US Basics

DarthMaximus

For the early US turns a lot is going to depend on your overall Allied strategy and what the UK is doing. To start the game the US doesn’t have much to do in terms of combat but you want to make sure you buy the right units and start to move your forces into a more useful position.

Since there probably won’t be much to do in combat and you will spend most of your turn backing up the other Allies, I’ll go into a little more detail about some possible purchases.

1 - Multiple trns + gound units -
Here you are intent on getting maximum troops to Afr, then shifting to Europe. Some weaknesses are you might be a little light on capital ships, you didn’t add anything that would help in sinking either German fleet, and you may be leaving yourself open against Japan since you’ll be out of Western units within a round or two.

2 - Air (ftr to bom) + trn + ground units -
This is a little more flexible than #1, but it still leaves you a little weak in Western for a turn or two, and you still lack real Atlantic dominance until you can get your BB to the Atlantic.

3 - AC (or BB) + air + ground units -
This is a little more protectionist than #1 or 2, meaning your expecting Germany to at least keep an idle threat on the Atlantic (maybe they even bought a ftr/bom on G1) or the UK didn’t buy an additional capital ship. The extra air also helps in hunting down the G Med fleet while you added some ground units for your existing trns.

4 - AC (or BB) + trn + ground units -
Very similar to #3 but you elect to go for a greater Afr presence in Rd 2 instead of adding to your air power.

5 - AC + air + trn -
Again, similar to #3 and 4, but might leave you a little thin in Western for a round or two, however you now have 4 trns on the board and are set in that area if you are going with a US to Africa shuck. This means you should have plenty of additional ipcs in later turns to continue to buy air.

6 - AC + air -
This is a more specific buy to counter an aggressive German move in the Atlantic. Coordinated with the UK you should be set to provided the killing blow at the tail end of a UK-US 1-2 or to deter a G fleet unification altogether. Your shuck is minimal for a round or two with your existing trns but there should be no doubt you’ll have command of the Atlantic

7 - other -
I’m sure I left out some other Atlantic buys and I think Pacific buys would be better suited for a US Pac strat paper or KJF scenerio.

I usually look to buy a mix of land, air, sea on the early US turns, so I’ll use either #3, 4, or 5 in most games. You don’t need to over buy trns early so you do have some flexibility and you can get away with not buying a trn if you need to go to Sz 8 to help back up the British navy. I also like to always build some units in WUS to cover myself just in case Japan trys a landing in Ala/Wcan at some point.

The US shouldn’t have much in terms of combat. The biggest opportunity might be at countering Pearl but I’d only consider that if Japan is left with 1 ac, 1-2 ftrs, 1 bb and only if Germany bought all land on G1. You can also look for a sneak attack on Sz 60 if Russia still holds Bury since your bomber and ftr from Hi can reach and then land there. But for the most part you are probably going to end up jumping right to NCM.

Your main focus is going to be backing up the British moves which means either helping out in Alg or reinforcing London with land and air. You want to get your air in range so you can help sink the German fleets, which is another reason I like early air buys. The UK can eventually hit the Baltic fleet and the US can hit the Med fleet, also if Germany reinforces its Baltic fleet you might need the extra US air to be used in a follow-up attack.

Other NCM are pretty simple, you can move your Sin troops if they are in danger and you should set up your Atlantic shuck. Place only what you need in Eus and the rest of your ground forces should be placed in Wus. Once you set up the Wus shuck it removes any serious threat (or annoyance) by Japan and if done right from US 1 it causes no delay in getting troops to Africa or Europe. I also like to move my Eus aa to Ecan right away just incase it is needed in Afr or in Europe on future turns.

Again the US probably won’t have much action in terms of real combat in rd 1 or even 2, but it is important to coordinate your strategy with the other Allies and make sure you buy the right units early on so you are not left scrambling later.

Jennifer

Well, this is BASIC strategies, so let’s negate any KJF arguments. KJF takes skills that most beginners won’t have, at least when dealing with experienced players.

