@LT04:
Yeah, but what if you know they are 2-3 turns away?
LT
In that case probably not. I agree with Romulus.
@LT04:
Yeah, but what if you know they are 2-3 turns away?
LT
In that case probably not. I agree with Romulus.
Yeah, I think so because then the UK and US can come in…
I would only retake it with my Russian troops if I was sure I could win. If not, then I would place them in another Allied territory until the US or UK could retake it for me. Or if a multiple-attack approach was possible (UK hitting with their troops, then the US, then finally Russia securing the country). Thanks.
Has anyone from the US ordered one of these maps? I am interested to know how long it took to receive the map. Thanks.
That table is beautiful! Did he ever list a price?
@Crazy:
:|
I think, that it is possible to win without buying any armor at all.
Yeah, it would probably take a much longer time to win though. Unless you had a really strong airforce.
An even more legendary A&A standby: Don’s Axis and Allies Strategic Essays (http://donsessays.freeservers.com/). There is some argument that the new defends-at-a-3 tank has changed the infantry push mechanic, but Don’s tactic still mostly (if not completely) apply.
Don’t let yourself get frustrated. I used to be a rather horrible A&A player, but after playing on-and-off over the years (and reading forums like this one) I’ve become a much better player.
Others may disagree, but I say the artillery is basically crap. For attacking, you want lots of armor; for defending, lots of infantry. And for doing just about anything you also want lots of infantry. Artillery are somewhere in between. They have really bad “skew.” I only buy artillery if I have an extra IPC or I anticipate trading territory without the help of aircraft. With Russia, that usually means 1-2 artillery per turn. But if not, I don’t sweat it.
The easiest way to trip up an opponent is with your airforce, usually by unexpectedly blasting a fleet or transport(s). So keep your air in range of enemy ships (especially transports) and important landing areas whenever you can. Your opponent will either be somewhat slowed or have to be more committed to an area or maybe even slip up. For example: Japan puts transports outside of Japan without any cover. If Buryatia is still red, the US can scramble the Hawaii fighter and US bomber to hit those transports. One game my opponent made this mistake and lost 2trn 1des right off the bat. Those kinds of punches can be huge; you want to be making those punches.
That said, I wouldn’t buy much air. I hear strategies where the US/UK send over part land and part air, but I would warn against that. Maybe it can be a good idea for the US to build the occasional fighter, but the UK needs to be hitting Europe every turn (or the colonies, if it went KJF) with meat-and-potatoes land units. Germany can also benefit from some fighter builds, but those get expensive quick. Unless the US is adamant about pushing into the Med while the UK stays north, I wouldn’t build many fighters at all.
Don’t commit to risky battles unless you have a really good reason. One risky battle goes bad then you do another risky battle and maybe another and suddenly you are down many troops that would at least still be alive if you hadn’t gambled on those fights. Start conservative – but aggressive, I say always be aggressive – and be risky later if you need to be. The exception of course is if a big prize presents itself (trading a few US/UK air for some Axis transports, an Axis fighter is too lightly defended, etc).
In response to your opponent’s gameplay: I’ve never faced UK1 ICs in Ind and SAf, but I am confident that Japan can eventually crush them. Without a Sinkiang IC, the Indian IC will be feeling it. Japan’s navy heads towards Africa anyway, and after a few turns the entire Indian Ocean will be under threat of 2bb 6ftr 1bmb and 1-2trn of units. Don’t change a thing with Japan. Build some transports, take a few UK territories, then build up on the mainland and bring over the aforementioned fleet to terrorize Africa and anything else. Russia can stack in Ind for a while, but eventually they will have to pull out, especially once Germany puts the squeeze on them. Speaking of Germany, if faced with two UK ICs, I’d pull out of Africa really fast. Just use the Med fleet to take Ukr each turn or suicide against the Allied fleets. And by suicide I mean wait until you can throw at least the Med fleet and your German air at something. Make the battleship’s suicide count for something.
