• Hello, I am new to playing A&A. Me and my friends have played about 5 games but they usually end before we can really finish. I’ve been scouring through these forums and picking up some information, but I have a lot of questions about good Axis strategy. Any help would be appreciated.

    What is a usual turn for Germany to attack Russia?

    How do you move your starting German units for Barbarossa, and what units should you buy to keep it going?

    Do you leave any units behind to defend Western Germany/Germany or do you send them all to the front?

    What is a good path to go for Moscow?

    How does Japan doing a J1 attack affect the European Axis strategy?

    What should you do with the Italian units in Africa?

    What country should get Bulgaria?

    What should you do with Finnish units if you decide to go along Ukraine/Stalingrad rather than north to Leningrad?

    What is the best way for Japan to get to India?

    Is Sealion ever worth it?

    If you are planning on Barbarossa, is it better to buy 7 artillery on G1, or buy nothing to keep the allies guessing?

    What is the usual amount of German units to send to France? what if you want to take Normandy or Southern France also?

    Sorry for the large amount of questions, I’ve just been really puzzled about this for a while. I’ve seen people say that Germany can easily take over Russia almost every game, but the farthest I’ve gotten is Leningrad. Any other tips you have for Axis strategy would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you in advance.

  • '17 '16 '15

    Welcome Otto

    Here’s a link to some strategy videos YG made:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGow98LUYl4

    Also if you look under software for triplea you can see games that others have/are playing.

    A couple quick general answers. I’d say usually turn 3 or 4 for German attack on Russia. Usually artillery on turn 2 and mechs on 3. Some people do land buys on 1 as well. Bulgaria usually goes German. Africa depends on what the UK does. Some people ignore it. Anyway YGs stuff is real good and it will clue you in on what you want to know.

    Yea it takes a while to finish a game. You guys will get faster with experience and there’s some threads dealing with how to speed the game up as well. If you can leave it set up you’re golden. :)


  • Im not the best Axis player but this is usally how I play and I have won a few games with this strategy.

    Barbarossa I usually wait till round 3 Unless the Italians have a really good first 2 rounds in the Med in which case ill put more ground units into the turn 2 buy and send them east.

    Moving starting units, first make sure you take Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece as Germany. Germany will be your big spender for the Axis so they need more territory this allows them to build the Atlantic wall, support in the Med (if needed)  and focus the majority of its efforts on Russia. as for movement after taking France I send everything from mech to tank east, troops are for occupation, sometimes I prep a mech force to go to Africa from southern France but other then that just use infantry and AAA to occupy western Europe untill the Allies are in a really good position to invade.

    As for taking Moscow the best rout I have found is going North taking novograd for the factory then going hard for Moscow, how ever do not abandon a force in the Ukraine otherwise you can run into big problems, if you can get the factory  in the Ukraine you will be in a good position.

    J1 attack is very hard to do because you dont have the troop ships to hit the big targets or “chedder” as i call it ( the duth east indies, borneo, Java, Sumatra) however an early attack will usally suck up british troops heading to the middle east and could give Italy a naval advantage in the med.

    Italy needs to get control of the med as soon as possible, this can be done if you play your fleet close to your air assets and constantly land fresh troops in Africa to capture Egypt, replacing ships in early game is hard for Italy since they dont make much so you have to be careful not to leave your ships open to large attack from the British air and Navy, I find subs and troop ships are good buys to help this.

    Bulgaria should go to Germany

    If you decide to go after Stalingrad you should build up the finish force to eventually take Leningrad I have never been able to take Stalingrad without holding Leningrad because the Russians can build a big force really fast if you dont do spoiling attacks and take away territory

    Japans best move is to take Malaya then build up a naval force as well as a ground force in Shan state before the Brits are able to really get dug in, example I wasnt able to get a big enough Japanese force to take India so within 3 turns the brits were able to outnumber me 3 to 1

    Sea lion is a good way to get the British to put money and effort into defending England, if you but 4 troop ships on round 1 and the Brits put more of their force into Africa and don’t build a ground force then i say go for it. if the brits dig in on England then don’t bother, build a u boat fleet to harass the brits.

