Gotcha. That is a rough Allies game. When you say a solo game, do you mean you played both sides, or that you played Allies against TripleA AI? Just curious. Also, upon rereading what I said earlier, I didn’t mean for my thoughts to come across as harsh, so my apologies. 
@marshmallowofwar I agree. One of my favorite parts of the game when playing Germany or Russia is looking at the stacks and trying to calculate odds and what moves are best in the turns leading up to the (usually) inevitable battle for Moscow. Really engages the brain!
I don’t know how Germany was able to both hold off Russia after giving them 3 turns of buildup and have enough of a fleet to not only successfully defeat London (which sounds like it had built up) and challenge the Americans. Without seeing the game, it sounds to me like Russia needed to poke Germany a little harder (maybe build up along the front to draw more German units and thus IPCs) and the British needed to build up more in London. A prepared UK player shouldn’t lose London on turn 4, IMHO. A stack of 20+ infantry and several fighters (keep the French one there especially if Sealion seems like a threat) should be enough to make Germany suffer. Even if London falls, the German navy shouldn’t be able to outlast the Americans if the German player has put any thought into the Eastern Front. Germany starts the game with a lot of power and potential directions it could go, but to have that kind of stomping sounds more like Allied mistakes than Axis success.
Say Italy did not get hit by a Taranto raid, and only lost the destroyer and transport off the coast of Malta. I’m curious to hear different philosophies regarding what the next steps are. I often go for NOs if my fleet is still intact, and turn one go aggressively after Greece by including my two fighters and two infantry from S. Italy and the forces from Albania, leaving the cruiser in that sea zone in place for bombardment. I also take S. France if Germany hasn’t already, and take my second transport to Gibraltar with an infantry to complete the NO. The French fleet is taken care of by my BB and warships on the western coast of Italy (CA, DD, and SS). Depending on if the British are playing scared, I may even move into Alexandria if they felt the need to pull back, with the understanding that I can reinforce those troops with what is left over from Greece the next turn. I know it is not usual to be left with the fleet in the Adriatic, but what would you do if you were?
@all-encompassing-goose I recall one game a few years ago when there was a Russian and Anzac stack in Burma defending against Japan with no British units. I genuinely have no idea how that happened anymore, but it sure looked odd.
Once Germany has Moscow it can get tanks and mech to Egypt in a couple turns. If Germany has all of Russia and only one more VC is needed (meaning that the Allies don’t have Paris back yet), I as the German player would put my money into fending off the Americans while my remaining eastern front units head south for the death blow. Hopefully Italy isn’t a vegetable at this point but if it is, defending Rome must be another priority.
I suspect that we can learn from both sides here. The benefits of a J1 and J2 DOW have been clearly and repeatedly examined by many well-established players. In that I agree with arthur-bomber-harris. However, I am curious to know (perhaps in a new thread so as to not be too far off topic) what squirecam’s thoughts are on why a J3 is the way to go. If we give up seeking new strategies and the willingness to learn, then we are sad Axis and Allies players indeed.
I am fascinated by this strategy, but I am running into the problem some people mentioned earlier in the thread: as Germany, I simply cannot be successful in diverting the resources I need to in the Middle East at the same time as staging a whalloping Barbarossa. In my (albeit limited so far) playtesting against myself (sub-optimal, but it’s what I have), Germany may get Leningrad, but by the end of round 5 or maybe 6 the eastern front looks like a stalemate if not Russians in Romania. If the German land units are sent south and investments are put into the navy, Russia is difficult not even to capture but to hold back. Anyone found a good way to handle this?
If Russia sends its air force east, it will have virtually no counterattack ability if Germany leaves a juicy target. If Russia is purely on the defensive and staring at a German stack that trudges a space at a time toward Moscow, that is not only boring but could be played more strategically. Having those planes ready to pair with some artillery and whatever else to take out little valuable stacks of German units (if left out in the open) is a better use IMHO. Also their defense can prove very useful in some swingy battles (Moscow for sure and maybe even Leningrad, depending on what the Germans sent north.) So would it help in the east? Sure. Not sure its a price I’m willing to pay, though, unless Germany is going Sealion.
If Russia sends its air force east, it will have virtually no counterattack ability if Germany leaves a juicy target. If Russia is purely on the defensive and staring at a German stack that trudges a space at a time toward Moscow, that is not only boring but could be played more strategically. Having those planes ready to pair with some artillery and whatever else to take out little valuable stacks of German units (if left out in the open) is a better use IMHO. Also their defense can prove very useful in some swingy battles (Moscow for sure and maybe even Leningrad, depending on what the Germans sent north.) So would it help in the east? Sure. Not sure its a price I’m willing to pay, though, unless Germany is going Sealion.
I’d be curious to hear your thoughts from trying J1, J2, and J3 attacks to see which you prefer. I tend to prefer J2 since it gives Germany/Italy more time than a J1 but still allows Japan to be collecting 60 something IPCs by turn 3 if done well. However, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts!
Did you find the Japanese to be more successful with that move?
And yes, keeping London is always a massive task that is rarely worth it in my experience. It looks cool until the Soviets have Poland and Romania. 
If the goal is to hit the British where it hurts, I prefer to invest in a modest fleet of bombers to harass London but that can swing to Moscow when I need them to. This will force the British to either build elsewhere (could not be helpful for the Italians though) or focus on fighter production in London, which keeps them from building a transport fleet, especially if your air force is strong enough to wipe out any single turn’s build. This also changes when the Americans arrive in force, but to me it is a more viable option than a huge Sealion attempt that is almost doomed to lose you the long game.
