German bomber strategy - How to play and How to counter


  • I’m quite late to this conversation, but my thought is this:

    The counter to this German bomber strategy is to choose not to use it, and to avoid playing against players who do. I mean this with all respect!

    I can speak for myself, and probably many others, in that I don’t play A&A purely as a series of mathematical equations. If that were the case, there are plenty of other games out there to scratch that particular itch. I play because I’m also interested in history, as well as the history of warfare, and World War II in particular.

    I’m always a bit suspicious of the constant search to discover a mechanical ‘break’ in this (very elegant) game. If I learned I could win every time by buying 20 infantry every round for Germany, personally I won’t just start buying 20 infantry a round every turn until someone stops me. That’s not my definition of fun. For some, it is, and that’s fine - diversity is a beautiful thing.

    Give me 6 infantry, an artillery, 2 mech infantry, 2 armor, a fighter, and a destroyer for 60 IPCs as Germany. If I’m feeling whimsical or aggressive, replace the 2 armor with a bomber. That’s my definition of dark skies!

    When I read through this thread, not once did I start considering that I should try it as a strategy - why would I? Part of the enjoyment - for me - is replicating/advancing themes from warfare conducted early in the last century. If anything, it helped me realize that I should buy a few more bombers, but that’s about the extent of it.

    Some see this as as a dice game with strategy - I choose to see it as a strategy game with dice. Mass purchases of one unit for the purpose of maximizing movement and mathematical assurance, in my opinion, shift the game toward the former. Again, a matter of personal preference.

  • '17 '16 '15 '14 '12

    @Stalingradski:

    I’m quite late to this conversation, but my thought is this:

    The counter to this German bomber strategy is to choose not to use it, and to avoid playing against players who do. I mean this with all respect!

    I can speak for myself, and probably many others, in that I don’t play A&A purely as a series of mathematical equations. If that were the case, there are plenty of other games out there to scratch that particular itch. I play because I’m also interested in history, as well as the history of warfare, and World War II in particular.

    I’m always a bit suspicious of the constant search to discover a mechanical ‘break’ in this (very elegant) game. If I learned I could win every time by buying 20 infantry every round for Germany, personally I won’t just start buying 20 infantry a round every turn until someone stops me. That’s not my definition of fun. For some, it is, and that’s fine - diversity is a beautiful thing.

    Give me 6 infantry, an artillery, 2 mech infantry, 2 armor, a fighter, and a destroyer for 60 IPCs as Germany. If I’m feeling whimsical or aggressive, replace the 2 armor with a bomber. That’s my definition of dark skies!

    When I read through this thread, not once did I start considering that I should try it as a strategy - why would I? Part of the enjoyment - for me - is replicating/advancing themes from warfare conducted early in the last century. If anything, it helped me realize that I should buy a few more bombers, but that’s about the extent of it.

    Some see this as as a dice game with strategy - I choose to see it as a strategy game with dice. Mass purchases of one unit for the purpose of maximizing movement and mathematical assurance, in my opinion, shift the game toward the former. Again, a matter of personal preference.

    As always, Stalingradski is the voice of decency and historical integrity.

    I agree with this “gentleman’s agreement” approach.  This kind of idea was floated back in the alpha days when sealion was unstoppable and it took official setup changes and the Soviet NO to get that down to a reasonable level where now sealion is possible but rarely done and the game is much better for it.  Now we have this other thing that seems close to unstoppable in the hands of top players, and the situation might get out of hand when and if us middle-of-the-pack players get the hang of it.  We could just all agree not to do it, but what about in league and tournament games?  Rules are rules.  I think the bomber thing is really goofy and unhistorical but it is now part of the game unfortunately.

    So if the axis decide to do something as radical and crappy as dark skies, maybe the allies should do something equally radical and crappy.  I hereby propose a ridiculous and untested approach to handling a mega bombers situation.  This would no longer look anything like World War II, but if it works then the allies having this crappy option in their back pocket might deter axis players from going dark skies (much like how we all know the sealion solutions that deter them from going full bore sealion most of the time).  So here is an untested and very crappy anti-dark skies strategy in principle:

