Would you reccomend A&A G40 to a fellow A&A Player?

@surfer

Hi surfer,

As barnee and the General correctly said - barnee is working on it:+1:

You’ll find both RULEBOOK threads under Customizations - House Rules section - as well as the Strategy Guide and Rules Clarification.

As Russia, you will invariably be the target of a massive German attack early on in the game. If this attack succeeds, the Axis will almost surely win. If it fails, you can destroy Germany with the other Allies. Therefore, a bit of preparation for the onslaught is required. But how to prepare?

Purchasing for the Defense

In the start of the game, you have four Industrial Complexes: in Moscow, Leningrad, Ukraine, and Stalingrad. You also have 37 IPCs to spend. But on what? I think the best purchase is six tanks, split between Novgorod and Ukraine, with a tactical bomber or artillery every now and then. This provides for lots of power on offense, while also providing lots of units for defense. However, this combination is missing a few notable things:

#1: Strategic bombers. They’re a complete waste of I.P.C.s. For a start, you are going to be defending for the early part of the campaign, so having units that defend on a 1 is useless.

#2: Infantry/Mechanized Infantry. You already have enough infantry, and for the early stages of the defense, you don’t need any more. Use what you have as cannon fodder, and once the German blows have fallen, build some in Moscow or Stalingrad.

#3: Fighters. Although they do defend on a 4, they are too expensive to be worth it. The only time that you should build fighters during this early stage is for a last-ditch defense of a Victory City.

#4: Any naval units whatsoever. You will not see hide nor hair of the German navy during this stage of the war, and probably never! An amphibious assault against Leningrad is unlikely, but in any event, if you follow the strategy given below, Leningrad will be so well-defended that an amphibious assault is unlikely.

#5: AA guns. You start the game with a good number, and what you do have will likely be enough. You have enough in Leningrad, and the AA guns in Moscow (out of reach even of strat bombers for several turns), can reach the Ukraine in 2 turns. Also, the two AA guns in Buryatia can move towards the front, but they’ll not likely reach it in time.

In sum, tanks are the best all-round purchase for your defense. However, there is a strategy that you should employ to help soften the blows…

Retreating

This strategy will not miraculously prevent a German breakthrough, but it will buy you a good bit of time. Here it is:

Move your forces in Karelia and Vyborg into Novgorod, minus one infantry in each. Move one of your Bessarabia infantry into Western Ukraine. Move one of your Eastern Poland infantry into Belarus, and move two of your Baltic States infantry into Belarus. Also, move all of your forces in Volgograd and Rostov into Ukraine. What have you gained by doing this? You’ve created a buffer zone that Germany cannot blitz through, or move its aircraft into. If the Germans attack these territories, you can counter-attack next turn, while still building more tanks in Ukraine and Leningrad. This may not be enough to save Leningrad and Ukraine, but it will buy you a fair amount of time to evacuate or build up in those territories. In spite of this, a G1 attack will upset many of these plans.

Defending Against a G1 Attack

A G1 attack is dangerous, but not fatal. Your biggest advantage is the dice. Germany cannot make up losses as easily as you, as you have two ICs right at the front, and another two safely behind your own lines. Germany, by contrast, cannot reach Bessarabia with land units at all, and reaching Eastern Poland/Baltic States uses up a tank/artillery’s full movement. The only potential IC site- Finland- won’t be ready until G2. However, the Germans will have 49 IPCs on hand on G2, while you’ll only have 35. Still, you can buy 3 tanks in Leningrad and 2 in Ukraine, plus an artillery in Ukraine. This should tie down the Germans for a good while. In the center, retreat wherever possible. Move your Belarus units (assuming an air attack hasn’t killed them) into Smolensk. There, they can link up with your Moscow units and defend effectively, right next to a major IC. The units in Rostov can also support Ukraine. In Western Ukraine, evacuate your infantry and artillery to Bryansk, where they can be supported by the IC in Moscow. This will buy you some time to conduct a defensive campaign, but the Germans may still get to a territory bordering Moscow. How to defend your capital will be the subject of the next installment…

@PainState:

@StuckTojo:

@Gargantua:

I have seen some guys doing all sub bids. If you can get the bid to 30 -� � 5 subs with all major fleets can do alot of damage, and can really assist UK / hamper axis early; And make G1 painful to plan.

1 off canada,
2 off UK with fleets,
1 off gibraltar,
1 with med fleet

Sounds like a sub-standard strategy to me….� � :-P

I’ll be here all week, folks.

LOL

You are very witty good sir.

:-D

PS: is there a cover charge at your next gig?

Nope.  Just keep feeding me whisky.  :-D

Thanks again for thinking about my question!

BH

Anti-aircraft units are/were embedded with combat commands at varying levels and always go “forward” with the command they fall under during offensive operations.

I think it would have been ok if the rules from the get go permitted an “attack” with AAA.

Going to start a HR rule thread on this.

Thank you very much Young. I’ll follow your advice. Would you recommend using your home rules (national objectives and R&D) also to complete newbies?

Alright, confirmed again! Thanks again for clarification, great to know you always get a competent reply asap!:)

@AK_Grown:

@ghr2:

@AK_Grown:

I like to do this sometimes. � Instead of buying a Navy in G1 - I’ll just do a basic buy, either troops or a plane and troops. � UKE will lower their defenses (I didn’t buy Navy, I’m obviously not going UK) and will focus on the med or Africa. � G2 - transports (5-7 depending), launch on G3 - take it 85% of the time. � Then just move on down to Gib, let Italy out - and take out US. � Hasn’t worked quite like that yet, but its come close a couple of times.

My 92 stack gives the UK incredible flexibility in defending sealion, and still threatening italy.  I would have like 5 less infantry than normal, but I will be bringing home all of my air, navy, and maybe the malta garrison.  Easily makes up for it.

So you stack 92 on UK1 - you’re going to be leaving the Med on UK2 to protect against Sealion?  Then Italy grabs Gib on their turn…

Maybe I’m a stupid player, but I send the house as Italy when UK sits in 92.  I then let Germany clean up on their turn (planes from Italy, HB’s from W. Germany).  It only sets me back 1 round.

Are you buying an AB UK1 for Gib?

I would leave the med only if Germany had a super strong sealion.  I would calculate how much that is needed to hold it, and send the rest on italy.  Usually I would buy an airbase if I need to scramble.  This move helps to preserve the UK fleet and to give options UK2.