    Buy your units but position them in such a way as Russia dosnt know what your target is, Ill take poland, besserabia, and baltics in round 1 then go for Ukraine to draw forces south then go hard center for Moscow.

    G1 is based on taking all French territory and hurting the british fleet so everything you have west plus your air should be put into the attack, priority on France and Normandy to prevent a counter attack.

  • Sponsor

    @barney:

    Welcome Otto

    Here’s a link to some strategy videos YG made:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGow98LUYl4

    Also if you look under software for triplea you can see games that others have/are playing.

    A couple quick general answers. I’d say usually turn 3 or 4 for German attack on Russia. Usually artillery on turn 2 and mechs on 3. Some people do land buys on 1 as well. Bulgaria usually goes German. Africa depends on what the UK does. Some people ignore it. Anyway YGs stuff is real good and it will clue you in on what you want to know.

    Yea it takes a while to finish a game. You guys will get faster with experience and there’s some threads dealing with how to speed the game up as well. If you can leave it set up you’re golden. :)

    Thanks Barney,

    Here are links to the Axis portions of that series…

    Germany:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MnnfFb_-fc

    Japan:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blOBZmTnyOE

    Italy:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGow98LUYl4

    I also have a run-through series started which has some strategy discussion as well…

    Germany:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgtaRwhY-PA

    Japan:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeAMFD-AOpk


  • Grasshopper, your intro to strat videos are awesome, and were my introduction to G40 strategy basics when I started played earlier this year :)

  • '21 '20 '18 '17

    What is a usual turn for Germany to attack Russia?  G2

    How do you move your starting German units for Barbarossa, and what units should you buy to keep it going? Romania is the most convenient.  Armor, with mechs to keep up.  Buying an extra industrial complex is therefore optional.

    Do you leave any units behind to defend Western Germany/Germany or do you send them all to the front?  You will need tons of infantry to protect the Atlantic Wall, Denmark and Rome.  Remember, unless the allies control Denmark, nothing can pass through that strait and German Capital is safe from seaborne invasion.

    What is a good path to go for Moscow?  You will probably have to attack north AND south, and watch to see which direction is the most optimal.  Have the Italians follow the germans with mechs and armor, and they can break through the key screens to crush the Russian Stacks.

    How does Japan doing a J1 attack affect the European Axis strategy?  A J1 may be focused on Siberian Russia.  If so, this is a potent combo with a J1/G2 all out attack on USSR.    If J1 doesn’t take over Siberian territory, he can still attack you later, but it is less than optimal for suppressing the Russian Income.    If Japan is going to take over the valuable southern territories, there is not much different purpose or goal from J1/J2, just a discussion about which of J1 or J2 is optimal.

    What should you do with the Italian units in Africa?  They are going to get slaughtered by any experienced player.  If the entire Italian navy survives, with German help, they can smash Egypt.    But, most games, only 1 transport will survive.  In this case, it is more efficient to pull the units out of Africa than it is to leave them there or add to them.  If you can take Egypt or Syria, then you probably should.

    What country should get Bulgaria? Typically Germany, but you can get a stack of Italian blockers together that gets tough pretty fast (4 infantry, 2 armor, 2 fighers, 1 bomber) at a minimum can stage up in Ukraine, for example, on Italy’s turn so that the German stack is doubly protected.

    What should you do with Finnish units if you decide to go along Ukraine/Stalingrad rather than north to Leningrad?  Be very careful.  Getting any more infantry up there is difficult, and you will see Norway and Finland being threatened as both are key to bonuses.    I would suggest keeping them in finland so that you can counter attack any threats.

