Posts made by bugoo

It really depends on what the allies are doing, if they are going for a hardcore KGF try to use Italian inf to play defensive and be sure to build fighters instead of bombers, they are better at killing boats and great on defense.  Keep your line of troops in Poland and Romania to grab your second NO and try to lure russia out early so you can get a decisive strike.  Conserve your forces.  Also, try to keep a few Italian armors in Germany or somewhere close where they can do a can opener to open up exposed russian armors, planes, or your 3rd German NO.  Getting a few Japanesse fighters into france can also be a huge help, as can a carrier in the med from Japan.  The Japanesse fighters can also potentially can opener for you.  Sacrifice the Italian fleet at a critical time to inflict looses on the UK’s boats.  Be sure to grab every IPC you can with Japan, if the US runs from the Pacific take away there island NO on turn 2.  Grab all the 1 IPC islands you can with Japan and push in southern Asia hard.  Remember, if Japan takes Caucaus for 1 turn that is 5 more IPCs for Germany, if they get into africa, well you get the point.  Do not let the allies take France!  Ever.

The biggest place where Germany gets in trouble is they push too hard against Russia, I’ve done it many times myself.  If allies are going KGF then gutting Russia is not your job, its Japans.  And honestly, they don’t have to walk as far (ICs in India, Indies, burma, etc, are closer than Germany really, weird)

Not saying I would do it but, here is a possibility against that open.

UK blocks with DD and builds IC in aussie.  Retreats all but burma inf to persia + sends down bomber as well (optional).

US sends 2 figs, 1 bomb to aussie.  Possibly sends AC + DD to SZ, builds another AC, bombers, whatever.  Possibly sends 2nd bomber to Sol Islands.

Now yes, japan can take india, but then bad thing happens.  UK retakes on there turn and US sinks Jap boats (min 2 figs 1 bomb vs 1 loaded AC, max 3 figs, 2 bombs).  This can be further compounded with russians in persia.

Its not great, but it will hurt japan’s options.  More UK troops can be left in India as well to draw more Japan trannies if Russia is willing to reinforce Persia.  Works much better though when Egypt holds as you get an armor and a fig to use with this.

Now as far as norway, in most of my games UK doesnt have the funds to build 11 troops a turn and keep there fleet afloat, i prefer it for a US factory to dump boats directly into SZ 5/6 to backup the UK fleet.  Also, as far as the UK in Karelia, sometimes it is worth it to shuck UK troops to hold Kar while russia holds in the south against the Axis, as depriving G of 7 IPCs is worth costing the russians 5, not to mention saving russian troops is always a plus.  I enjoy using Karelia as a posion pill where russia stacks up 10+ units to get killed by germany and the UK sweeps in from SZ 2 to crush what is left of the german stack, as well as grabbing up Finland and letting the US get Norway on turn 2.

Ok not sure if this was a good idea or i got lucky but here is what happened.

On G1 i setup to take egypt heavy and then the other typical things, but what happened that really made me happy were 3 things.

1 - UK abandoned Egypt
2- Russia abandoned Karelia
3 - Nothing could hit the Italian fleet on turn 2 in SZ 13

Now on Italy’s turn I really wanted that 2nd NO but couldn’t take trans-jordan, so i moved 1 inf into egypt and my entire fleet into SZ 13 grabbing Gibraltar.  On germanies turn I knew i’d have a load of money to spend on turn 3 so I purchased a factory in france, took my NOs, and moved back my forces a bit against russia.  On turn 3 I dropped a large G fleet of destroyers and a carrier into SZ 7.  Now the UK could have hit, and sunk that fleet, but, she would have only a few boats left and italy was in position to counter, sinking the remainder.  And with the UK down in the 20s income, she did not wish to do so.  This allowed me to move all troops from france and send them at Russia, wearing her down maybe not as fast as i wished, but fast enough.  Also in later turns (5th I think) my fleet and air force sunk the UK fleet pretty much ending the game.  Other funny things that happened were Italian figs landing on a german carrier, and a german DD block of SZ 6 to protect the fleet one turn.

