Posts made by elevenjerk

If UK is sitting in 92 with no blocker

If they do that on UK 1 then I wipe them out with Italy.

I did try going a different way with Italy and was eventually able to claim some Rus/Mid east territory with Italy.  I had alright blockers in the med, but the problem was the 8+ transports slamming my coasts from Gib that game (US/UK).

I personally use Italy as a support/can opener for Germany until I3.  After that I buy strait Inf and Art and shore up the capital all based off what type of transports are out there from the US and UK.  Whatever is extra I send up to France to protect that area and allow Germany to continue to spend most money on destroying russia.  I never leave guys in Normandy, S France, or N Italy.  It all can be taken back very easily by the Italians or Germans.

So 109 and 110 UK fleets still alive?

Yes sir.  I take 2 subs to 106 and 1 to sz 91.  Hope to get lucky and take the Cruiser out with a first shot attack but make sure to take out the destroyer/transport and hopefully have a sub or 2 left to convoy on UK’s first turn.

Do they get taken out by Italy when they all go to Gib?

Only if they don’t plan accordingly

You can look up Young Grasshoppers G1 strategy for some insight.

I’m going to have to.

Mine is a hybrid of his.  I try to take out Russia fast.  He likes the attrition game.  He also takes out the UK navy on G1.  Then proceeds to take out the UK navy in the Med on G2.  Helps out Italy in the Med.

Maybe I’m a stupid player, but I send the house as Italy when UK sits in 92.  I then let Germany clean up on their turn (planes from Italy, HB’s from W. Germany).  It only sets me back 1 round.

I doubt your stupid :-D  All he has to do is leave one surface ship (preferably a destroyer) in sz 94.  Sz 93 is already blocked by the Frenchies.  All you can get to the sz 92 battle with Italy is 2 fighters (if Germany took S France on G1) and a bomber.  Probably don’t need to explain why that is a bad idea against carrier loaded, 2 cruisers, 1 destroyer.  If sz 110 wasn’t attacked you could add a Battlship and cruiser to that.

Germany won’t be able to attack with anything but Bombers and they will have 2 at the most (you can’t buy a bomber G1).

Elven - 10 transports! I like it

I have been saying it for days, but I have a J4 strat written out. I just have to find the time to type out that NOVEL :-D

Economically, two of those transports might be a carrier for me

I got one of those in there too :-o

The only way to win the game of Axis and Allies (other than surrender) is for your opponent to get land units to your capitals/victory cities. The more non-transports and non-land units your opponent is buying, the better. I’ve never seen a victory city taken by a nice looking group of fighters. You have to put boots on the ground

This is soooo true.  I generally try to take the Russians out fast.  Could never justify letting Russia get so huge but you certainly have opened my eyes on the way to go about it.  In our last game the Allies tried to do a heavy transport buy in the atlantic in order to thwart the G1 attack.  Fail…. for all the reasons you stated.  There was some US Navy but not enough.  Whenever more navy was purchased, Germany added a fighter or two.  Always enough to wipe out whatever the UK and US had coming.  Made it impossible to get into Germany.  At the end, Germany had 8 planes (4 fighters, 4 tacs) in W Germany defending.
By that point Germany and Japan were making around 150 and the allies were at 130 or something and it was clear that there was no way in and not enough money to make something happen.

Can I ask exactly what type of people you guys play that these strategies are all working?  Are these online games or random board games or a constant group?

I usually play with one other person but have played many game over the last 2 years.

How exactly?  The RUS CRS sitting in 114 means you can’t amphib.  Are you taking it out on G1?  What exactly are you taking it out with - and still taking out everything else (UK Navy)?  I may not have played as many games as some of you, but taking out the UK Navy in turn 1 requires ALL of my planes (to avoid scramble) or to make sure that it all dies.  If you are attacking the RUS CRS/SUB sitting there in G1 - is RUS not scrambling that fighter sitting there?  I just don’t see it happening…

Lately I have really liked the G1.  You can look up Young Grasshoppers G1 strategy for some insight.  It is really good.  I prefer to do it differently.  He likes to attack and then play the war of attrition if I remember correctly.  I like to attack and wipe out Russia as soon as possible.

The big difference between his G1 and mine is the attack of the Navy on sz 115.  I bring the Battleship, Cruiser, along with a couple airplanes.  If they scramble the 1 fighter you should still be able to win pretty easy.  If you have 2 @ 3 and 2 @ 4 with a hit on the battleship, Russia would be crazy to scramble.  The fighter is just too important.  That would only give them 1 @ 1, 1 @ 3, and 1 @ 4.  Not the odds I want as Russia.

As for the UK navy.  I only attack sz 111 with 2 subs, 3 fighters (1 from Norway, 2 from W Germany), 3 tacs (all from W Germany).

It is really quite effective.  I also take the transport to the battle with an Inf/Art from Germany to attack Baltic States.  This is in the hopes I don’t get diced in Baltic States and have a good number of units so Russia has to take most if not all available units to take it back.

