Afrika Corps, I agree with you about abandoning India. As for your question about the standard turn 1 attack on Anglo-Egypt, my question in the initial post in this thread assumed that Germany chose to attack the battleship instead of doing the stadnard attack.

A friend suggests building an American IC in Sinkiang on round 1 as part of a kill Japan first strategy. To make this work he suggested that I send the West Coast fighter and the Hawaiian fighter to Soviet Far East (Four Russian infantry go to Soviet Far East and stay there so Japan can’t wipe out these fighters on Japan’s second turn.) on turn 1 and then move them to Sinkiang on turn two. Two Brit fighters move from London to Moscow on turn 1 and then to Sinkiang on turn 2. The Russians put a group of infantry in Novosibirsk and leave them there until Japan (as expected) takes China. They move into Sinkiang the turn after Japan takes China. The two Russian fighters also go to Sinkiang if the situation looks critical. On the Americans second turn, and thereafter, they buy two tanks for Sinkiang. To put even more heat on the Japs the Brits build an IC in India. This strategy can be augmented by having Britain combine their fleets that start on the Australian and Indian coasts in SZ38. This will force the Japanese to choose between killing this fleet or the American fleet in Pearl Harbor. I think the idea is that if they kill the Brit fleet (which doesn’t have much to do if it survives) the Americans can rebuild more easily and when it is of sufficient size move to capture East Indies or Borneo (Japan can’t defend both) The Americans don’t attack Japan’s fleet. I have a few questions about this scenario:

1. Has anyone tried it?
2. How many infantry did you put in Novosibirsk to devote to Sinkiang’s defense?
3. Did you combine the Brit fleet?
4  Did Japan kill the Brit fleet or the American Pearl Harbor fleet?
5. Did the strategy work?
6. What did you do with the American fleet? Send it to help with Africa or Europe or grow it and send it after Japan.

Cystic Crypt, you still need to look at a map. Axis occupation of SZ8 blocks the Brits from a round one invasion of Western Europe as well as Algeria. Also, sending a fighter after a sub doesn’t guarantee the death of a sub.

My favorite unit is the artillery. I like it because I think it’s vastly underrated and many players ignore it entirely. It’s not easy to figure out when to purchase it for them I guess. In many ways situations it is superior to the tank and the infantry. I think the Germans should purchase a fair amount of them when they go to fight the Russians. I think the Germans have the right amount of artillery when they can Panzerblitz the Russians and still have about a 1-to-1 infantry/tank ratio after the first round of combat. I know many people think the tank is far better since it is faster, has a better defense and a better attack for just one more IPC. While all this is true I think for the Germans especially that artillery are better. Every turn you hit them with a new wave of infantry and artillery and grind them down. You get four attack factors for just 7 IPC’s by buying an artillery and an infantry. Costs 8 with a tank and an infantry. I like to buy the tanks later on when the Russians are ground down a bit. The tanks arrive fast and hit them hard to turn the tide of the battle (dice willing) sharply in your favor.

Thanks for the responses guys, but I think that maybe you didn’t have a board in front of you when you responded. The German seizure of Gibraltar means that I have nowhere to land fighters lauched from the UK. SZ 8, with the German sub in it, is in between area 2 where the bulk of the Brit’s Atlantic fleet starts and SZ12 which is off the coast of Algeria. No other route of just 2 SZ’s exists between SZ2 and SZ12.

After Germany’s first turn here’s the situation:

1. He sank the battleship in SZ 13.
2. He seized Gibraltar so I can’t attack his transport and battleship in SZ13.
3. He didn’t attack Anglo-egypt.
4. He moved all his African land units to Libya.
5. He has 5 planes and a bomber in Ukraine and the Balkans.
6. He left W Europe naked and just 1 infantry in Norway, but whatever I send to either place will get crushed
7. He built a carrier in SZ5 and has 2 fighters on it.
8. He left the sub in SZ8 so I can’t send a British invasion force to Algeria and re-inforce it with the Americans while consolidating the two countries navies in SZ 12.
9. The Russians moved two infantry to Persia to potentially reinforce India and can move four more into Sinkiang if (when) the Americans build their factory there.

I’ve got two big decisions:

1. Should I buy an AC to try to stop Germany from gaining Atlantic naval superiority or an IC for India? I can’t afford both of course.
2. What should should I do with the fighter, infantry and tank in Anglo-Egypt? Staying in Anglo-Egypt is suicide as the German airofrce can reach there. I can either retreat into Africa or go towards India. I realize that my answer to this question depends on my answer to the first question.