Posts made by Afrikakorps

@Arthur:

Back to the very original point of the Afrika Korps plan, we can assume that an I2 capture of Italy was due to either extremely good/bad dice rolls or inexperience on the side of the Allies.  It is not the result of a good general strategy that can be repeated regularly against strong opponents.

The capture of Egypt by I2 was done as following. UK did not do Taranto, no Ethiopia or Tobruk but reinforced Egypt and made red sea fleet. Fighters in London attacked the lone Bismarck (full health) and bomber 2 subs in SZ106 with all atlantic ships (destroyer and cruiser). India did not sent its aircraft, the main reason could be because I sent the Japanese fleet 3 sea zones from India. The player was playing the UK for the second time so inexperience might have mattered.

I1 bought 1 Fighter and took Trans-Jordan with 4 Infantry, Alex full force and Sudan full force. Then Germany send 1 Fighter to Trans-Jordan and 1 Tactical and Fighter to Alexandria (imagine if all airforce is send) in G2. UK2 recaptures Trans-Jordan to open suez and prevent Italy from reaching oil. This takes 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery and 1 Tank out of Egypt supported by 2 Fighters and 1 Tactical that return to Egypt with 2 Infantry from Persia.

Italy then attacks Egypt with 6 Infantry, 3 Artillery, 1 Mech, 1 Tank, 3 Fighters, 1 Bomber and bombarment with Battleship and Cruiser the following turn taking Egypt.

This was the scenario and if I played myself as UK I had it done diffetently. Personally I love the boxing strategy, so no SZ92, Taranto or Red Sea but encirclement and heavy reinforcement of the Med.

However, with the Bismarck alone within RAF reach, two subs convoying your canadian coast, Germany doing a Sea Lion buy and positioning transport to take London, Japan a India buy and positioning to take India in 2 turns I guess you might expect similiar UK reactions and thus indeed a strategy to follow in next games.

Also remember my original Afrika Korps strategy is based on a G4 capture of Egypt. I got lucky but might be lucky again because of the threat I create with both Germany and Japan before the UK even starts his first turn, making him reconsider going 100%  med offense/defense.

@Kreuzfeld:

@Afrikakorps:

I did used the described builds and other battle actions as described in the strategy besides Neutral Crush. German fleet builds provided a defensive UK and quick capture of Egypt by Italy that remained at 35+ IPC throughout the game and control of the Med + Fort Europa.

When you say Quickly, do you mean before I4?

If it was done befre I4, I  wonder about the UK player. In my experience, Italy cant capture egypt quickly.  At least not after the taronto raid.  The raid should be a lot more successful since you don’t fly the german ftrs to protect it.

The UK player did not do Taranto. Reason could be 2 Submarines in SZ106, 1 Battleship in SZ111, 1 German Tactical in Rome and 1 Aircraft Carrier, Transport and Submarine buy G1. Also fighter in Tobruk prevented attack in UK1. Instead of Taranto UK preferred to kill the 2 Submarines and Battleship. Allied did discussed about Taranto, Tobruk and Ethiopia but preferred to reinforce Egypt + Iran and create Red Sea fleet with German actions in mind.

I do not like the odds of a full Taranto so will never scramble in that situation while I also do not like to not send those 2 extra fighters to sea battles against the Royal Navy G1.

Italy could take Egypt in I2 while Germany reinforced it in G4 to collect the NO with a single Transport with 1 Infantry and 1 Artillery. According to the plan I captured Gibraltar and Morocco with the full Carrier (Fighter and Tactical) Cruiser and 2 Transport in G2. In UK2 he send 3 Fighters, Cruiser and Destroyer against that fleet but I managed to kill his forces with only the two Transports surviving.

While I sent a single transport back that other Transport actually provided countless IPC for Germany and Italy by sending troops to Egypt in G4. Then liberate Iraq (Allies had prevented this at all costs) in G5 with 1 Artillery. Those 3 Infantry and 1 Artillery where able to take Persia + NW Persia + Caucasus while sending another Infantry back to Egypt when it got taken by the UK for a single turn in UK6 (recaptured by Italy I6) so never losing the NO.

1 Transport!  23 IPC extra per turn for Germany.

I still think that if you focus with your buys and moves on the United Kingdom in first two German builds you are able to get similiar results.

@Arthur:

Great story, Afrikakorps.  I assume that this is a traditional G40 game with no bid and no Balanced Mod?  In the unmodified/no bid games the Axis has such a huge intrinsic advantage so many strategies can all work.  Japan in particular suffers in the balanced mod because they cannot leave Chinese territories ungarrisoned.

Yes that is correct! We did played 2.0 instead of Alpha 3+ so no Allied fleet in SZ112.