Switching sides: An R1 build of 3inf 3arm seems to be popular. I like to do 8inf and build the tanks later. That way those inf get to the line and on R3 Russia is uber-scary – might even be able to take Kar, Bel or Ukr in force. And actually, those two builds are basically Russia’s two building options overall. Either build almost all inf or spend up to half of your money on tanks, the rest on infantry. If you’re going half and half, your goal is probably to kill off German infantry so it takes longer for the Germans to march on you. Try and get Germany to throw his stack at yours. Go on the offensive for a few turns. Don’t do it just to do it. Make sure your stack is stronger before you commit. You’d be surprised how long it takes for the German stack to become stronger than the Russian one.
One more thing and I’ll stop: Check out the Caspian Sub policy paper on punch, count and skew. Count is how many units are in a fight. Skew is how quickly one side will lose it’s power. (If you have only tanks in a battle, they are gonna skew like mad.) And punch is the total power per round of your units. One infantry on offense has a punch of 1. Sixty tanks would have a punch of 180. I don’t mess around too much with count and skew, but know the count of the major stacks (or even minor stacks – really for anything you throw into a battle) before you commit yours.
Ok, I’m done lecturing. Read Don’s essays. Infantry push. Dead zones. Picketing. They will save your life.
Nice post
@ncscswitch:
Simple enough subject…
Infantry is the single most powerful unit in the game of Axis and Allies. The player that fails to make the best use of massed infantry, loses.
How long can Russia stand against Germany without the hordes of the Red Army soldiers to absorb the shock troops of Germany’s Panzer and Luftwaffe units?
How long can Germany survive wave after wave of D-Day invasions and Eastern Front ebb and flow without the massed Whermacht?
Can the RAF survive and replace their losses without the everyday Limey slugging it out in Africa and holding on to the Empire’s lands around the India Ocean?
Is Japan really a force in the game unless they mass their troops for their Banzai charges of islands and Asia?
And is it really the American Grunts and Jarheads that slugged it out day after day, island after island, and mile after mile that won the war for the Allies?
The Axis and Allies player that fails to purchase infantry… that fails to purchase infantry in large quantities from the very beginning of the game, is lost.
It is Infantry that takes the losses and allows your ART and ARM to advance. It is Infantry that allows your FIGs to be so darned effective in trading territories. It is Infantry that will stand their ground and add their blood to the defensive line to save your territories. It is Infantry that allows Battleships to fire their support shots. It is Infantry that drive ahead in the suicide missions that trade the dead zones from round to round.
Without Infantry your ships have no purpose. Without Infantry your Air Force dies a quick death. Without Infantry no nation can afford to attack because ART and ARM are too expensive to throw at the enemy.
Without Infantry, you die. Without Infantry, you cannot win.
I agree for the most part. I definately think that infantry is way overlooked and under-bought (I myself don’t usually end up buying enough infantry). I’ve never seen someone lose a game because they purchased too much infantry - I don’t think it’s possible. However, I think Hyo is correct when he says that it’s not just a defensive game. I think it’s also important to have some offensive punch with your ground units that armor can provide. Thanks.
Kind of a silly question, I know; but I was wondering what you all keep your pieces in? I bought some of those little utility boxes (the small ones that are made to hold screws, nails, even fishing lures). They work really well because you can adjust the dividers as you want. I use one box for each country, then everything is organized and easy to find.
@Cmdr:
@Crazy:
I usually land it together with the UK fighter in the horn of Africa, Italian East Africa.
Suppose Germany landet two figthers and a bomber in Libya, and purchased another bomber in Italy, you still want to land in that good spot ?
No, I wouldn’t. But if Germany didn’t land their bomber in Libya, and they didn’t buy another bomber - then I would.
Even if Germany landed a bomber and fighter in Libya, I still wouldn’t. That’s 7 attack punch to 5 defense punch (and you KNOW the British bomber is dieing before the British fighter in that battle) so you’re almost guaranteed to do 15 IPC damage to England for 10 IPC damage to Germany. Not to mention, that British bomber is the most important piece on the board in my opinion, whereas a German fighter is expendable. (Hell, I probably average close to 20 German fighters lost in every game, I use them like candy!)
I agree with that, Jen. I meant as long as Germany’s bomber(s) stay in Germany. If Germany had a fighter only in Libya, I don’t think they would chance it, do you?
@Crazy:
I usually land it together with the UK fighter in the horn of Africa, Italian East Africa.
