Posts made by guni-kid

Good way of thinking so far I would say :-)

As with the Allied fleets: Even after G1 UK holds a a small but nice fleet on the board… the problem is: it’s scattered: India, Australia, maybe one ship in Med, Canadian coast. Try to unite them in the Atlantic meeting somewhere west of South Africa. In the meantime the US will have built up a strong naval force (Pacific fleet coming to the Atlantic plus US1 and US2 purchases: I do mostly 2 carriers+ 2 Figs to load them, 2 destroyers, bit by bit up to 8 transports) to support the UK fleet. UK should build up a strong Fighter force to hold India, and when the fleet comes up to the European coast it can start bringing troops from UK heartland to Europe on maybe 3 transports, later 4.

Mostly I bring what is stationed in the US heartland from the beginning over to North Africa in turn 3-4 (depending on German naval actions and purchases) and after that several turns to Scandinavia, bit by bit supported by UK to take back Karelia or at least keep the Germans occupied there in favor for the Russians… and finally directly to Europe: France and Northwest-Europe from turn 8-10 on (again: depending on German purchases and moves). If it didn’t work that way or the Russian died too early I lost my games  :cry: Quite often it comes to eventually giving up India (in round 7-9) to support Russia with 10+ UK Fighters and to take the Caucasus into UK hands for the time being, but keeping the Russian alive with it: He can turn east then and defend against the Japanese as long as UK and US are dealing with Germany.

Caucasus could work for some turns, that’s right… If you have an eye on Asia still and don’t plan to go for India at all costs that is a hard nutshell for the Allies to crack… I haven’t tried that one yet, do you have personal experience with it?

I guess the Russian could go on a strafing mission there in Caucasus if you’re not careful (taking as many Japanese fighters down as possible). Even risking his Inf-fodder can’t be too bad, if it keeps his back clean in Asia and the UK swing their fighters from India to Russia on time… It also increases the pressure for the US to enter the arena even quicker in order to keep the Russian alive…

What do you think guys?

Not that the Germans are in too much trouble in this game from the beginning anyway, but yes, you could provide even more defense for them with the Japanese Air Force. But this way I certainly promise, you won’t take Egypt down for a long while… Of course always depending on where you put those fighters exactly and how the British plays… but without the Fighter force in Burma, the British should sweep it clean in round 3-4 and Asia becomes quite British with some serious consequences: Britain gets many highly needed IPCs for getting to business in Europe and Russia doesn’t have to fear Japanese pressure from the east… Of course now it depends on how Russia acts, but if it hits with some nice strafing attack-retreat-moves, the valuable units might get some losses… And here we are again in the vast lands of speculation :wink:

@MarineIguana:

Trading heavily as you’re describing is decisively unfavorable for Russia. For the reason that 1. UK/USA can’t support until round 4 and 2. germany produces 13 vs 7-8 of Russia.

End of Russia R1, zero bid, attacking Baltic with 1inf/1art/1fig and stacking Wrus:
Wrus 9 inf/2art/4tank
Arch: 2 inf
Baltic states: 0 units or 1 art
Russia: 2 inf/2 fig/+purchases

Agreed on this just the same  :-) I would just take 2 or even 3 Inf to the attack on the Baltic states to definitely take it (brings the IPCs, blocks a heavy movement from Germany and forces him to attack there as well)

If germany stacks Karelia R1 with 7 inf/3tanks counter stack karelia with 11 inf/2art/4tank/2fig. Attack-retreat for 1 round with expected outcome of 6 germany inf lost and 4 Russia inf lost. Russia has an even better trade if Russia gains an extra 1-2 artillery in the initial bid. If low luck, Russia should attack retreat 2 rounds and leave germany with 1 tank in Karelia.
With Russia R1 purchases moved to Wrus, Russia can continue to deadzone Karelia unless Germany makes some extremely aggressive purchases. Aggressive purchase caveat: I’ve worked out the math and Germany can stack Karleia R2-R3 only with something like 8 tank buys a turn R1 and R2. This makes it immensely weak vs UK/US R4.

I have to admit the attack retreat option is a good one and it takes some guts to do it… That’s probably why only experienced players use it.

The Germany optimal line among top players is to buy 13 units a round, stack France with fighters, and stack baltic states with inf and poland with tanks and just enough infantry to trade ukraine. This is done until Karelia can be safely stacked.

The Russia optimal line is to purchase inf/art, stack Wrus, trade efficiently (e.g. trade Ukr/Belo with 2 fig/1 inf instead of 2 inf/1fig), and deadzone Karelia until R4 when UK/US can apply pressure on Germany.