We just finished a 10 turn game from 09:00 to 23:00. The Axis barely won with the capture of Moscow and Allies would be likely unable to capture a VC in turn, maybe the USA Leningrad who had build a stronghold in Norway after Allies succeded in finishing off the Baltic fleet in US7.

Unfortunately I could not try the Afrika Korps through Turkey as the Russian played extremely agressive so Germans needed to send all troops to Russian border.

I did used the described builds and other battle actions as described in the strategy besides Neutral Crush. German fleet builds provided a defensive UK and quick capture of Egypt by Italy that remained at 35+ IPC throughout the game and control of the Med + Fort Europa.

Although Germany lost the huge battle of Leningrad because of bad rolls and the USSR was able to go offensive for a couple of turns, the IPC from Middle East oil and Africa gold was able to 1. rebuild its Luftwaffe with 2 planes each turn while 2. building enough troops to hold off against combined USA, UK and USSR to eventually take victory even after horrible losses. Also loss of Norway did not mattered and Germany was making 70+ while besieged on all sides.

Japan waited with DOW and captured India in J4, money islands J5 and nearly 6 VC in J6 but lost several critical sea battles due to mistakes and bad rolls. This lost me the pacific but all China and UK wealth allowed me to send enough tanks and bombers to steal a Europe win after Germans softened Russia for Japan to capture it.

I send 2 Transports J1 to reinforce Kwangsi, this gave a huge boost to taking down Yunnan / China while later even took Stalingrad for a turn with air support allowing Germany to steal Caucasus. These transports also prevented UK / ANZAC island hopping.

I will definately play this strategy again as Axis. Loved the builds and strong Italy!

@GermanEmpire:

I decided to try out this strategy the other day and it hasn’t failed quite yet, but it seems I am at a bit of a disadvantage right now. Currently its round 7 and the Germans have made some headway into Africa as they are only 2 spots away from South Africa. They own most of the middle east but just last turn the Russians were able to capture Turkey and have about 10 land units on it. The Germans also own no Russian territories because to make any progress in the middle east and Africa Germany had too send enough units to do it and didn’t have enough to fight Russia. At one point Russia had full control of Slovakia. Also Germany has lost control of Norway to the U.S and they have built a minor there. Western Europe is heavily defended by Italy as they are making 30+ IPC’s a turn, but Spain looks like it is about to fall to yet another invasion attempt by the Americans and British combined.

Japan declared war on turn 1 and avoided attacking the Russians. The Japs looked like they were doing great because they had all of China by turn 5 and were threatening India, plus they owned all the money islands, but than the Russians sent over a pile of men and tanks because Germany wasn’t able to do much to Russia so Russia had units to spare. So now they are losing Chinese spots fast to the Russians. The Japs also currently have next to nothing of their navy left because they attacked the American fleet and succeeded but than got brutal rolls against a British fleet that came over from the Pacific.

I think Italy will be able to defend Europe for a bit longer w\out support from the Germans but the Germans will have to help defend Spain. The Germans if they get to spend all their money on Russian could make some progress but some of their money is going into Africa cause the Allies bought a complex on Egypt and British is now spending 15 IPC’s a turn on the South Africa complex so taking Africa is becoming a struggle. The Japs if they spend almost all their money on the mainland buying land units will be able to retake what they’ve lost to the Russians in China but with barely any fleet left the combined forces of whats left of the British fleet, the transports and subs of Anzac and the newly built American fleet, soon all the money island will be in Allied hands and Japan’s economy will suffer because of that. On the other hand if Japan responds to the fleet build up and spends most of their money on ships, they will either be overrun on the mainland or if they are lucky just hold their original Chinese spots. Either way Japan’s economy is going to suffer in the coming turns.

Looks like a very interesting game! What were your first German builds? How did the UK react?

Also what did the USA when you crushed the Neutrals and JDOW1? I imagine first four turns spending on the Pacific and then full Europe?

Would it have made a difference when you send Afrika Korps mainly towards Southern Russia? What were the initial Russian forces in Caucasus and Stalingrad when you captured Turkey with Italy (or did you do Germany?).

I adjusted the strategy based on lessons learned and strategic talk so far! Also did some changes already to the Battle Plan but will have to update and improve it some more later on. Thanks for all the discussion and even try out of the strategy.

It did make it clear that attacking Amur even when not defended is a wrong move. Normally UK1 declaring war on Japan is a godsend as you can take their islands without any USA interference in Europe. There is no situation the fleet is really neede (fully) in SZ6.

What about sending two full transports with carrier, battleship etc to reinforce Kwangsi. Losing Yunnan is indeed terrible for Japan. This provides enough threat for the UK to remain silent, provides force to take over islands or can simply fight against the Chinese in Yunnan.

