east or US landings in Europe and it’s possible to never lose Moscow. If Moscow does fall, it’s not the end of the world though!

[axisandalliesplayer]

UK India
Along with China, India’s job is to contest the Asian continent. In view of this, never buy ships! They’re really expensive and India is too vulnerable to a Japanese invasion by sea to buy something that can’t be used to defend India itself. Early on India should mainly just get infantry and some artillery. If Japan doesn’t have many transports afloat and US is contesting the ocean, than you can switch to getting a couple of tank/mechs and some air in the later rounds. Never let Japan take and hold Burma, because once Japan has it, odds are India’s going under soon and you probably won’t be able to retake it if you give Japan a chance to stack it’s air there. India can help keep China alive by pushing into Yunnan and helping to hold the road. Don’t send too much of your strength out of range of India as long as Japan has a viable threat of sea invasion. Once Japan’s neutered, sending Indian mech/arm/air to the middle east and/or Moscow can be HUGE.

China
China is like a cockroach, they’re really hard for Japan to kill off. They also have a nasty habit of getting back into things even once they’ve been completely eradicated. Soak up as many Japanese ground pounders as possible. Hold the road as long as possible. But once Japan moves close to you, fall back to your western border. Get away from his sea based air and force Japan to come after you. If Japan sends enough to finally kill you (for now) than likely India has the breathing room they need to fort up and hold the Japanese off. If not, then China can become the cancer that weakens the Japanese empire.
Usually infantry suck on offense and are better suited to defense. And I’m not saying that you should ignore the defensive possibilities of a stack of Chinese infantry in the interior of China. But the Japanese have a large air force that can smack your stacks silly with only a couple ground pounders. 2 attacking infantry have about 60-65% odds against a defending one, 3 can take on 2. Kill the Japanese units that come after you and you force Japan to keep sending new units your way. This is Japan’s weakness. They can overpower any one country, but only if they turn their backs on the others. Take em down like a wolf pack would take down a bull bison; distract them to death and nip in when you can take out small chunks.

Anzacs
While China and India deal with the continent, the Aussie’s mission is to pair up with the US fleet and contest the islands. Between the US and Aussies, you should try to keep at least 1 transport in range of the four money islands. They’re worth a huge amount of money to both sides and Japan needs them in their hands if they want to have any hope of winning. As long as the US has a large presence in the pacific you shouldn’t have to worry about Japan trying a direct invasion. Keep an eye out for it just in case. But usually you can focus on buying transports, troops to load them, some subs/dds, and the occasional air unit. Force Japan to keep sending troops and transports to the islands. Kill any Japanese transport you can and just your best to keep at least one of the islands out of Japanese hands. Convoy raid with subs whenever possible, especially if Japan has no/few dds in range. And then team up with US to kill any dd that went after the sub, preferably with another sub + air for more convoy raiding. And don’t overlook the need to ship block if Japan can kill the Aussie/US fleet.

[axisandalliesplayer]

US Europe
This one is a trickier proposition than the other countries. US has to balance both the European and Pacific theaters. Too little US help in either theater can easily mean an axis win no matter how well the rest of the allied countries were played. The balance could be 3-4 turns focus in one front to tilt the odds in the allied favor before switching to the other front. Or it could be split between both. US needs to pay attention to the map as a whole and project what the situation will be in either front turns and turns in advance. The odds can quickly tilt in the axis favor and the US needs to be able to read the situation and put the cavalry in motion early since it’ll take a couple turns for them to get to the front. You can’t predict a dicing or a huge mistake/oversight, but do the best you can to see everything else coming.

For the European side of things you’ll need transports to land troops. But more importantly you need a fleet to cover those transports. A British air base in Gibraltar can really help US get the fleet protection they need. US fighters can land there a turn after being built and they have the reach to go all kinds of places from there, same with any fleet based off of Gibraltar. An early target for invasion should be Norway. It’s separated from the rest of the German forces by water, it’s an IPC swing of 11 (-5 NO bonus for Germany, -3 terr income for Germany, and +3 terr income to US) , and the US can put a minor and maybe an AB or NB as needed.

Finland is right next door and is another place US can lay down a factory. Being able to produce 6 units a turn that close to Germany can really hurt the axis. Also, allied fighters in Norway (with an AB) or Finland can reach Moscow in one turn. If Moscow’s in danger of falling, US can lay down up to 6 fighters a turn and get them to Moscow the next turn. If Moscow’s already gray, than Novgorod can potentially be captured as it isn’t far from the US position.

Landing directly into Normandy is a little riskier as German factories can build units right there and it’s not as big of an IPC swing as Norway. But it has the added benefit of already having a factory present and the protection of allied air scrambling from London to protect the fleet. This could be a major consideration if the Luftwaffe is still going strong.