    The Russian Rotate

    • USSR builds only mobile units and everything goes EAST.  Far East troops go into Manchuria.  Startup units on the Eastern front withdraw to Moscow then keep on going East.  Moscow is abandoned round 5, but the goal is to Kick Japan off the continent, starve them, and deny them the pacific win.
    • USA and ANZAC mount a Minimal defense of Hawaii and Sydney until late game when Japan is to be killed.
    • UK focuses exclusively on deterring sealion and holding Cairo.
    • USA puts almost everything into the Atlantic to help UK hold Cairo and London and thereby deny them the Europe win, starve them economically and kill them later
    • If Germany tries to follow Russia into China they will drown in Chinese infantry because by then all China will be free
    • This is probably a 20+ round kind of game

  • @variance:

    (…)
    The Russian Rotate

    • USSR builds only mobile units and everything goes EAST.��������������  Far East troops go into Manchuria.��������������  Startup units on the Eastern front withdraw to Moscow then keep on going East.��������������  Moscow is abandoned round 5, but the goal is to Kick Japan off the continent, starve them, and deny them the pacific win.
    • USA and ANZAC mount a Minimal defense of Hawaii and Sydney until late game when Japan is to be killed.
    • UK focuses exclusively on deterring sealion and holding Cairo.
    • USA puts almost everything into the Atlantic to help UK hold Cairo and London and thereby deny them the Europe win, starve them economically and kill them later
    • If Germany tries to follow Russia into China they will drown in Chinese infantry because by then all China will be free
    • This is probably a 20+ round kind of game

    I like the out-of-the-box thinking, Variance :-).
    I will certainly try something like this sometimes, but I must admit I feel uncertain about 1 thing with this:
    If Moscow is abandoned early, and completely unchecked, Germany doesn’t need to keep a (very) large portion of their army around the City to prevent Russia from retaking it, nor do they loose a lot of troops/air by an assault of subborn defenses. So all their forces can just go for Cairo instead of just a small portion of 'em, and they can assault Cairo turn 9/10 which is early, compared to when they first need to deal with Moscow.
    Now will the UK/USA be ready in Cairo? Minimal defenses for the Pacific requires quite a lot. On the other hand, if Russia removes Japan from mainland Asia, Japan will have a lot less resources to spend, freeing up more for the USA to spend in Europe…

    Maybe it can be done as well with a 3-turn JF from the USA, after which they switch to putting everything in Europe from turn 4 and onwards.
    No way Japan will survive this sandwiching from Russia/China/India from one side and the USA from the other. They will be dead in the water. I don’t think Japan will have even a minimal influence on the game left, after turn 6. The battle for Cairo will be the game-winning one. Unless the allies can liberate France, they cannot loose Cairo.

  • '21 '20 '18 '17 '16 '15 TripleA

    I’m playing against a German bomber strategy for the first time. What I’m finding to be the most significant challenge is their range. 7 spaces let’s them hit the west Gibraltar SZ from France or West Germany, while simultaneously threatening Russian stacks on the eastern front. I’m finding that really hard to defend against. So I had a couple of ideas (assuming the intent is to restore balance – I’m not necessarily in favour of either of these rules in principle, but for the purpose of play-balance, they might make sense.) They are influenced by my observations in early games that saw Germany have a tougher time once they commit fighters and tac to the eastern front and they aren’t available to threaten atlantic shipping. As well, the combined price reduction and increased movement have increased the lethality of bombers. Apologies as well if these were already mentioned but the search function wouldn’t work for me so i couldn’t see if these ideas have already been raised.

    My first suggestion is a fairly simple one: to remove the airbase movement advantage from strat bombers. This would maintain their range just enough that they can’t threaten Moscow and gibraltar and everywhere in between West Germany. They could still operate out of Germany and protect the coast of Europe, or Russia, but it would open up some shipping lanes in the Atlantic.

    If that’s seen as too extreme, or if the effect on the pacific might be deemed too undesirable, my second suggestion is to give strat bombers the extra movement point if there is an an airbase at takeoff AND landing. In the pacific, there are so many airbases on islands, Australia, and Japan oftens by an airbase for SE Asia to increase fighter and tac range, so this might not affect the pacific as much as the European theatre.

    Just some food for thought.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    After several tests - it is my opinion that although annoying, the bomber strategy is not overpowered or unbeatable.  In fact it’s slightly sub optimal, and much higher risk.

    The allies just need to throw their navies out in such a way that only bombers or mostly bombers can reach.  Allied fleet configurations that are slightly sub par (60-70% for the bombers to kill) are preferred.  This entices the Axis attack.

    The Axis will either bite, and end up losing the edge they need in Russia, or ignore, and the allied fleets will make gains.