    What is the best way for Japan to get to India?  If war isn’t declared and SZ 37 isn’t blocked, you can move right over there, at peace or at war.    Kwangsi provides the air base, your navy and extra transports will be the bulk.  I suggest taking Ceylon on J3.  With all of your planes on Kwangsi (with AirBase), you can mount a massive attack and land on Ceylon.    You can also J1 and take Borneo and Kwangtung, reducing his income as quickly as possible.  SBR also helps crush them.  There really isn’t any way for the allies to stop this if Japan dedicates everything.

    Is Sealion ever worth it?  Yes.  Instead of focusing actually taking the UK, which isn’t worth that much, I would encourage you to set this up as a continuous option;  if UK fails to buy infantry or moves/loses its fighters, you can ramp up the pressure.  If it looks too tough, you can use the transports to attack Leningrad instead.  You can save the $$, and put all the transports in the water at once.  The big tell for UK is that the Germans will have to stage the forces onto a coastal territory before the transports are to be filled.  So, a significant number of artillery, planes and tanks will have to remain on or close to W Germany imm before the impending attack, this will show you whether he actually intends to invade or only threaten it.

    If you are planning on Barbarossa, is it better to buy 7 artillery on G1, or buy nothing to keep the allies guessing?  Artillery are too slow.  That’s a good conservative buy, but a combination of hit and run Yugo, mobile forces, and the Italians help will make mobile forces (armor and mech inf) much more flexible than artillery will ever be.

    What is the usual amount of German units to send to France? what if you want to take Normandy or Southern France also?  You need to send all the ground units to avoid a potential goof up or high casualties.  That’s all the inf, all the arty, all the mechs and all the tanks that can come.    If you short yourself any of these units (for example, sending 1 armor 3 mech to south france) you may find that the Paris battle causes some anxiety!  However, even coming in short, you still don’t need planes to have good odds–you’re just going to lose all the cannon fodder pieces.

    Good Luck Buddy!

  • '21 '20 '19 '18 '17 '16

    You are going to get all sorts of varied answers to these.

    Germany can attack Russia anytime from G1 through G4, and all those options have merit.

    Units for Barbarossa start moving on G1, when the infantry from Germany proper start moving east.

    The best path for Moscow is southerly in my opinion, not because it gets you Moscow faster but because it allows you to pin the Russian forces in Moscow in such a way that you while Russia is turtling up that you are able to grab Caucasus and the oil money with a few spare mobile units.

    Whether or not Japan doing a J1 attack affects Germany heavily depends on if the Allies are concentrating on Europe or the Pacific first and on where the focus of Japan’s attack is. Japan going full war on Russia on J1 can be helpful, because that means by turn six that Russia has 7 or 8 fewer units available for defense because of lost income.

    Germany typically gets Bulgaria, but consider that if you are using Italian forces against Russia too that A) no German units have to move away from Russia to activate them and B) that Italian units actually have to pass through Bulgaria anyway to move towards Russia and C) that one IPC for Italy is more meaningful than one IPC to Germany (especially if you are taking Normandy and Southern France with Germany).

    If you go southerly and Russia makes a stand at Leningrad, you are going to crush Moscow. So, if Russia does not retreat or gets really aggressive and starts moving to Norway, those Finnish forces will be useful in keeping as many Russians out of Moscow as possible.

    Japan can get to India a variety of ways, but it’s a long slow grind if you go by land.

    An early Sea Lion probably is never worth it against a good Russian player – as soon as those transports go down, Russia will start advancing and you will be behind on ground units. A late Sea Lion can be awesome if you can pull it off!

    My G1 build for pure Russia kill if I am going on G2 is 3 tanks, 3 mechs. If I am going on G3, the build is six artillery and two infantry (maximum possible ground units).

    I like to take Normandy with Italy if the Allies are going Europe first, so I can use Italian IPCs instead of German ones to build a destroyer blocker from that factory and giving Germany another turn to work on Russia before it has to start concentrating primarily on defense.

