All right, so I’m going to go through and hit on each point that you made.
Egypt was obviously a hard nut to crack, as it should be. As such, the major powers of Europe were focused intently on the area for the first several rounds of the game. It was a good series of battles and helped me to lock up the Med for the rest of the game. However, I do see what you are saying in spreading further into Africa. I did attack a few times into Africa, but never with enough force to continue a push there. What I should have done was bolster defenses in Egypt with Italian troops and send larger German forces foraying into Africa. Also, the convoys from Gibraltar could easily have been brought down to other areas of Africa, while you still did not have a British fleet to oppose me in South Africa. I should have taken the initiative there, but I can’t honestly answer as to why I did not. That will be remedied in my next Axis play.
Brazil never actually interested me much, and for several reasons. Before you had taken it with the US, I didn’t want to expend the troops and transports to that area of the board which could be easily pummeled by the East coast US forces, just for 2 IPC’s. I could not have easily sustained a force there, so I immediately dismissed it. However, I do see the point in taking it for even a few rounds as it denies the Allies money and can funnel resources away from Europe and Africa.
Your Russia had me completely stymied, as I could think of no way to effectively counter them without sacrificing builds to other parts of the board. As I’ve explained before, I just couldn’t put up enough of a force to deal with them and I left Russia alone for too many rounds in my opinion. And I did not put nearly enough Italian forces to the Eastern front to bolster the Fascist cause. My plan with Italy was to build up their fleet, which i was pretty proud of and for them to hold them Med themselves while Germany fought on for the greater good. I like that plan, but it needs refinement and needs Italian troops in some capacity to help Germany in Russia.
China, I find very difficult to deal with. However, I do like your suggestion of attacking multiple territories, as I have the air force to pummel them. I will be sure to incorporate those ideas into my future games.
Well, thank you again for the break down and for the advice. I had a great game and have learned quite a bit. It is taking me some time, but I see more and more with every game I play that A&A is really a game of economy. I like to think that brilliant military tactics will win out in the end. But, no matter how many terrific battles you fight, if you don’t have the money to match up against your opponent, you’re going to be some bitter in the end.
