What country do you play as and why?

A newbie facing the same dilemma. Thanks for letting me know that it is the second generation. But can you please elaborate how that come?

If your opponent is buying DD’s with the USA it is unlikely you are playing 2nd edition.  You should post on the correct forum to make sure you are receiving the best advice.

When I played it was almost always with the same two people so I usually got stuck with Germany. I got to play the US once and that was a lot of fun.

Example: huge trade off in round 1 and 2 between Russians and Germans, both lose their arm. Spa landings are interesting once Ger hasnt got any arm.

Yup when Germany hasn’t got much or any armor they should not expect to hold both EEuro and WEuro for long. Conversely, if Russia doesn’t have much armor walk throughs in the Cauc should be expected.

Yeah, but you have to have the cash to buy HB.

Or have built up a nice stockpile of bombers prior to rolling tech. 3-4 can be enough to have a big impact on the game. For example, I love to sometime build a few British bombers just so when the Japs decide to lurch into Africa(after the Allies push Germany out). I get two rounds to roll for heavy bombers, and if I get a little bit luck those 4 bombers could kill 8 ships which should be enough to kill all or almost all of the Jap Fleet there including capital ships. Once that happens the game is usually over for Japan as their remaining fleet can be hunted down, or at least pushed out of position to be a factor.

Also depending on who you are, you can surround yourself with aa-guns, or just place them in all your countries. I just think HB are very defendable, provided of course you know your oppenent has them to start the game and you can prepare for it. Say you play a game where one side has HB and the other has IT.

No this is a red herring because all powers are susceptable to Heavies at some point and regardless of how strong you are you will have to figure you can’t prevent them. For example, if Britain or America gets HBs they can always bomb Germany without flying over 2 AA guns, true they can’t necessarily hit Japan, but with LRA they can. More importantly though with Heavy bombers the Allies can afford to give up Moscow if they need to as it opens Japan up to SBRs making them have to be able to win with what they have, if they don’t have enough to crack through the wall you’ll put in Karelia then they can’t take Moscow, and Russia gets the benefit of holding Moscow with no units! Because of this I think tech represents an enormous Allied advantage. However, should Japan get HBs they can SBR Britain as long as Germany survives without flying over two AA guns, and they should be able to do the same to Russia, if they position themselves right. The Americans too should be susceptable to SBRs unless they too get HBs before you can get to Hawaii with enough bombers.

Yeah, I totally agree with that! That’s one reason I don’t like tech, and you precisely laid out why. If you play someone who you know will tech later, then I say just get it out of the way and start teching early on, like you suggest, and your bound to get a tech. But if you tech, your opponents my tech earlier (or should), then it becomes a ‘luck’ race for tech and the first side which gets a meaningful tech or 2 then they are likely to win. Once and a while that’s okay, but I don’t want all my games to be like that.

But if you look at tech as a necessary investment you will not hate it as much. What I hate is when I spend 20ipcs a turn for several turns with an overall investment being 60-80ipcs without getting HBombers. Then once my opponent realizes I will get it eventually decides to roll 20-30ipcs of dice and gets it right away. That tech doesn’t require an equal investment for equal results IMO results in too much luck, but LowLuck/NoLuck variants attempt to rectify this.

Don’t forget about the premier PBEM clubs: AAMC and IAAPA. AAMC is free and IAAPA charges a minimal fee. Both clubs have their own dice rollers (AAMC’s is provided above) and very experienced players. If you are interested in finding out how you rank against good PBEM A&A players, I would recommend checking out these clubs. The good thing about these clubs is that you can play against an opponent of any desired skill level.

AAMC: http://www.aamc.net/

IAAPA: http://www.axisandallies.net/

We’re trying to set up a spring PBEM tourney. Check out the games section if you’re interested.
If you’ve never played a PBEM, I can give you the basics if you need them.

columbia is also good if you have an IC in brazil and want to invade the us through panamaa

I often remember that all the dirty tricks and annoying habits do result often in a higher winning percentage. Do the players that you are matched up against, simply irritate to throw you off your game? I am reminded on one such case where I went up against a fellow Axis and Allies player that couldn’t stop talking. I’m serious; the whole ordeal was simply excruciating, and this coming from a guy that usually kept to himself! Every single move I made, whether it was simply placing my units or routinely refilling my transports, he would question and nitpick at it. Always pressuring you to hurry up and end your move, whereupon the start of his, he would spend 5 minutes intentionally pondering on what to purchase.

Did he win? You sure bet he did. And it was not the fact that he was a better player tactical wise, but because he could convince you to reconsider your own sound moves and making senseless judgment errors. I still believe that the 99% of all Axis and Allies players are fine, upstanding individuals, but there are just some people who will go to any level to win. And when you go up against these like, question yourself if the game is really worth playing against him.