With my group - if your whole JPN fleet is sitting near Cairo - it’ll be turtled and you WILL NOT take it.

Cairo is a whole different issue.  IMO, it really depends on the headway Germany is making in Russia.  The way BJCard described it sound like an all out, forfeit the Pacific, bull rush to Cairo to win on the europe side.  I prefer to have Japan do its work in the Pacific (Take DEI and other money territories), then move over to Calcutta.  If Calcutta is too packed with guys to take over easily, you can move over to sz 79.  From there you can attack all the middle east, 2 spots in Africa.  If Cairo is open take that on the next turn.  If not, cause they stacked a bunch of guys, take S Africa and use the MIC.  Like Eggman said, you only have to take enough Navy to protect the transports.

A destroyer in 46 & 49 stops this.  You can use the ANZ crs to link up with UK fleet in the Islands.

That is why I stated that this could only happen with a huge Anzac mistake.  Very easy to stop and if it takes japan 2 turns to take the capital it is certainly not worth it.

One quibble with BJ’s original write-up is saying that Germany clears out the British Navy G1.  With a G1 attack on Russia, I don’t think this is a possibility, unless you are willing to lose a lot of the advantage you get from the G1 attack.

This certainly spreads things thin.  I know I always leave the sz 110 in order to dominate the two main spots in Russia, IMO, Eastern Poland and Baltic States.  I always want as much left over in those two spots so that you hold one of them at least.  No matter what you take it back the next turn but I want Russia bringing almost everything they have in order to take one of those spots back.

I agree Spendo02.

The only time I would do it is if Anzac left me with a straight shot to Sydney.  Not to many players will allow that to happen unless they haven’t played much.  Once you take Sydney you get 7 ipcs a turn, can move to Java on the next turn, and US is two turns away from having a chance to take it back (if they are in Hawaii).  That placement of US navy could be dangerous as well if the whole Japanese navy is in the Carolines.  You also have to consider how many transports the US has.  By US3 have they bought any TT’s or are they comfortable with the two starting ones.  If Japan ends up taking sydney with 4 units left and then buy 3 more inf on the next turn, it could be tough for the US to take it over in 2 turns.  Japan could also land a few planes.

All this to say is that Anzac would really have to make some huge mistakes in order for this to work out real good, otherwise, it really isn’t worth it.  Try to keep em at 10 ipcs a turn a take care of the places where the money is at (DEI’s).

not sure how I feel about the Cairo grab, especially if the allies do well in North Africa, and/or put a complex in Cairo.

The Cairo grab is tough.  Especially if Italy has a tough start and is not able to threaten Cairo for at least the first few turns.  If Japan can has the right setup though they can pass India to sz 79 and set up a threat to persia, iraq, and possibly hit africa (if all troops are up north) and take S Africa MIC on the next turn.  If there is little UK/US navy of course.  If Japan has to take the whole navy then the DEI’s become a major issue and the money will disappear fast and makes a not really worth it.  If Germany is making 90+ though and are in Caucasus then Japan can just help to wipe out guys and let germany finish them off.

Turn 3  combat move.  launch everything at Sydney

BJCard is right about blocking with Anzac (The US ships don’t matter since you wouldn’t be declaring war on them.  US can only declare war on you AFTER you attack ANZAC which makes a block by them on J3 irrelevant).  Anzac could put the destroyer in sz 46 and the cruiser in sz 49.  This would make it so you couldn’t attack Sydney until J4.  If they leave it open though not expecting you to do it than it would work out pretty good.  You could be back at Java on J4 ready to do some damage to the DEI’s

What if Japan takes South Africa?

Another great bonus to Japan waiting to start the war.  Lot’s of transports.  Can’t get into Calcutta…… lets go get some africa money.  Generally won’t be a large navy over there to contest.

It can have another, more important effect: let’s say you’re in a tenuous transport war over the Phillipines/DEI with the Allies. Making the US turn around and spend a turn dealing with your stiletto jab could actually cost them the initiative in the Pacific. The ripple effects could be enormous.

Yes sir.  Attacked J4 and the US had 3 transports poised to take over the Corolines on US4.  I had 2 fighters, 2 inf, 1 aa in carolines so they needed all 3 transports in order to take it.  Slipped a transport with 2 inf to the islands and now what is the US gonna do?  Can’t get Carolines with 1 loaded transport and no air can help (unless US had bombers in Queensland but who does that? Especially at US4).  At the islands, 4 @ 2 against 2 @ 2 is pretty risky since I have lost that battle a lot and I am sure other people have as well.  Don’t want to lose the battle if you go so you have to take some navy if your the US.

And elvenjerk - J4s work just fine. I do them all the time. They really work people who are used to J1/J2 into a lather…

“What the bleep is Japan doing not attacking me, letting my fleet get away, and letting my economy grow… I’ll surely win this game! And why are they building all those transports…”

Then they find out.

Well said :-D

Build a couple transports each round. Get to at least six, or seven. Then don’t be afraid to keep buying them as needed throughout the game.

