Nice list of tips, well thought out.
I really liked tip#
-2, have a transport w/units threatens many areas, besides the one you are going for.
-7 & 23, very important! One may reason that it will take “6 turns to move those units into the action”, which may be the unit that is needed in the endgame.
-1,12,18,19, you have a good understanding of winning the game, instead of being worried about what is happening at the moment.
Nice article Gargantua.
1. In face to face games, I find my dice roll better when I shake them vigorously and apply some muscle and flick when I roll them out, and the faster I make those rolls consecutively, the better they seem to be. :) Oh and it helps if you REALLY believe you are putting Reds in the dirt everytime you score a hit on the eastern front.
2. Also, it’s a good idea to think about and plan your purchases in advance, but make sure you don’t leave them IN PLAIN VIEW during face to face games. Infact, feel free to setup a purchase (Like a G2 sea lion purchase) that LOOK like your real purchase, to Forecast the wrong game plan for your opponents.
3. Crazy isn’t always necessarily stupid. Look at ALL your options ALL the time. Like Calvin Hobbes put it, look at the ranges your bombers cover, you’d be amazed what you can pull off.
4. As Japan, don’t leave units behind on islands like Palau, and Okinawa For Defense , use every damn unit you have at your disposal on the board. And kill anyone who isn’t a yellow bstard.
5. During Naval FACE OFF’s count how many “tippable” vessels you have to your opponents. You know if you go in to win, it’s going to be a mutual blow out. Use a NAVAL STRAFE sometimes one that you can build into, go in for the kill, hit as many or more of your opponents vessels, and pull out after 1 or 2 rounds. You don’t have to win the fight, you just have to do more damage to them than they did to you. This can set them back a round, and your navy automatically heals at the start of your next turn - as long as you have attack from an adjacent zone with a friendly naval base. And if you have a factory adjacent to that zone, even better.
5. Know when to scramble and when not to. Sometimes your aircraft aren’ worth scrambling, like the UK against G1 attacks for example. Especially if you suspect Sealion. give them the ships, whislt you retain your counter attack capability and defence. Same can be said for island amphibious assaults. SCRAMBLING IS NOT ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA>
6. Use air power to kill enemy naval ground units when they are far from home. There is nothing worse as Japan, when you are setting up to attack some far away territory, and you’ve taken another territory close by, New Guinea for example when going for australia, and then suddenly all your infantry are DEAD. and you have to go back and get more, because some crazy fool suicided the odd plane to kill them off.
7. Be creative. Scripting purchases and movements ESPECIALLY in Global is not always the best idea. Have fluid solutions that can change when necessary, and as needed. If Japan can’t roll through a wet paper bag, and has NO GAME by round 5 for example, you don’t need to be spending as many or any ipc’s in that direction, even if you planned to, especially if Russia or the U.K. is on it’s heels. DON’T BOX YOURSELF IN.
8. Bombers can contribute to a pinch defense effectively. Say the game is on the line, The Big push into moscow is going to happen on the next german turn. The dice are 50/50. You have four bombers sitting in Scotland, put them in harms way, sure, there chance to score a defending hit is low, but there chance to suck up a hit for the Russians, is 100% :) And that can be the edge you need. That, or use them to attack some of the units that are going to be part of the German push. Yes your bombers will die, but they’ll take some A**holes with them.
Another general naval tip in the Pacific (due to its great size) is to ‘pepper’ the ocean with individual destroyers (posibly paired with subs). They block seas zones, cause your opponents considerable worry, and can also be available to ‘converge’ during a battle (more so than infantry on land due to their mv of 2) to give extra firepower and soak up extra hits…often without your opponent realizing this aspect.
if the british have a carrier in the mediterranian or can move one in, a fighter from the uk can reach most seazones there (only exceptions are seazone 96, 98, 99). this can be the tip for the british to win a naval battle against italy. (as it happened to me :cry: :D)
german fighters and tacticals can help defend italian positions in africa quite well.
move some german subs into the med to go through the suez and eventually threat british transports there.
help each other out. “small” maneuvers often achieve this.
go via western africa with germany and eastern africa with italy to crush the british in africa effectively.
without any unprovoked attack against the US etc. there are FOUR turns, actually, for the axis to beat down the uk in europe or china in asia AND to move into best strategic positions to gain more income via conquest and subsequently NOs.
best one: possibilities are more threatening than not! (i.e. imagine a german invasion fleet at gibraltar with gibraltar hold by the axis: half the atlantic is covered…)
Great thread Gargantua!!! Reminds me of the old “Caspian Sub” tactics.
