Posts made by Herr Rommel

It’s all fun to me. First round is really interesting, which makes up for a lackluster next couple of rounds. Besides, the Brits and Americans can at least troll G or J, which is almost as fun as fighting :roll:

If any improvement needs to be make (aside from some unit balancing so that the Allies have some more punch), then it needs to be that the Americans have nukes :-D

If you’re so dissatisfied, then try designing your own map. I agree that it needs some balance, so if you come up with something, I might play with it. Who knows, maybe Larry Harris will use that for the next A&A game.

I can’t tell you if you should have bought 1914 or 1942.2. I’ve only played 1942.2

Do you use the bomber when you are grabbing a deadzoned territory (example Karelia)? If you are using it like that, then you can keep it. I haven’t played enough games to tell what the best bid is for Russia, but I usually just plop down 4 infantry or 3 artillery. I do that because my ultimate goal for Russia is to survive as long as possible. I usually put 2 infantry in Caucasus, 1 in Moscow, and 1 somewhere in the eastern portion of Russia to slow down Japan.

If you want to make Russia last longer, Britain buy 1 fighter per turn for 3 turns (preferably 2 per turn), and plop them in W. Russia. America should move their current fighters towards W. Russia as fast as they can (excluding the one in China) going to Greenland, then Iceland, then to W. Russia or Moscow, depending on how Stalin is doing. America should then buy 2 fighter per turn and move them as fast as they can to W. Russia. By turn 5, you can have over 10 fighters stacked in W. Russia, which is enough to make any German think twice.

If your friend wants some tips on how to play as Germany better, check this out: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=35951.0

Rommel

You only have to strafe Ukraine. Occupying it guarantees that the force that you plant there will get destroyed. Strafing just cripples Germany’s offensive power on G1 and even on G2 a little.

One other thing, if the German navy doesn’t destroy the transport off the coast of Canada, it might be worthwhile to transport the tank to either Norway, NW Europe, or France, depending on how heavily they’re defended. If your opponent leaves one of them (with France being your highest priority) with just 1 infantry, that’s your green light to send the tank there. If your opponent leaves France as wide open as that (because he’s turned his full wrath against Stalin), then snapping up France not only gives Britain an extra 6 bucks, but it also forces G to divert some forces to knock off the tank, and, as an added bonus, you get the satisfaction of trolling Germany :-D

Let us know how your game goes.

Sincerely, Rommel
Hitler’s best General

One thing that I like to do with Britain is to load the 2 infantry from India onto the transport, move the entire Indian fleet off the coast of Borneo, and attack Borneo with 2 infantry and 1 fighter. Granted, the British pacific fleet will mutilated on J1, but you now have Borneo and a little extra $$. Plus, Japan has to earmark 1 transport for 2 turns and possibly some aircraft in order to retake Borneo.

I usually like to throw all of Caucasus, the two Moscow tanks, and 2 fighters into Ukraine. Germany usually is left with about 1 tank and 1 fighter while Caucasus loses a handful of infantry. That means that if you pile everything else into W. Russia, you should be safe from counterattack on G1 and G2, especially if you throw the two British fighters and the American fighter into W Russia on turn 1. Germany can counterattack on G2 if loads of aircraft are purchased, but only at the loss of the eastern front.

If Germany is spamming subs, just buy a destroyer or 2 and move some of the pacific fleet into the atlantic (preferably the battleship and cruiser) and buy two cruisers. By A3, the Germans will be cowering at the mighty American fleet.

My friend and I were discussing Argothair’s strategy. He says that if he could easily counter a giant W. Russia stack by attacking Karelia and Caucasus at the same time. Especially Caucasus, attacking with everything in range. Would a good counter-strategy be the Russian Ukraine opener? I’m talking about attacking Ukraine, but not taking it on the first turn.

Thanks a bunch Argothair!

Now that you put my request in that light, I can see how pointless it is. My friend and I have decided to switch sides, so the advice you gave will help the Russian player, regardless if it’s him or me. There’s only been one time that the Allies have won when we play, and that was from a combination of bad dice and rookieness. Hopefully the Allied victory count will go up now and the Axis will have to shift strategy to cope, which will add a new element to the game instead of just doing the same thing over and over.

Thanks for explaining the strategy so clearly. I have searched the forums, but haven’t gotten a clear answer about what to do (mainly because our strategies are so noobish).

To hobbes,

What advice would you give to my friend to help destroy tanks. After all, the German tanks (usually numbering 10 or more) are always protected by about 5 infantry the entire time. Could they be destroyed in Karelia? Archangel? Some other territory?
(I’m a noob so I don’t know these things :-()

Also, what would be a good opener against a German tank spam? (sorry if this is a noobish question)
Specifically, the Germans buy only tanks for the first 3 rounds, and make an immediate push for Moscow. On turn 1, they move all units from Norway to Finland, from Poland to Belorussia, and infantry from Germany to Baltic states. They buy 6 tanks. On turn 2, they hit Karelia with everything possible except 2 or 3 fighters. Then, they move from Karelia to Archangel and from archangel to Moscow in the subsequent two turns (all the while buying 6 tanks and moving them to the massive tank army).