Does not need JDOW1 to help Europe while also not weakening Russian border that much. Might be better for Japan to wait a couple of turns with Russia if Amur is not stacked and just focus China then while prepares for India/Sydney Crush.

Yes they do not gain much IPC but with China defeated in 3 Turns but you actually save a lot of IPC that needs to be spend on ground forces fighting Chinese otherwise

I come to think that a actually the United Kingdom are the game makers for the Allies if given the chance, the ones who delay delay and will take every opportunity given to this from the first turn. Especially for Italy in all games but as shown also possible for Japan or Germany. So they need to be threatened, contained or quickly decimated. Germany going Sea Lion is sub-optimal, Japan going India is optimal. I have been through a lot of battles in the League section and the UK making 35-40 early on dis not seem an exception.

Therefore I think the best Axis early investments are in threatening the UK (transports) and placing them able to force UK into defense instead of offense. This gives the Axis the power do the offense in the first few turns while all Allies are forced into defense.

Better still, because of these early UK investments you can focus 100% on Russia or the USA later on, instead of reacting to the UK.

This theory of UK first goes will with the Afrika Korps strategy, as Africa and Middle East are the UK stronghold and money maker. Without it they are a minor Ally, with it a major Ally. When Italy is making 40+ IPC (possible when Axis go UK first) it is able to defend its own + Europe against the USA. Making it possible to fully focus on Russia and win the game.

@simon33:

Haven’t read the whole thread but:
Won’t the UK take a transport from SZ109 to send a troop to South America, which will activate all of the armies in no time. Doesn’t matter that USA are out of the war.

no one said this in the first page and a half.

Good point, we missed it indeed so far!  Then shuttling 11 Infantry to Africa. Hmm.

@Arthur:

Well the game is over on J4 and the Axis have suffered a humiliating defeat.  Neither side of the board was doing well.

**Europe:  **UK moved fleet next to Gibraltar on UK1 and fortified that territory.  There was no way for Germany to capture it on G2.  I switched to Sea Lion but with slightly bad dice rolling during the game the chance of success was almost zero.  Italy captured Egypt on I3 and was making 42 PUs.  Unfortunately Germany was going to get slaughtered by Russia.

Asia:  The attack on Russia on J1 is not a good plan.  UK simply declared war on UK1 and their income was too massive.  With help from ANZAC + China + India, Yunnan became an impenetrable fortress.  Key ship blocks prevented Japan from capturing islands on J3.  Perhaps better ship placement would help.  Still, I am not a fan of attacking Russia unless they put 4+ troops in Amur.  I don’t see any way for India to fall on J4 with the attack on J1 heading towards Russia, allowing the unprovoked DOW.

I won’t be trying this strategy again any time soon.

Thanks for trying! I get the feeling a standard JDOW1 will ne nescessery to put pressure on the UK pacific and the Russia attack leaves you too much out of position to threat anything. Did you felt the same?

How was the UK in Africa and Middle East?  Why was Italy able to become big enough on its own? These situations might be a signal for Germany in G2: plan B, go for Russia, Italy does not need help. Did you felt there was any way for the Axis to gain advantage going through turkey so early?

This will to get insight in different sort of scenarios.

@Arthur:

I am trying out the Afrika Korp in a Balanced Mod game.  UK opted for an unprovoked DOW on Japan on UK1.  They are now earning huge amounts of income; capturing India via amphibious landing on J4 will be impossible.  I will give some lessons learned once this League match is complete.

Nice! Looking forward to how that game went!

@taamvan:

Good discussion all,

Looks like the takeaways are

1. getting into the middle east via turkey with a blitz into Syria/Iraq/NWP/Caucausus is a cool idea

2. but you’ll have to spend your 4 turns of peace knocking out minor objectives like neutrals and Egypt while the Allies get big

3. once the afrika korps forms up, its main mission (kill all allied stuff in Africa) has already been accomplished and it would be a mop-up squad to take the rest of the IPCs and maybe India/S. Russia

4)  and while that is cool, it doesn’t move you directly towards killing an Allied capital/team, which is regressive

5*) therefore, Africa is a juicy but time consuming distraction as ever (IMO)

Getting to South Russia is in my eye progress towards killing Russia while making a lot of $$

Also by reading through the forums I observe that a lot of Axis stalemates on the European map are the result of an heavily defended Egypt unable to be taken after the capture of Moscow. Egypt is a lot easier reinforced by the USA/UK than Moscow is.

I would also not agree with your statement about the Allies growing big. China is destroyed, UK lost a lot of income, USSR lost income, USA lost income, UK pacific is captured in J4, only ANZAC has grown while France is still KO. Yes Japan is smaller than normal but Germany and Italy are earning some serious $

Thank you Kreuzfeld for the general critique! It has been really helpful to come to some new ideas. This is a strategy in development and through feedback I can fix loopholes or improve the plan.

