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

Without house rules or any perks to the Axis then classic AA is 90% chance of victory for the Allies. Unless the Allied player is green or has not read Don’s essays on AA then the game is even but once the Allied player knows how to operate then it is usually a short game with the Allies as the victor.

Recruiting new players, even with 2nd edition is/was always hard, because of the skill level. Even if the opening moves for every country are optimized it is far from clear for new players. It takes a while to comprehend the mechanics of pushing, retreating, feints, death zones etc. If a new player is willing to pretty much lose the first 20 games he/she will become a worthy opponent, but most people are not that persistent to learn a game that takes a pretty long time to understand. When they finally are decent enough to understand why bids are a necessity it will have taken a long time. Times have changed as well… When I grew up I didn’t have internet or a computer, so when it rained we had to play board games, nowaday it is almost an exception if teens play a board game.

you also have to consider the fact that Germany usually keeps all five fighters with RR vs losing 2-3 without RR

Agent Smith, you factor in the possibility of a lost Japanese bomber as if it was a battle of attrrition between Japan and Russia.  It is not, hence your error.  It does not matter if the bomber gets shot down.  All that maters is impacting Russias income so that they can afford less infantry on the German front.  See, you say “blah, blah, blah, it only does 3 IPC per turn.”  But that is blatantly wrong.  It does 3.5 per turn.  You are factoring the potential loss of the bomber as if thuis makes the potential bombing run do less damage than it actually does.  It is not attrition between Japan and Russia.  Finally, there is no way it flies over multiple AA guns.

Finally, you asume that all the allies air power can be flown to U.K.  B.S. I’d like to see a Japan player just trounce you.  Thrown everything at Germany and its like rolling the dice that Japan doesn’t win the game outright.  Here’s a factoid you might not know.  If everyone throws everything at Germany and takes it and Japan throws everything at Russia and takes it, Japan will win.  Most Japaness players surrender when Germany is taken.  That is the wrong thing to do.  It Japan control Russia they will win.

With Russia, attack Germany!!!

first round– typical 8 infantry buy for Karalia

attack easter europe – if this battle doen’t happen… it is the inevitable demise of USSR. the smart russian player will go with a passive/aggressive tacic… where Russia makes the first move. from here on in … its all about holding and fighting for eastern europe… and not holding and fighting for karalia.

the sacrafice
Japan is walking in the back door… round one… fight in manchuria to delay Japan from moving in right away

this tactic is great if you have co-operative allied players… as USA MUST concentrate on keeping Japan busy, and UK Must keep Africa and support Russia in Karalia, and take Finland/Norway first round

With all going well… Germany is ready to fall just before Japan is ready to take Russia-- so Russia can fortify

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.

Guest, methinkest thou wasteth thine index fingers.
This thread has been inactive for over 6 months.
I think the original guest has learned his lesson and then some.

Look elsewhere on these fora for a good discussion.
In fact, try “General Discussion!”

Also note, the defender holds the area if the attack only had air units left, last I saw a bomber squad couldnt hold berlin (or the germans just got really sad)