• @argothair OP is talking about his challenges winning an OOB game with no bid. Recommending lower-odds gambits is not helpful for people who are struggling with the standard playbook.

    In regards to hiding the Axis’ plans, how many places can the Allies choose to attack in W Europe even when they do know the German strategy? There are only a few obvious landing spots that can be held, and it is only a matter of when the Allies have sufficient forces to grab those territories. Normandy… Norway… Greece? Maybe a few more logical choices if the Axis is played poorly.


  • @arthur-bomber-harris said in Axis are underpowered.:

    @argothair OP is talking about his challenges winning an OOB game with no bid. Recommending lower-odds gambits is not helpful for people who are struggling with the standard playbook.

    In regards to hiding the Axis’ plans, how many places can the Allies choose to attack in W Europe even when they do know the German strategy? There are only a few obvious landing spots that can be held, and it is only a matter of when the Allies have sufficient forces to grab those territories. Normandy… Norway… Greece? Maybe a few more logical choices if the Axis is played poorly.

    And maybe the German player would be doing better if Japan didnt attack J1. But having them follow a script is a bad idea. It doesn’t teach them to think for themselves. It’s better to learn through options and discussion rather than following a map script.


  • @squirecam do you recommend a J1 in OOB with no bid?if not, why not?


  • @cornwallis cow provides an in-depth benefit of J1 over J2 in his pinned playbook. He also outlines the perfect execution for both. On average, attacking on J1 is advantageous to the Axis. However, the battle in Yunnan is slightly dicey and very bad rolling can leave China out of control with minimal Japanese land forces to counter it on the second turn.

    If matched against an opponent of equal or superior skill, J1 DoW is clearly the best option. If facing a significantly inferior opponent and you want to minimize variance, J2 becomes a better strategy. Those advocating J3 DoW make me question why they are playing a strategy game and posting strategy tips on this forum.


  • @cornwallis said in Axis are underpowered.:

    @squirecam do you recommend a J1 in OOB with no bid?if not, why not?

    Well, first of all I would not play OOB without some bid to the allies, at least a fighter scotland and med sub.

    That said, no I dont use a J1 for the reasons I mentioned earlier. It takes away German and Italian options.


  • @arthur-bomber-harris said in Axis are underpowered.:

    @cornwallis cow provides an in-depth benefit of J1 over J2 in his pinned playbook. He also outlines the perfect execution for both. On average, attacking on J1 is advantageous to the Axis. However, the battle in Yunnan is slightly dicey and very bad rolling can leave China out of control with minimal Japanese land forces to counter it on the second turn.

    If matched against an opponent of equal or superior skill, J1 DoW is clearly the best option. If facing a significantly inferior opponent and you want to minimize variance, J2 becomes a better strategy. Those advocating J3 DoW make me question why they are playing a strategy game and posting strategy tips on this forum.

    Yeah, the fact that I’ve played every version of A&A winning tournaments at Gencon, Origins, the WBC etcetera probably means I’m very poor at strategy games and shouldn’t post any tips whatsoever.

    Sorry.

    You should only listen to those masters of the game who advocate a J1 apparently.


  • @arthur-bomber-harris I know you’re good at this game, but you’ve got to at least partly back up your claims when you’re throwing that much shade – otherwise it’s just rude. It’s not obvious why J3 DoW is a bad strategy; either tell us why you think it’s shit, or link to someone who did.


  • @argothair The Axis starts out with less than half the income of the Allies. Even with excellent tactics, it is difficult for a player to find battles with better than 1.2 : 1 exchange of unit value over the long run. The Axis must catch up with income and it cannot be just in the European theater. Find a top League player who consistently waits until J3 for DoW… you won’t. Easy to get away with it in face-to-face games where you can wait for dumb mistakes but not a reliable strategy in games where the opponent will battle calc every possible response to moves.

    Most inexperienced players, like the OP, focus on defensive strategies and fail to expand economically. Eventually the opponent will have superior forces that inevitably will find a weak spot to successfully attack. The trend towards more aggressive Axis strategies has pushed the needle from the game being almost balanced, into a point where Allies need a 40+ point bid to achieve parity.


  • @arthur-bomber-harris said in Axis are underpowered.:

    @argothair The Axis starts out with less than half the income of the Allies. Even with excellent tactics, it is difficult for a player to find battles with better than 1.2 : 1 exchange of unit value over the long run. The Axis must catch up with income and it cannot be just in the European theater. Find a top League player who consistently waits until J3 for DoW… you won’t. Easy to get away with it in face-to-face games where you can wait for dumb mistakes but not a reliable strategy in games where the opponent will battle calc every possible response to moves.

    I could just as easily say the following then:

    If you need to rely upon battle calculators to tell you what to do then how good are you? If you need four hours between moves then stay online because you may risk losing in a ftf game when you must play without the crutch.