I have a J4 strat written out where they actually have 10 transports by the time they attack on J4.  There are so many options at that point its really quite fun.

The first key is to kick the snot out of China for a few rounds, uncontested. I like to park all my aircraft in Kwangsi, and use straight aircraft to kill the Chinese in Szechwan on J2 - no matter the size of the stack. That means the Burma Road is only collected on once. That matters quite a bit, and losing a couple fighters with Japan is completely worth it.

This matters more than quite a bit… this is huge.  This puts china in a huge dilemma.  If japan has 2 units left then china has to take at least 4 inf and fighter into yunnan in order to take it back.  You can’t risk not getting it back cause if Japan can land all its airplanes there on turn 2 then Calcutta is hosed.  That leaves China with 8 inf at the most left in Szechwan and a fighter if they are crazy enought to leave it in there.  Japan will have 8 fighters, 5 tacs, 2 bombers and thats if they choose to leave all planes on the carriers (exchanging the Korean fighter with one on a carrier so the carriers are full). If UK wants to attack on UK2 in order to hold the road then that just benefits Japan more.  If they don’t attack then Japan can land all its airplanes in Yunnan on J3 and can do what ever they want from that point.

The goal is to keep contesting the DEI, finishing off China, and engaging in a war of attrition with India. In the meantime, timely purchasing of carriers and destroyers is everything

By J5 you should have all the islands along with Kwantung, FIC, Malaya and maybe even Shan State.  You may have to do some back and forth with Anzac but that is to be expected.  Its pretty frustrating as US when Japan spends 16 to have a loaded carrier and the US has to spend 37.

The thing with J4 is that up to this point the allies can’t really do anything about it since they are not at war.  UK/Anzac attack turn 2 then Japan can make a lot of money by turn 4 and have full focus on the US.  If they attack on turn 3 (which is expected) they get a one turn bonus on income but its all gone in the next 2 turns.  Anzac back to 15 at the most and UK down to 6 or 7.

Germany is doing a G4 as well. Hey, it works for me.

I would be interested in hearing this strategy.  It has always seemed to work best for me attacking Russia G1 with the J4 strat.  US gets 2-3 turns in the war and the Russians are saluting Hitler :-D

Error, I meant a CA.  No CV available on G1.

My first attempt at an unorthodox G1 was ruined by that stupid sub in 115.  Took CV and loaded TT (to attack Vyborg) with 2 - 3 fighters hoping that the sub would not hit the first shot attack.  He rolled a 1 so I had to retreat but couldn’t unload due to the rules.  Did not purchase any navy so he just took the transport on R1.  Ended up losing norway for a couple turns since I had no transport to take it back and Russia took out my guys in finland.  VERY costly and obviously the Allies ended up winning that game.  Lesson learned :-D

1 loaded US Transport sits at Iceland

This transport cannot go here until the US is at war.

Page 37 1940 Europe Rulebook

“While not at war with Germany or Italy, the United States may end the movement of its sea units on the
Europe map only in sea zones that are adjacent to U.S. territories, with one exception: U.S. warships (not transports)
may also conduct long-range patrols into sea zone 102.”

Thanks :-D

Just because I use a strategy that you have never executed effectively or had executed on you effectively does not make it any less “viable”.  Im not on here questioning your skill level or the skill level of the people you play.

Really like the Aluetian strat

Thanks for the compliment by the way.  I will be posting my J4 strat pretty soon. I believe it will garner much debate.  Ill give you a preview though.  At the end of turn 3 Japan will have….

2 AC loaded, 2 BB, 1 CV, 1 DD, 2 TT loaded with 2 inf and 2 art in sz 42
1 AC loaded, 1 CV, 1 DD, 4 TT loaded with 6 inf and 2 art in sz 35
3 TT loaded in sz 6 as well

That should be able to cover any attacks from anybody and still take isands on turn 4 possibly all income (Malaya,Kwantung,Shan,FIC)

except for sure death :-D

Yea, thats generally what happens but by that point it usually doesn’t mean much.  I can usually take away the bonuses for Anzac and UK if they attack and US still can’t do anything till turn 4.  It actually helps in taking the islands over without spreading very thin.  In the perfect scenario, UK would have to attack on turn 2 in order to hold the road.  If they do then they are really in trouble.  If they don’t you can land most of your air force in Yunnan and its all over but the crying for Calcutta.

The AI is really just a novelty, and is also there to provide something for absolute beginners to try their hand against before they step into the ring against real humans.

I actually considered removing the AIs altogether, purely because if they were removed everyone would be forced to play online or against humans in some way, and wouldn’t think that the AIs were the purpose of the game.

The real purpose of TripleA is to allow you to play online (live, or by email, or by forum) against other humans.

I wasn’t trying to offend with the post.  I wouldn’t even know where to begin when it comes to creating an AI.  I really respect the program and think you did an awesome job!! Is there a Triple A for dummies somewhere?  I looked over the software thread a bit.  I don’t want to host a game since I know nothing about it but I also don’t want to join a game with someone and make em mad cause I don’t know what I am doing.