AA42 axis "Strategy" video

I think the strategy is there and works well i win more than i loose against good axis players.  Wondering if maybe we could setup a team to test and get the timings down.  Figure out how many fighters Russia needs to survive Japanese and German non stop Blitz on Russia.  Also how many bombers are optimal to avoid purchasing too many.  I am not sure if you can have too many bombers they have dual roles to industrial bomb and to support attacking\landing infantry in Western Europe.  Figure out what turn USA needs to quit buying bombers and switch to Naval.

Thanks thats the way I’ve been playing, I just wanted to be sure.

i wonder how many magic markers it took to make that map, 🙂

@Uncrustable:

@Hobbes:

@Uncrustable:

The one thing i generally dont know when to do is build ICs in India and/or FIC .?
And what is the best way to move air from japan to germany? Carriers in the indian ocean ? Or FIC -> Egypt -> Europe. Most of my games Germany is not yet prepared to hold Ukraine on G3 so japan cant land its fighters there.

IC on FIC is less efficient than getting 4 transports for J to maximize usage of Japan’s starting IC and using 2 of those transports to bring units from Japan to FIC. 2 transports cost 14 IPC, carry 4 units, 1 IC costs 15 builds only 3.
India on the other hand should have a Japanese IC as quickly as possible, but without risking it to fall to an early Allied (Soviet) attack from Caucasus.
Air, depends on the situation. If you keep a carrier on SZ60 and another off Egypt you can move newly build fighters to Europe in 2 rounds. Bombers can be sent through Egypt or India (and if you build an IC on India then any J bombers built there can hit SZ5 on the next round), fighters India can reach Balkans or E. Europe  - really depends on the situation.

Yeah i agree. Thanks for all your help Hobbes 😉

Something else I remembered. Sometimes an IC on FIC is a good option if the Allies go KJF.
If the UK has built 1 IC on India on UK1 then Japan needs to focus everything on conquering it and it is a quicker way to place units on FIC than shipping them from Japan. However, there’s a risk that the Allies may conquer FIC instead and then its former IC will be used against Japan.
If the US go with a Pacific strat an IC on FIC may also be a good option since it allows to add additional ships/ground units for Japan away from the main battle.

I take back what I said about forgetting Africa.  With the new transport rules, it is much easier to fend off Allied convoy’s, especially for the first few turns.  I did some testing (having the new TripleA now) and this is what seemed to work best:

-Take out see zone 2 with sub and whatever air needed.  Leave Canada transport for Baltic fleet as it won’t have much of an escort with sea zone 2 dead
-take out battleship in sea zone 13 with remainder of air that can reach.
-grab 1 inf and 1 tank from Southern Europe, land in Egypt with all land forces that can reach and fighter that can reach from eastern front.
-take Karelia with Norway troops and reserves.
-consolidate on Karelia, Belorussia and Ukraine

Hold Eastern line (trading if need be) until Japs storm in back side.
trade Baltic fleet for any UK1 fleet build
Keep majority of air in Western Europe and buy a bomber a turn (for 3 turns).  Sink everything

Eventually Japan storms in as usual, and it takes 3+ turns for a large enough fleet to hold off Germany’s air.

Another thing I tried was taking the Japan fleet in the East Indies and spare fighters and take out India fleet, then move through Mediterranian see to hold Gibralter with the German Battleship.  This bought an extra turn or two of holding off allied fleet.  You don’t need it in the Pacific anyway assuming you destroy the Pearl Harbor fleet.

It caused me to lose all but Kwangtung on Asia initially, but I ferried so many troops in after the first turn it didn’t matter.  The allies have no supply line in eastern Asia to stop you, and with half the Japan fleet in the Atlantic with the German boats left, it made African and Western Europe landings impossible.  They only thing the Allies can do is Norway landings, which take twice as long from the US.

I’m not sure of a good Allied counter to this.  I did have the PC move the Russian sub to sea zone 2, which helped take out more units in that battle (still only lost a fighter and sub).

Water.

Now if the questions was ‘What do you smoke while playing AA42?’, then I might have a more interesting answer. 😉

I have been glancing through the boards looking for a good article on KJF (Kill Japan First) in 42, without finding that golden recipe.

As I see it it is possible to perform an opening something like this:

R1
Buy 3 inf 3 arm
hit WR maybe Ukraine
2 inf to sinkiang
Stack Bury with 6 inf
Place 3 armor in Cauc

UK1
IC in India
Kill Jap Transp with carrier
Consider hitting FIC instead of Egypt (If FIC attack fails badly IC could be placed in SA)
Get some air to cauc to clear the med and help in asia

US1
Well depends on results - Pacific navy builds
Sinkiang IC

The goal is to push Japan of the mainland and for US navy to land in east indies+Borneo and setup ICs and pin the Japan navy.
Doing this, while the russian front holds against Germany, means that the Allies will be cruising towards IPC dominance and an easy win.

I realize that this is not an optimal strategy - the counter is simply for Germany to push hard towards Moscow and quickly USSR will be in big trouble. But sometimes it is just fun to try some other variations to a standard KGF stalemate.

Does any of the more experienced players have better tactics for implementing a KJF strategy?

@Fleetwood:

As a side note, not attacking z2 doesn’t mean the Allies get a totally free pass in the Atlantic. Say Germany commits a sub and 2-3 fighters to the Med cruiser. 2/3 of the time the sub lives. If Germany builds a bomber G1 and the med sub lives and the Baltic subs escape, they will still be able to kill a round one Allied move to z8 2/3 of the time. That’s 3 subs, 4 fighters, 2 bombers vs 2 destroyers, 1 sub, 1 carrier, 2 fighters, 1 cruiser, and 4 transports using this calculator. http://www.dskelly.com/misc/aa/aasim.html

Are you saying that Germany should buy a cruiser and a destroyer for the Med on G1, and not use the Z8 sub to splash the Canadian transport, but retreat it into the Med (Z13 is as far as it can reach)? This takes away half of Germany’s income, which means it can only commit 20 IPCs to the land battle with Russia, and allows UK to retain both of its Atlantic transports. I don’t know if that is a good move…