That said, I really see three viable options for America and I will list them in order of preference with the most preferred to the leased preferred, TO ME.

1) North Africa Dominance. The whole idea here is to shove American Infantry and Tanks down the throat of the Axis and hold Africa for England permanently. I prefer a landing with England on Round 1 so they can take Algeria and Libya and then have America hold those two zones for them. It’s a cheap way for England to get two more IPC a round that does not hurt the other allies.

The method is to get at least 5 transports in SZ 12 and 10 units a round in E. Canada each round. The first few rounds you won’t be able to do it, you don’t have the money. But once those transports are in position, 10 ground units is very easy for America to do. Even if you lose Hawaii and China/Sinkiang you’ll have 37 IPC a round, which is plenty for 12 units if you wanted too, but I’d actually go closer to 9 infantry, 2 armor since that will give you extras to use in case Japan gets fancy and invades Alaska.

You can also save the extra cash and build a few more transports here and there so you can move your transports into the Med and threaten the underbelly of Europe. (can be nice.)

Major benefits:

Allows you to threaten Industrials in FIC and India rapidly with a secure line of forces.
Allows you to build half as many transports as the Shuck-Shuck method as you can go from SZ 12 to SZ 9 and back to SZ 12.
Allows you to maximize the effectiveness of your surface fleet without augmentation.

Major flaws:

Does not bring you into Europe where the enemy is.
Can get you bogged down in Egypt if Japan really tries to stop you.
Does not protect you from Japan if they come around S. Africa to hit you.

The American Shuck-Shuck

The basic premise of this is to have America running around with at least 1 carrier, maybe two carriers and some fighters to support ten (yes TEN as in 1, 0) transports. You then shuttle 10 units from E. Canada to England and 10 units from England to Karelia/E. Europe/Norway wherever your stacks are in Europe.

This is very expensive since you will need at least 6 transports, but optimally 10 transports. That’s +3 transports to +7 transports (needs to be an even number of total transports) above the 3 you start with. That’s 24-56 IPC.

However, it gets your troops directly into Europe with the Russians and British.

Major Strengths:

Once you are set up, you are doing a lot of damage to the enemy.
Easy to coordinate English, American and Russian units to maximize defensive capabilities.

Major Flaws:

Usually results in Japan getting Africa.
Bombers can wreak havoc on transports in the rear forcing you to build more warships
Very expensive
Very slow to set up.
Does not put Japan in even a modicum of danger from the allies, allowing them unrestricted growth on their armies.

3) Air & Naval Dominance

The premise is to get three transports that you start with set up in SZ 12 and shuttling troops into Africa. Adding to the smaller army, you build up Bombers, Fighters and a half dozen submarines (very slow on the submarines, maybe one every other round, give or take.)

The idea is that the fighters and bombers will be able to race to Russia to defend, land in British lands to protect them from Germany, threaten the Japanese fleet even if the canal in Suez is closed, etc. Meanwhile, the Submarines will add security to the American fleet in the way of fodder if the Germans attack with fighters or to race down and sink the Japanese if they attempt to sneak under the African continent.

After your Allies set up an attack on Germany you can use the American Air Force as a suicide attack to soften up the lines and allow a more decisive victory for Russia or England. (Probably Russia, since Germany would just rebuild before England can go.)

Major Strengths:

Talk about flexible! You can run those fighters all over the board and use them as defensive anchors to hold forward territories from the Germans.
Allows you to hold the Japanese fleet back out of SZ 34.
Allows you to hold Africa
Fighters and bombers don’t need valuable transport space to get to Africa.
Fighters and bombers are considered dual use equipment in so much as they can hit the fleets and the armies of your opponents.

Major Weaknesses:

Fighters and Bombers are expensive.
Fighters only provide one die each for defense. It defends well, but 3 infantry or 2 armor would defend better.

DarthMaximus

Nice addition Jen. You went into a little more detail. I was actually surprised how much I wrote on the US, I assumed it would be the shortest to write, but once I got into the purchases there are so many options it was hard to cut down.

