They’re going to give me another wee stack of work in a few minutes, but until then -
When you’re playing an Axis and Allies game, the first thing you usually see is a bid for the Allies. (That is, one player “bids” to be the Allies, meaning the Axis get to start the game with extra IPCs, and those extra IPCs can sometimes be used to purchase units.)
So the question is, where should you put those SECKSY UNITS?
The answer depends on the ruleset you’re playing and how you feel at the moment. Yeah, I said it. I have feelings! omg . . .
Anyways, here’s where you usually see those secksy bids and some reason as to why you see them there. I might have to cut the list short if they give me more stuff to do at work. This assumes a 7-9 IPC bid.
1. Two ground units in German-held Algeria and/or Libya. Under TripleA and some other bidding rules, you are only allowed to place one unit per territory. Putting an infantry in Algeria and a tank in Libya (if limited to one unit per territory) or an infantry and an artillery in Algeria allows the Germans to hit Anglo-Egypt on Germany’s first turn (G1) with 6 ground units plus air. German casualties are usually limited to 1-2 units, setting up a difficult UK1 counter (typically limited to 3 infantry using India transport, 1 India fighter 1 London bomber).
If Germany’s units are not attacked by UK on UK1, Germany will have two tanks in Anglo-Egypt that can blitz through Africa on G2.
If Germany’s units are attacked by UK on UK1, UK probably will not hit the Baltic fleet, and UK will be risking 1 fighter 1 bomber (they need to land in Africa) to the probable 1 bomber 1-2 fighter that Germany will probably have in Libya at the end of G1 (the bomber and 1-2fighter land there after hitting Anglo-Egypt and/or the UK destroyer off Anglo-Egypt on G1). This is not a BAD trade for UK, but it’s not great for Germany either.
2. One German sub southwest of London (joining the other sub that’s already there). With two subs starting southwest of London, Germany can try to wipe out the UK battleship and transport (almost CERTAINLY joined by the Russian sub).
Germany’s usually locked into having to send its Med fleet east after this move; Russia sees the bid come down and hits Ukraine to kill the German fighter; without an Africa bid and the German bomber and German Norway fighter committed, Germany starts losing its air pretty fast - the Balkans fighter has to choose to escort the German battleship and transport against the UK destroyer at Anglo-Egypt or take part against Anglo-Egypt itself or help attack the UK battleship at Gibraltar.
Either way, Germany runs a lot of risk, and will probably lose some fighters. Moderately low risk with 1 battleship 1 transport vs 1 UK destroyer at Gibraltar, 2 inf 2 tank (or 2 inf 1 art 1 tank 1 fighter) vs 1 inf 1 tank 1 fighter at Anglo-Egypt, moderate to heavy risk of 1-2 fighter loss against German battleship at Gibraltar, moderate to heavy risk of 1 fighter 1 bomber loss against Allied fleet northwest of London. For this reason, you will probably see this sort of thing under Low Luck far more often than you would under regular dice; under regular dice, one or another of the battles often goes badly for Germany.
If everything goes right (rare), Germany has a moderately weakened fighter force, but the Allies have to sink a lot of IPCs into carriers. If the Allies are fixated on KGF, you’ll probably see 2 US carriers on US1 if the German attack succeeds, but without the UK battleship to worry about, Germany might be able to fend off an early Allied landing in Africa, and later, Germany can use bombers at W. Europe to threaten any Allied shuck to Europe (the range lets them hit both the E. Canada-London route and the London-Archangel route; the Allies have to seriously overbuild on carriers to prevent this from happening, and more carriers and fighter escorts means less transports and ground units).
Note of course that bombers at W. Europe isn’t limited to use with this bid placement.
3. Two Japanese units at French Indochina area (if limited to one unit per territory placed for the bid, one infantry at French Indochina, one tank at Kwangtung)
This is the sort of thing that Japan does to grab India real quick. If Japan can set up an industrial complex in India on J2, the Allies get pressured at Caucasus pretty quickly.
4. 1-3 infantry at Belorussia or Ukraine. This sort of move usually doesn’t come up that much if placement is limited to one unit per territory (but it still comes up). This is defensive, to prevent Russia from blasting the c*** out of Ukraine (or less commonly Belorussia). If bid placement is limited to one per territory, you still might see a split of infantry placement between Belorussia and Ukraine for a slightly heavier early German threat/counterthreat against Russia’s forces.
5. German transport at Baltic. Usually not used with LHTR given the fact that tech comes into play at the end of the turn. With a German transport bid and technology going into effect immediately, Germany can roll for Long Range Aircraft to try to grab London early. Russia can counter by landing fighters in London on R1, but that hurts Russia’s R2 attacks.