    Marsh


  • Welcome to the community!  We all started with the same questions and some of us (me included) still are figuring it out.  Young Grasshoppers youtube strategy videos were my start to forming my own strategies.  Do yourself a favor and dive into all of them.  So worth it.

    I saw this question wasn’t really answered yet
    @OttoVonBismarck:

    What is the usual amount of German units to send to France? what if you want to take Normandy or Southern France also?

    There are a few different ways to achieve this, but note that it will weaken your other attacks and can be a gamble.

    France - 5 inf, 2 art, 3 mech, 5 tanks is 87% success odds
    Normandy - 2inf, 1 art is 78% success odds
    Southern France - 1 mech, 1 Tank, 1 fighter (from Slovakia) 89% success odds.

    This is a hell of a gamble.  The most important territory is France.  If that doesn’t fall…you are in some serious…well…you know.  Does anyone else have a more optimal pure France Turn 1 crush?

  • Sponsor

    Thanks for the great comments guys, helping even 1 new player get started playing G40 makes all the time and effort of my YouTube channel well worth it.


  • @OttoVonBismarck:

    Hello, I am new to playing A&A. Me and my friends have played about 5 games but they usually end before we can really finish. I’ve been scouring through these forums and picking up some information, but I have a lot of questions about good Axis strategy. Any help would be appreciated.

    What is a usual turn for Germany to attack Russia?

    How do you move your starting German units for Barbarossa, and what units should you buy to keep it going?

    Do you leave any units behind to defend Western Germany/Germany or do you send them all to the front?

    What is a good path to go for Moscow?

    How does Japan doing a J1 attack affect the European Axis strategy?

    What should you do with the Italian units in Africa?

    What country should get Bulgaria?

    What should you do with Finnish units if you decide to go along Ukraine/Stalingrad rather than north to Leningrad?

    What is the best way for Japan to get to India?

    Is Sealion ever worth it?

    If you are planning on Barbarossa, is it better to buy 7 artillery on G1, or buy nothing to keep the allies guessing?

    What is the usual amount of German units to send to France? what if you want to take Normandy or Southern France also?

    Sorry for the large amount of questions, I’ve just been really puzzled about this for a while. I’ve seen people say that Germany can easily take over Russia almost every game, but the farthest I’ve gotten is Leningrad. Any other tips you have for Axis strategy would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you in advance.

    As you get better, you will see that it is not a war game. it is all about economic. Learn the map, and look out for the keypoints there… And then it is like chess. Protect your expensive units, don’t let them stand as sitting ducks… A expensive unit cost more than 3 ipc :) Don’t be afraid to pull out of an area, if you are able to save your units for a counter attack… Learn the bonus’s for each nation, specially your enemies.

    normal I say Germany is the main engine of the axis powers. Japan is the auxillery engine, and Italy is a minor auxillery engine. It means Germany most have all the money it can get on the European map, and it is the power, who force the allies to spend most of the resources (in total Russians, Eur-uk US) to fight… This is the reason why Japan wins most of the games for the axis’s. If Germany is down it is possible for the european british to use there economy in the pacific.
    Italy is a minor power, and are not able to hit that hard on the russians. they should focus to control the mediterranean and those areas. If the germans are strong they have an easier game.

    when you lose a game then think about what happened. how did you buy, and how did you move. The same you have to do with your enemy. then you are able to improve. Sometimes you lose in round 15 or 17 but cause for that might already happened in round 5 or 9, or even in round 1 or 2.


  • @OttoVonBismarck:

    Hello, I am new to playing A&A. Me and my friends have played about 5 games but they usually end before we can really finish. I’ve been scouring through these forums and picking up some information, but I have a lot of questions about good Axis strategy. Any help would be appreciated.

    Sorry for the large amount of questions, I’ve just been really puzzled about this for a while. I’ve seen people say that Germany can easily take over Russia almost every game, but the farthest I’ve gotten is Leningrad. Any other tips you have for Axis strategy would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you in advance.