That’s agreed upon as well. If you meant this deadzoning alas attack-retreat on Karelia, then we’re on the same page here. The thing is, that I basically played against intermediate Axis players so far but man, this board plays you hard as Allies if you make a mistake! Good talking about the advanced strategies and I will definitely try some stuff next time.

Keeping Moscow Soviet until round eight might be possible, even wihout ANY help from the Allies (which should start coming over the Atlantic by round four-five latest), but keeping the German from producing in Karelia until round five is basically impossible, if the German goes purchasing full land (mostly tanks and fighters) beginning G1. An example:

Soviet turn 1 takes West-Russia and Baltic States, stacking the first with almost everything available.

German turn 1 could bring up to 7 Inf and 3 tanks to Karelia (using the transport in the Baltic Sea), also taking Baltic States back and keeping his fighters close for defense. Then what? If the Soviet takes Karelia back wih the West-Russian stack and Caucasus with Soviet turn 1 purchase units, Caucasus is quite weakly stacked and Karelia in a heavy German deadzone… So whats left from the attack on the Soviet side is taken by G2: 5-6 tanks, 3-4 Inf, up to 8 figters… And that’s it with the Soviet stack and keeping Germany out of Karelia… So to be honest, I would consider opening up a south front with that Soviet stakc against a weakly defended Ukraine then… Or other stuff, but keeping Germany out of Karelia at all costs is taking the valuable Soviet units down too quickly… Why not taking Karelia back with the Allies, landing in Scandinavia turn 4-5 and attacking the German from round 5-6 on…

Interesting game and interesting moves… But the Allies are done, it’s only a question of time now (Just compare Axis IPCs and Allies IPCs and you see what’s comin’). Some things could have been avoided from the beginning, though: For example why didn’t the British move their tank and inf in North America to Alaska first round (his transport was lost anyway)? That would have kept the Jap out on turn one. The British could have also sunk the Jap transport and destroyer off the coast to avoid the Jap gaining too much attack force 1st round… And with the Soviet I would have also conquered the Baltic states in the very first round: 2 more IPCs to collect and taking one of the German tanks out… And why sending the valuable (and vulnerable) US transports to Morocco for basically nothing which is having one tank surviving only instead of grouping forces to make some trouble in the Atlantic… :| Well and then the very bad dice gods on the Soviet defence, that’s a shame…  :evil:

… and you will most probably HAVE to change if G1 has a bombing on UK. And if G1 purchase is 2-3 more of those bombers, UK has to reconsider its role anyway (let alone the Japanese starts to bomb India as well…)

Another thing with W-Russia: Soviet2 will be a movement out of W-Russia for me most of the times (with one AA left as BlitzBlocker) to recapture Caucasus, that would leave those Fighters quite vulnerable there  :-D Why not sinking the small German fleet and going over Gibraltar? If that’s not an option because of G1 occupying Gibraltar you have to come up with something else… For example taking North Africa UK2 (cuz G1 used the transport in Med for Gibraltar, not North-Africa, so you can make some space there!?) But if G1 had a successful bombing you won’t have 31 IPCs to spend anyway… Then I buy 2 Fighters and what’s left for Inf and Art (in the worst case you have only 24 IPCs in UK1 to spend!) and place it all to India: Et voila: 2 Fighters there in UK1 already, nice  :mrgreen:

Long story short: Yeah, I guess you just react to G1!  :-D

I’m not quite sure if I understand you right there… The Jap can intercept your Aussie fleet in round one with 1 Sub and 1 Fighter… the odds are slightly in his favor then but it can also go wrong for him… in any case, those units are a nice-to-have but not the most crucial things on the board in my opinion. What is much more important is to get all US navy into the Atlantic, though. Because you want to secure your troop movements over to Europe as soon as possible with the least IPCs to spend… because from round 3 on you really need the US IPCs for land units to let them flow into Europe… Well, that’s at least how I play it. The US production is under a lot of pressure from the beginning to bring as much stuff into action as possible and asap. I have seen players not really knowing what to do with the US and splitting forces and wasting the first rounds for undecided actions in both Pacific and Atlantic… I think you should decide very early in the game whether you go for KGF, then you should throw literally everything against him (apart from some action out of India against the Japs in Asia). Or you go for KJF, that would be a different approach, harder though (stalling the Jap on his mainland, using united Brithish and US forces in the Pacific -> that eases the pressure on Russia from the east but Germany can go wild… not so good for the Russians, which might fall in the 4-5 round if you have an aggressive German player who sees what you’re up to from the moment you buy stuff for UK in the first round… but that’s a different story I think)

Coming to the balancing issue again: I very carefully reconsidered and I can only repeat myself: The board might favor Axis from the beginning, but it is shifting during the game. I personally like to play the Allies because it’s a real challenge, and when I win I know I earned it…  :mrgreen:

@seawolf:

Hey guni-kid, thanks for some nice input on the allied strategy.