When I play A&A, the German player (whether me or someone else) always does that with little variation, and it always ends up with Moscow on its knees at G4. I’m just wondering if there’s some Russian opener to stop or at least hinder it.

Would a sub trolling move be a good idea on R1?

In this, the Russian sub moves to SZ6 to bottleneck the German subs and cruiser from attacking the British battleship for a round, giving the British some time to maneuver their battleship and transport out of harms way and possibly reinforce them with a destroyer or something else.

I think that I will take your advice. We just played a game and it was over by turn 7 (with Moscow taken on G4)(I could have ended it on turn 6, but I decided to toy around with him). I will play as Allies this time just to make it more dymanic.  :-)  I know that you are a rookie, but you advice seems to be a sound option for making Russia last a couple of turn longer (or at least trolling Germany)  :-D  I’ve also read some of the Russian openings thread. It’s good stuff, and your advice seems to line up with it. The only issue is that if I decide to go beefy with W. Russia and deadzone Karelia and Caucasus, couldn’t Germany attack both at the same time on G2 making a counterattack costly enough that attacking both runs the risk of losing W. Russia as a powerful defense force. Besides, if there’s nothing in Caucasus, can’t Germany tank blitz across and go into the eastern portions of Russia to wreck havoc? It’s just some ideas being thrown around.

I too, agree that some more experienced players should comment (nothing against you Private Panic). More people means more ideas.

Yeah, he just buys infantry because it offers the most bang for the buck in terms of defense. If he takes W Russia, then it’s just for one turn. The only units in W Russia at the end of R1 are the units that attacked from Moscow and Archangel that survived. He never reinforces them, so a counter attack on G1 easily takes back W Russia.

If he did a W Russia stack and buy a variety of units (such as a fighter or some artillery), then would he be able to dead zone Karelia on R3? I usually take Karelia on G2 instead of G1 to ensure that I can keep it when I take it. When I attack Karelia, I have 10 tanks and 11-14 infantry attacking, and he usually has 6 infantry, 1 artillery, and 2 fighters (one from UK) defending. I usually lose only about 6 infantry. Is this beefy enough to withstand a counter attack or even deadzone W Russia?

About Caucasus. I usually pool my units into Ukraine from Bulgaria Romania and I move all of my fighters there. On my second or third turn (it depends on how many infantry he’s put into Caucasus) I attack with that force. Is there any way for him to counterattack that?

The only territory that could be a chink in my armor if he stacks W. Russia is Belorussia, since I’d probably only reinforce it with an infantry or two and a fighter. If he attacks, I’m banking on moving my massive tank force forward straight to Moscow (from Karelia to Archangel G3 and from Archangel to Moscow in G4). By now, assuming there are no counterattacks, I have 17 tanks and about 6 infantry attacking Moscow (not including my other force from Caucasus which also attacks).  He can’t fully exploit the Belorussian chink because by R4, he’s in turtle mode just to survive.

America and UK usually reinforce 1 fighter each per turn.

I’m sorry if my strategy is not clear to you. I will play another game this afternoon and I might be able to post pictures to show what I mean.

I usually don’t run out of infantry until during the invasion of Moscow. In fact, I usually have around 6 infantry and 20 tanks when I take over Archangel, so an artillery attack will most likely get crushed in one or two battle rounds with me losing only 2-3 infantry, if he uses less than 8 units to attack.

I have been using this build for some time in my German openers: 6 tanks and save extra ipcs for an extra tank in the following round. Is there any way to make it more efficient?

Let me give some context. My friend and I have played about 20 games of A&A. I am almost always the Axis and he is almost always the Allies. He does the same Russian opener with little variation. He always buys the maximum amount of infantry that can be bought and places 2 in Karelia, and distributes the remaining 6 between Moscow and Caucases as seen fit for the turn. If he attacks, then his only attack is on W. Russia on the first turn with all of his Moscow forces (he does this about 50% of the time). He continues to just build infantry and nothing else for the entire duration of the game.

I respond by pooling all of my tanks in Baltic States and move my infantry from Berlin to Baltic states, from Norway to Finland, and from Poland to Belorussia. I keep the fighters where they are and buy 5 tanks. On the second turn, I attack Karelia with all my units from Finland, Baltic states, and Belorussia. I continue to just buy tanks. On turn 3, I take Archangel and on turn 4 or 5, Moscow falls.

Britian and America pitch in 1 fighter and 2 fighters per turn respectively. They land in Karelia or Archangel. An allied invasion of Africa or Norway happens on turn 3, but that doesn’t change much since all my units in the Eastern front are invading Moscow by turn 4 or 5. Japan doesn’t do much except nip at Russia’s territory in siberia usually taking 2 or 3 territories.

I’m just wondering if there are some big holes in my strategy that can be exploited or if there’s a way to accomplish this in a more efficient manner while still taking Moscow by turn 5 at the latest (with turn 4 being preferred).

If there’s any more info that you need, just ask.
Thanks to all who help!