Larry Harris gencon 3.0 axis start?

[JaxsonConnor]

Playing the new A&A online game and having trouble as axis. Does anyone know what exactly the larry harris gencon 3.0 start changes compared to out of the box 1942 2nd edition?

I usually build a transport in Italy and the rest infantry, but the UK can easily sink your battleship and transports in the Mediterranean in the new setup. Therefore you have to also get a destroyer in Italy to protect your southern navy if you want to eventually push into africa. This further decreases the ground troops you can build up in Europe… Long story short, anyone have a good strategy for turn 1 and 2 build order for Germany? Builds for Japan also welcome but I seem to be doing much better with them.

[Panther]

@JaxsonConnor said in Larry Harris gencon 3.0 axis start?:

Playing the new A&A online game and having trouble as axis. Does anyone know what exactly the larry harris gencon 3.0 start changes compared to out of the box 1942 2nd edition?

See the first posting here:
https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/29339/larry-harris-semi-official-tournament-game-patch

I have moved the topic to the 1942 online category to further discuss the online version.
The online game is different from the boardgame in some aspects.

[DoManMacgee]

@JaxsonConnor Your strategy is focusing on a part of the board that should not be given as much effort as you are giving it (the Mediterranean/North Africa). Germany is never going to triumph over the combined efforts of the US/UK navy-wise, so it’s better to not waste your effort. Instead, focus 100% on defeating the USSR.

There are two ways to do this, depending on where you are on the ladder:

1. “Noob Killer”: This will only really work against weak players (Silver League and below), but will assure you a quick victory.

• G1: Build all TANKs and 1 ART. Your attacks should focus on claiming Karelia, retaking Ukraine, and wiping out the starting UK Navy (let the Cruiser in SZ13 live, but destroy everything else). Move as many things as you can into Poland.

You built TANKs because you need them to 2-move from Germany -> Ukraine for next turn.

• G2: Build all FTRs, spend your spare money on INF/ART. Attack Ukraine with everything you possibly can. With your stack in Karelia, move into West Russia/Archangel if possible. Don’t overextend on the Karelia side of things if you don’t have to. You will now have a massive TANK stack in Ukraine, and a formidable INF/TANK stack in Karelia. If the Soviets have been too aggressive with you, they probably won’t have many troops left.

You built FTRs because you need them to 3-move from Germany -> Caucasus/West Russia for next turn, then 1-move to NCM into Urkaine after the fight.

• G3: Build all BOMBs, Hit West Russia, Caucasus, or both, depending on how the Soviets distributed their forces.

You built BOMBs because you need them to 4-move from Germany -> Moscow next turn, then 2-move to NCM back to Ukraine/Karelia/wherever after the fight.

• G4: Build as many INF as you can to defend against the US/UK Fleet. Take Moscow. At this point your opponent should surrender. If they do not, spend the following turns building mostly INF, cleaning up the US/UK drops, and pushing on to India/wherever to get your last VC(s).

I can go into detail about Japan, but you specifically asked about Germany, so I won’t for now.

2. “Slow and Steady”: The second strategy is much less specific, as it involves settling down to play a longer game against the Allies.

• Basically, the idea is that you build 2 TANK/1-2 ART/Rest INF every turn, and slowly make your way towards Moscow instead of trying to rush things. Germany has a massive income advantage over the Soviets, so you should be leveraging it to win.
• Your first objective should be to take the Karelia factory and use it to pump out reinforcements on the front lines every turn for the rest of the game.
• After Karelia, you should start heading towards West Russia, as that territory is adjacent to both Caucasus and Moscow (the two major Soviet Factories).
• The Russian player won’t be able to defend both, which will let you either scoop up Caucasus or take out Moscow. Once one falls, the other will follow.

I didn’t assign specific turn numbers for these objectives because what turn you accomplish them (if at all) will vary from game-to-game based on how skilled your opponent is, and what strategies they are employing against you.

If you absolutely insist on building fleet (please don’t). Don’t focus on the Mediterranean Fleet. Focus instead on buying an Aircraft Carrier for the Baltic Fleet and slowly attempting to merge the Mediterranean Fleet with the Baltic Fleet. You probably won’t succeed with this plan against a skilled Allies Player, but it’s worth a shot if that’s how you wanna play.