    Again welcome to AA.org. As the others have said watching Young Grasshopper’s video’s is a great tool for newer (and even long time) G40 players. You have gotten some great advice from the others as well. Here is my take on your questions, but much will be very similar to what has been posted already.

    What is a usual turn for Germany to attack Russia?

    I like G2, you have enough starting units to push deep into Russian territories if you super stack (move one territory at a time towards Moscow). It will force the Russians to abandon their minor ICs (where you can build more units once you take them). Having a few mobile Italian units with a bomber is very helpful to your cause because the Italians can take out Russian inf pickets for you, and allows you to move up your German stack with a couple German planes for air cover. Plus Italy can always use the income, just don’t give them key territories w/IC (or places like Western Ukraine because you can build a German IC there to pump out ground).

    How do you move your starting German units for Barbarossa, and what units should you buy to keep it going?

    Basically anything that can’t hit the French goes east, targeting E Poland on G2 (or G3). I generally buy navy/air on G1, and look to add more ground to the Russian front once I take the Russian ICs. I also look to transport units through the Baltic.

    Do you leave any units behind to defend Western Germany/Germany or do you send them all to the front?

    Once France falls, I will send all surviving mobile units through N Italy to Yugo so they can catch up to my stack in Russia. Any surviving inf/art will stay in France to clean it up and def the Atlantic coastline.

    What is a good path to go for Moscow?

    I wouldn’t split your force because if you invade G2 (or G3) you will be vulnerable to attack. I like to go south of the marsh because there is more to gain, plus there is a good chance the Russian player will have to abandon Leningrad anyway. G2 all available units to East Poland, G3 W Ukraine. This will allow you access to more IPCs, the Ukraine IC and the oil NOs. The Russian player (unless he is also new) will need to abandon Leningrad in order to get those slow moving units to Moscow for defense, otherwise you will beat him to his capital. Plus you should be able to amphib Leningrad through the Baltic (I generally buy navy G1) even if he does leave a token force (dead Russian units can’t defend Moscow).

    How does Japan doing a J1 attack affect the European Axis strategy?

    The obvious answer is that a J1 attack unleashes the USA, and they get their NO bonus on the first turn. The good thing is that the USA doesn’t have much on the East coast and will take a couple turns to bulk up. I don’t mind so much about giving the US the extra bonus and freedom of movement in the Atlantic because of importance of allied units that I can take out on that first turn in the Pacific. I will say that my J1 attack is a bit different from most because I include taking out the US Hawaiian fleet as well as the other normal stuff on J1. This leaves the US weak on both sides and they are hard pressed to make a decision on what side to build on. The US wants to build Atlantic, but is pretty much forced to go Pacific in the first couple turns to attempt to stabilize the situation.

    What should you do with the Italian units in Africa?

    Much of this depends on what the Italians have as far as navy on It1. Most games see the Italians lose the ships in both the sz96 (off Malta) and sz97 leaving them with only one transport. In this case many people will salvage some of the N African Italians by transporting them back to Europe where they will be more useful (transporting units to N Africa would expose your tiny Italian navy to attack by British air).

    If the UK did sink the Italian navy in sz97 it will lead to the UK also losing its Med fleet through axis counter attack. The Italians could be hard presses to get their “no ships in the Med NO” on IT1. They would like to take vengeance on the British Med fleet, but they also need to clear out the French in sz93 (I really don’t like when the French escape). Much depends on what the UK has left after the sz97 attack. If the UK left ftrs on the Med carrier then maybe Italy only strikes it to weaken it for the Germans to finish. If Italy looks like it can kill the the surviving UK Med fleet maybe they also set-up an amphib on Greece keeping whats left of the Italian fleet under cover from the airbase. Italy should try to support the Germans with some mech and air as can openers in Russia.