Larry will be done with his final Alpha soon, so we may have to update some of these- most are OK though.
Some of my thoughts:
a. Dirty tactics- this is why I always make my opponents chip his pieces.
b. China- yes, they are better on ATTACK- numerically, though delaying the fight (gaining tempo-time) is worth something also at time- depends on position from my experience.
c. Mech Inf are more cost effective in regions like the Eastern Front and Japan to Russia trail- otherwise no.
d.Understand where the “hot” seazones and territories are- these will become “dead zones” and they are crucial in the long term to “control” them vs “occupying” them. Example: East Poland- crucial zone for both Germany and Russia- EPoland border 6 other tt- making it a hot bed for strafes and such.
more later…
I will go into more detail on a separate document and/or thread later when I have time, but these in my belief are what ALL the mentioned tips can be catogorized into…details later… :-)
THE 5 COMMANDMENTS OF AXIS AND ALLIES GLOBAL 1940
1. THOU SHALT STUDY THY MAP
2. THOU SHALT KNOW THY PIECES
3. THOU SHALT KNOW ECONOMIC CAPABILITIES AND BONUSES
4. THOU SHALT STUDY LOGISTICS
5. THOU SHALT MEASURE IMBALANCES
1. Sometimes it’s better to focus on “not losing” the game than strictly winning. Because if you “Don’t lose” than you must win. This is particularily pertinent for the allies, looking at what the axis is going to do to beat you, and making sure that you don’t succumb to their objectives.
Another great post that should go in the Articles.
Have not seen many new articles?
For Russia if you have 4 turns before your attacked build units in the correct order(IE men first then tanks not the other way around) because men take longer to reach the front lines.
For Russia if you have 4 turns before your attacked build units in the correct order(IE men first then tanks not the other way around) because men take longer to reach the front lines.
Good comment RED
The same can be said for the Germans. If you are planning to go heavy Barbarossa, build your infantry and artillery FIRST. Mechanized units can come later. And remember, don’t step off the gas pedal mid game just because the allies are making a little bit of headway in Europe. Make sure you finish off the Red Beast, so that those troops can come home victors instead of die in the snow as failures.
It’s easier to clean up the mess in France once Russia is taken completely… than to have no mess in france, but no hope of defeating the Red army, or winning the game.
Here is a huge one. Forgive if this has been mentioned already. For Russia, DO NOT congregate your Eastern Forces in AMUR on the FIRST turn. HUGE MISTAKE. Japan will attack them and you will lose 18 INF and 1 AA gun.
I have found early German investment on deterrence against US and UK naval interference in Europe to pay huge dividends as the game moves into its middle stages. With the G1 CV 2 TRN purchase followed by a minimum of 1 sub every single turn (we’ve taken to calling these insurance or safety subs in our group) and a focus on preserving the Luftwaffe, Germany can have a substantial fleet of subs ready to take hits for Luftwaffe when its inevitably called upon to strike the US and/or rebuilt UK fleets. Having Italian air ready to blow up any destroyer blocks by the Allies to prevent your sub force from converging on Gibraltar is pretty key. This will normally result in one of two things happening: either the US will force the issue early intending to sacrifice its fleet in order to whittle down the Luftwaffe, or they will spend an extra handful of turns to make sure that any attack on their invasion fleet would be suicidal. Either way, the US is forced to spend more points on fleet cover for its transports and less on men, which will allow Germany and Italy more time to push into Russia and more time to prepare adequate defenses in Europe all for the cost of 6-12 IPC’s per turn.