Suppose Germany landet two figthers and a bomber in Libya, and purchased another bomber in Italy, you still want to land in that good spot ?
No, I wouldn’t. But if Germany didn’t land their bomber in Libya, and they didn’t buy another bomber - then I would.
@LT04:
CPT Jack,
that has been the issue I have been dealing with. After seeing what these guys are paying for this map I think I might be better off waiting the 14 weeks.
LT
decisions, decisions, huh?
You know, the only reason I would hesitate buying this map is that the Anniversary Edition is coming out in October. I’m just thinking that once I play the AE I won’t go back to Revised. I wonder if/when Bionic Donkey would have an enlarged AE map??
@Crazy:
Because the Germans have a fighter ansd a bomber withih rage of the UK bomber I usually land it together with the UK fighter in the horn of Africa, Italian East Africa.(Etheopia). This way the bomber can help the Indian army to attack French Indo China on UK2. :wink:
That’s a good spot - I like that.
@LT04:
I would say my group is beginner to monerate. I wouldn’t call any one of us an expert. Normally we get a 1 on 1 FTF game going (with kids and stuff we don’t always end up in the same place at the same time.)
I have just started a play by email game with another player here mostly b/c I want to see how I stack up and partly I want to see new ideas in action.
I am the Axis player and I have a 9 IPC bid. The bid rule is I can not place more then one bid unit per space. So I purchased 3 INF for Japan and placed one of each on Japan’s Asia foothold spaces. (FIC - Manchuria).
Japan typiclly will do the traditional Pearl attact and China push. I am hoping that with this bid I can take India heavy on J2. I would try it on J1 but I kind of want to see if an IC will be placed there.
I picked only INF for a few reasons. 1) I get the most units that way. 2) INF are slow so I can send faster units after them to catch up. 3) they make great fodder.
Germany and Russia will normally get into a stale mate with my group so that is why I want to push hard with Japan. This I am hoping will force Russia to deal with the Eastern Russian front.
LT - Like I mentioned before, I don’t use a bid either, so I am very interested to know how the Japan placement works out for you. Thanks.
Wow! That board is incredible! I can’t wait to get my hands on one…
@LT04:
My group doesn’t normally use the bid system. After giving it some thought and doing some reading here it sounds like most give the big to Germany. Why?
LT
EDIT: I am assuming that the bid is going to Germany and Japan.
I’ve wondered the same thing. We don’t use the bid either LT
How experienced are your play groups? With more game play, the allies can better take advantage of the 3 on 2 advantage as well as rely on defense more.
My play group is pretty well balanced - beginner to experienced players.
@LT04:
My group doesn’t normally use the bid system. After giving it some thought and doing some reading here it sounds like most give the big to Germany. Why?
LT
EDIT: I am assuming that the bid is going to Germany and Japan.
I’ve wondered the same thing. We don’t use the bid either LT
That would be interesting… Man, I can’t wait for this game! :-D
@Corbeau:
Well, Western Europe is only empty after G2, it then get swapped and they will lose something from that point since any swap normally involves at least 2 infantry (6ipc)m back and forth. I just value too much my initial infantry to lose any there the second turn for a +3. I also see a widely open WE as a bait effect to get the allies begin that swap game. Combined arms is about 30 ipc to shore bombard 1-2 infantry there, i don’t see it as a outsmarting move, no offense meant.
Many players can be get to play the way you want them to, even if reading this seems unlikely. Fact is I want them to swap trade WE with me every turn. That’s 2 production slot on 8 for UK i can keep monopolised there every turn vs 2 on 16 slots for Germany. So I guess it’s your choice or not to leave a guy there on G2. Does’nt make a big difference but my experience is it’s easier to lure allies in that game with an initial open St-Tropez beach with a free “pina coladas”.
As long you don’t forget the main goal here is to not have a huge stack of infantry tied in Western Europe and mostly vulnerable to try to prevent a possible landing you can’t stop anyways. Remember that eastern europe tanks, aviation and infantry production in Germany/SE are all in range to counter. Freeing that infantry enable you to push more infantry toward Russia while keeping the deadzone on Western Europe every turn by merely placing your newly built infantry. Just keep in mind how many ennemy troops can land and be sure to have what you need to repel it.
Well said.