EDIT: Grammar/Spelling/Formatting.

[Panther]

OP has been banned for providing spam links.

[CPT.Flint]

@DoManMacgee do you have any japan suggestions in the style if this Germany suggestion?

[DoManMacgee]

@CPT-Flint Give me a bit and I will get back to you. I don’t play 42SE much these days but I might be able to pull up some old notes.

Are you asking for AAO (or online play in-general), or for IRL Face-to-Face play (i.e. 6 turn time-limit, etc.)?

[CPT.Flint]

@DoManMacgee on-line. I have the IRL game, but I hand yet to play it with anyone. I wish matel would make a medieval version of the game. Like the PC game medieval total war 2, except table top with axis & allies style play

[DoManMacgee]

@CPT-Flint At a high level, to go for a quick kill with Japan you’d actually want to try setting up for a J3 India takedown to force a win via the in-game victory conditions. To do this you’d want to:

• J1: Buy enough transports to carry the units from Japan + the Philippines. Move-wise you want to clear out China + kill any fleet in-range EXCEPT PEARL HARBOR. Do not attack there as you need to keep your pieces in-range to fight in India by J3.

• J2: Buy all Bombers. India is exactly 5 moves away from Japan on this map, so as long as you hold Burma you’ll be able to land. Load up every unit you possibly can into transports and move them to SZ36 (near Indochina) and unload in Burma. You should be able to take it. NCM all available air, Battleship(s), and Cruiser(s) into range as well.

• J3: With your units from Burma (load some back onto transports to take advantage of bombardments) + the air units you brought in during J2 + the bombers you bought on J2, you should be able to bust India unless your opponent played very well. Depending on what the US Player was doing, build either all DDs or all land units to defend Japan.

With India down, Axis should be able to win fairly quickly if Germany performed well.

Just as a warning, following this Germany guide + my suggestions here will only get you so far. Once you hit Gold League and beyond you’ll need to learn conventional long-term strategies to get wins as the Axis consistently. For that, the game plan is radically different:

• You do still want to focus on transports in the beginning, but mostly just enough to consistently move 8 land units at a time (probably INF) from Japan -> Yunnan every turn. Yunnan is the best location to ferry troops to because they can either go Yunnan -> Burma -> India OR Yunnan -> Sinkiang -> Kazakh -> Caucasus/Moscow depending on the overall game situation.

• Beyond that basic point, what you do with Japan is largely dependent on whether the Allies are trying to Kill Germany First (KGF) or Kill Japan First (KJF).

In the former case, you want to either take India (to start pumping out 3 land units per turn from its factory) or build a factory in Manchuria (or FIC) and start pumping out 3 land units per turn there. ONLY DO THIS ONCE JAPAN HAS THE SPARE INCOME TO AFFORD IT, ALWAYS PRIORITIZE GETTING YOUR 8 LAND UNITS ONTO TRANSPORTS. You’ll also want to try snagging the VC at Hawaii if you have the spare resources and USA evacuated the Pacific completely.

In the latter case, your builds are going to vary greatly depending on the Allied fleet composition and overall strategy. Some KJFs involve USA trying to 1v1 Japan. Others involve UK + USA both pumping all of their income into the Pacific. I haven’t touched AAO in years so I don’t know what the current metagame is, unfortunately. I do know, however, that if UK starts spending money in India the best way to stop them is to build a Baltic Fleet with Germany (usually accomplished buy building a Carrier or two to land Fighters on, then transports behind it) and threaten Sealion. This will force UK to start building in London again, meaning Japan can potentially take India regardless of what UK’s attempt at applying pressure.

Hopefully this is at least somewhat helpful. I am very rusty at 42SE so I don’t think this advice will get you much further than Silver League. Hopefully as you start to ramp up your game count as each faction, you can pay attention to what your opponents are doing and learn from them. In my opinion it’s best to get good as both the Axis and the Allies to get a more complete understanding of the game.