The Kill India Thrust: Pro or Con?


  • How wise is it for the Central Powers to take India?
    Scenario: Standard Game Rules, British player distracted and not building everything in India, Germany threatening Allied shipping, Austria-Hungary pushing hard on Russia.
    If the Ottoman Turks assemble in Mesopotamia and wait on the Brits to take Persia, with no other mission, it looks on paper like an optimum time to strike for India with enough force to keep it.
    My games have not been working out this way, though.
    Anyone have any success with capturing and keeping India?


  • Taking India is a great idea.  The problem is, as soon as the Turks take Persia, the Brits will load up in India.  But that will keep them from doing something else.

    I think another viable approach for the Turks is to advance on Egypt.  It’s much harder for the Brits to defend , plus the IPC haul is much better if the Turks can take Africa.


  • In my experience, it depends on what is going on in Russia. It’s difficult to attack India until Russia is eliminated or at least pushed back to Ukraine/Moscow.

    I think the ideal situation for the Turks is to take the southern Russian TTs (Sevastopol, Romania, etc.) while Austria and Germany handle the heavy lifting against Russia. That gives them enough money to pose a serious threat to India or, at the very least, prevent a classic Allied KTF strategy.

    As for actually taking India, I’m not sure that’s always worth it. I think the Turkish role is simply to survive and divert as many Allied units as possible while Germany actually “wins” the game for the CPs. If you can simply force the British to continually build units in India and maintain a stalemate in the Middle East, Turkey has done its job and Germany/Austria can take it from there.

  • Customizer

    Problem is UK usually builds max in India anyway (after replacing fleet T1). Restricting India builds to 4 units per turn is a sensible balancing option.


  • Looking for more feedback on this strategy; I am hoping it could be a game-changer for the CP.
    Even if Britain builds totally in India, they still take casualties conquering Persia. As soon as that happens, the Turks have the opportunity to make a massed attack into Persia and then India (T5?). The Turks will have to shuttle forces from everywhere else, and will have to forfeit everything but Constantinople, Ankara, Mesopotamia, and Bulgaria; is this risk worth the reward?
    Can the Central Powers take Russia with Germany and Austria-Hungary only?
    Can CP win the game with the Indian production center stabbing them in the back?
    As I said earlier, the strategy looks good in theory, and the smart Allied players can put pressure on Constantinople, but I have had only partial success with this and I am looking for ideas to improve it. Maybe a retreat from Bulgaria? Strong A-H naval presence in SZ 17? A-H support from Ukraine-Sevastopol?


  • In our games, using the tournament rules, Turkey is usually in economic shutdown and stops producing by turns 2 or 3.  After taking out Russia, I usually don’t have enough left to march onto Persia, usually try to focus on keeping Turkey in the game.  I haven’t seen India fall yet, will have to try.


  • Even if the Turks go all out towards India, it has no chance in hell getting it.
    Consider the numbers.
    Turky starts with 23 inf and 6art. Turky can reach India by turn 4. Britain can produce 10inf per round and starts with 6inf/2art in India. By turn 4 Britain can have 46 inf and 2 art in India.
    For every singel round afterwards Britain will increase this advantage, ie Britian will push Turky =)
    In fact Britain will push turky back right from the start never needing to retreat ever, by turn10 Constantinopel will fall with optimal turkish play. This is the normal allied play in this game.


  • If UK builds 46 inf in India, then they aren’t putting 46 inf in Picardy.  Imagine how much easier that makes it for Germany to take Paris.

    I think Turkey has to march on India or Egypt just to keep the Brits preoccupied.  They may not take either, but the effort should make it easier for their mates to achieve victory.


  • There’s also no way in hell Germany’s taking France out first in this game without letting Russia ravage them in the east. And if Germany commits enough to do it anyway (hoping to capture 2 capitals before losing 2), Britain can easily see this and just build enough in India to hold Persia, because committing enough to do it anyway is sending every single starting unit they have on in Europe and buying straight fighters for the first 3 rounds.


  • Paris is easier to take if UK sends 46 inf to India instead of Picardy, regardless of when Russia falls.


  • That’s the thing: Paris will not fall even without British support (everything built in India) unless Germany sends absolutely everything they have after France. And if Germany does that, either Britain starts Atlantic spending B2 to prevent Paris falling and/or Russia goes and captures Berlin, making a Paris capture meaningless, or possibly both Berlin and Vienna, giving the Allied powers victory even if Paris did fall.


  • Turkey ties up UK in the East, Germany and AH knock out Russia early, and then march through France and Italy for the win.  One key part being the ability of the Turks to threaten India.


  • If the Ottomans can manage to take India then the CP will be in a prime position. The problem is getting there. Without unit placement restrictions in India, the British should be able to hold out indefinitely. The CP have the problem of threats on multiple fronts. If Russia could be pushed back then the Ottomans could make a push for India, but at that point they should be out produced, France could be reinforced, and the US is on the way. On that note, if the CP hasn’t made any substantial moves by the time the US is landing, its game over. I think the Ottomans should move into the Balkans and also apply subtle pressure onto Russia, but their main task should be to pressure India, trying to divert British money but not lead to a full fledged British assault towards Istanbul. Cause trouble in Egypt and Persia to help the other CP nations in any economical way that you can.

Suggested Topics

Axis & Allies Boardgaming Custom Painted Miniatures

36

Online

17.0k

Users

39.3k

Topics

1.7m

Posts