Allied opening strategy

If your playing a smart player, who does not “Pearl Harbor” with Japan and uses the Navy to take India which is basically Impossible to stop.  Do not buy Industrial complex turn 1.  Wait and see if the Japan player does “Pearl Harbor” or not if he does then you should be safe but i would wait until turn 2 or 3.  Don’t forget about the 2 infantry and transport in Australia they help defend India very well, Also the transport can move Infantry from Africa to India (after Germany has been removed from Africa).  My favorite UK strategy is to fly fighters from India to Russia “Moscow”. Creates a brick wall of infantry and fighters to setup a long game to use the Allied 3 turn advantage to win.  Its hilarious to watch Germany throw tanks and infantry trying to wear down Russia and the 10+ UK fighters and Russian Infantry  just obliterate them.

@nutbar:

Buy tanks. They work well with offense and defense, and they move 2 instead of 1. I also reccomend buying 1 fighter per turn to stock up and destroy Germany. Stay defensive until you have a monster military and then attack Germany.

Another nutbar quote:
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=22573.15

Yes, Japan’s setup needs to be changed in order to weaken them. Germany’s setup should be weakened OR the allie’s setup be strengthened.

No wonder you think Japan and Germany need to be weakened if you think a plan of 1 Russian fighter a turn is a good one.  If I could make the Russians spend 10 IPC on a fighter every turn, I’d agree Axis have an advantage.

@dustwhit:

@Advosan:

Att.
-CHN with KWN and MAN inf, ftr + JAP bmb
-SZ52 with BB CC SS AC 2 ftr
-Clear all UK surface vessels with the remaining BB AC and 2 ftr
-Unload to MAN inf and arm and land ftr+bmb to MAN, place 2TT and DD in SZ61, 2art in JAP obviously.

As R, I would be incredibly tempted to take my 6 inf in Bury and attack Man at roughly a 50/50 chance of winning, and if not, likely to destroy a fgt or bmb. I consider Bury a loss by J2 anyway, so I’d go on the offense and if I loose, I’d have a tank rdy to retake Yakut when J got in range (with an inf or 2 in Nov by that time) to reestablish the choke point. Why not send 2 fgt, bmb, Kwn, and 1 inf from FIC (particularly if B sent trans back to Egt leaving 1 inf in Ind) or only 1 from Man to Chi. A minor change, but safer for Man.

Imho, J1 CHN invasion must be massive, because the real objective is a J2 XNG invasion that cannot be delayed no matter what happens in FIC or MAN. That is why I need all that inf and airforce in CHN and that one arm in MAN. And if IND is almost empty, I would prefer to add a FIC inf to CHN assault and leave 1 inf in MAN, but I would never attack with less than 5 inf 2 fgt 1 bmb (a total 2.5 hits avg)…
The R 6 inf stationed in BUR can always try and assault MAN, especially if supported by 1-2 fgt. But what happens if that fails, what happens if J scores 4 hits and R only 2 (assisted by the 2 fgt, that is…)? Will there be a second round? Can R risk a total collapse of its eastern borders? Can R afford to be so reckless, just in order to kill a fgt or 2? Because MAN cannot be conquered with 1 bmb, 1 inf, 1 arm and 4 fgt stationed there, not even by 6 inf and 2 fgt, which is pretty much all that can possibly reach there by R2.

@Fleetwood:

The Allied fleets must stay together……
but has anyone found Africa harder to control as the Allies in Spring 42 compared to Revised?

Not really harder, just different.  you can’t totally look to revised as a basis for what you can do here, because of the changes. 
Its not necessarily a must to keep the allied fleets together.  it all depends on how you build them and where the opposition is.

I personally like for germany to waste fighters on a vulnerable american fleet at SZ12.  when there is a stronger back up on SZ10. that means those fighters are not bothering Russia…. but like i said it depends on the positions

Please refer to the topic "strategic planner vs. nutbar game for how we play and advice giving. Thank you.