My advice is to stick to the script, that is, the script of all the other previous A and A games…
Germany’s primary target should be Russia (unless England is acting like a total moron and asking for you to invade them). Russia should build defensive infantry at first to watch the German’s first moves and decide from there whether they will need more defensive inf (Barbarossa) or offensive arm (Sealion). Japan needs to go after the money islands, take over China, and threaten India if not outright take it, while maintaining naval parity with the US in the Pacific. The UK should do everything in its power to hold the line against Germany until the US enters the war, but most of all, NOT losing England to an amphibious invasion by G3. Italy needs to survive, mostly playing the same role as the UK, i.e., NOT being in position to be invaded by the US/UK from Gibraltar without enough defenders to hold the capital from amph. assault by I4. The US is the one exception, barring really bad Allies team play, you can generally get away with doing anything you want since you are the infinite money god uber Allies superior band aid fix side, plus you don’t really need to worry about taking too many casualties as you can build entirely new stacks of anything every round. Just think of the US as the hammer pounding the nails into the Axis coffin.
The more deviations the Axis go from the script, the more spread out your forces get, until the US’s infinite money advantage steps in and lays your guys flat. If you’re not equalling/exceeding the total money the Allies are getting by Round 6-7, you’re doing something wrong, and its just a matter of time before the economics and a few bad rolls force you to surrender.
To wit:
Always be pushing forward with some ultimate objective in mind. Realize in advance how many units they’ll have by the time you get there, and how many units you’ll need to take it with your own forces by the time you get there. Plan your builds in advance accordingly. If some stroke of good or bad luck occurs, don’t panic, just adjust your strategy depending on the situation. If something comes to a critical juncture, remember that as the attacker you’ll have the advantage in that you have the option to retreat if the dice go bad, whereas the defender is stuck with what he’s got. Sometimes a defeat isn’t really a defeat, if it wears down the utimate objective enough so that another side has a chance of taking it (don’t want to know HOW many times the Japanese finished off the Russians after the initial German push failed in old games). With that in mind, try to coordinate attacks and defending stacks with your teammates. Italy/Germany work really good together in Russia; by the same token, the UK/US work really good together in France. Italy/Japan can also try some shenanigans in the Middle East and Africa. Why make the game harder than it needs to be if two coordinated forces are better than one?
Always keep your ultimate goal in mind, however, and don’t let victories in other fronts distract you from the ultimate goal. Sure, its great that Germany is on a roll keeping the US/UK out of the Atlantic for the fourth consecutive turn now, but if the campaign in Russia is stalled out, that’s not what you should be crowing about. The sooner you accomplish your ultimate goal, the sooner your side gets to winning the game, rather than just prolonging it.
Questioneer,
I might add one additional “Commandment”.
In (almost) all situations, and all countries,…
“Thou shall kill any/all enemy Transports”
as they are what makes war possible. I believe, that with extremely few exceptions, that Transports are my #1 PRIORITY to attack. This is especially true for G-1.
–------------------------------------------
You know, a lot of inteligent discusion about detailed strategic thought patterns or specific tactics has been enumerated above and I agree with most of it. But to me, some of it just seems logical and obvious.
Basically, this game is one of ECONOMICS. First, in that you are battling to increase your income to a level superior to your enemies’, and Second, in your battles to KILL A LARGER IPC TOTAL than you loose in combat.
I feel that this game is the LOGICAL counterring of your enemies CAPABILITIES through STRATEGIC thought and TACTICAL movements to surpress your enemies goals and impose your own.
Yes,…you must:
Know the Rules and apply them to your benefit.
Know the Map and know the “choke points” and strategically necessary land/sea zones.
Be aware of, and make tactical plans to counter all of your enemies’ CAPABILITIES, not just what you think his probable moves would be.
Be FLEXIBLE in your plans so as to be able to counter any moves by your enemies.
Play OFFENSIVELY, DEFENSIVELY, STRATEGICALLY, and TACTICALLY all at the SAME TIME.
