When will the STRATEGY page be updated?

Without house rules or any perks to the Axis then classic AA is 90% chance of victory for the Allies. Unless the Allied player is green or has not read Don’s essays on AA then the game is even but once the Allied player knows how to operate then it is usually a short game with the Allies as the victor.

Well I think the likelyhood of Japan taking both China and Sinkiang is very low in fact.  If you think about it Japan starts with only 7inf on the ground and 3ftrs bmb for offense.  China with 2inf ftr is more dangerous than one would expect and because of this it is my feeling that you must send at least 3inf ftr bmb just to guarantee a good shot at clearing it.  Additionally, Sink can only be attacked with 2inf + some air and is a lesser priority so in fact it is safe to assume that one of these will go badly.  Further Japan spreading out its offensive ability on turn 1 is a high risk high reward move as you could also lose all these battles which will really slow down Japan.  Losing say 6inf just to kill an irrelevent 2inf ftr or an extra 2inf is not a good idea.  Further, if the Brits pull just 1 Indian guy or 1 Syrian back to Persia they will have an opportunity to attack the infantry put in India by Japan.  If the Brits can nibble at these forces while spread out, and the Japanese hurt themselves by spreading out then it is far easier to slow Japan down than if you play defense where Japan will maintain its relative strength by virtue of not attacking.

Secondly, what gain is there to moving 2inf from India to Sink anyway?  If the Japanese want to risk it they can still attack it, and if they do you risk losing more of what little strength in Asia you do have.  Additionally, Japan can still take India, and Britain is still left attacking with 1inf + air to clear it so what’s the difference?

Finally, your primary reason against abandoning India is that the IPC swing is too great but in fact even with a defense of India or Sink Japan can still attack one or the other, and for that reason the IPC swing is almost as great so in fact the vacating of India actually costs the Brits very little.  Whether the British are in India or not the Japanese should be able to take China and India or Sink which is a 10ipcs swing.  The difference is but only 1guy which is more than worth it for the British.

Usually when I play multiplayer in person, we have a rule of 5-10 minute discussion period at the end of each round.  Each side gets about 5 minutes took look over the board and discuss strat, then the other side.  It allows for a bit more cooperation.

Fairer sides may have helped too, but this Axis strat should never work.

As Russia, you can afford to be aggressive.

Personally, I’ll focus on Germany and hit Ukr and Baltic sz, while falling back in the East.  If possible I’ll never engage the Japanese until they approach Novo  (about rd 3-4).

But in those first 3-4 rds you should be able to cripple Germany.

If Germany is building ships and planes, you should be able to hold EE as Russia very early (by rd 2-3).

My guess is they went after UK, because that guy was new to the game.  Seems kinda cheap to me, but you guys should ask for a rematch and then beat the snot out of them.

If you give some specific examples of the Axis early moves I’ll give you counters so you can beat them.

Here is a brutal Russia 1 to get started

Buy 8 inf

Attack Ukr with 8 inf, 3 arm
If it goes badly retreat to Kar (while trying to reduce Ger to only a ftr), if it goes well take it with 4-5 inf and 3 arm
Attack Baltic sz with 2 ftrs (the G sub cannot shoot at your ftrs)

Attack W sp sz with your sub  (sub vs sub)
most likely his sub has to retreat

Non-Combat All troops to Kar and place there (if Ukr was taken), Kar will have 12 inf, 2 ftrs
and fortify Yak with 7 inf and move arm to Novo.
and move your trn to the UK sz

if you only strafed Ukr, Kar will have about 15-16 inf, 3 arm, 2 ftrs.

This moves takes out all German Navy and gives Russia a strong opening position.

CC:

Yeah, I don’t like options 3 or 4 either. But they are possibilities that could be used.

The PA or PE bids are the most conventional strats and generally both seem to give the Axis a good chance at winning.

With operation sea lion, I’m not convinced that it is an automatic win because I think Russia will be all over Germany and the ipc’s Germany gains by the UK will be needed to keep the US out of England. But I haven’t played this strategy enough to really try it out.

With rolling for tech, you are right, Germany had better get lucky soon with this. I think this would make for either a very short game (Germany doesn’t get IT) or a very long game (Germany gets IT). Again, I haven’t played this enough to really know how well it works.

Feedback on these is a good thing because even if an idea is half-baked it still might be fun to try sometime :wink: .

Well, here is one strategy I’ve used in the past that may help with Africa (RR, no bid). You won’t be able to keep Africa with this, but you might have a chance to at least take it for a turn or two.

On G1, sink the UK Navy in the North Sea as usual, but do not use the Baltic sea transport as fodder. Once all Allied ships there are sunk, take the Baltic sea transport and move either the Norway tank (my preference)or two Norway infantry to Morocco. Also land at least one of your fighters there as well. Instead of taking Egypt, simply move two infantry into Libya.

This sets you up fairly well for G2 in the following ways

The transport blocks the UK/US from an easy run through this area. The UK will sink this, but this will divert forces from other uses (i.e. if they use fighters, they will not be able to land in Karelia on UK1 - possibly making a G2 assualt there feasable). Probably the UK will also sink the German Med fleet (its really inevitable).

The extra forces in Morocco will delay UK/US forces from landing in Africa on round 1.

On G2, use all available forces to take Egypt. The extra tank and fighter(s) will help defeat any forces that may have been moved to Egypt on UK1 . You should also consider using the bomber as well if they have done so. Now the Allies either won’t have sufficient forces to effectively counter-attack, or you will have sufficient forces in Egypt to make a counter difficult at best.

On G3 and onward, you then use these forces to fight north-south. You should be able to reach S. Africa then retreat back to Egpyt to defend that against the Allies. Here you are just scrambling to keep as much as Africa in German hands as long as you can. The Allies are able to take it all back, but now they must devote more resources to do so. Also, it is possible for Japan to bring in reinforcements to help Germany, but I never do so since the Allies are closer to Africa than Japan and the Japanese forces are better used elsewhere, IMO. At some point you should probably conceed Africa and move the fighter back to the relative safety of Europe.

There are problems for the Germans with this (loss of a defensive fighter in Europe for a few turns, Norway is weakened, and the odds for this working as stated are not exactly a slam dunk) but you should try it to see how it works for you.

Also in your strategy, you should take into account the standard bid of 18-24 when playing non-RR.

If it were done that way in history more bloody wars would have occurred very soon after the end of WWII. The USSR would not likely have done well as it would again be squeezed from east and west.

Not to mention all the bloody guerilla wars they would have had to fight in those countries they took over.

Ah, the old fashion black and white Simcity on the computer, that sure brings back memories. I was never really good at that game – I constantly outspent myself even with hefty taxes. I guess Risk 2 is next on the list of things I sure check out hehe. :wink: I’m still waiting for Axis and Allies with simultaneous play, but for the time being, I’ll have to stick with using to Axis & Allies with two boards to get any real feeling of surprise.