Is it possible for Russia to build a navy and still win?

If you are capturing Germany and losing Russia that is pretty much how it often plays out, but around round 10.  If this is occurring in round 5 your games are going very differently from how the majority of games play out among seasoned players.

Yea, the strike that destroyes the Spainish Sub, the Baltic Fleet and E. Europe or Ukraine and Manchuria basically ending the Axis’ ability to win anymore without a massive bid.

I always wanted to bid that Germany was worth 15 IPCs instead of 10. :)

I have played many 5-way “every man for himself” A&A games. We’ve done it two ways, both original setup for each player (using the reference cards) and the scanario where everyone gets an equal number of units at the beginning, all to be placed on their capitals. We like the latter better, but both work.

For both versions, we set a time limit, and whoever has gained the most territory points at the end of the last round wins. Each player gets his country assignment randomly, and yes, it definitely makes a difference. GB is the toughest by far, so that player will have to use diplomacy to survive. Germany and Russia will fight each other to the death unless they form a nonagression pact (which is usually broken eventually). Japan and th US are in the best positions to win, but often end up in a similiar war of attrition as Germany/Russia.

I love this version of the game because it is totally open-ended, there’s no tried and true strategy to win. We make everything tradeable, IPC’s, territories, units, whatever. If you can make a deal, go for it. The only rule is that trades must be physically transacted during one of the “traders” turns.

Other than that, all standard rules apply. This might be right up your alley, Patriot. Give it a shot.

Soviets must pull out of Soviet Far East on Russia’s first turn. If they do not Japan may be able to place sufficient forces on Manchuria to destroy any Russian forces that would retreat to Yakut on Russia’s second turn. I would recommend leaving one Russian infantry unit on SFE as a picket. The more targets Japan attempts to hit on its first turn the more chance of the dice going against them. In other words…don’t let Japan have the territory for free make them expend resources in order to take it. Not sure what Alaska has to do with all this though.

We’re playing with restricted first turn (USSR can’t attack first turn) and higher IPC allottment to every nation except (you guessed it) Russia.

This is the root of your problem. If your group feels that the Axis is underpowered, then your group should use bidding to determine the Axis player, and how many extra IPCs they get. Search the internet, and this board for more information about bidding.

Generally, RR is enough to balance the game for middle-experience players. Bidding is needed only when experience grows to the point where the axis can not win anymore than 10-20% of the time.

It’s dangerous to just assume that any specific or even general strategy will work all the time or even most of the time. Even though Axis and Allies does have certain “tendencies” of play, the best strategists, tacticians, and generals will always find ways to defeat those tendencies. The only truly general principles apply to all wargames, not just A&A:

The Cardinal Rule: War never guarntees anything. Therefore, any strategy or tactic that is invented is never guarnteed to work 100% of the time.

None of the following rules may or will apply in any and all situations.

Outguess your opponent. Chess grand masters visualize the game several moves ahead, trying to figure out what they will do, how their opponent will respond, and vice versa. Thinking a step or two ahead of your opponent is generally a good idea.

Adapt to changing situations. You may do something based on what your opponent seems to be preparing to do. He may then do something entirely different and throw you off balance. How well you adapt to what your opponent this did may determine whether you live or die.

I agree that it is foolish to buy anything other than infantry for some time, but I do like to strafe at the begining of the game; it allows me (Russia) to have some control over the front. Not feeling in control is probably one of my worst enemies.

Another post I agree with. By maintaining a strong ftr. force you can significantly delay a landing made by Allied Forces at both N. Africa or WE.

This forces UK and USA to work together as Allied transports can no longer move unprotected. Forcing money on building a Navy draws away IPCs much needed fronts and slows any build-up.

Ftrs. prove the perfect defense. If you’re defending with 6 inf. and 4 ftrs., the Allies are once again forced to build is higher numbers in order to overrun these defenses.

In all, ftrs. are the best way to slow down any sort of invasion.