    If you can find a way to take out 3 or 4 bombers, that seems to be just enough.


  • @Stalingradski:

    I’m quite late to this conversation, but my thought is this:

    The counter to this German bomber strategy is to choose not to use it, and to avoid playing against players who do. I mean this with all respect!

    I can speak for myself, and probably many others, in that I don’t play A&A purely as a series of mathematical equations. If that were the case, there are plenty of other games out there to scratch that particular itch. I play because I’m also interested in history, as well as the history of warfare, and World War II in particular.

    I’m always a bit suspicious of the constant search to discover a mechanical ‘break’ in this (very elegant) game. If I learned I could win every time by buying 20 infantry every round for Germany, personally I won’t just start buying 20 infantry a round every turn until someone stops me. That’s not my definition of fun. For some, it is, and that’s fine - diversity is a beautiful thing.

    Give me 6 infantry, an artillery, 2 mech infantry, 2 armor, a fighter, and a destroyer for 60 IPCs as Germany. If I’m feeling whimsical or aggressive, replace the 2 armor with a bomber. That’s my definition of dark skies!

    When I read through this thread, not once did I start considering that I should try it as a strategy - why would I? Part of the enjoyment - for me - is replicating/advancing themes from warfare conducted early in the last century. If anything, it helped me realize that I should buy a few more bombers, but that’s about the extent of it.

    Some see this as as a dice game with strategy - I choose to see it as a strategy game with dice. Mass purchases of one unit for the purpose of maximizing movement and mathematical assurance, in my opinion, shift the game toward the former. Again, a matter of personal preference.

    If that’s the case, why bother with strategies at all? Why not just have a script where you buy units representative of the units produced historically, and follow all the battles in a way that happened historically?

    Dark Skies isn’t historically accurate, but it’s still a strategy. This is a strategy game. The goal is to find a strategy that allows you to win (secondary of course to the goal of having fun). If Dark Skies allows you to win, you’re meeting that goal.

    Personally I don’t use Dark Skies because if it’s as broken as some claim then no one would want to play against me using it, and if it’s not broken as some claim then I have no reason use it over a more traditional strategy that works just as well, if not better.


  • Variance - thank you  :-)

    Amanntai - perhaps I oversold the point, or didn’t communicate my point sufficiently.

    I would never advocate for a simple reenactment. I’m just as interested in novel ideas and new methods as anyone. I’ve been playing one version or another of A&A since the 1984 Milton Bradley version - thirty + years. As a disclaimer, I love new strategies - it’s why I play against other people and try to read threads on new strats. However!

    There’s a point at which it becomes something else entirely, and (to me!) loses the spirit of the game. There are thousands of ‘chance’ games available for people to choose. Since I don’t have the time in my life to delve into serious WWII simulations, I fall back on this particular A&A system - a strategy game with dice. I’m not interested in counters and chits with historically accurate divisions, logistics, terrain issues, etc… speaking for most working class individuals with a family and a stressful job, I don’t have time. A&A is the (close to) perfect amalgam of history and chance and also has the my-wife-can-deal-with-me-playing-it-now-and-then factor. But… I’m interested in history. Not the pure domination of others. Not pure mathematics. History. And I like to recreate history, with chance involved, and add my own particular twist.

    I tried to state in my post (if you go back and read) as often as possible, the disclaimer that this was my particular preference. But I know that I speak for some others as well… picking one particular unit for mathematical assurance violates a basic code for me… as Omar in The Wire (and later The Hound in GoT) noted - “A man’s gotta have a code.” My code is that I want to reenact WW II, and put my own twist on WII warfare in A&A, and not to find a mathematical break in the game and exploit it… does that make sense?

    Another, more concrete way to say it - if I were to learn that the US could buy all battleships in the Pacific, and that by turn six I would win every game, would I do it? No way. I would have to say that I’d stubbornly still buy some aircraft, and try to get boots on the ground and take some islands, because I’m playing for more than just victory… I’m playing for an elegant victory, and for fun. I’d rather lose and play by my code than win by exploiting mathematics. To some, that makes no sense! To others, it makes perfect sense. Ahh… the wonder of diversity.

    I simply offered a response to the original question about how to deal with the issue of German Bomber Strategy… and I chose to say “Don’t engage at all”. I think it was fair to add my voice to the discussion.

  • '22 '20 '19 '18 '17 '16 '15 '14 '12

    @Gargantua:

    After several tests - it is my opinion that although annoying, the bomber strategy is not overpowered or unbeatable.  In fact it’s slightly sub optimal, and much higher risk.