This game is NOT about your attacks and their outcome ONLY,…but how you look defensively AFTER that attack. Can you retain what you’ve taken? Can you reinforce it? And does this attack aid your strategic goals?
LOGIC, and it’s INTELLIGENT application to the game in the form of a cogent strategy is this game in a “nutshell”. Just remember that and don’t get “caught up” in the combat aspects of the game or “making impressions” on your enemy.
“Tall Paul”
Super fighters range.
Park 2 german fighters on an italian Carrier.
Or park 2 anzac fighters on an american Carrier.
During Italy/USA turn you move your carrier close to the target.
During Germany/Anzac turn you sink that fleet that your opponent tought was safe with your fighters.
If you start from a seaport you have at LEAST a range of 5 from your starting position with this trick.
Thanks Tall Paul for resurrecting this old thread.
A lot of great points by Gargantua. Don’t tell 'em ALL the secrets! I enjoy winning against opponents who haven’t figured a lot of these things out yet!
Know your enemy
So many times during a game I hear “Dam…. I didn’t see that coming”, or “I didn’t know you could reach me there”. It happens because, players don’t take the time to study their enemy before they move their own units. I compare A&A to Chess all the time, and a good Chess player will always scan the board and determine everything his opponent’s pieces can do to harm his chances of winning. Same thing in A&A, as it only takes 3 to 5 minutes to put yourself in your enemy’s shoes, and ask yourself… "what can my units do, where can my units reach, and how can my units be used best. Once you know where your opponent’s power lies, you can sabotage their ability to wage war effectively, and prepare yourself to do what needs to be done. Many of you may say, “thats just a given, and it goes without saying”… I disagree. Many players are so jacked up on their own strategic juices, and eager to show their enemy their powerful offensive wrath, that they can’t see what’s about to happen to them.
Tip: Instead of getting all excited and taking his knight with your pawn, you should study the board and realize that, by moving that pawn, you are allowing him to take your queen with his bishop. Take the time, and put yourself in your enemy’s shoes… you will be surprised how often the insight will effect your purchases and movements. Which brings up another point…
Minimize your mistakes
Those of us who are highly experienced and play the game well, will still make a blunder that can shift the balance with a single combat move. There is a lot to do in A&A, especially during one on one games (which is the most common format by far). However, I have seen even the most skilled players, playing 1 nation in a 6 player game, make the biggest errors you can imagine, point is…. mistakes are going to happen. You may forget to buy a destroyer which was very important to your campaign, or you may realize that you haven’t been collecting that $5 NO for the past 4 rounds, and maybe you will buy 4 infantry and 2 transports for ANZAC, only to find out that you can only place 3 units. Most of these are newbie mistakes, but no matter how good you are, you will eventually forget to do things that you wanted to do during the course of a game… guaranteed. Some will be minor and unnoticeable, but it only takes one major mistake to prolong victory, or threaten defeat.
Tip: Don’t be arrogant, you will make mistakes, and once you accept this, the cure is simple… minimize them.
A small point, but a psychological one.
Does anyone face their units in the direction you intent to go?
Just like having your units grouped non-stacked and “messy”, to slightly confuse your opponent, you could also aim them in random directions to give that messiness a better edge.
Conversely, you could face your units towards an opponent to stare the enemy down and show determination, seem more threatening.
Just a thought.
Rammstein,
By the same token, you could have your Infantry(and other units) face into a direction that you are NOT going and have them “fool” the enemy as to your intentions. This works even better when you add some verbal taunts to the mix. I’ve seen this work many times, though not as thoroughly with experienced players.
“Tall Paul”
-Don’t let your knowledge or notions of WW2 interfere with the game. A&A is an approximation of WW2. It is not WW2. It’s only now people are realizing Japan is capable of winning if the U.S. player has clearly watched ‘Saving Private Ryan’ one too many times, and does everything to storm Normandy. Also, strat. bombing is far more useful for Germany and Japan than any other nation, contrary to the historical record.
-There are four different NO categories for Japan, and one of them is BS–a total red herring. Can you spot it?
-Be bold if you’re the axis. Be patient if you’re the allies.