I actually like the Afr route as well (at least lately), mainly b/c you need half the trns. I think this works well with my mid game switch. You buy tons of air early since you only need 4 trns then you can venture into the Med with the US as you start dropping some units in Sz 55. The ground units from Afr secure the Middle East while you squeeze Japan’s navy. If they head back to Sz 60 or Fic you can sail through the canal and if they stay on Afr coast you can claim the Sol is and then they have to come racing back or spend more on Navy. Either way you can stop their assualt on Moscow. And since you spent the first 5,6 turns focusing on Germany with all three Allies you should have them pretty much contained. Then you just slowly squeeze both.

Jennifer

I agree. If you want to switch over to the Pacific, it always helps to have a lot of air and ground forces already in Africa. And the added benefit of only needing the carriers since you have the air is nice. Also, plans never meet the enemy intact, so going air heavy isn’t going to hurt you if you cannot switch to the Pacific. Buying up lots of carriers will.

DarthMaximus

I like a loaded carrier in Sz 14 b/c those fts can reach the EI sz, assuming you have a carrier at Sol Is. and ftrs can go from Sz 55 directly to Sz 12 and vice versa.

Plus with the amount of ground the US has to cover in Afr (or Europe) fighters and infantry are just as effective as inf and arm.

With 38 ipc, I certainly don’t have a problem with buying 2 ftrs and 6 inf a turn for a few rounds. I’m actually starting to like a second bomber buy on US 1 or 2 as well.

Jennifer

America can do some nice things if you have a second or even a third bomber. For once, if for no other reason, you have a potential do hit Germany for 16 IPC in SBR damage if you have 3 bombers. But also because it forces Japan to keep some warships behind with their transports in SZ 36 and that means they won’t be as strong in SZ 34 or won’t be present in SZ 34 at all.

axis_roll

@Cmdr:

America can do some nice things if you have a second or even a third bomber. For once, if for no other reason, you have a potential do hit Germany for 16 IPC in SBR damage if you have 3 bombers. But also because it forces Japan to keep some warships behind with their transports in SZ 36 and that means they won’t be as strong in SZ 34 or won’t be present in SZ 34 at all.

Why would you risk that extra bomber on an SBR?

The extra bomber gives range and power….
Both needed by USA early. Strengthens the few far flung units they have, plus keeps those axis naval units huddled up (strength in numbers)

Allies Fly!

Jennifer

I was not saying I would actually do an SBR. So far I’ve lost 100% of my bombers in 2008 on SBR missions. (By contrast, I’ve only shot down like 3% of the ones SBRing me.)

What I was getting at was the potential. Germany will have to take that into consideration every move, every non-combat move and every purchase. “What if America SBRs me? What if America AND England SBR me? Can I recover my position? Can I push forward, or should I hold back more units in reserve just in case so I don’t get over extended.”

Many of the people on this forum have failed to take into consideration the psychological effects of certain purchases and positions on the board. While it’s true you run the risk of losing all 3 bombers on the SBR mission. (Roughly 0.4% but a chance) and while it’s almost certainly wiser to use them to hold Africa, hit Japanese unprotected Industrial Complexes, or threaten Japanese warships forcing them to be more cautious in their advance, that doesn’t mean Germany should discount the potential damage caused by these bombers, nor should America let her bombers just sit there without immediate plans for them if they cannot be used this round, then at least in the next round or the round right after. (Otherwise, if you don’t think they’ll be useful in the next 3 rounds, go for the SBR because you can just save 5 IPC a round for those 3 rounds to rebuild the dang thing if you lose it and need a replacement.)

US Basics

Featured Topics

T-shirts, Hats, and More

Suggested Topics

KJF Basics: R1 and UK1

TRANSLATED: UK Basics

Japan Basics

UK Basics

TRANSLATED: German Basics

TRANSLATED: Russian Basics

German Basics

Russian Basics

25

17.6k

40.2k

1.7m