@Hunter:
Ah. So it depends on what the starting situation? So maybe round 1 is too early to choose which way to go or is that just enough time?
If you are deciding between KGF and KJF, you can wait. The exception may be with bidding units, if you specifically bid a sub or 2 to help with sz 37 so you can go KJF or if you get extra Russian units to help go after Germany, etc. There are also “generic” bids you can use that won’t show your focus either. Inf for Egy, any inf for Russia, dd to protect US trns in the Atlantic, etc.
So outside a specific bid for a specific purpose you can wait until after rd 1 to see how the board lays out. You’ll probably have to decide by US 2 though. Russia can be played the same in the early rds and so can UK (say 3 units Ind, 2 ftrs UK for the first 1-3 rds is fairly safe).
There are a few “conservative” openings for the Allies that won’t necessarily commit you to anything.
Russia 1, buy 8 inf, or 4 inf 3 rt. Attack Belo/Wrus.
Fortify heavy in Wrus and begin bringing eastern units to the west to defend against Ger. Send 1 inf to help protect US ftr. in Asia
UK 1, buy 3 units (ind), 2 ftrs (uk) - I’ll assume no Sz 37 attack.
Sink any vulnerable Ger ships and if you can land ftr(s) in Wrus do it, and get bom to Wrus/Rus if it will reach after any attacks.
Attack J dd/trn with ftr/Cru from Ind sz land ftr with US/Rus units in Asia to protect against attack. Send Aus troops East to Atlantic on Trn, Remaining India ships to sail around South Africa. (note: if you did bid a sub for Ind, you can attack J dd/trn wuth sub/ftr instead and save your Cru).
Consolidate troops from Afr and defend Trj (if safe), Per and Ind. If you defend Trj you may be able to trade Egy on UK 2 if you have units to spare.
US 1 can be highly variable but at least you’ve seen how the board plays out. Did J by a factory? more trans? Where are their ships/planes? etc.
It is fairly safe to buy a AC/DD for the Atlantic with 2 ftrs (or substitute in a trn and troops if you’ve already decided to go after Germany).
Pac fleet consolidates in Sz 56 (unless J left a real opening)
You can do a lot of things with the US but you never really show full on KGF. For example if you bought AC, dd, 2 ftrs and place in the Atlantic. They will ultimately be usefully against Japan if you go that route. The ftrs can be in sz 56 on US 2 and the surface ships by US 3. Or if you stay Atlantic it may be possible to be off of Afr on US 2 or 3 by the latest. Which is fairly typical anyway in a KGF game.
Uk is also versatile with the 2 ftrs from UK 1 buy. They can go to Wrus (on way to Ind) or land on an AC for the Atlantic.
The general design is, you’ve made no clear move toward J or G leaving you the ability to see how rd 1 shapes up. The one thing I wouldn’t do is buy a US transport on US 1 (if your intention is to go KJF) and you want to see if you can get Germany to make a purchase that assumes you are going after them. In all likely hood it won’t make a difference but if you get them to heavily defend France for another turn, that eliminates some troops that could have been on the Russian front a round or two earlier.
A final caveat is, if Germany buys any ships for sz 5 or even the Med on G1, you are probably going to have to focus on the Atlantic and Germany. You are not going to want to have a German fleet parked in sz 5 indefinitely or the threat of a united fleet meeting up off the coast of Fra or Afr. You can still do the 3 units Ind 2 ftr Uk buy, but US will have to consider how it wants to take down the G ships. 1 AC, 1 dd, 2 ftrs isn’t bad in that case, but your follow up turns will probably be air heavy with ftrs/boms to ultimately go after those ships. And the time it takes rds 1-3 to get into position is probably enough to for J to get set up in the Pac, meaning it is going to be too late to swing your ships back into the Pac. In this case you’ll want to do the bare minimum to keep J off of Hi/Ala with the bulk of your focus being sink the G ships, get to Afr then Europe. Hopefully you can hold Ind for 4-5 rds and hope your stacks hold in Wrus/Cauc/Per area with US either coming through Fin/Nor/Kar or North Africa. At that point it just depends on how you set up your Atlantic shuck.