    The allies just need to throw their navies out in such a way that only bombers or mostly bombers can reach.  Allied fleet configurations that are slightly sub par (60-70% for the bombers to kill) are preferred.  This entices the Axis attack.

    The Axis will either bite, and end up losing the edge they need in Russia, or ignore, and the allied fleets will make gains.

    If you can find a way to take out 3 or 4 bombers, that seems to be just enough.

    Garg is correct.  There’s no big secret to beating the bombers. Loaded carriers and a little luck.


  • @Stalingradski:

    Variance - thank you  :-)

    Amanntai - perhaps I oversold the point, or didn’t communicate my point sufficiently.

    I would never advocate for a simple reenactment. I’m just as interested in novel ideas and new methods as anyone. I’ve been playing one version or another of A&A since the 1984 Milton Bradley version - thirty + years. As a disclaimer, I love new strategies - it’s why I play against other people and try to read threads on new strats. However!

    There’s a point at which it becomes something else entirely, and (to me!) loses the spirit of the game. There are thousands of ‘chance’ games available for people to choose. Since I don’t have the time in my life to delve into serious WWII simulations, I fall back on this particular A&A system - a strategy game with dice. I’m not interested in counters and chits with historically accurate divisions, logistics, terrain issues, etc… speaking for most working class individuals with a family and a stressful job, I don’t have time. A&A is the (close to) perfect amalgam of history and chance and also has the my-wife-can-deal-with-me-playing-it-now-and-then factor. But… I’m interested in history. Not the pure domination of others. Not pure mathematics. History. And I like to recreate history, with chance involved, and add my own particular twist.

    I tried to state in my post (if you go back and read) as often as possible, the disclaimer that this was my particular preference. But I know that I speak for some others as well… picking one particular unit for mathematical assurance violates a basic code for me… as Omar in The Wire (and later The Hound in GoT) noted - “A man’s gotta have a code.” My code is that I want to reenact WW II, and put my own twist on WII warfare in A&A, and not to find a mathematical break in the game and exploit it… does that make sense?

    Another, more concrete way to say it - if I were to learn that the US could buy all battleships in the Pacific, and that by turn six I would win every game, would I do it? No way. I would have to say that I’d stubbornly still buy some aircraft, and try to get boots on the ground and take some islands, because I’m playing for more than just victory… I’m playing for an elegant victory, and for fun. I’d rather lose and play by my code than win by exploiting mathematics. To some, that makes no sense! To others, it makes perfect sense. Ahh… the wonder of diversity.

    I simply offered a response to the original question about how to deal with the issue of German Bomber Strategy… and I chose to say “Don’t engage at all”. I think it was fair to add my voice to the discussion.

    The great thing about A&A is there are so many variables that there is no way you can “do X and win by turn X every time”. There are millions of possible moves and strategies, and any one of the dozens of dice rolls made at each turn can be disastrous and foil your whole plan. It isn’t like Tic Tac Toe, where a skill player can always ensure either a win or a draw, or even like Chess, where an advanced computer can predict every move and develop a winning strategy every time.

    Even then, Dark Skies is different than “US buys only battleships in the pacific and wins every time”. Dark Skies isn’t “all bombers and Axis victory”. It’s “buy a lot of bombers early, with some other units, and then build whatever you want after you have ‘enough’ bombers, and then you might win”. I see no reason people shouldn’t be allowed to play a valid strategy that isn’t a guaranteed win.


  • Fair enough Amanntai, and a good counter point.

    If people can win against this strat, then it isn’t necessarily a break in the game. I’d vigorously defend anyone’s ability to try any new strat, as wild and out of the box as it is.

    When it gets to a certain point, it just won’t be me  :-)

  • '22 '16

    A&A is the (close to) perfect amalgam of history and chance and also has the _my-wife-can-deal-with-me-playing-it-now-and-then factor.

    Amen Brother!_


  • @Gargantua:

    After several tests - it is my opinion that although annoying, the bomber strategy is not overpowered or unbeatable.  In fact it’s slightly sub optimal, and much higher risk.

    The allies just need to throw their navies out in such a way that only bombers or mostly bombers can reach.  Allied fleet configurations that are slightly sub par (60-70% for the bombers to kill) are preferred.  This entices the Axis attack.

    The Axis will either bite, and end up losing the edge they need in Russia, or ignore, and the allied fleets will make gains.