1. I know my priority, that is to win the battle of the Middle East and Africa as soon as possible. To define this into a VC that allows an eventual Axis win: Egypt. There is only 1 Allied player that can and will confront me: the United Kingdom.

2. I assume Taranto will takes place as this is a natural action of the UK. The same accounts for taking Iran, Ethiopia and Tobruk. I also know how the UK will react on specific German builds or intentions. Most importantly is doing Sea Lion as this forces the UK to turtle London. I already threaten a Sea Lion with my G1 build however the UK player sends over his RAF as soon this seems to be a feign based on my G2 build.

Going through Turkey offers the Axis a great advantage allowing its initial armour to get into the Middle East fast, against the huge cost of making all other strict neutral pro-allies therefore creating a lot more extra battlefield and infantry reinforcements for the Allies. Only in the Middle East and Africa that are 18 extra Infantry to fight. However, Infantry is good on the defense it is terrible on the offense.

Sweden costs me 8 Infantry and 1 Artillery that are out of position instead of threatening Leningrad with forces from the Baltic States and actually by attacking it in G2 and later the heavy deployment in Greece without reason signals my battle plan towards my allies. I also go into Russia very weak and might just be repelled in a single turn.

Another flaw is SZ96 which is likely still held by an UK cruiser, same for SZ97 by enemy Aircraft Carrier, so the last Italian transport is not even able to reach Greece in I1.

Also the Italian in the Med really need some help as it is swarmed with the RAF and already crumbled in the first place with only 10 IPC to work with. Sending the German Baltic fleet would be ideal, but this leaves Germany without logistical control over the Baltic, allowing the Russian to take over Scandinavia and therefore crippling Germany and becoming a monster itself.

A lot of loopholes and plans that could easily backfire!

However,

In my G2 I could fix all of this. By doing Sea Lion. Buying 3 Transports, 1 Aircraft Carrier, 1 Destroyer, 3 Submarine, 1 Tank

Although that is what it might seem. I send the initial Baltic fleet to take Gibraltar and Morocco (to provide Italy NO) but still able to conquer London. The Africa Korps takes Greece (still a bit strange formed group but logical move for Germany) and I take Normandy. I destroy all UK med fleet leftovers. Non-combat I move all Scandinavian forces to Finland, all German forces to Poland and GSE forces to Western Germany.

I have 1 Battleship, maybe Cruiser, two full Aircraft Carriers, Destroyer and 6 full transports in range of a Sea Lion. Some aircraft is in position and some is not. Not enough to do a successful Sea Lion but what would you do as the UK? Think oh well its not enough I send my RAF to the med? No, you start doubting. Maybe he made a mistake? Does he really think he can take London with so few? What if? There are no clear other reasons yet why you would buy a second transport/fleet buy other than Sea Lion. I guess most would at least invest 50% or maybe 100% in more defense and keep the Fighters at home to wait and see. Remember as Allies it is your task to not loose.

What you did in reality was solving a lot of problems. You waited with the Neutral Crush, therefore leaving the Allies without a clue what you are about to do. You ensured 15+ income for Italy by collecting his National Objectives (Italy will take Algeria this turn itself). You send 8 Infantry and 1 Artillery to the Russian front that would be otherwise useless in Sweden. Because you waited with the Neutral the UK will likely not be in time anymore to take Saudi Arabia or the African neutrals. You created a new Baltic Fleet able to take Sweden in G3 and Leningrad in G4 instead. The creation of this Baltic Fleet lets you send the Bismarck and initial fleet to the Med to help take Egypt or even South Africa G4 while multiplying Italy’s income X3 in its second turn. By killing Greece as Germany you give the Italians some breathing space and they don’t have to sacrifice their transport yet or show the Axis intentions preparing the UK. By making the Sea Lion feign a whole lot more serious than your first buy you force the UK to remain defensive for another crucial turn!

Ofcourse then in Italy Turn 2 you still attack Turkey (1 Bomber, 2 Fighters, 2 Tanks, 2 Artillery, 2 Infantry) and show your intentions but nobody would have time to react anymore as Germany does all the action and is now only 1 turn away from either Egypt, Leningrad and/or South Africa. Also the RAF will have not enough time anymore to re-position to the Med before Egypt or Iraq/Iran is taken.

Yes you have 7-8 Tanks less in the battle of Leningrad, you have 8 Infantry, 1 Artillery (scandinavia) + 4 Infantry, 2 Artillery (transports) in total 12 Infantry and 3 Artillery able to attack Leningrad instead while forcing the UK to play defensive and hiding your intentions until the last moment. All warfare is based on deception in this G2 buy might just provide that.

