Starting Germany off…

[WaffenSSSoldier]

I have 3 choices so far for the start up unit purchase for Germany, and I was wondering what all of you think would be a better choice for them.

First: Buy a Battleship and an Aircraft Carrier to fend off and hopefully destroy the British Navy threat in the North Sea, and in the long run take britian out of the game (at least ship wise)

Second: Buy 8 tanks and concentrate fully on Russia, pushing them back and hopefully taking Cacassus or The capitol itself.

Third: Buy Two bombers and two fighters and take bombing runs on Russia and use the fighters to help take on Britian’s Navy or use them to defend and eveuntually attack Russia.

If anyone has any other ideas, I’d like to hear them, but this was just my take on what Germany should/could do.

[Perry]

IMHO Germany should concentrate on infs on round 1 & 2 (with a G1 AC as a very realistic option), and send them marching towards russia, to serve as fodder for an G5/G6 attack on CAU or MOS.

Too much navy and/or air will weaken the drive towards russia, and purchasing tanks early will only leave these valuable units without fodder to take as losses.

[newpaintbrush]

1.  Battleship and AC is horrible.  The Brits will retreat NW of UK, then to Eastern US.  You cannot reach; the US will just build a gigantic sub / fighter attack force and blow you up.  (Eastern US is too far for German fighters, but you need to get close to the Allied fleet - and when you do, Allied fighters from London and the Allied fleet smash you to bitty bits).  You cannot try to match the combined output of the US and the UK in the water; you have 40, and they have 72, plus you have to worry about USSR bashing down your door.

2.  Eight tanks is reckless.  Possible if you have a really aggressive Japan player, but tremendously risky.

3.  Two bombers and two fighters cost 50 IPC.  Bombing runs are inefficient and risky.  If you try to just use bombers, the USSR will hold more ground in the west; Germany just can’t afford to hold the territories without a good supply of troops.  This could potentially work well, but almost certainly not if you intend to use the bombers for bombing runs.

[Shining Bowie]

Buy an AC and use the other 24 IPC’s to match the Russian buy. Don’t be super agressive in the first turn as you didn’t use all your money for land forces… instead pick 1 territory to attack and then consolidate the rest of your land forces on the front line in large enough groups the russians can’t take them without SUBSTANTIAL loses.

That’s what I think anyway… be sure to land 2 of your fighters in Germany to jump onto the AC when you place it with the rest of your Baltic fleet.

[liquidvet]

Germanys first round buy is really easy, generally first best round buy is 1 AC/8 infantry.  Round 2 should also be more infantry with maybe a few tanks thrown in.  The AC is very helpful in keeping the british navy at bay for awhile.  If you choose not to do the ac that is up to you, sometimes I just go heavy ground troops or buy an extra fighter for the one you will usually lose in ukraine.  YOu need to go infantry heavy the first few rounds though because its takes time for them to reach the frontlines, tanks can come 2-3 (since they get 2 movement points).

[Guest]

I open with 1 AC, 8 INF.  INF goes to Western and Eastern in G2.

G2 buy… mostly INF, with some ARM and/or ART.

From G3 on, depends on what you are losing, and where you need assistance.

[tcnance]

nix used a buy of 4 fig against me on the first round and then bought 1 fig a round through about g5, this was 10 fig parked in w europe was very effective until he screwed up and split the fig force between w europe and e europe, this allowed the british to attack western and destroy 5 of his figs, i have to wonder though how the game would have played out if he kept his figs in a group

[liquidvet]

well if they don’t get attacked, which I know might happen depending on who is playing I am going to try my strat.  should be fun.

[Jeznob]

In my opinion, buying too many fighters is inefficient. Infantry are a better buy on defence, and tanks on both offense and defence as you can get twice as many of them. So long as I have 4-6 aircraft to trade territories, I mainly just buy infantry and a tank or two. I tend to keep about 2-3 artillery floating around too, to help with trades when my aircraft have higher priorities.

Granted, buying fighters forces the allies to purchase more surface ships to protect their transports, but in the face of a BB or fully loaded AC, such a battle is unnattractive for Germany. You might sink a few of their trannies, but you have also sacrificed your main offensive units. That takes a lot of pressure off Russia and opens the door for more aggressive incursions by the allies in the future.

I guess it comes back to my cautious approach to playing Germany. The allies have the ability to combine their strength when defending, but are forced to attack you individually. By focussing on defensive purchases (mostly inf and a few tanks) you will be able to hold out a lot longer.

[88 Millimeter]

Exactly. Never lose focus on the importance of Infantry. Keep buying 8-10 per turn and you will hold out a long time vs. a KGF. Eventually the stacks of Infantry can become offensive as well.

[liquidvet]

forget offensive though, trying to assault a country with 35 2’s can be quite the pain in the butt. and thats just the frontline :P