• Customizer

    I’ve played 3 games so far, all 3 times the Axis won.  All three games were played on a real board, the first two using dice, and the last game we used the “battle calculator” in tripleA to make sure we our dice were staying close to the “approximate” outcome.

    As Japan:

    Builds a Industrial Complex for Manchuria, a transport, and a destroyer (dest is a precaution against american subs, otherwise a 2nd transport)

    Fleet in 38 attacks 35 (Indian sea), with an extra fighter from Thailand.  Should win with maximum loss of a carrier.
    Cruiser in 50, Fighter and Destroyer in 51, Sub in 46, and Bomber in Japan attack 53 (hawaii), should have just the fighter, bomber, and maybe cruiser left (carrier in 51 does not participate)
    Inf in Kwangtung, plus inf and art from japan, attack Fukien.  may use battleship bombard if wanted, or noncom it to better spot.
    1 Inf from Manchuria, 1 Inf from Kiangsu, Fighter from Formosa, Fighter from Japan, attack Suiyang
    2 Inf from Kiangsu, 1 Fighter from Manchuria, attack Hupeh (this is optional, in the last game I did not attack Hupeh and instead used that fighter to attack Suiyang. the reason not to attack Hupeh is that China can bring 4 inf and a fighter into hupeh next turn).

    Noncom 1 inf from Thailand to Burma.  Noncom 2 fighter to Burma, 2 fighters to Thailand, and 2 Fighters to Manchuria.

    Next turn you will proceed cautiously against China (keep your attacks overwelming in nature and they will not be able to counter attack much or at all) while setting up for an attack on India (assuming britain stays there) with 3-5 inf, 1 tank, all air, and depending on USA’s moves, your battleship.
    Turn 3, take over India.
    Turn 4, Defeat any USA navy at solomons/carolinas/hawaii/newzealand assuming they are going KGF, otherwise reach a stalemate in pacific.  Do not worry about retaking solomons, you are getting all 3 of your NOs anyway.  You should be dropping at least 11 land units into asia per turn, start pressuring russia by turn 5 or 6 through both top and bottom.  Japan is way OP and ends up making more money than America at turn 3.

    Germany:

    Buy 5 inf, 3 art, 2 tanks, .or. minus a tank for a tech researcher token

    Subs in 7 and 8 attack sea zone 1 (cruiser and transport in canada)
    Destroyer in 13, Fighter in France, Fighter in Germany, Fighter in Norway attack sea zone 12 (cruiser and destroyer), should lose only destroyer
    transport in 13 takes 1 inf from france, conquers Gibraltar (keeps 5 ipcs away from england for 3 turns or more, or until you take egypt)
    [an alternative to the above 2 moves is to send your bomber to sea zone 12 instead of your destroyer, send the fighter in bulgaria and destroyer in 13 to attack the british destroyer in 15, and transport 1 inf and 1 tank from france to attack Trans-Jordan]
    If Russia has 6 units or less defending Karelia, I would recommend attacking it by transporting the tank and inf from Northwestern Europe, cruiser bombard, the tank in Poland, the 3 inf in the Baltic States, and 2-4 planes depend on what you have left.  If Russia did not kill your inf in Finland, use them too (and that means you can attack a Karelia with 7 units or less too). 
    As far as Finland, Belorussia, and East Ukraine are concerned, Attack whichever has the tanks and arty in it, assuming you can smash them.  The board can vary a lot by this early point so use your judgement not to overextend too much, while killing Russia’s money units. 
    If by the odd chance Russia did not kill Ukraine, and left 5 or less units in the Caucus, you can attack it with 2 inf, 2 tanks, 3 planes, and win.

    Noncoms:
    I switch the arty and the tank in northern africa. 2 fighters land in Morocco
    I leave Northern Europe with nothing in it.  If the Allies want to move their ships this close on the first or second turn, go ahead, I would enjoy destroying their fledgling navies.
    I move the tank in France to Poland, and the 4 inf in Germany to France, 1 fighter lands there.
    I move any units in Ukraine out of Ukraine.  If Russia can blitz through I leave 1 inf. 
    Other than that I move everything towards Karelia, and land 2 fighters in the Baltic States.

    Next Turn: focus on getting Karelia every turn.  You should be able to get all 3 of your NO’s almost every turn, and at the very least 2 of the NOs for sure. 
    Move 1-2 inf to france each turn.  If you get all 3 NOs you can afford to build 1 fighter/bomber per turn too. 
    Make sure each turn you can defend France and Germany and Poland.