    If you can find a way to take out 3 or 4 bombers, that seems to be just enough.

    I agree with this post, although I admit I haven’t been involved in many games with the bomber strat - but am playing it vs bmnielsen who has honed it.
    But just going on hundreds of games of A&A experience and a couple against the bomber strat, I agree with this post - well said

    I’m sure Germany is better served buying ground units and maybe a few cheap boats in the early rounds.  Bombers aren’t needed until the Allied fleets start coming (and then maybe not even then) - dominating Russia I think is the #1 most effective strat, and every bomber you buy early decreases your domination of Russia slightly

  • '17 '16 '15

    @ freh Here’s a link that discusses some house rules for bombers.

    http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=35415.60


  • @majikforce:

    A&A is the (close to) perfect amalgam of history and chance and also has the my-wife-can-deal-with-me-playing-it-now-and-then factor.

    Amen Brother!

    :-D


  • I can only hope it works Gamerman01.
    I’m currently in a situation like this.
    Me being Allies facing almost 20 bmbrs.

    I will let you guys know jow it went.

    AeV


  • Late to the convo but wouldn’t a good strategy against this be a late game neutral crush. � � This is assuming the Italians have been all neutered. The timing of the attack would have to be such that the US hits Spain and then UK hit Turkey in the same turn to prevent the free units for the AXIS. � This is assuming some sort of med bid, an early UK factory in Persia and an adequate defense of Moscow. � �

    The advantages of this strategy would be that the bombers only sea target would be what ever sizable force the allies plant off of the coast of gib (Assuming an air field is purchased there). � Hence if they decide to attack the fleet the bombers are no longer a threat to Russia. � Also it allows a shuck to be created with no real threat if Germany decides to not attack the fleet. �

    If Moscow is still alive and well defended this opens up a three front war against Germany which is very difficult to protect. �

    Let me know what you guys think


  • @Arthur:

    Dark Skies is not intended as a strategy for KGF! If the United States spends all of their money on the first two rounds in the Atlantic, start building ground units as Germany and enjoy the victory in the Pacific.  Japan can by earning 45 PUs on J1, 57ish on J2, and around 70 on J3.  On J4, they can conquer India leading to ~80 PUs.  There is little or nothing that the Allies can do for these first four rounds except pray for lucky dice rolls. Don’t tell me you have some secret play to use the measly forces of India, China, and ANZAC to prevent this scripted attack (read Cow’s guide for J1 attack on Asia and the Philippines).

    If the US has spent little in the Pacific for the first 2 rounds, they won’t be able to field a significant threat to Japan until turn 7!  By that time, Japan should be approaching an income of 90.  Not only will they be outproducing the US and ANZAC, but they have shorter supply lines and simpler attack coordination.  Perhaps you have been facing bad Japanese players who don’t know how to properly expand.

    I think the more likely scenario is that you have been facing Allied players that don’t know how to slow Japan’s quick expansion? Japan cannot be stopped from expanding in Asia and the SW Pacific for many turns, even with a J1 DoW that brings a mighty US into the fray immediately. However, Japan’s expansion can be and should be slowed at all costs.

    It’s neither a flaw in the game nor a fluke that there are 4 Allied powers in the Pacific, none of which individually can compete with Japan. If you can find significant battles where the odds are in your favor early vs Japan, then Japan is playing poorly. What the Allied powers have to do is protect their large early income lead (which is made even larger by an early DoW by Japan) by taking bad battles and suiciding where necessary to slow the Japanese income gains, while buying time for the Allied income disparity to translate into units and tactical advantages.

    Japan starts the game with only 3 transports, which means only if they are uncontested should they be able to take the money islands on J2. Even if it means Anzac and Britain - India sacrificing 30 IPCs on their T1 to stop Japan from getting the money islands on J2, it is worth it. At the start of J1 the Allies have a 50-60 IPC income advantage depending on G1. If Japan does a J1 DoW, that gap widens and it becomes in the neighbourhood of a 75 IPC income disparity in favor of the Allies. Lose lots of units in bad battles for the sole purpose of preventing the Japanese the chance of quickly closing that income gap, and give the Allies time to get those 75 additional IPCs into action and Japan will never get the momentum they need for an economic takeover.