Not sure if its a great strat or not, but the keys were UK’s income gets so low they cannot compete those turns with boats.  Also, russia cannot get too aggressive or your air force and recent purchases will stomp them.  And of course the UK/US could do a combined attack against your fleet, but it would be inefficient and then you accomplish your goal anyway, the sinking of the UK’s fleet.  Other things that could enhance this idea would be Japan figs landing on german carriers (if they get in range in time), or just Japan being in a position to counter with planes against a weakened UK fleet.

Depends on how many boats and which ones i have left as UK vs a baltic fleet.  Typically i’ll sacrifice my transport to grab finland/norway with plane support, or hide my bomber somewhere like persia to trade with, or try to bait G into hitting my boats with there air, it really depends.  Sometimes i’ll just build destroyers and an AC in SZ 6 to blockade the G fleet and kill them at my leisure, as carriers are really bad at attacking.  The big thing is this, UK’s job is to keep Russia alive by costing Germany IPCs.  This can be done by taking there land, killing there units, bombing there factories, or watching them build boats and sinking them.  I always make sure if they sail out of harbor, they will die.

And if you ever have to choose between denying Russia 5 IPCs to deny Germany 7, do it.

Also keep in mind this is from a KGF mindset using LL, i leave Africa and Italy to the US, where it belongs.  To hell with japan they don’t even enter the game till turn 3, usually not till turn 4 aside from taking my money.  By then Germany is loosing ground to Russia, the UK is threating Berlin/France heavily, and Italy has no boats nor NOs with a US fleet in the water.  Then, after japan gets a few factories going will i build a harassment US fleet in the pacific.

One last thing, LL does not mean no luck, a die is still rolled and small battles can still go either way, ie 4 inf attacking 1 inf and loosing.  It makes the big battles go the way they should, but still has risk management for deciding ‘do i send the DD and fig, or the DD and bomb vs that german sub that can sink 2 trannies next turn’ as with the first option, you could roll a 6 and him a 1 (has happened to me).

But I do see the merit in dice, it is annoying how powerful planes become in low luck, in how static naval and air builds become (just skirting the odds), and how you can perfectly strafe.  But I’ll take that over getting diced any day in Moscow.

What would i have to be doing? I would still be setup to drop a nice navy full of carriers on UK2 and the subs are cheap ‘fodder’ for when I do hit your fleet.  What is Germany doing when they have no real reinforcements against Russia until G3?  Entrenched in Kar I greatly doubt as i’ll land UK figs there to reinforce if I have to to stop a G2 takeover.  Keeping Germany from its 3rd NO is the only way to keep 'em honest.  SZ 7 is the ideal location for subs as they can be moved against Italy with ease.

You see by purchasing subs and figs I force Germany to play to my tune.  They ether dump alot of IPCs into her fleet or it gets sunk on UK2 typically as a good IPC trade for the allies.

I think the funny part of it all is, the allies are the ones who get the most use outta subs in the atlantic! lol.

It depends, if going for a KGF i will go all armor, all the time.  KJF or balanced then i try for 1 fig, 4 inf, 2 art.  But in KGF honestly you already have enough inf to block for the first 2-3 turns you should build as many armor as you can afford (buying inf to round off your builds, like turn 2 you typically have 31 IPCs, i buy 5 arm, 2 inf).

Actually as the UK my typical buys to sink german boats are fighters, subs, and destroyers in that order.  Also, i followup with a heavy russian offensive (easy to do since G reinforcements will be so far away).

The problem is if you buy a german AC it does nothing but defend your boats from aircraft.  A simple UK purchase of 1-3 subs forces you to buy destroyers to protect your expensive fleet or watch it get toasted.  Even if you buy more boats on G2 the UK air+boats can usually smash it on turn 2.

If you buy normal boats (dds/bbs) then you dont get the defensive boost from your fighters and it is even more expensive.

