Any major strategy changes?

@habs4life9:

Let’s say you moved the Moscow ftr to China on R1 and you won Indochina with the 3 inf 1 ftr plus crusier bombard attack on UK1. That means you did not counter in Egypt, which means the German are totally free to blitz Africa. This will do the Allies in in the end. In addition, even with the Indochina forces taken out, Japan can still hit China with 5 inf, its bmr, the Japan ftr and the Manch ftr. Japan can still set up its shuck. Only now they will have to choose between giving up Manch to the Russians or surrendering Shanghai to the British. They’d probably save Shanghai and send their shuck over there instead of to Manch, so they can’t hit Buryatia. But Manch is a small price to pay for the sake of Japan advancing through China regardless and working to protect Shanghai, because Germany is strong as hell now. Japan’s navy is sufficient to keep the Americans at bay in the Pacific for a few rounds. I think a skilled Germany can reach Moscow quicker than the Allies can break down the Japanese defenses in E.Asia and/or the Pacific, and at that point it’s game over. I just don’t like KJF because it seems entirely too risky.

Germany can have some of Africa for the first couple rounds but steps can be taken as early as round 1 to stop them if you forgo the Egypt counter. It all depends with how much he won Egypt with. Say if it’s with one tank, you can fight with an INF and a bomber.

Every allied strat is dependant on what Germany did. Even still, with such a head start in Asia, the allies can divert forces back to Caucus from india. With no or minimal land forces and two factories, Russia never has to worry about diverting forces backwards. It is risky but any winning strat involves risk against experienced players.

Please refer to the topic "strategic planner vs. nutbar game for how we play and advice giving. Thank you.

I play without technology spring 42 and I typically lose to strategic planner (I typically play as the allies). I really need strategies and advice. if you have strategies or advice, please post them here

@Herr:

@jiman79:

Well basically a UK bomber can hit its target in 1 round a US bomber is active one round later. Whereas US navy at least can do something usefull on their first round (unload in Africa). So I am not sure I follow your long range vs short range perspective for the air units.

You’re right about that, but I don’t think that buying bombers for the explicit purpose of doing strategic bombing raids is a good plan at all. It’s just that if I would do that, I’d do it with the US rather than with the UK. And I’d do the sneaky thing by building them in the Western US (from where they can still land in Britain) to make Japan feel uneasy - at the very least they need to be careful if they plan to unload troops in Buryatia.

As for the UK naval strategy, I generally agree that it’s a better choice than bombers, but I don’t see a specific reason to wait for the US navy to arrive first. The UK can afford to build, say, an aircraft carrier and a destroyer, and put a few planes on the carrier - or land US planes on it. Put it all in SZ2 and it’s basically out of reach for Germany. Or put it in SZ8 and add the US cruiser to it.

I totally agree in all you said.
The standard opening for UK is to buy AC+2dstr and place them in a safe position according to the G air and navy positioning. Retake Egypt and kill the baltic dstr+trnsp.
Besides fom this I think the best location for an allied bomber (UK or US) is in caucasus.

@Hobbes:

A trick I’m willing to share that I think is a game changer that I don’t see discussed on here is to take your Australian trans with sub, bring an Aussie and the INF in NZ and head to africa the long way. You’ll get there in 3 rounds/ Japan may come after you but it will be at the expense of doing other, more important things.

To me that move is risky. The Japanese can attack it with their sub with better odds. And you’re leaving Australia/NZ easier to be conquered by Japan, which means less 3 IPCs per round for the UK permanently. The 2 Inf can help on Africa but if Japan goes for it then you will need more units (usually the Americans to deal with the situation).

It is risky but for some reason when me and my friends have gone after it, we either got sunk, or it was mutual and the trans lived. It must be a cursed square on our board. They don’t do much staying in Australia. If Japan really wants it they can send whatever they need. They’ll still be in range of India so it’s not that far out of their way.

Also, it’s not a bad a idea to leave Norway for Russia. Those plane purchases can pot shot the germans in Karelia and Russia can blitz a tank round 2, assuming there’s only one or two germans in Karelia.

You do get diced once in a while, but it is not necessarily game over G1 if sz2 or Égypt fails.

Germany can really be a tough nut to crack, and even if the German players dream of Africa and Moscow takes a serious blow on G1, he can really dig in and make it very difficult for the allies to get a foot in in Europe.

A chunk of armor in E. Europe, stacks of inf in western and Germany and an airforce threatening to take a shot at that essential transfer fleet can take a long time to crack.

When I feel I am behind, I often take more risks than usual - going for that 50% UK Navy battle, or making risky strafing attacks on an exposed USSR stack.

You can also try to advance faster with Japan - maybe try to take India J1 or by doing the risky pacific double move hitting both sz52 and the US battleship+transporter at the western us shore on J1.

@Patton5:

Other problems… against a canny opponent the UK cannot build a factory in India.  Japan has a huge fleet and troops right next door and so this old time tactic is useless.  I’m struggling to find any effective strategy for the UK in this new version of the game.

Very true. The only way that the UK can put an IC in India against a Japanese player that doesn’t want him to have one there, is if Germany doesn’t take Egypt on G1 for whatever reason.

However, if by some miracle Germany doesn’t attack Egypt on G1, an IC for India is an outstanding buy IMO. Sacrifice the Cruiser in your Pacific fleet to take out the Japanese transport in SZ59. Then on your non-combat move, move your infantry from Persia into India, take your transport and pick up the tank from Egypt and the infantry from Trans-Jordon, and drop them off in India as well. Lastly, take the fighter off of your Carrier and the fighter from Egypt, and land those in India as well.

Then retreat your carrier to whatever SZ you deem safe for future use. You can even move it through the Suez in an attempt to link it up with your Atlantic fleet if the Med is clear of German ships.

This gives you a total of 5 infantry, 1 tank, 2 fighters, and an AA gun to defend your India IC which you’ll place at the end of your turn. The maximum the Japanese will be able to attack India with on J1 is 2 infantry, 4 fighters, and 1 bomber. The chances of a Jap victory are almost non-existent (around a 10% likelihood I believe), and even if they do, you will have completely decimated their entire air force.

Combine the well-defended India IC with an American IC in Sinkiang which is supported by a garrison of 4 Russian troops, and you have a good starting point to your JTDTM defense.

I’ve yet to have a Japanese player even attempt an attack on India on their first turn when I use this strategy. Yes, you’ll be sacrificing a cruiser and a transport….But you’re eliminating a Japanese transport, and establishing a firm grasp in Asia with an IC in India and a large force to defend it.

Now obviously you leave Africa open for an attack which the Germans will no doubt take advantage of on their second turn, but I usually remedy this by purchasing a South Africa IC a turn or two later. Pump out a few tanks in Africa in addition to the three you’re putting in India each turn, and you’re golden.

If anyone ever wants to play a game of AA42, hit me up. I’d love to play via TripleA, or just play by forum (which I’ve never done, but I’m sure I could learn quickly).

The UK Indian Ocean fleet.