Anybody want to write an AAZ strategy article?

  • Founder TripleA Admin

    I’m a little short on time these days but I think a great article would be something about A&A strategy in general plus some new tactics to use in AAZ games. The audience would be newcomers to the game or people who play occasionally.

    Any takers?

  • 2024 2023 '22 '21 '20 '19 '18

    I can’t because of work commitments, but here’s a quick outline of how I imagine one of these would look:

    1. Overview of the Zombie Mechanic + Example.

    2. Possible Applications of Zombies
      a. Fighting a losing battle just to wrack up causalities (so Zombies will appear on top of the defender).
      b. Purposely Triggering the Zombie Apocalypse Condition to bring the game to a swift conclusion.
      c. Using Zombie-infested territories to create a buffer between you and a stronger opponent (mostly thinking of the Eastern Front here).
      d. Using Zombie Cards to turn the tables on opponents who abuse Zombies.

    3. General Strategies
      a. USSR - Build 100% land units, focus on holding West Russia and trading Ukraine
      (not sure if that’s going to be the go-to strategy in this edition as I haven’t played it yet, but that’s how Russia usually operates in non-G40 A&A Games).

    i. Zombies can be used offensively to further deplete the German ranks after a failed Soviet attack.

    b. Germany - Decide whether to:
          i. Concentrate on defeating Russia 100%.
            1. Note that the Zombies will definitely slow progress in the East.
          ii. Attempt a “Sea Lion” invasion of London.
          iii. Concentrate on Africa, so to increase the German economy and deplete the UK economy.
            1. Zombies can be employed as a buffer between German lands and an aggressive Russian army.
          iv. Some combination of the above.

    c. UK - Decide whether to:
          i. Devote 100% of income to dealing with Germany
          ii. Try a delicate balancing act of containing Germany while defending India from Japan.
            1. Note that the new Recruitment Centers might make holding India a bit of a challenge.

    d. Japan - Decide whether to:
          i. Wage a naval war against the US, with the ultimate objective of sinking the entire US Fleet before concentrating on Asia.
          ii. Focus 100% on Asia, taking India and China before ultimately moving of to assault the Soviets from their “back door”.
            1. May be more difficult than usual because of the Zombies.
          iii. Some combination of the above, trying to keep the US at bay while making steady progress in Asia.

    e. USA - Decide whether to:
          i. Transport land forces to Europe to accelerate Germany’s defeat.
          ii. Build up the Pacific Navy and cripple Japan’s economy by taking the Money Islands (Indonesia + Philippines).
            1. Note that taking the Money Islands may become more of a chore than usual due to the Zombies.
            2. That being said, it may be sufficient to let the Zombies have the Islands, which still accomplishes the task of crippling Japan’s economy.

    iii. Keep up a delicate balancing act, containing both Axis Powers.

    I know a lot of this is your typical A&A high-level strategy talk, but newer players are usually in the mindset of:

    • “Build all tanks with Germany!  Blitzkreig!  Hahaha!!!”

    • Actually building Battleships, Bombers (in a non-“Dark Skies” sort of way), etc.

    • Generally feeling lost with countries like the UK/US/Japan, who start pretty far from the action.

    With that in mind, it might also be worth going over some of the basic tactics of A&A like:

    • Defense beats offense on land.

    • Low-cost units (INF, SUBs) are the best.

    • Threat Projection > Pointlessly attacking over and over again.

    • Land-Bridging (Reusing Transports instead of constantly buying new ones)

    Hopefully someone else can take it from here. I’d do it myself but with IRL responsibilities (and without having actually played the game for myself) I can’t do it yet.

    …Maybe if no one else steps up their game I can expand on this more, provide some sample opening moves/builds, etc. But I can’t get it done this week (which is probably when you want it done by, seeing as the game’s just coming out).

  • Founder TripleA Admin

    Your article is almost done!  :-D


  • Yes, great summary.

    Personally I am looking forward to if this indeed an option:

    (2b)  Purposely Triggering the Zombie Apocalypse Condition to bring the game to a swift conclusion.


  • Send 1 infantry into combat.

Suggested Topics

Axis & Allies Boardgaming Custom Painted Miniatures

36

Online

17.0k

Users

39.3k

Topics

1.7m

Posts