My prefered Uk buy on turn 1 vs german boats is 2 subs + 3 figs.  Giving me a total punch of 23 and 8 hits against your fleet and I can still drop a nice navy on turn 2 with carriers.  Or i could go typical and grab 3 bombs and a tranny allowing me to smash italy’s fleet on UK2 if you reinforce your german fleet. (sending 2 inf into persia on R1 to ensure I can grab Trans-Jordan on R2 for an LZ.)

I hate to say it but germany doesn’t have the money or time on G1 to play around.  You need reinforcements against russia.

Now one thing I have played around with for german boats is an IC in france then seeding Italy’s fleet.  Often this allows me to place a carrier and some DDs in SZ 7 rallying with Italy’s fleet around turn 4 to protect france and then empty it of fighting men to push back the russians.  Not saying its a good idea (i need to experiment with it more) but it did seem to work well the couple of times i tried it.

Ok i’m sorry if you think that playing with ‘dice’ adds more strategy to the game when I will outplay my opponent for 7 rounds but they take Moscow when they had 10% odds according to the calc with 50% of there army left after the attack, i’m sorry but I completely disagree.  Or if I win because my US BB at pearl took down 4 figs and a destroyer, etc, etc.  I dont see how that ‘adds’ to the game.

But honestly I just don’t see why some people feel the way they play is the ‘correct’ way to play.  Its a game.  Do you have fun playing your way?  If yes, congratulations you win.

Typically the longer the game goes on, the better off the axis are as they can bring pressure to Russia much easier than the allies can bring reinforcements to Russia.

Ok here is the thing, it all depends what you want out of the game.

Dice players want a more ‘beer and pretzels’ type game, where the chaotic elements are seen as a positive as it keeps the game ‘interesting’ and more ‘fun’.  Kind of a casual serious game.

LL players want the pure competition, minimized chaotic elements, where risk management is a factor, but luck does not win the game.  They want the satisfaction of winning or loosing based soley upon there decisions, not the dice.

Neither is correct or incorrect.  If i devised a variant chess where each piece has an attack and defense value and they rolled dice when you tried to take another players piece to add chaos and risk management that would not make it the ‘wrong’ way to play, as the correct way to play a game is however you have fun with it.

Actually that would be interesting, use a d6, pawns attack and defend on a 1/2, knights like original armor 3/2, etc.  Do i take the players rook with my queen as I have a good chance of winning AND killing his pawn that he tries to take me with?  Might be fun, might not be the original intent, but is NOT the wrong way to play the game.

If I win by some crazy attack where I shouldn’t have and it alone won me the game it would feel hallow, like putting in a cheat code in a video game to win.

See I prefer low luck because it is low luck, not no luck.  The battles that you have to win, like when germany does a last ditch attack against moscow even though germany only has 12% chance to win, then wins without loosing a plane, really ruin the game for me.  With low luck there is still luck, even sending the bomber to Egypt you may win with just the bomber, G1 hit on Karelia, you may not loose a single plane, or you may loose all of 'em.  J1 hits against china can go horribly wrong as well, or the attack on Kwangtung.  But the fights you gotta win or else, you won’t loose those.  The only thing that really makes me mad in LL is people who dont realize that if the AA gun shoots down a plane there attack will fail and then scream and cry because they didnt think about ‘risk management’ and send in 2 planes.  Hell even the 2 subs 1 fig vs UK BB can fail in LL.  Attack rolls a 4 and a 3, defender rolls a 4.  If defender hits and attacker misses, it can get really really bad.  Like it should with small attacks.  But i cannot hit a capital with 10 arm vs 20 inf and once in a while get ‘lucky’.

The biggest thing I hate in dice is a 1 turn game where I dont even get to do much.  Like when G1 goes horribly wrong and then the player concedes before russia even gets to go.  I’ve had that happen from someone in this thread.

I think what it comes down to is this.  If i’m playing a competitive game, i’m using LL.  Because i’m gonna be really jacked if I loose because of dice.  If i’m playing for ‘kicks’ or ‘fun’ I like dice and tech and all that crazy stuff, but it feels more like playing Risk than axis and allies.