As you will take Southern France and Tunisia with Italy in its first turn, and Algeria and Turkey in its second turn, Italy collects 32 IPC in its second turn, mission already accomplished! Because of Germany in G2 now it collects all it National Objectives besides the oil that will succeed hopefully next turn. But 30+ IPC is already enough for Italy to become a Major Axis to tip the balance.

3. Good point, I will just focus on getting Leningrad in Russia then for now.

4. Also good point. I am indeed planning going Bomber heavy after G3 so will buy Mech. Infantry instead of Tanks.

Also I do not see the South African transport in my or 2nd edition set up, or am I mistaken?

Secondly I intent to do India crush in J4, but if Australia is barely defended I might take that one and make India the winning Pacific VC city. I am still unsure about what JDOW would be best for this strategy, I think JDOW4 but other might show me otherwise.

What do you think?

All good points Wild Bill, therefore I came to some new insights and changes.

You want to achieve: rich Germany and Italy while Japan sacrifices potential income to let them do it. Going through Turkey with Afrika Korps provides this, however you now need to do full neutral crush. Sweden is no brainer, but do you really need Spain in G3? No, this can also be done G4. Also, it is the taking away of German infantry of the Russian front for neutral crushing combined with Baltic fleet to med and Afrika Korps to Middle East that give the Russia so many options.

In total its 12 Infantry south and 7 Infantry being slower at Russian frontlines because of Sweden while 9 Tanks and 4 Mech attack Egypt instead of Leningrad.

All I need to do with my first Germany builds is replace these troops as normally Leningrad and Ukraine are possible to take with just starting Germans. Therefore 9 Tanks in G2 to replace Afrika Korps. The 6 Infantry from GSE are difficult to replace on time, so I don’t send them to France anymore. Instead I build 3 Infantry + 3 Mech. Infantry in G3 to take Spain in G4 combined with some more Tanks for the Eastern front.

Also leaving the Baltic is not smart because of reasons mentioned before but also because Sweden leaves your Scandinavian Infantry out of position. The Aircarrier and Transports is still a good buy to fix this and maintain your control of that area. However with Italy going for Turkey you will not get Gibraltar NO anytime soon. Therefore I sacrifice 1Transport to take Gibraltar G2 with 1 Infantry and 1 Artillery that can later be used against Spain. This costs Germany 7 but gives Italy +5, a nice trade. Also Italy taking Southern France in I2 gives them +3. I will also send 1 Tank, 1 Mech. and 1 Infantry to take Northern Africa as Germany is coming to get Egypt anyway.

This let me come to the idea that the goal of the Afrika Korps in specific is to help Italy out in Africa and the Middle East. Yes the Russian oil is something I also really like but Germany can get there eventually. However by kicking the UK out of Egypt you break the chains of Italy. Also Middle East is secondary. The goal should be to take Egypt as soon possible (G4) without building a med fleet. From that point you can expand quickly with both Italy and Germany. Ofcourse this also depends of the Allied defence: where are the weak spots and attack there.

You can reach Egypt in G4 with 3 Tanks, 4 Mech. Infantry, 2 Bombers, 3 Tactical and 1 Fighter in case the Italians could open Trans-Jordan, Turkey worked and Greece worked. I also think its really possible, especially after Taranto so let Italy have 40+ IPC after its Turn 4 in this way.

So to conclusion the most important of this strategy is that you help Italy to expand as Germany. With some Aircraft, with some Fleet, but mostly German Tanks on the ground in Africa.

With Italy also made a major Axis you are now ready to take on USA as Axis while finishing the other Allies from Turn 4.

Great to see the discussion! I would like to say that I do not purchase units for the Afrika Korps, rather I use the German units to something they are currently not used for (Middle East / Africa) and this leads to German Armour taking Africa thus the name Afrika Korps.

My strategy is to make Germany the richest player on the map, therefore aiming at collecting Middle Eastern oil and African gold, the Afrika Korps is a means to achiece that goal, not the other way around. This wealth could create a strategic advantage: time, as it compete with both USA and Russia. Although thats the theory.

As its new it could be really not working that way, first go for Russia, then to Egypt. However things like Dark Sky, Taranto has also needed to be invented. This could be just the same case with Afrika Korps. This is what the initiative can offer you (Axis) in a situation only the UK can react. Therefore I am finding out how to prevent the UK from preventing this battleplan to work.

I think I got distracted with the Russian oil and expectations rose to unreal. However its just another puzzle to fix. Yes Midway might have been lost because of a rigid plan, the Germans blitzed through France because of a rigid plan, twice! (under Bismarck 1891 and Hitler 1940). I can create a realistic battle plan that the opponent does not expect, I might do the same in the game.