I was curious about why you always would go for a UK1 buy of 2 tanks, 2 art and 1 fighter. The one artillery in UK would not be used until later rounds. Why not a 2 inf, 1 art for India, and 2 fighters UK?

And about the northern route from US to Norway. I guess you mean moving units from SZ10 (Eastern Canada) to SZ3 (Norway). How can this route enable the British fleet, since UK cant place transports in any of those zones? Do you split the US navy between SZ3 and a UK SZ when it is time to drop the UK navy, or do you take a 1 round pause in the US landing to stack the navy safe?

Hi Seawolf,

sorry for my very late answer… Was busy with other stuff and totally forgot to take a look into the forums…

Okay to your questions: Yes, I changed my 1st round purchase for UK indeed: 1 Tank, 1 Art, 2 Fighters (1 Fighter to UK, the rest to India), this way I have more material to hit the Axis in all war theaters.

And to the northern route: Yes again, I mean from SZ10 to SZ3. This is the way the US troops will move there and back (slowly growing the Transport capacity over time to about 8 transport ships, being escorted by all the US navy you have from the beginning plus two more fully loaded carriers). The UK transport and destroyer do it only once to SZ3 in round three (since the US fleet is coming the same way this round, it’s safe for the UK units). In round 4 they go to SZ8 where they meet the merging India and Australia fleets. Put fighters on the Indian carrier and build even a second one if you like (depends on how the German plays his fighters). Now you should have three UK transports in SZ8 ready to take action… From round 5 on you can bring each round 6 UK Units plus 8 US Units to Europe and add it to the few units Russia is getting by this time (let’s hope it’s still allive � 8-) ) Do that for about 3-4 rounds and the German will face a real Problem. If you held India against the Japanese and Russia is still alive by this time you are about to win. It’s getting more interesting when India falls and Russia seriously struggles… Which is more likely � :evil:

I hope you still read the answer since it came so awfully late… Sorry again!

Yes, checked it again and you’re right Zombie: No need to even leave the AA there… we never played the complexes as blitz-blockers… Will keep that in mind for my next rounds, thanks.

And to the general discussion: I don’t win each game either, but when I win it’s great and I have the feeling I earned that :) I’m still not too sure about that balancing issue to be honest. The Allied player needs to bring it on from the very start whereas the Axis player might face a more complicated situation after a few rounds is what I think. So the need for expertise is slightly shifting during the game. Because we all know: Time is playing for the Allies and against the Axis. And then there are still the dice to speak, especially in the Russian opening and first defending round it’s crucial what they tell :)

Well, of course I also lost my share of allied games and tried to figure out, what to do different… And what I came up with is what I just wrote (it doesn’t even matter too much on which board you play): Be the actor, not the reactor. Use every single bit of IPC alas Unit on the board to press out the most value you can have from it, force your opponent to react to your moves, build traps, be careful, don’t rush but keep time efficiency in mind: it is most crucial to get UK and US to have impact as soon as possible. Most of the times I have US troops over to Norway 3rd round… Not many (the Tank, Art, 2 Inf you have from the beginning), but enough to show my opponent that I’m not sleeping and then he has to react to what I’m doing there with Germany and that is just the short breath that Russia usually needs to survive :) Also get bumper territory between you and your enemy with only one Inf left on it (so that he can’t blitz), then let him come and you attack back on your terms…

As I said, you need to be very careful each time again… But so does your enemy and that is what most of the German players are not aware of, especially in the first 2-3 rounds… Try it, it’s like chess… and sometimes you also will have to bury units for the greater good (especially Fighters from UK in the first rounds)

Mornin’

