USA in uk

I’m going to say that I don’t really like that this strategy is as effective as it is. If Japan changed the J2 buy to 2CV+1TT even full Pacific naval buys by USA wouldn’t stop this half the time, although obviously that would weaken the ground attack.

My view is that the game is a little broken here.

UK helping defend USA should stop this strategy pretty dead with troops/planes dropped in Quebec but really, should they have to? The other possibility is UK/Anzac retake of the Philippines which would help USA income if they can hold it but distracting Japan from its objectives may be enough.

Thank you Panther

That is more viable anyway- let ANZAC have a UK transport to activate Persia.

@SubmersedElk:

To clarify, I was discussing the merits of buying a stack of 4 bombers and sending them to the Pacific.

Sure one bomber might get some targets to snipe at - but a full round buy doesn’t add much to what you already got with the starting bomber. Anything can be effective against an opponent making serious mistakes like leaving a transport stack naked and open to attack, and in a case like that, one bomber is as effective as four.

The issue is with the mechanics of movement over the oceans. A Japanese transport at a harbor can be in range to attack a bomber while the bomber is not in range to attack the transport, despite the vast difference in base movement - an airfield for the bomber makes no difference. Land units can effectively move 5 spaces to attack when using a transport at a harbor (one load, three move, one drop). The bomber would need 8 move total to attack that transport and return to base, and of course it only gets 7 with the airport and 6 without.

It’s totally counterintuitive when you look at base move 2 for ships and base move 6 for bombers, but in practice, that transport can attack from one space further away than the bomber can.

In order for this to work you obviously cannot takeoff and land at the same territory. The Pacific allows for many landing areas so this is not necessarily a problem. Some good bomber moves in the north are to bring bombers from Hawaii to attack SZ 6 and land in Midway, and to take bombers in Midway and attack Japan and land in Amur. That extra move is what really makes the difference.

Ah, that makes sense.  I guess I thought the battleships and carriers were unique pieces and not representing multiple ships.

btw, question; do you prefer the axis because you think they are better with perfect strat, or because you think it is easier to not lose the game to mistakes?

in most axis games I have played, the allies have been the harder side to play, but they have also been the stronger side. for me it seems like the playtesters have not been skilled enough to play very good, so they have concluded with that the allies need more help. then when the game is released, the game will be fairly even when people play it the first time, but later the allies will will, because learning how to play them gives much more strength than learning now to play the axis.

If I played the same every single game, I would be bored out of my mind. Axis have more options than allies and are the ones in the most control of how the game develops.

To answer your question. I prefer axis because of 1) fun 2) if you get diced throughout the game, you can always just go for the win. 3) axis have to perform or they lose especially if usa is going full pacific (puts germany/italy on the clock for africa and russia).

Did I mention that the allies are boring? Axis do this -> allies got to do this. Axis indirectly control the outcome of what you do and the impact or effect you have on the axis doesn’t come to mid/late game.

Everyone’s axis 1-3 purchases and moves are always the same. HMMM I WONDER WHY. I mix my stuff up depending on my mood and who I play against, but most people have a set way of doing things.

I have a set way of doing this as the allies depending on what the axis purchases / strategies are.

Example sea lion feint -> 1-3 inf rest artillery/mech/tank russia buy. usa 3 bomber 2 dd or 3 bomber 1 carrier. UK 9 inf 1 art.

I always hit 97 and the sz below it as uk, i hate getting diced in one of those spots, because it sets me back a whole round, but the outcome is very good when you win… even if he did not scramble outcome is still good, because you do get to convoy italy… if italy sinks it, he has less stuff than germany so you get to fire more than 1 round typically and that means the french fleet can move.

germany can’t move his naval to take gib or morroco or take uk if japan wants to war round 2. If he does this and puts japan off another round, japan is screwed in pacific, that’s so much income for uk pac and anzac and japan income is put off from being big another round.

so it is an ultimatum the axis face. best move is to just shuffle in the baltic and go barb, let japan explode. Sometimes japan waits to war and I lose UK. That’s fine. I bought offensively with russia and usa. I am ready to push romania push yugo push northern italy and push into rome with my russians. usa can always land air units to help hold. it is beautiful and it is awesome.

The only time I enjoy allies is when germany takes UK over, because the run for italy with russia is too funny, plus I bought plenty of time in pacific by making japan wait till round 3 to declare war… so I don’t have to buy anything for pacific till round 4.
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in all fairness the guy could not scramble 97 if he wanted 80% at UK. he also had to buy more naval to defend against 2 fighter and 3 bomber from usa the turn he took uk over (so he had to drop 3 destroyers down off normandy)… I think he also bought infantry for germany and air to hit usa if he moved up. he took uk with only tank 2 bombers and a tactical left.

I pulled the pacific fighters into the atlantic side of the map. so I held yugo because of the UK air plus usa bombers. USA moved by gib the turn uk got taken with 4 fully loaded carriers and that starting cruiser the round london fell and it got sunk so germany had to get carriers off normandy to land his air (this was where his london income went to and infantry/art for germany/west germany.

So I had a fun push for yogo at 55% chance to defend. He attacked because it was the only way to save italy. the first round of attack did not go well other than I lost my bombers for usa so in terms of total unit value he was up, but he couldn’t continue or risk germany being taken… So yeah I took italy when he got to liberate it, europe was a mess. Was a pretty cool game, the most fun I had as allies.

most of the time russians just hold romania for some time. usa liberates uk eventually. blah blah you know how those games go.
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I do like to play allies when I see that no one online knows what the hell they are doing as allies… I’ll take it.

@Admiral:

@Rhey:

I always attack Japan in China on UK Pac 2. This reopens the burma route (as the Japanese have way too limited ground forces) and keeps china in play. China is really more important then most of the players think. I find them very strong, especially against those scattered Japanese forces. The only problem is their airforce but every japanese unit you can take out on the mainland, is a huge win.

Crazy thing about the Japanese air force and Chinese units is this, the latter just needs to keep those precious stacks out of their range. Pull back, retreat. Advance when the time is right. A smart Chinese players does this, and makes the Japanese player really invest their time in the Chinese hinterland, splitting their options.

Best strategy for the Chinese is to play exactly like the Russians:  Turtle up and keep one step away from the units trying to take them out.  Each round you’ll be able to add 2-3 Inf to your big starting stack.  Once Japan attacks the UK or Anzac, you’re free to start marching towards either A:  Burma Road to reclaim it or B: The valuable territories the Japanese start with in the north.

Both cases make Japan invest more deeply into taking China than it wants to, while buying time until India can help you retake the Burma Road.  Don’t play foolish with your big starting stack, protect it until the Japanese are too thin or they’ve invested too much in China (which is an IPC sink if Japan doesn’t get it early).

For simplicity, the game doesn’t deal with the Vichy government.  All French units are considered to be Free French.