I try to find a new way to expand Italy, after it gets crippled by Taranto. I still think going through Turkey might provide this. However by crushing the neutrals I lose Infanty at the frontier against Allies and I am trying to find if there is a way to minimize this disasvantage while maximizing the advantages of controlling the neutrals might give.

@CWO:

I’m not an A&A rules expert, so this probably won’t be much use, but for whatever it’s worth here are a couple of comments.  Your initial post said “This is an alternative strategy that is based on creating the German Afrika Korps in order to make Germany the dominant player in Africa while making Italy much more crucial and fun” and your latest post said, “I want to make this strategy work and think it can work. But also lack the experience with playing as Russia to understand how I can best take them out even when crushing the neutrals and while I transform the initial armour into the Afrika Korps.  There must be a way.”

I think it’s important to realize what people usually mean when they propose an A&A strategy.  Usually it means proposing a new method by which a player can accomplish the game’s existing objectives, using the game’s existing set-up.  What you seem to be proposing doesn’t sound like a “strategy” in that sense of the word; it seems to be an alternate set-up, with alternate objectives, whose primary purpose is to add something new to the game that you’d like to see: the presence of the Afrika Corps.  Technically, that’s not a strategy; it’s an A&A house rule, or even arguably an A&A variant, so this thread should probably be in one of those two sections of the forum rather than in the Global 1940 section.

Note that when you say that you “lack the experience with playing as Russia to understand how I can best take them out even when crushing the neutrals and while I transform the initial armour into the Afrika Korps,” you’re essentially making the same point that I just made.  A strategy is a method of winning, and what you seem to be saying here is that you’re looking for a method of winning under the modified game conditions that you’ve described.  In other words, you’re actually asking for a strategy rather than offering one.  Which is perfectly fine; I’m just saying that discussions of this type – which are very interesting – tend to work better when there’s a clear understanding of what the discussion is about and what it’s trying to accomplish.

Great observation! I am indeed looking for a overall Axis strategy to make this Afrika Korps method under the normal Global 1940 rules. In the meantime I am trying to do this myself but are open for all suggestions. I also might have been a little too enthudiastic in all the National Objectives after Turn 4. So now the question is: what is realistic and could be a winning strategy?

@ShadowHAwk:

You are mostly ignoring what the allies can and will do.
You are just saying the allies will do X and Y and i counter that.

Fine but what about those 12 inf + 4 art in the north. Finland and soon sweden and norway will fall giving russia a nice 13 ipc bonus and taking away 12 ipcs from germany.
This ensures the north is secure for russia for a long time those 13 ipcs a round make for a nice 25 ipcs swing in favor for russia.

Russia now has to defend what, caucasus and the western front, sure ill stack south of leningrad and you are not getting anywhere. I can stack Ukrain as well as caucasus and your locked out.

Stalinggrad is 2 far off to be threathed by your strategy.

So you dont get leningrad or caucasus or stalinggrad by at least round 4-5 while at the same time russia is getting finland round 4 and norway sweden round 5.
Inf is immobile but so is your inf stack, and really as russia i welcome you attacking with just tanks against my inf stacks.

Us will just drop tanks + mech in afrika and put subs in the med so your out of afrika after a few rounds. and the spare space can be inf that can push through spain into france

UK will be pushing from the S-Afrikan factory and take all the neutrals in the area for extra inf bulk.
UK-India can send stuff over as well to help russia with contesting the middle east and turkey because japan is no real threath

How would you propose to do it?

I can leave the Baltic fleet in the Baltic instead of Med.
I can change my Germany Purchases
Japan can JDOW1 and take different approach towards Russia.

I want to make this strategy work and think it can work. But also lack the experience with playing as Russia to understand how I can best take them out even when crushing the neutrals and while I transform the initial armour into the Afrika Korps.

There must be a way  :-)

Thank you all for pointing out possible loopholes or possibly critical weaknesses of the Afrika Korps strategy! Before I can actually test it out in a real battle it remains theory crafting and you may all be right.

However,

I want Taranto to happen as this gives me the UK Med fleet on a silver plait for the Luftwaffe in G2. This also mean the Royal Airforce out of position to threaten the German Tropical Fleet. As long as I can attack Greece with 1 transport and Turkey with at least 1 Transport I am confident I can take Turkey with Italy.

Yes Russia can buy 10 Infantry and then 9 Artillery in R1 and R2 and has more troops at the frontier then Germany they have to defend four flanks (Scandinavia, Leningrad, Ukraine, Stalingrad) and with all that Infantry and Artillery a lot less flexibility than Germany with it Tanks, Transports and Luftwaffe. As soon Italy captures Turkey a fifth flank opens through the Black Sea.