  • @squirecam I can battle calc just fine in my own head, getting the odds on critical battles with plenty of accuracy. I have no problem playing f2f matches and making the right choices. My opponents, on the other hand, are quite bad in such situations and I can quite reliably wait until they goof in live games.

    League matches is where you go if you want to really test your strategy since you can’t count on them doing something stupid. It is such a higher level of competition. Top guys like Axis Dominion or Adam or Cow will take advantage of your minor mistakes and give you few openings to catch back up.


  • I suspect that we can learn from both sides here. The benefits of a J1 and J2 DOW have been clearly and repeatedly examined by many well-established players. In that I agree with arthur-bomber-harris. However, I am curious to know (perhaps in a new thread so as to not be too far off topic) what squirecam’s thoughts are on why a J3 is the way to go. If we give up seeking new strategies and the willingness to learn, then we are sad Axis and Allies players indeed.


  • @tamer-of-beasts Don’t see it as off topic myself. i kinda remember there was a G4 J4 kick going for a while.


  • @arthur-bomber-harris said in Axis are underpowered.:

    @squirecam I can battle calc just fine in my own head, getting the odds on critical battles with plenty of accuracy. I have no problem playing f2f matches and making the right choices. My opponents, on the other hand, are quite bad in such situations and I can quite reliably wait until they goof in live games.

    League matches is where you go if you want to really test your strategy since you can’t count on them doing something stupid. It is such a higher level of competition. Top guys like Axis Dominion or Adam or Cow will take advantage of your minor mistakes and give you few openings to catch back up.

    Taking advantage of mistakes is part of the game. Having more time doesnt mean a mistake free game, as you know. I’ve seen many players ask for do overs in both types for moves they have forgotten.

    I disagree though as to a higher level of competition. Making the wrong move is part of a strategy game. This is a beer and pretzel game. Moreover, Larry made this version for the people he saw playing at Gencon, who he thought wanted a day long game. It still didnt come with a battle calculator.

    People who play online are good no doubt. But using the calculator is a crutch. An example of better skills is to play without it and still win. As you say you have no issue doing.


  • @tamer-of-beasts said in Axis are underpowered.:

    I suspect that we can learn from both sides here. The benefits of a J1 and J2 DOW have been clearly and repeatedly examined by many well-established players. In that I agree with arthur-bomber-harris. However, I am curious to know (perhaps in a new thread so as to not be too far off topic) what squirecam’s thoughts are on why a J3 is the way to go. If we give up seeking new strategies and the willingness to learn, then we are sad Axis and Allies players indeed.

    I stated why a few posts ago. I want options and a J1 limits German and Italian options. I want to know where US is going, what its builds have been, and an idea of its strategy while I am planning my opening strike. I like being in Caroline Islands so that I can strike almost anywhere J2 or J3, and not be married to a India crush strategy.

  • '21 '18 '16

    it’s hell being the King of the Nerds!

  • '21 '20 '18 '17

    @squirecam @argothair @Arthur-Bomber-Harris

    Howdy friends, been a while.

    The OP seems to finally have found the unlock–there is indeed a way for the allies to win! Fancy that…it only took us a decade.

    Those, including myself, who argue that the game is imbalanced can attempt to find innumerable workarounds (being forced to play both teams, bidding, reverse bidding, modding etc.) A static and unchanging game with a fixed setup will always have critical paths and good better best moves at each juncture.

    J1JDOW is a good move. It leaves Japan weaker against the USA though, and allows the early usa cross that stops the gibraltar block.

    In BBR, there is no reason at all IMO to declare war early because it gives the allies bonuses–so tweaking other aspects of the game will affect which strategy is optimal and when it is optimal.

    At this point, I think the G40 META is to wait for war to keep the USA contained. That changes because our discussions and opinions keep changing. That’s why we keep working on them.

    G42 has no diplomacy, and while the diplomacy was novel and rich when it was introduced, I would favor removing it from all 1 day formats (mods and tournments). Its too easy to game conditions that place articfical limits on the allies movements, the allies are already weaker and more constrained in the early/short game, and it makes the game much slower as you spend 3 hours buidling up and then 3 hours fighting. I’d favor just dumping it and reducing USA income or making its NO easier to interfere with.

    G42 is a timed game, I will likely see you all in person at Gencon or another travel tournament later this year. It does require that you build ships with Germany to complete the opener. BBR uses team time and chess clocks, but its not necessary in G42Gencon because those of us who play that tourney are pretty focused on the game and come with a full game plan and contingencies in mind.

    As far as ABHs point–I don’t like computer aids. They are an unfair crutch. However, our in-the-head or thumbnail glance odds calculations are often totally incorrect and as intuitions, must be taken as such. I do not rely on either calculators OR my intuitions.

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