Another way the US could impact the European front is just convoy raiding any axis terr in Europe that you can while concentrating in the Pacific. You can set this up with subs so the US will still have a big impact in Europe without having to commit fresh ground forces each turn. Norway, Normandy, S. France, Italy, and the Balkans can all be raided. This generally will affect Italy a lot greater than it will Germany. But it’s something to consider. Mix it up by raiding Italy to death while invading Norway and/or Normandy.

US Pacific
In the Pacific the US needs to build up a strong enough fleet to go toe to toe with Japan. The best defensive fleet mix is a carrier + 2 fighters, 4 hits to take with 10 punch on defense. So get working on building those up. But don’t overlook the need to get destroyers as fodder and ship blocking. Add a couple subs to the mix for taking out Japanese blockers and raiding. US doesn’t need many transports in the Pacific, leave that mainly for the Aussies.

A common mistake that people make with US is moving their fleet up to soon. I’ve done this myself countless times and it sucks. And it sounds like your US players have made this mistake in your games. Japan starts with a larger navy than the US and has a MUCH larger air force. Japan has 21 air units at the start of the game. And they will make mincemeat of any allied fleet that gets too close too soon. Until the US has the ability to at least turn any massacres into an actual battle, just keep your distance and keep consolidated.

Hawaii and/or Queensland are common staging grounds for the allied fleet in the Pacific. Queensland is my personal favorite early on as it threatens each of the money islands. Don’t forget that the Japanese might still be able to kill an allied fleet even if you stay out of range of his ground based air. This is where ship blockers come into their own. Subs don’t stop ship from passing through a seazone, so destroyers are your cheapest blocking unit.
Worried about the Japanese annihilating your fleet? Ship block them with a dd. Based your fleet in Queensland and worried about Japan taking Hawaii? Throw out a blocker in sz25. Plus it keeps any builds from the west coast safe as they move south to join the main allied fleet. Don’t have any transports and want to ensure Japan doesn’t take the islands? Throw out blockers. Worried about a Japanese invasion of India which you can’t hold against? Throw out a blocker and buy another turn to get reinforcements there.

The war in the Pacific can literally be won by allied blockers stopping or slowing down the Japanese advance. This is especially true if US has split it’s money or is putting the bulk into the Atlantic. Plus it encourages Japan to go after them which exposes their forces to attack in turn. If it’s an air only attack on your destroyers, you’ll get some hits on his air and start whittling his trump card. If he sends a ship+air, than you can kill his ship(s) on your turn. Death by a thousand cuts. Keep draining his forces, whittle him down, and force him to replace losses instead of building up.

Generally speaking US can better afford to replace losses than Japan can. US has a greater economy and Japan has to balance naval builds with ground units to contest Asia/take India. Because of this don’t be afraid to lose your allied fleet if you can expect to trade close to 1:1 with Japan. You can build a new fleet pretty easily. Japan has so many direction they need to go that it’s tough for a cash strapped country to match the US builds. Just keep the European situation in mind before you trade fleets though. If Germany’s curb stomping and the allies desperately need US help in that theater than you need to make a choice on whether to trade fleets or not.

If the USN can safely go to the Carolines than that’s where you need to go as soon as you can. If US takes it, than the Aussies can land 3 fighters onto the Carolines to add more defense. With that harbor, allied transports threaten the entire Chinese coast, Japan, Korea, and most of the money islands. And now you threaten any Japanese fleet builds! This really throws Japan on the defensive and can be a huge move. As it can free India to turn it’s attention west if Japan withdraws to Sz6.

If US is looking to go offensive; subs and bombers are a pretty lethal combo. The subs will serve as your fodder and the bombers can give you that extra punch you need to tear through the Japanese fleet. Fleets are stronger on defense than on offense, so you’ll need a numbers advantage in ships or back up your fleet with a large ground based air force if you go toe to toe with a defensive Japanese fleet. And once Japan has been beaten back it’s time to buy subs, subs, and a couple more subs.

Unless Japan makes a mistake and leaves Tokyo open, don’t plan an invasion of Japan. Just raid them to death and let any ground forces in China (if they’re still alive) wither on the vine while US focuses it’s attention on Germany. Subs will raid pretty much everything in Japan’s economy which means India and China should eventually be able to kick the Japs off the mainland. If you can, sometimes a minor in Korea or French Indo is possible. Depending on the strategic situation, it might be worth doing. Factories in either/both spots have helped me win the war before.

[axisandalliesplayer]

I wouldn’t be opposed to playing a PBEM game against you as the allies so you can see all this stuff in action as I realize I wrote a ton and it’s a lot of information to absorb.  :wink:

I can help you figure out how to play PBEM games on this site if you are interested.  :-D

[ItIsILeClerc]

@axisandalliesplayer:

(…) I realize I wrote a ton and it’s a lot of information to absorb.  :wink:

Nice ton of information you wrote, A&Aplayer! I can’t help but notice that you think much like me when it comes to the allies. I bet you are one of the few people who still have faith in the allied cause.