You do make an excellent point about the UK expeditionary forces in the Middle East before G3. Those will need attention as  both the UK and Russia at same time would mean suicide. Then just delay the South attack.

Germany has actually 6 Infantry, 1 Artillery in Scandinavia (Army North), 16 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 11 Tanks, 4 Mech. Infantry at western border (Army West) and 9 Tanks in Turkey (Afrika Korps) assuming 2 Infantry died in the capture of Sweden and the 6 Infantry + 4 Mech. Infantry died in the battle of the Middle East against the UK expeditionary forces.

That are 22 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 20 Tanks and 4 Mech. Infantry supported by 4 Bombers, 3 Fighters, 3 Tactical Bombers (assuming 2 Fighters and 2 Tactical Bombers died against the Royal Navy able to attack of four different flanks. From G4 the amount of Bombers will exponentially grow.

Also, as I leave the Romanian border very weak, a logical response of the Russian might be to concentrate force there and therefore not reinforcing those troops to either Leningrad or Stalingrad.

OK so he really reinforced Leningrad unable to capture? Both Novgorod as Belarus 10 Infantry with 10 Artillery able to kill my stack? Attack Western Ukraine and push through to Moscow going to Belarus or Bryansk, you are always one step ahead of Russia. Yes he might come for Berlin but this is so easy to counter with some defensive builds of your own.

Remember: as long you focused enough on the Middle East oil and African gold you will have money to blow as Axis. That is the whole point of the Afrika Korps strategy, pushing your starting tanks and mechs through the Middle East to provide an early Axis counter-force against the normally easy IPC taken as UK and Russia. I really believe it is possible to take the Middle East from the UK with your Afrika Korps (9 Tanks, 4 Mech. 6 Infantry, 1 Fighter) only.

Even when your Baltic fleet gets destroyed with heavy air losses for the RAF eventually this does not matter, you just need 1 German ground unit to be in Egypt at the end of G4. You could as easily send some Tanks from the Africa Korps (always a good idea) to get the NO. The point of the Baltic Fleet to the Med is just to give the Afrika Korps Tanks the option to go full Russia instead.

I might make tactical mistakes with planning or playing due to inexperience (<20 games) but I am confident that strategically going South (Oil + Gold) instead of West (London) or East (Moscow) in the first four turns gives the Axis something unknown to us: Time. Normally its you either decide Sea Lion or Barbarossa and if it fails, you lose. Not with the Afrika Korps. It might provide the sensation of World Domination instead of capturing enough VC just in time to not be destroyed by the USA the next turn. This would also make the battle of the Middle East and Africa between the UK and Axis so much more intense, giving many old school player a fresh exciting Axis & Allies experience!  :-D

In the scenario Russia is just too strongly defended in the Caucasus to push through them with your initial forces, put some Middle Eastern factories there and do it the slow way. You have the luxury to take it slow with the oil and gold income, they don’t.

Germany also do not need to crush Russia in G4 or G5, just several Tanks capturing the NO territories let me break Russia within 1-2 turns.

Actually I would be glad if the Russian wanted to try defend all its flanks and send those defensive troops so far forwards. From J3 I am bombing the hell out the Russia so he will not be given a chance to recover losing his big stacks.

I am also much more willing to face the Russian fast troops in the Caucasus with my German Tanks then in China against my limited Japanese ground forces trying to keep Yunnan closed. With China destroyed after Turn 4 Russia is even more surrounded with 2-3 more flanks to defend as the Japanese reach Russia through the north, China and south by capturing the Russia of the Pacific (India).

I did changed my G1 a little, buying an Aircraft Carrier, Submarine and Destroyer. I can buy the needed transports to take Egypt in G3 in SZ93 and gives the Tropical Fleet protection against the odd Russian or UK Submarine.

Don’t forget the Italian Army: 1 Tank, 1 Mech. Infantry, 2 Artillery, 4 Infantry removing 3-5 Infantry before the German attack on Egypt.

I am not sure if you guys observed the small detail that might give so much more feeling to the battle? Its one those fluffy things like keeping the Bismarck alive or doing something cool with your French fleet (I once finished the Axis fleet with the French after USA and UK failed attacks). Its the creation of Erwin Rommel himself coordinating the Italian Army in Africa and later the Afrika Korps in the form of the Tobruk fighter. It instantly makes the Tobruk fighter have something heroic and you wanting to preserve it at all costs  :-D. This ofcourse also applies to actually making an Armoured Afrika Korps instead of a German Infantry shuttled to Egypt by an Italian Transport.