  • Regarding the Pacific in this German Bomber Strategy, I like to stress out once again that the allies can stomach Japan taking India, China, large parts of Russia and all of the DEI, even uncontested.
    In my humble experience, this is unavoidable if the USA focuses on the Atlantic first -but no more than approximately 2,5 turns (I’ll spare you the details for now). Requirement is that the Allies (USA!) can make economic gains in Europe, so their income reaches ~80IPCs/turn.

    Even if the USA is making only 72IPCs per turn Japan will need to spend >>the combined USA + ANZAC income to be of any threat to Hawaii or Sydney (which would mean axis victory after Calcutta has fallen). So, Japanese investments into the Pacific ocean will need to be >>87IPCs per turn if ANZAC can manage to stay on 15/turn, >>82 if not.
    With economic gains in Europe, these requirements increase by the amount of US gains in Europe.

    In other words: Even after taking everything BUT Hawaii and Australia (Sydney), Japan can only hope to be a threat to Hawaii/Sydney if it spends nothing (at all) on Mainland Asia anymore. If they do so, they seriously risk loosing Calcutta again and this focus on the USA/ANZAC is no guarantee to take Hawaii/ Sydney if Japan cannot make much much more IPCs per turn than the combined USA+ANZAC income.

    Having said all this, and correct me if you think I’m wrong, I think Japan cannot be stopped from taking everything except Hawaii and Sydney if the USA puts a focus on the Atlantic during the first 2, max 3 turns. If the USA puts their focus into the Pacific however, Japan is in very big trouble.
    Thruth is, I now think that the USA is forced to go Atlantic first (to a limit) if they so much as suspect Germany will go for a bomberstrategy. Reason is that I think it becomes unreasonably hard for the allies to stop Germany once its Bomberstack has reached ‘critical mass’ and Russia has been reduced to a non-factor (which will happen if the USA puts their initial focus into the Pacific). Much harder anyway than it would be for them to stop a Japanese victory in the Pacific.

    And if the only thing the allies can achieve by doing this, is to prevent Germany from building up their bomberstack to a critiacal mass, then so be it! Achieving this is still better than loosing the game because the Luftwaffe has become an unstoppable force.
    If all the Axis are played right (and I am not saying I do that ;-), I am still learning every game I play and never cease to), there will always be an axis side (Euro or Pacific) that becomes an economic monster. Nothing the allies can do to stop that.
    So in the end the Axis should always be able to make ~160IPCs per turn around turn 10.
    1 -Allied KJF: GE(100+), IT(20+), JA(30+) versus USA(85+), UK(35+), RU(0), ANZ(15+), 150+vs135+;
    2 -Allied GF: GE(60+), IT(10+), JA(90+) versus USA(75+), UK(35+), RU(15+), ANZ(10+), 160+vs135+.

    It may be a personal preference, but I much rather have a monstrous Japan than a monstrous Germany (even though this is potentially better for the axis’ economies) -especially if the Germans also have been allowed to build up a bomberstack of ~30STR, due to the superior center position of Germany. It is too easy for Germany to kill London or Cairo from this position (depending on where the allies are not), while ignoring to assault Moscow, which has been made a non-factor already…

  • '15 '14

    @Gargantua:

    The allies just need to throw their navies out in such a way that only bombers or mostly bombers can reach.  Allied fleet configurations that are slightly sub par (60-70% for the bombers to kill) are preferred.  This entices the Axis attack

    I think 60-70% is way too conservative. Allies can easily offer up to a 100% if decent amoun tof bombers go down for sure. Furthermore it of course depends if Allies have a follow up once the fleet is sunk

    Thruth is, I now think that the USA is forced to go Atlantic first (to a limit) if they so much as suspect Germany will go for a bomberstrategy.

    I think you confuse “bomber strat” with “threats by the power of Germany” here.

    It doesn’t matter if Germans play bombers or Barbarossa. With US going KJF Germans will mess around at Europe.
    Thus a reasonable Atlantic investment by USA is advisable in any case. This is at least the way I play the Allies. I prefer this over the strategy which focusses on getting Japan down, losing Moscow and win the game by stopping lone Germans  to get the 8th VC victory.

    The only move which forces US to put “abnormal” investments in the Pacific is if Germans go sea lion.
    Here you decide the game early by forcing the Germans to dig their own grave by seeking after London. You need to neglect Japan during the early turns in order to “close” the demise of Germany and threaten to liberate London which you need to do earlier or later. After few rounds US can fully focus on Japan as Russians will almost deal alone with the Germans then :)

  • '15 '14

    put “abnormal” investments in the Pacific

    Should mean: Atlantic

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