    PS: If you still have the bulk of your fleet IT1 then I would probably presser Egypt. You might be able to take it, or at least tie up some valuable UK units.

    What country should get Bulgaria?

    Germany IMO, need the income and the units. Once you activate the Bulgarians G1 you can send them to the Russian front (would be a turn behind w/G2 Barb), or could use some of them to attack Yugo on G2 along with your mobile units coming in from Paris (if you didn’t take Yugo G1).

    What should you do with Finnish units if you decide to go along Ukraine/Stalingrad rather than north to Leningrad?

    I keep the Fins in Finland (adding the Norwegians sometimes the Danes), you can use them to pressure Leningrad. Like we said before chances are the Russians will be forced to abandon Leningrad to get those slow moving units to Moscow. If they stay to defend it is good for you, and you can generally amphib Leningrad along with those advancing Scandinavians. Those units will also be necessary if the western allies go for Norway. A few well placed inf/art in Finland along with transported units via the Baltic and the Luftwaffe are a good deterrent/counter attack.

    What is the best way for Japan to get to India?

    With a J1 attack India won’t have the luxury of building a major defense (won’t have much income). Once Japan takes all the key assets (Phil, Malaya, DEI, Hong Kong ect…), they could amphib India. One of the reasons I favor a J1 attack though is so I can build a minor IC in FIC. This allows me to keep pressure on China, as well as send some mech/tanks towards India. This is bad news for Calcutta seeing Japans ability to bring in fast moving ground units and assault by sea. The UK player is in a bad situation. They need to help out the Russians, but if they do it means India falls that much easier.

    Is Sealion ever worth it?

    Many people (myself included) will build some fleet G1 to make the UK player do the responsible thing on UK1 (build 6 inf+ftr for London or something to that degree). So G1 I normally build a carrier (plus either a destroyer, or Bmr, or 1-2 transports, or sometimes save the rest). This keeps the possibility of Sea lion alive in the back of the UK players head, and his purchase should reflect that. Basically I want him to build units that won’t help him much over the next 4-5 turns. I don’t want to see him build fleet, or a minor IC in Egypt UK1, that’s not good for the axis. If for some reason the UK player seeing my G1 build doesn’t spend his first round income defending London, and he sends his ftrs to the Med for the Taronto Run (sinks Italian BB), then yea I would probably Sea Lion his arrogant A$$. Otherwise Sea Lion would be more of a threat even later as the game goes on. Build a couple German transports, and watch him build more inf in London. After the added defenses given to London in the 2nd edition I think Sea Lion is more of an attack of opportunity to capitalize on the short coming of the UK player. This could be in the opening rounds, or catching him with his pants down later in the game as well.

    If you are planning on Barbarossa, is it better to buy 7 artillery on G1, or buy nothing to keep the allies guessing?

    Like I said above, I like to build some fleet G1 to keep the allies guessing, and force the UK to respond with a conservative buy on the first turn (7 art G1 gives them too much info IMO). Saving all your income can also be effective, but if you save not sure an art buy would still be a good play on G2 (they would be behind your main force, and Russia see’s it). With that said buying 7 art G1 is a pretty damn effective Barbarossa, so pushing hard puts the allies on the clock. The question is can they respond to the call.

    What is the usual amount of German units to send to France? what if you want to take Normandy or Southern France also?

    This is a matter of preference, but the best thing to do is probably to just take Paris with every ground unit that can reach (no air). You will most likely preserve all your mobile units to send to Russia, and some art to defend the Atlantic coast. With that said I like to also take either S France or Normandy (but never all three). So I reserve a couple ground units to hit one of the coastal French territories. I like to take S France, but it is risky because you need to use mobile units (through N Italy) and prob the Slov ftr (knowing that the damn French will convoy you in sz93). I like to take the S France IC with Germany in case I want to drop some subs in the Med. If I don’t take it with Germany, Italy will generally end up with S France even if I’m controlling both (damn greedy Italians).

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