Or what about the scenario Italy horribly fails with Turkey (taken by the French soldier from Syria in F2) and you get to move 5-6 French soldiers into Caucasus to defend Southern Russia or even Moscow? Germany that fails to finish off the French troops in Southern France/Normany and that last soldier creates a French army in Spain? Epic!

Oke some new ideas possibly improving the strategy some more.

In my G1 build 2 Transports are actually too much as with just 2 Transports, 1 Battleship, 1 Aircraft Carrier, 2 Infantry, 2 Artillery I can take Gibraltar, Morocco just fine same as dropping off a German land unit in Egypt (or actually take it after Italian strafe). It was also another 2 Infantry less on the Russian frontier which is already missing the Bulgaria and Greater South Germany Infantry (12 total).

As I needed some Submarines in my G2 anyway I build 1 Submarine instead of the Transport. This gives me +6 IPC in G2 and even better can start convoy raiding the UK in Turn 2 instead of Turn 3. Still Sea Lion feint and if UK really screws up I can take London.

G2 buy actually just needs 1 Sub for SZ125 as soon war starts with Russia. Also, the Baltic Fleet has been reassigned to the Africa Korps therefore leaving the Baltic empty so actually I also do not really need that Destroyer. Insteas of those 2 Submarines and 1 Destroyer I now buy 8 Tanks for Russia instead of 5. I keep the 1 Bomber buy in G2 as Bombers provide a lot of things the Tanks can not.

While my initial plan for the Afrika Krops was three waves of armour, the buy of an German Africa Fleet in G1 has lifted the task for taking Egypt, combined with the 5 Third Wave Tanks this would be overkill and inefficient. More efficiently I use them directly in frontal assault against Russia. With a G3 buy of 7 Tanks and 1 Bomber I made the diversion of the 6 Infantry towards Spain no problem at all at sending 15 Tanks instead. This means I can take Leningrad also in G4!

Therefore in G4 I am really able to get all (besides Moscow) National Objectives!

• NO for Sweden
• NO for Iraq
• NO for Egypt
• NO for Caucasus
• NO for Leningrad
• NO for Stalingrad

If I can somehow get one more 1 IPC somewhere I can build 8 Bombers in G5 netting me 14 Bombers. Another 8 In G6 already gives me 22 Bombers to either kill the USA fleet or take Moscow in G7-8. Also don’t forgot that Italy is earning 40 IPC from I3 onwards easily capable of defending Europe while helping Germany in Russia.

@Arthur:

This has been a very interesting gameplan.  Let me know if you ever want to test it out in a friendly game.

I would love you only I have only played offline so far!

I would also like to add the Grand Philisophy to this strategy. As noted before, a lot of point are to be gained in Africa and the Middle East, 52 IPC, this is an 104 IPC swing into the Axis favour, most notibly for Italy (Axis) and UK (Allies). It is also a real possibility most of the IPC’ are taken before 5-6.

You also don’t leave Russia with its 38 IPC as Japan will play extremely agressive in the East and Germany at three different flanks, south combined with Italy. This is another 25 IPC gained for the the Axis and thus 50 IPC swing before turn 5. Yes you delay the capture of Moscow with 2-4 turns but you make a 154 IPC swing before turn 5 while the USA has just started to cash 70 IPC. This is just Russia, Africa and Middle East. Add the IPC swing of a broken China and the UK Pacific gets taken in J4.

After Turn 4 the economies will look like this

Axis: 210+
Germany: 90+
Japan: 80+
Italy: 40+

Allies: 135+
USA: 75+
UK Atlantic: 15+
UK Pacific: 0
Russia: 15+
Anzac: 25+
China: 5+

While the Axis are still advancing, Japan will get Money Islands, Germany rest of Russia and Italy some more Africa.

A more tactical benefit of using your initial German armour to push through the Middle East (therefore creating Afrika Korps) is that no matter what, the Axis are in control of the Middle East, there is nothing that could stop that since you force the UK to play defensive with your G1 buy (otherwise it could send all its airforce to the Middle East). By just giving Italy some of the oil nations (I prefer both Persian countries) they are really close to making 40 IPC combined with the other NO’s. Even when Egypt or Stalingrad gets somehow blocked, you could build Axis ME factories and start pumping armour.

Another tactical move of Japan underlined. In J2 you send a big part of your fleet and 3 full transports to Caroline Islands. This forces ANZAC to turtle or you could take sydney. They will still be together wih India invasion force in J3 and take India in J4 but you delayed ANZAC 2-3 turns from expansion.

Thanks! I will soon test it out! Also, no battle plan survives combat as Erwin Rommel wisely said.

It is still a race against the clock but in a wealthy and often regarded as secondary theater of the war (Middle East and Africa). If it fails I could easily adjust to Barbarossa because of the armour being build (I hope).