    Italy:

    buy 1 inf, 1 transport.
    I generally wait til the second turn to attack egypt.  Just move guys to Libya for now.
    Send 1 inf to France, 1 to Bulgaria.

    And there you have it.  The unstoppable Axis Strategy. 
    My friends and I are thinking of giving China 2 extra infantry in Chinghai to balance the game better.  I haven’t tried the 1941 setup yet, but the 1942 setup seems like Japan is just a little bit too powerful with their 3 NO’s per turn (Japan can outspend USA, wtf?).  Seems like a 55-60% chance the Axis will win 1942 setup, but this is a pretty dice game so your results may vary.  However, this game is still young and I am confidant people will come up with better strategies for the Allies. 
    Other rule ideas I thought up was an errata for China: China gets 1 inf Plus 1 additional inf for every 2 of their territories they control during the Mobilize New Units Phase of their turn.  (this would give chinese players more reason to attack during their turn to get that extra infantry)  and an errata for the Japanese 2nd NO: they need to control 5 of the those territories instead of 4.

    thx all,
    Veqryn


  • The OP may very well be joking, but I suspect axis are favored with NOs, and if so there would be no need for unstoppable strats, like there is no unstoppable strat for allies in both setups, w/o NOs, b/c allies are favored assuming NOs are off.
    There are also players who think allies are favored in 42 (+NOs), I think in AA50 it’s much easier to learn how to play decent with axis, allies are very difficult, at least for me.

    Anyone can come up with an unbeatable, unstoppable allied strat in AA50, assuming NOs are off, and also in revised w/o bids.

  • Customizer

    I am indeed playing NOs, since I am partly assuming that Larry Harris, his team of playtesters, and the Wizards of the Coast playtesters, all built and balanced this game to be played by the rules they wrote, NOs and victory cities included.

    However, with this post I was hoping people would evaluate the moves I am making and discuss possibly better Axis strategies and better Allied strategies to deal with them.
    For example, what is better?  To take Gibralter, To attempt to take Trans-Jordan, or to do something completely different with that transport?
    Should Italy focus on Egypt and Africa, or should they instead try for the Caucus or Ukraine each turn to put more pressure on Russia?  Or perhaps both, get Egypt the second turn, wait for the allies to commit to north africa, then switch gears and move your stuff to the Russian front?
    And what allied strategies seem to be working for you guys?  Mine don’t.


  • @Veqryn:

    I’ve played 3 games so far, all 3 times the Axis won.  All three games were played on a real board, the first two using dice, and the last game we used the “battle calculator” in tripleA to make sure we our dice were staying close to the “approximate” outcome.

    As Japan:

    Builds a Industrial Complex for Manchuria, a transport, and a destroyer (dest is a precaution against american subs, otherwise a 2nd transport)

    Fleet in 38 attacks 35 (Indian sea), with an extra fighter from Thailand.  Should win with maximum loss of a carrier.
    Cruiser in 50, Fighter and Destroyer in 51, Sub in 46, and Bomber in Japan attack 53 (hawaii), should have just the fighter, bomber, and maybe cruiser left (carrier in 51 does not participate)
    Inf in Kwangtung, plus inf and art from japan, attack Fukien.  may use battleship bombard if wanted, or noncom it to better spot.
    1 Inf from Manchuria, 1 Inf from Kiangsu, Fighter from Formosa, Fighter from Japan, attack Suiyang
    2 Inf from Kiangsu, 1 Fighter from Manchuria, attack Hupeh (this is optional, in the last game I did not attack Hupeh and instead used that fighter to attack Suiyang. the reason not to attack Hupeh is that China can bring 4 inf and a fighter into hupeh next turn).

    Noncom 1 inf from Thailand to Burma.  Noncom 2 fighter to Burma, 2 fighters to Thailand, and 2 Fighters to Manchuria.

    Next turn you will proceed cautiously against China (keep your attacks overwelming in nature and they will not be able to counter attack much or at all) while setting up for an attack on India (assuming britain stays there) with 3-5 inf, 1 tank, all air, and depending on USA’s moves, your battleship.
    Turn 3, take over India.
    Turn 4, Defeat any USA navy at solomons/carolinas/hawaii/newzealand assuming they are going KGF, otherwise reach a stalemate in pacific.  Do not worry about retaking solomons, you are getting all 3 of your NOs anyway.  You should be dropping at least 11 land units into asia per turn, start pressuring russia by turn 5 or 6 through both top and bottom.  Japan is way OP and ends up making more money than America at turn 3.

