Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023

Hello everyone! We just finished our first game of the tournament, with me and a friend taking the Allies vs the Axis. We finished up to the beginning of Round 4 when our opponent threw in the towel when the situation was becoming hopeless which I know is not typically a long game, but we got a bit distracted at times, we took longer than we needed to on our turns, and got sidetracked with debating about politics, not something most high schoolers do lol! And we had to watch Diehard. But I had a really great time and I feel like we learned so much about the game and what to do. Now I will give a round by round summary of how it went. Side note, our opponent had never played alone as the Axis, he lost a bet and that is why he was playing the Axis, he is a much better allied player.

Round 1 - Germany went land heavy on round 1, purchasing all tanks. The battle into Paris went extremely well, the dice seemed to be very angry with the allies and Germany escaped losing only 4 infantries without even sending a maximum number of forces to Paris. The British Navies in 110 and 111 were not attacked Southern France was taken. However, his U Boats had tremendous success in the Atlantic sinking boats. Other than that, Germany moved a bunch of stuff East along the Russian border and activating Bulgaria. Russia, as per my friends planning and against my wishes, purchased 6 tanks and consolidated in Western Ukraine and Novgorod, while putting its mechanized forces of tanks and mechs in Smolensk (I argued for Bryansk which I though was a better option for positioning, but I digress). The 18 troops in the east consolidated in Buryatia. Japan didn’t do a J1, rather pushing into China with a costly attack in Yunnan. They built masses of infantry for the home islands because they feared a KJF which crushed Japan in one of our recent games. The US didn’t do much, mainly just building ships to get a navy going. China reopened Burma Road and built in Yunnan, going for a southern defense strategy. UK with its navy consolidated in 109 due to Luftwaffe presence, made a defensive posture in Egypt, sent the Indian troops to Burma, and built a factory in Cairo. They evacuated the Med and got reinforcements from Indian Ocean Navy. Italy spread its navy to get the bonus which they got, through costly battles, they also shipped stuffed to Africa. ANZAC picked up Java and built transport and inf to get DNG next. France didn’t do much, just moved its naval assets.

Round 2 - Germany remained neutral with USSR. Mainly engaged in non conbat moves. They had a new strategy which I had never seen before, creating an early Atlantic Wall with planes, infantry, mechs, tanks, and arty which survived in Western Europe. They moved more to the east and went tank heavy again. USSR bought all infantry and continued its defensive buildup, moved the 6 tanks to Smolensk for the “armored reserve.” Japan continued to war with China, stripped all of its planes off carriers and used them in land wars. They bought factories in China. US just built up and bought all in Atlantic. Built up modest fleet and transports to support Britain in Atlantic. China stacked in Yunnan again. UK reentered med to destroy Italian ships, (Transjordan wasn’t taken) and activated Greece. Also attacked Iraq with Persian forces. Continued to stack in Burma, including men from Malaya. Italy reeled from loss of Navy, bought destroyers and attacked Britian with remaining Navy (mostly taranto ships and planes). Both lost all things in the battle in SZ 98. ANZAC grabbed DNG and Sumatra with transports. French just watched.

Round 3 - Germany attacks USSR. Actually Germany had great success in the USSR, and assaulted all 3 border territories and had good reserves to back it up. Things are looking ok for Germany. However, continued to build up Atlantic wall and buy all tanks. The resources on Atlantic wall may have been needed in Russia. Russia launched counteroffensive in Baltic states, a miscalculation by the Commies, as it depleted their armored contingent, easy Germany sweep round 4. Bought all infantry. Things not looking so good for Japan this time around. They engaged in war with China again, pushing deep in the north and center, but stopped at Yunnan in the south. They were beginning to produce in factories, but was still not enough to compensate for Japan’s abysmal performance, especially navally. Russians moved back to Amur to cause a huge headache for Japan. US continued to build up, specifically in Pacific. US declares war on Axis. China builds up in Yunnan. UK and Anzac declare war on Japan, UK moves giant stack into Yunnan which was terrible for Japan. UK activates Yugoslavia and walks into Bulgaria. Still standoff in North Africa, Alexandria is a dead zone. UK Navy from SZ 110 and 111 arrives in Gibraltar to end Italy after disposing of U Boats in Round 2. Factory in Egypt produces tanks. Italy uses remaining transports and ground troops in Norther Italy and Albania to wipe of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Battles prove to be costly for Italy, but they collect a bit of cash. ANZAC moves to Celebes, and declares war on Japan to collect bonus. France does nothing besides play with their cruiser.

@barnee I will let you all know how the next one goes, and sorry about lack of paragraph breaks, I am just throwing this together right now and it is past midnight lol. I am not functioning very well, Axis and Allies is mentally taxing, but fun!

Round 4 - German army group north launches devastating counterattack into Baltic Startes with minimal casualties. Bolsters E poland and Bessarabia. Atlantic wall continues to be built and all tank purchases. Novgorod is under serious threat. Russia builds all infantry and reels from their defeat. They abandon Novgorod and advance to Finland. They consolidate a huge force in Ukraine and prepare for defensive war near Moscow. The stack in Amur invades Korea. Japan now at war with all of the Western allies, struggles to capitalize. They invade China, but Yunnan is untouchable. They invade Borneo and Kwangtung, Shan state and French Indo, but that is all. Their navy was not up to the task, especially since the carriers were stripped of their planes. US invaded Carolines and moved to 91, invests in Pacific to crush Japan. China holds in Yunnan. UK enters Alexandria to prepare for clash with Italians. Begins to send aid to USSR via Egypt and Persian factory built in turn 2. Reinforces Yunnan but collects considerably less. Italy abandons Africa, and builds defenses for Rome and the soft underbelly. ANZAC joins US in Carolines and collects insane amounts of money. France does nothing.

It was at this point, with the dire state of Japan and Italy, our opponents surrender. They had said that the knew they weren’t going to win, but wanted to see how long they would hold out. And to be honest, Germany was actually doing very well. It was impressive play for a new time Axis player. We all learned many things about the game and may play one tomorrow, well actually today since its 12:30 AM, where I’ll be Axis vs my friends who will be allies. They hope to beat me for the first time.

I had such a great time, I learned so much, and I have to say that all of the feedback from great people on this site and in the thread, along with the guys on YouTube have helped a lot. Thank you all!

@SuperbattleshipYamato Thanks, yeah Japan was having a rough time, it was the first time our opponent commanded Japan alone, so he was in for a rough time. He didn’t really know how to use the Japanese navy to it’s advantage and didn’t go after China to its fullest. That is why he stripped the planes off the carriers, but it also disabled Japan from making any meaningful attacks to money islands and Philippines.

Hi everyone, just checking up on things. I have some good news! My friends and I are planning on trying to organize another tournament between us, same group as before, but they are now teaching their friend who lives farther away to play Axis and Allies! The game is expanding and I hope this ripple effect can continue. We are the new generation of Axis and Allies player and I am so excited to see how something that just started as my dad coming back to a game he had years ago to teach me has spread into something great that I can share!