The one thing that I wouldn’t do is building all those IC’s with the UK/USA. As a ‘standard move’, that is. I usually keep an eye out to build some but it’s mostly late in the game when that happens. ~UK5/6 and ~US7.
Because as the Axis I have seen it being used against me twice and both times it was more of an axis help than a hinder. The eastern front in Europe got stronger but the western front got equally weaker, allowing Germany to focus that much more on the east.
On top of that, the USA was forced by Japan to spend 100% in the Pacific so its IC in Norway stood there, producing nothing. Such a sorry spending of 12 IPCs that was ;-).

But then again, it is more likely just a matter of experience with different opposition and therefore, preference. Personally I think the allies can win every game unless they make a mistake. And making a mistake with the allies is, probably even by design, quite easy in this game (especially in teamplay!). Not to mention that the Axis can help with that by trying to fool the Allies into thinking they will do A, but then all of a sudden do B, putting the Allies on the wrong foot!

[rjkesq82]

A&APlayer - that would be awesome! (PBEM) I am very interested. Thank you for such wonderful insight as well!

After playing a few more times, we have seen Axis 3 wins Allies 3 Wins…lol…

I think being the allies is soooooooooooo much harder simply because of execution. It’s easy to SAY what to do and KNOW what to do…but man, with 3 people all needing to work 100% in sync and not much room for error; that is easier said than done.

That being said, I have now seen Japan play VERY good games, but because of a misplayed Germany, the axis still fall. Kinda stinks for Japan…that they can play near flawless but if Germany collapses or plays bad, it won’t even matter. Lol.

[axisandalliesplayer]

Thanks for the kind words Clerc, here and in the other thread.  :-D

And concerning the factories, I did say that there are too many variables how have a hard set formula for victory.  :wink:

My fault for lumping the Pacific ones in the same vein as the Scandinavian ones. While factories in Korea and/or FIC have worked well for me in the past. It’s definitely a lot more rare for me to lay one down in either spot vs say Norway. The situation has to be right and generally speaking it’s not as big of a game changer as the Norway minor can be. If the US is strong enough to take either terr and then hold it vs a Japanese counter, than Japan’s usually going down anyway.

As far as the Norway one goes, that’s usually one of my early priorities in the Euro theater with the US. I have no problems switching gears if something else opens up. But that IPC swing is one of the larger ones in the game for a single terr. Plus it’s easy to grab and hold early, even without a large US commitment in the Atlantic. I’ll usually lay down an AB and NB on Norway as well. But like you pointed out, that’s always contingent on how the Pacific theater’s looking.

In my play group, people know I like to hit the Norwegian beaches early if possible and they’ll sometimes take steps to stop that. One guy went so far as to stick a minor in Finland because my other MO is large fleets of US air to rain death and destruction on any Axis ships that I can sink. He figured a minor had a lower tendency to sink and it was cheaper to build than a small fleet in the Baltic. He just kept churning dudes out there until he had a pretty decent stack to counter any more there. Which made him weaker elsewhere and ended up costing him about as much money as if he’d just straight up lost that peninsula.

I’m not married to any one strat or idea. I have no qualms switching things up if it doesn’t look like a strat will work out.  8-)

[axisandalliesplayer]

@rjkesq82:

A&APlayer - that would be awesome! (PBEM) I am very interested. Thank you for such wonderful insight as well!

After playing a few more times, we have seen Axis 3 wins Allies 3 Wins…lol…

I think being the allies is soooooooooooo much harder simply because of execution. It’s easy to SAY what to do and KNOW what to do…but man, with 3 people all needing to work 100% in sync and not much room for error; that is easier said than done.

That being said, I have now seen Japan play VERY good games, but because of a misplayed Germany, the axis still fall. Kinda stinks for Japan…that they can play near flawless but if Germany collapses or plays bad, it won’t even matter. Lol.

The allies have several advantages over the axis countries, but you hit the nail on the head  . . . they have to mesh well together in order to win. And that seems to be a major hurdle for Japan. It’s very rare to see a Pacific win for the axis. I don’t know how much of it’s because the allies usually target Japan first or because there’s just a natural plateau once they get too spread out.

Usually it’s either both axis sides are rocking early and the allies surrender in the first couple of rounds or Germany is the one that gets the win. Japan just seems to reach that point where they just can’t quite get there. Too easy for the allies to stop Japan, even if India falls. A strong Japan might not win the game, but they can do wonders for taking the heat off Germany.

Shoot me a PM and I can help you get started on a PBEM game.