Jenn: How do you keep japan out of India so they don’t get there 3rd NO?  Or do you just go for the south pacific IPCs and leave japan alone in FIC/India/Etc?

I hate to say it but I feel KGF is alive and well especially with NOs.  The reason is Russia.  In a proper KGF Russia should have an income of atleast 40 IPC if not more. (+5 for fin/nor / +15 NOs).  This allows Russia to survive against Japan for a good amount of time.  Whereas in a KJF game, Russia is usually reduced to around 20-25 IPCs, even less once you start landing UK/US figs in moscow to keep it alive, while germany is making 50-60+ and italy 10-20+.

Also, while on paper it looks easier to defend against KGF with Italy, that is just not true!  It is even more difficult esp with the value of France.  It is easy for the US to threaten Italy and retake africa / meeting the japs in egypt while the UK trades france or poland or wherever they want to be.  Then you can threaten to do a double drop on France to take and hold, or threaten Italy, or threaten germany forcing the germans to pull back from russia.  Add in some SBR for good measure and Europe is yours.  It just takes some skilled Russian play in pushing Germany back by T3-4.

On top of that, Japan makes more money than the US by the end of turn 3 no matter what you do and there is absolutely no way to defend southern asia or keep china in the game.  Well I suppose you could abandon moscow, but yeah bad idea.  Oh and good luck defending Russia from 70 IPCs of Germany/Italy with can openers and all that Jazz.

Add in the fact that most German openings leave a portion of the UK fleet alive, try to threaten Karelia with overwhelming force, and only leave token troops on France and why wouldn’t you go after them?  Add to that the fact that Japan’s opening moves typically pose absolutely no threat to anyone (other than IPCs you cant defend anyway!) until J3 at the earliest, usually not until J4, and why wouldn’t you ignore them?

I really think the key to stopping KGF is to rethink typical G/J turn 1 moves.  To what I don’t know, but right now Germany screams “kill me or I kill russia” and Japan screams “i’m huge but can’t reach just yet”.  I’m also speaking of when NOs are being used.

One of my thoughts after playing allies is france is bait that is not worth it.  Unless it can be taken, and held, nine times out of ten it is not worth trading.  Your better off going for africa drops until you secure it and/or to meet japan in the middle near persia, or taking the northern route of finland and just slowly advancing while each turn dropping in more and more units.  This also allows you to protect northern russia, and makes it oh so easy for russia to grab its second NO. Also, building up to effectively SBR of Germany can be worth it with as little as a bomber or two a turn for UK/US.  Lastly, the clock is ticking on the allies this game, you have about 3-4 turns to really get something going, or russia become worthless.

And in my opinion, if axis do not go after egypt G1 italy will never have both NOs at any point in the game.  Still, I don’t know if it is worth it or not.

no with the saved file is a history while in game where you can review every turn and every move made by everyone in a list.  Imagine a PBF game without the dice rolling in the posts and that is what the history will show you, move for move with the map.  It is a really neat way to review your games and see what went well, wrong, etc.  Sorry if i’m not describing it well.

It doesn’t take long to dl tripleA, doesn’t even need installed just unzipped.  Give it a try!

Its not Japan killing russia you need to worry about, it germany killing them that is the worry.  Whenever the germans are making 50+ IPC after turn 2, russia’s 30 cant keep up.  And yes the UK can annoy germany, but then italy gets africa and theres 20 IPCs coming at russia from them. (and dont underestimate the royal pain it is when there is a stack of germany tanks on East Poland with 2 italian tanks, and Italy has two transports and three shore shots at the caucaus).

When playing with NOs on you get 4 turns to seriously pressure germany, if you dont russia will fall to german tanks.

It seems the allies have a choice, let germany get huge, or let japan get huge.  There is no way to keep them from getting all 3 of there NOs by turn 3, and keeping them, without ignoring one of them.  I personally feel while NOs are an interesting idea, there current implementation is flawed.  Getting all 3 NOs should happen mid to late game for all nations, not turn 2.

The saved game at the end can be posted and anyone can look at a turn by turn history with TripleA.