    Germany:

    Buy 5 inf, 3 art, 2 tanks, .or. minus a tank for a tech researcher token

    Subs in 7 and 8 attack sea zone 1 (cruiser and transport in canada)
    Destroyer in 13, Fighter in France, Fighter in Germany, Fighter in Norway attack sea zone 12 (cruiser and destroyer), should lose only destroyer
    transport in 13 takes 1 inf from france, conquers Gibraltar (keeps 5 ipcs away from england for 3 turns or more, or until you take egypt)
    [an alternative to the above 2 moves is to send your bomber to sea zone 12 instead of your destroyer, send the fighter in bulgaria and destroyer in 13 to attack the british destroyer in 15, and transport 1 inf and 1 tank from france to attack Trans-Jordan]
    If Russia has 6 units or less defending Karelia, I would recommend attacking it by transporting the tank and inf from Northwestern Europe, cruiser bombard, the tank in Poland, the 3 inf in the Baltic States, and 2-4 planes depend on what you have left.  If Russia did not kill your inf in Finland, use them too (and that means you can attack a Karelia with 7 units or less too). 
    As far as Finland, Belorussia, and East Ukraine are concerned, Attack whichever has the tanks and arty in it, assuming you can smash them.  The board can vary a lot by this early point so use your judgement not to overextend too much, while killing Russia’s money units. 
    If by the odd chance Russia did not kill Ukraine, and left 5 or less units in the Caucus, you can attack it with 2 inf, 2 tanks, 3 planes, and win.

    Noncoms:
    I switch the arty and the tank in northern africa. 2 fighters land in Morocco
    I leave Northern Europe with nothing in it.  If the Allies want to move their ships this close on the first or second turn, go ahead, I would enjoy destroying their fledgling navies.
    I move the tank in France to Poland, and the 4 inf in Germany to France, 1 fighter lands there.
    I move any units in Ukraine out of Ukraine.  If Russia can blitz through I leave 1 inf. 
    Other than that I move everything towards Karelia, and land 2 fighters in the Baltic States.

    Next Turn: focus on getting Karelia every turn.  You should be able to get all 3 of your NO’s almost every turn, and at the very least 2 of the NOs for sure. 
    Move 1-2 inf to france each turn.  If you get all 3 NOs you can afford to build 1 fighter/bomber per turn too. 
    Make sure each turn you can defend France and Germany and Poland.

    Italy:

    buy 1 inf, 1 transport.
    I generally wait til the second turn to attack egypt.  Just move guys to Libya for now.
    Send 1 inf to France, 1 to Bulgaria.

    And there you have it.  The unstoppable Axis Strategy. 
    My friends and I are thinking of giving China 2 extra infantry in Chinghai to balance the game better.  I haven’t tried the 1941 setup yet, but the 1942 setup seems like Japan is just a little bit too powerful with their 3 NO’s per turn (Japan can outspend USA, wtf?).  Seems like a 55-60% chance the Axis will win 1942 setup, but this is a pretty dice game so your results may vary.  However, this game is still young and I am confidant people will come up with better strategies for the Allies. 
    Other rule ideas I thought up was an errata for China: China gets 1 inf Plus 1 additional inf for every 2 of their territories they control during the Mobilize New Units Phase of their turn.  (this would give chinese players more reason to attack during their turn to get that extra infantry)   and an errata for the Japanese 2nd NO: they need to control 5 of the those territories instead of 4.

    thx all,
    Veqryn

    HAHAHA
    i’m okay with your strategy, it’s all right, but it are those last words 'i think japan in ‘42 is to powerfull’
    you do know, in 41, japan is like triple as strong than in 42?

  • 2024 2023 '22 '19 '18

    I’m not sure I see a lot that’s new here.  The Axis has always been easier to play because it’s more intuitive.  No need to develop an infrastructure, just roll those tanks and march those men.  (Japan less so, but drop a complex or two and you’re there)

    The Allies require logistical thinking that would challenge a UPS transit engineer.  And AA50 42 is that times 2.  One of the keys to Allied success is the patience to build a fleet in the Atlantic that cannot be sunk and get it off the European coast by turn five and no later.

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