I’ve played games yesterday as allies and won them against the other player. We had played before using the same sides and I lost. Here’s my impressions of what happened and what you described:

The initial Russian opening is pretty much standard, he should have lost 3 inf according to probabilities but G will lose 2 of the following 4 territories to R on the first round: Ukraine/West Russia/Bielorussia/Norway. G has to push Russia back on the first or second turn. Buying only inf for G on round 1 is not the best choice (the allied player did it on both my games). Ideally, if you buy 5 tanks you can be able to make Karelia impossible to take by the Russians (depending on the number of russian casualties and their initial purchase). If that’s not possible then you will have to take and hold Karelia or Ukraine somewhere on the following rounds. What you do regarding the Brit fleets really depends on how much you want to risk sacrificing your air force. Taking out the UK Battleship and the Transport with the sub, fighter and bomber gives some breathing room for G on the Atlantic, along with killing the Cruiser. And don’t forget to move the G subs. Regarding J it really depends on what R and the UK have made. If they are playing aggressive then you’ll have 6 inf on Buryatia, UK controlling Borneo and New Guinea, UK fighter on US carrier on Hawaii. Your first buy should be 2 transports and 1 destroyer, in any case. You’ll need the DD do deal with any allied subs, while the factory can wait a little longer. With Japan I’d say that the US fleet is the biggest target, followed by China and Borneo. If R moved to Buryatia leave 1 inf behind in Manchuria and land as many fighters as possible there. If the US goes Pacific (like I did on my games) and starts building a fleet, then your focus is to prevent the US fleet from invading either East Indies/Borneo/Phillipines and building an IC there. You’ll need some infantry to drop on Asia using the transports available but combat ships and planes have the highest priority. On Asia focus on taking India, the Chinese territories and the 3 Russian territories. Don’t leave your ground units where they can be destroyed by allied  counterattacks.

@Patton5:

Other problems… against a canny opponent the UK cannot build a factory in India.  Japan has a huge fleet and troops right next door and so this old time tactic is useless.  I’m struggling to find any effective strategy for the UK in this new version of the game.

Very true. The only way that the UK can put an IC in India against a Japanese player that doesn’t want him to have one there, is if Germany doesn’t take Egypt on G1 for whatever reason.

However, if by some miracle Germany doesn’t attack Egypt on G1, an IC for India is an outstanding buy IMO. Sacrifice the Cruiser in your Pacific fleet to take out the Japanese transport in SZ59. Then on your non-combat move, move your infantry from Persia into India, take your transport and pick up the tank from Egypt and the infantry from Trans-Jordon, and drop them off in India as well. Lastly, take the fighter off of your Carrier and the fighter from Egypt, and land those in India as well.

Then retreat your carrier to whatever SZ you deem safe for future use. You can even move it through the Suez in an attempt to link it up with your Atlantic fleet if the Med is clear of German ships.

This gives you a total of 5 infantry, 1 tank, 2 fighters, and an AA gun to defend your India IC which you’ll place at the end of your turn. The maximum the Japanese will be able to attack India with on J1 is 2 infantry, 4 fighters, and 1 bomber. The chances of a Jap victory are almost non-existent (around a 10% likelihood I believe), and even if they do, you will have completely decimated their entire air force.

Combine the well-defended India IC with an American IC in Sinkiang which is supported by a garrison of 4 Russian troops, and you have a good starting point to your JTDTM defense.

I’ve yet to have a Japanese player even attempt an attack on India on their first turn when I use this strategy. Yes, you’ll be sacrificing a cruiser and a transport….But you’re eliminating a Japanese transport, and establishing a firm grasp in Asia with an IC in India and a large force to defend it.

Now obviously you leave Africa open for an attack which the Germans will no doubt take advantage of on their second turn, but I usually remedy this by purchasing a South Africa IC a turn or two later. Pump out a few tanks in Africa in addition to the three you’re putting in India each turn, and you’re golden.

If anyone ever wants to play a game of AA42, hit me up. I’d love to play via TripleA, or just play by forum (which I’ve never done, but I’m sure I could learn quickly).