To be frank, a Japan that doesn’t aggressively pursue the DEI and threaten the UK Pacific in some existential way (which it sounds like you did) is already losing. Japan’s economy needs those critical IPCs from those southern territories, and if India is allowed to call the shots, Japan will find itself in a pinch fast. This coupled with a Germany that is content to wave at the Soviets as they pass each other on border patrols leads to a rapid economic deficit for the Axis as they rely on rapid expansion to keep their war machines running. Even with Sealion, in my opinion, this isn’t worth the wait, since holding London is a huge hassle once the Americans start thinking about entering the war. Then you’ll need a navy to keep it, which will take your precious, limited funds from the eastern border. Time is just about always on the Allies side.
If your strategy is to wait, I would recommend only doing so if you can set yourself up for an explosive turn (e.g. Japan getting 4 transports ready for the DEI and taking both Manila and Hong Kong on a J3 declaration) that catches the Allies off balance somehow. You should always be dictating the front lines in order to be successful; make the Allies react to you. Just my two cents.
I don’t quite understand the situation. The Axis hasn’t declared war on who exactly? Also, what do you mean by keeping the Axis on edge? To me what it sounds like is Japan waiting for the Pacific UK and Americans to make the first move while Germany is just sitting around hoping the Soviets send them an invasion invitation… and I don’t think that’s what you mean.
@squirecam Good points, thank you. I think my next tries will have a more aggressive Japan and a better shuttling system of German units. I’ll see how that goes.
G1 I buy a CV and 2 transports and follow the plan Afrika Korps laid out in his posts: taking France and Normandy, strafing (or just outright taking) Yugoslavia, and sinking UK ships in 110 and 111. For the noncombat I take the two pro-Axis neutrals and send 4 inf. from S. Germany to N. Italy for eventual pickup. Italy’s turn is just a toss up as they usually only have the one transport left, two if the UK rolled poorly in Taranto. But I try to take Greece on I1 and sink the French ships while doing the standard moves in N. Africa.
G2 I buy inf., mech., and armor for Barbarossa, and for combat I take Gib. and Morocco with 3 inf., an art., and 2 tanks, and I take S. France. In the noncombat phase set I up for Barbarossa with the land units I have in the east as well as send the 4 infantry in N. Italy to S. France for a G3 shuttle. I2 I take Algeria and Egypt if the UK is struggling to maintain a strong presence (bad rolls and spread out units).
From there it is less scripted. Germany will buy a destroyer in the Med, likely a bomber or two here and there to keep pressure on the UK factories and any navy, and a steady stream of mech and tanks for the Eastern Front. Finally on G4 I can land my units in Syria or TJ, and push for Iraq and beyond. Italy rebuilds a navy with transports to ferry infantry and art. to Egypt to retain the VC and support Germany where it can. Some games I buy a MIC on Egypt as a supply chain investment.
The Allied strategy is relatively basic in the grand scheme of things. UK does Taranto, takes Persia, and sets up a few units to deal with the Ethiopian units while not leaving Egypt completely undefended (leave the inf. and ANZAC inf.). From there push units west from Persia and north from S. Africa and wait for American pressure in the east. My main issue as the Axis is not with the UK but dealing with the Russian wall. Most traditional Barbarossa campaigns get to Leningrad by G4, and have the units to push past that with limited risk of losing major stacks or armor and mech. For these games though, the money I put into reinforcements for the Med (the inf. from S. Germany, the units in the transports in G2, and the planes) really make the Leningrad battle more dicey with more losses. The Russians can easily have over 20 inf. with supporting planes and armor by G4, and if Germany gets past that, it is only because Romania is stripped and poorly defended. Maybe I am just doing Barbarossa wrong, but I find that the game will usually end with Germany and Italy doing well in the Med, but with the Americans taking Gibraltar (though not breaking through the Axis navy I station in 92) and the Russians pushing into the Balkans and maybe the Nordic territories. Germany simply doesn’t have the resources to back up its Med investment and take Moscow, and Italy has little say in how Barbarossa goes if it too is focused on Egypt/Iran.
I am not a top-tier player by any means, and would love to get some feedback on how to improve the maneuvers here. Thoughts?
I am fascinated by this strategy, but I am running into the problem some people mentioned earlier in the thread: as Germany, I simply cannot be successful in diverting the resources I need to in the Middle East at the same time as staging a whalloping Barbarossa. In my (albeit limited so far) playtesting against myself (sub-optimal, but it’s what I have), Germany may get Leningrad, but by the end of round 5 or maybe 6 the eastern front looks like a stalemate if not Russians in Romania. If the German land units are sent south and investments are put into the navy, Russia is difficult not even to capture but to hold back. Anyone found a good way to handle this?
I suspect that we can learn from both sides here. The benefits of a J1 and J2 DOW have been clearly and repeatedly examined by many well-established players. In that I agree with arthur-bomber-harris. However, I am curious to know (perhaps in a new thread so as to not be too far off topic) what squirecam’s thoughts are on why a J3 is the way to go. If we give up seeking new strategies and the willingness to learn, then we are sad Axis and Allies players indeed.
Once Germany has Moscow it can get tanks and mech to Egypt in a couple turns. If Germany has all of Russia and only one more VC is needed (meaning that the Allies don’t have Paris back yet), I as the German player would put my money into fending off the Americans while my remaining eastern front units head south for the death blow. Hopefully Italy isn’t a vegetable at this point but if it is, defending Rome must be another priority.