Anytime man, I’ve been playing a lot of v5 lately vs HardAI using the latest jar and thinking about things more in general terms for the endgame. I posted some more saves you might want to check out for ideas.
From an Allied strategy standpoint, there are basically 2 relatively safe approaches, which work well against the AI and also against humans. I say “relatively” because this is clearly a dice game, and a human may do things which the AI currently does not (like engage in heavy factory buys, or use SBR and carriers, or can-open and set up for multi round attacks.) There are many points at which the game can just come undone for Allies which is why many bid for them. Against the AI OOB I think its very possible to win, provided you are willing to play it long enough. For more experienced players, it can be entertaining to give the Axis a bid as well and to forego SBR (since the computer doesn’t use it.)
But back to strategy, the two main approaches I see are…
1. Tank wall
2. Air wall
Both approaches use units of the other type too, its more a matter of which to magnify first (buy more of early on, either tanks or fighters.)
The first (Tank Wall) seems to work especially well under KGF conditions. The main objective is to hold India for as long as possible and produce as many tanks as you can there. The real use of the tanks is not so much to do with India defense as it is the endgame launch to Karelia, so Allies can hold the north. Usually in KGF India is eventually evacuated and ideally traded for a few rounds thereafter, so that the India tanks can rush west towards Berlin. The tank wall is particularly effective against Germany in that it allows you to shoot north then stack Baltic states to get the line on Berlin. Until then, they can be positioned in Caucasus to threaten a fairly wide area especially Karelia/India/Szech/Transjordan. Ultimately to make good on the money you spent to build them, these tanks need find their way into an attack on Berlin.
The second (Air Wall) seem to work especially well under KJF conditions. Here the main objective is again to hold India for as long as possible, by building ground there and then transiting fighters over from UK via W. Russia/Arch or if necessary Gibraltar to Caucasus. More than India defense, the primary use of these fighters is to hold Moscow and the Center of the gamemap, and especially to keep the IJN from comfortably coasting into Africa and the Med sz 34. Basically you’ll be wheeling the British fighters back and forth between India and Moscow, trying to prop them both up while America dedicates the full weight of their economy to steeling the money islands away from Japan. This air wall move works fairly well for Japanese containment and for giving the USA the income it needs to be truly effective. Its easier to take away the money island and defend them from recapture than it is to take Tokyo though. To actually knock Japan off the board you either have to invest in factories for the money islands and push up French Indo China, or invest heavily in transports and troops out of W. USA for a dead drop on the home island.
For either approach, someone has to buy fighters to keep Moscow afloat and someone is going to have to buy bombers for transport sweeping, whether that’s USA or UK kind of depends on which sort of wall you go for early, and how early you want to try and set up drops out of UK. Also, just like in Classic, its fairly critical for Allies to retain control of Africa in the long term. You can trade it for a while, but a minimal investment from USA/UK to retain control of this region early on is pretty key to keeping UK viable and preventing Axis from collecting too much too soon.
The center wedge, keeping Moscow/Caucasus/India viable is usually the optimal approach, there is a certain point generally around 50 units at Moscow, when it starts to become increasingly difficult for Axis to take it without a 1-2 punch, which is the whole idea behind the wedge. Just keeping Axis nations (whether G or J) at least one space off the capital. If you can trade the area around Moscow, and then trade Moscow itself for one of the Axis capitals at an attack advantage, that’s basically what you’re shooting for. The longer you can hold Russia the better chances you’ll have to set that up.
KJF/KGF are also conceived more as general investment directions than strict pursuits. Unlike some earlier boards, it a bit harder in v5 to go 100 percent in one direction. Fequently you have to bounce your air back and forth, or make at least a small investment in the minor theater of operations (whether that’s Atlantic of Pacific) to prevent the Axis from going monster. But you want to develop a clear thrust one way or the other by the fifth round, otherwise it just takes forever to knock out a capital.