new to the forum, not to the game :) It’s an interesting read how you deploy your forces in the opening. What I’m wondering is, why no one is mentioning the two Russian Fighters, which in my opinion are the most valuable units that the Russians have. My opening would be attacking Baltic States with 3 Inf / 1 Art / 1 Fighter AND attacking West Russia with literally everything thats left and available. This way you should take both areas in an instant. I draw back the Fighters to Russia then, leave the AA-gun in Caucasus alone and build 1 Inf in Karelia. All the other 7 purchased Inf go to Russia. So what’s the outcome of that? You collect 4 more IPCs (shouldn’t forget that, I mean a good strafe on Ukraine is nice, but doesn’t necessarily bring you its 2 IPCs in this round!), threw 2 of his Tanks off the board, kept all your 4 Tanks as the basis for your own stack now, and gained some bumper area to the West. Now the interesting thing starts: What’s the opponent doing? He can take both Caucasus and Karelia now! Plus Baltic States back, because it’s weakly defended. But if he does all this, he has to split forces (especially when most of his fighters are busy over the Atlantic in the first round) and at least one of these little stacks remaining in one of those territories has to deal with the West Russian Stack next round. He can also stack his tanks deep and get only one of those countries (probably Caucasus I guess?), Karelia with his Inf and Fighters might be… but with only Inf he wouldn’t hold it for too, too long… Anyway, whatever he does, you have to react to it! That means: Play cat and mouse with him. If you only stack West Russia, your troops are worthless because he will eventually outnumber you big time with his regular IPC collections. So 2nd round I buy 1 tank (with my at this time for Russian circumstances comfortable 28 IPCs), 1 Art and the rest goes to Inf again. So now attack with your stack out of West Russia depending on what he did before… Unite your forces and run with your slowly growing stack over the board there and back: cut his lines, make him split forces, force him to move and not only stack relaxed wherever he likes, threaten his hinterlands… and always use the fighters with enough Inf. to gain bumper territory which you don’t want to hold anyway… Collect the IPCs and force him to react to your area gaining (with usually only 1-3 Inf left there, because the fighters of course draw back). In that slowly growing stack of yours always put in enough Inf fodder, so that your tanks are not seriously in danger and then use them in attack! Each attack they are performing they payback their invaluable investment costs… This way you force your game upon him! He is the one who has to react to your actions. He might be stronger, but you can keep Russia alive for quite a while this way because each single round he faces a new situation and has to decide what to do next (not just easily stacking as usual) and he will make mistakes when you play him right. Of course you will have to be acting careful with your decisions as well… Never forget: don’t even try to keep an area… everything but Russia itself can be subject to be given away and taken back later. Never leave him your factories for too long and never split forces… Use your fighters as second attack-force… some fodder Inf on his weaker territories (at best with only tanks on his side) and then go for it or strafe him well as long as your Inf lasts :)

Well, that should give UK and US enough time to get to it and I always go north: stacking a little transport fleet on SZ 10 and then in one move over to Norway. Now it’s time to get Karelia back (if it’s occupied by the Germans at this time) and secure it with a never ending stream of troops through Norway, so that the Russian can finally consolidate and think of either heading East to get rid of that now pressing Japanese or to head a bit deaper into Europe to get Caucasus secure for good and some more bumper territory…

UK always buys 2 Tanks, 2 Art and 1 Fighter in the first round, the Tanks and one Art go to India, the rest to UK. UK should work as a static carrier the first few rounds and never fear losses of fighters, you’ll get them back but they are invaluably distracting German movements: clean the Atlantic as much as you can, strafe German forces heading east direction Russia etc. If you show your commitment to actually use your forces, the German player can never be sure and secure… take some risks at times, bury units to distract him… and again: you force your game on to him and he is the one never being too sure about what you’ll do next, because you are very active and hurt him in small doses… On India I always proceed with 1 Inf, 1 Tank and 1 Art each round, that leaves enough money for at least 1 Fighter for UK until the Indian and Australian fleets are meeting in the Atlantic and start bringing troops to Norway… I try to keep the Japanese occupied out of India a while so that he can’t apply too much pressure on Russia from the East.

US purchase depends on his opening: If he takes your Destroyer and the Transports with his Subs I always try to hunt them down with the remaining British Destroyer… doesn’t matter if it works, cause with US I purchase 1 Carrier (Fighters to put on your having ready on the main land, so no need to purchase them as well), 2 Destroyers, 1Transport. Next round 1 more Carrier, 1 Fighter, 2 more Transports and bring them to SZ 10 (having quite some cover with the Destroyers and 2 Carriers I’d say). Now the US concentrates on building land units to start bringing them to Europe, in the meantime the other Transport and the lone Cruiser from the Pacific should have arrived and the British fleet is also just about to come up…

But back to my initial point: Yes, start stacking with Russia slowly but surely, but most important: Use your troops actively, keep them moving, distract him, play cats and mouse with him, force your game on him… trust me, sooner or later he’s wearing out and makes mistakes (breaking apart his stack or concentrating on areas, where you won’t be standing next round anymore etc.) and safe your Fighters for attacks, never desperate defendings… then you’ll lose them and they are the most valuable units for the Russian…

All this taken into account and I never needed a bit to win… just saying  :mrgreen: