I run an Axis and Allies gaming group and I am interested in uploading pictures from some of our Global Gaming sessions. I like to use photo bucket to post on forums, however, the AA site will not allow me to post anything with a link.
Can anyone walk me through how to post pictures here?
Good pics, thanks for sharing! I think that of all of the factions in the game, the Japanese have the most options.
In my gaming group, using the Japanese to attack Russia has generally turned out to be a bad move… I think that it has merit if you do a concerted Barbarossa with the Germans on turn 2, however, Japan has precious few land forces to start the game… committing them to Russia pulls them away from them away from taking China and especially from the big prize, India.
I am a huge fan of the Global 1940 edition of the game, but I feel that there needs to be a little bit of balance to make Italy a little more viable. My gaming group just got done playing the 50th Anniversary Edition for the first time… while that version is not a deep as 1940, it does give Italy a much better starting position. I would suggest putting the entire Italian fleet into one Sea Zone or changing the composition of the UK fleet in the Med to give Italy more options. We will see how they change it up.
When playing these games, you study the board SO MUCH, that the starting placement really starts to become second nature! I have probably played 7 global games at this point, and I bet that I could put about 60% of the pieces on the board correctly without looking at the setup chart :)
In the alpha 2 setup, it seems Italy is severely under powered. If England does things right it can have 6 infantry, 2 artillery, 1 tank, 1 mech, and 2 fighters. How can Italy defeat these forces with just 5 inf, 2 art, 1 mech and a tank. Especially if UK builds a factory in Egypt. How can Italy ferry troops over with just a transport. I’ve never seen Italy get very far in Africa, even if London is controlled by Germany.
What strategies do you use to make Italy more effective, assuming England does taranto and pulls back to Egypt.
With Italy, so much depends on what happens the first turn with the UK player. My move with Germany is to send a couple of fighters into Italy after the invasion of France to protect the Italian fleet when the UK attacks. Depending on the losses in the Med, it will really change up what you are able to do.
If the Italian fleet is mostly destroyed in the first turn, I will typically buy nothing that first round and buy up fleet units the second round. In the event that I do have a viable fleet, then I will send my forces in northern Africa to try to make my way to the middle east as soon as possible…. taking Persia and the other national objectives is the only way to make Italy economically viable.
While we are on the subject, I am hoping that the Alpha 3 rules do something to address the Italian starting position to make their opening strategies a little more viable.
I think that the biggest thing that needs to be changed in Alpha 3 is to either strengthen Italy or weaken Russia. Rather than reward the US with NO’s for its involvement in the Atlantic, I think that the starting placement needs to be adjusted so that Russia’s survival depends on the US opening a front in Western Europe.
For the Italians, I would suggest either combining the Italian fleet into 1 sea zone or modify the Italian air force to give it more punch. As it is, Italy has too few resources to be effective against the Russians and it is never able to stand up to the Americans in the Med.
As for the Russians, I would eliminate the Archangel bonus when at war… as it is, Russia is able to stand against Germany without US involvement. I think that decreasing their bonuses while at war is in order.
In most of the games that I have played using the Alpha +2 rules, Sea Lion is almost never atempted… if the Uk player goes on the defensive, it is very hard to take London.
Either way, you have to at least threaten Sea Lion with a G1 fleet buy to pull the UK’s resources away from Africa/ the med. I think that with the current rules setup, Sea Lion is more of an attack of opportunity… you threaten it, and if the UK player does not throw everything into defense of the their capital, then you go for it.
The US is fine. I disagree with everyone that says US is too strong. They can focus on Japan and neutralize them or remove them from the game and then swing back by turn 8 - 10. I agree with that, but not with forcing them to split their buys - wouldn’t work anyway.
But … Russia IS too strong. They need to start with less units, or make less money.
So far Russia played properly can hold its own WITHOUT help. That should not be the case. Even going hard on Russia from both sides and I haven’t been able to crack it.
Russia needs to be reduced.
I have read your post on the Harris Game Designs website as well as all of the responses here on Axisandallies.org, and I still agree with you that Russia is too strong.
I am in an Axis and Allies group that has played several games of Global and we have yet to crack the Russian defense… The Russian turtling strategy is very hard to overcome with the current setup, and I don’t thing that it matters if the Germans attack north or south, the Russians can always fall back to the middle ground and protect Moscow.
I have looked at the game loggs that you posted, and they are right on with how some of our games have gone. Here are my observations based on the games that we have played. I will state beforehand that in all of these games, the German player used the standard G1 buy of a Carrier and 2 transports, or a Carrier, a destroyer, and a transport.
Game 1 – German player did the standard G1 buy, then on G2 bought a Major Factory in Romania and bought Infantry/ Art on G3 and tanks in W Germany. The German player launched an attack on G3 into Russia… the stack moved forward and the German player reached Moscow on G7, bud did not have the forces to knock out the Russians… the Americans and British eventually defeated the Germans on the Western Front
Game 2 – The German player did the standard buy on G1, but built heavily in transports on G2 (and did not buy a factory in Romania). He used the transports to launch an invasion of Leningrad on G3, and built mostly inf and tanks there after in Germany. In this game, the German superior fleet was able to hold off the British invasion for a longer period of time, but the investment in fleet seemed to doom the Germans as they where not able to defeat the Russian Stack that turtled back to Russia.
Game 3 – This was the closest game… the Germans did a standard G1 buy, but built all art units on g2, mech inf/ art on g3, mech on g4, and tanks on G5/G6. While the faster units help, you can still only get to Moscow so quick if the Russians are falling back and only leaving one unit per turn. In this particular game, the US went all in on the Pacific, so there is little pressure on the European front… we did not get to finish this game, but I am not sure if the Germans would have won this match.
Also, I have seen a lot of posts about using the Italians to attack Russia, and I just do not think that it is very feasible. Italy has so many things to worry about and so few resources to do them… in the 3rd scenario, the Axis (Italian) player was able to launch an attack into Russia through Persia, but it was easily crushed… there where just not enough resources to make the attack sustainable.
I think that there is some balancing in order here… Russia should not be able to defeat the Axis on their own with out significant help
I put Russia is too strong, but… as a second, I also believe italy is too weak…
I 100% agree.
The game needed a little tweeking. I feel the game was a little in favor of the Allies.
I agree with you… I think that Alpha 2 is better than the OOB, but still not balanced. In our gaming group, we are finding that the Allies are always winning.
Exactly what Polo Player said. Usually Germany doesn’t hit Russia until at least Turn 2. I would buy either :
- 9 Inf, 1 Mech, 1 Tank every turn or
- 12 Inf, save 1 IPC every turn or combination of both
You can always buy 8 Inf, 2 Tanks or 9 Inf, 2 Art every turn but I would recommend building at least 9 Inf every turn so soak off losses. I like the 9 Inf, 1 Mech, 1 Tank every turn as it gives you a lil more mobility and a lil firepower if you need it w/your fast movers but you need at least 9 Inf every turn. Remember, your Inf are @ 2, instead of most of Germany’s Inf firing @ 1.
why mechs?
They get to the front faster.
The US declares war on the collect income phase of the 3rd turn.
This means that as soon as war is declared, all of the national objectives for the war time economy kick in, and the US gets their bonus money at the end of the 3rd turn. Keep in mind, you cannot actually attack until the 4th turn.
The Russian turtling strategy is tough… while I think that it can eventually be overcome in a long game, it basically takes a quick European victory off the table for the Axis.
The more games that I play, the more value I see in the Germans buying naval units in the Baltic sea to threaten the UK. Even if you don’t go for an operation Sea Lion, I think that the fleet is helpful in keeping the UK off balance, and at the very least it helps facilitate a northern attack against the Russians on G3 (and it strengthens the Italian position in the med).
I think that the benefits of buying naval units on G1 outweigh the advantage of the Major IC (and you only have the resources to do one or the other). I think that the best bet is to buy fleet on G1 and mech inf on G2 to hit Russia on G3.
I know that there has been some debate on the board about whether it is worthwhile to attack Russia with the Japanese; however, if the Russian player is adopting a total turtle strategy I say hit them from the East.
If they are truly turtling 100% in Moscow then the Germans can also race past Moscow with a handful of tanks to grab territories. This is assuming the Russians pulled back the far east troops as well.
A smart Russian player will fall back slowly and stay one territory away from the main German stack. As they fall back to Moscow, they will leave one inf behind in each territory, forcing the Germans to engage combat in each territory and effectively taking away the blitz. While the Germans may eventually be able to blitz around Moscow and head east, I don’t think that it would be possible to pull this off before turn 7 or 8 at the earliest.
Yeah, while France is in the game, they REALLY do not play much of a role in the overall outcome of the War. If you liberate them, they become a playable faction once again and get bonus troops in Paris… being that France goes after the UK and the US, they can help reinforce allied gains in Western Europe.
I think that the Major IC is only worthwhile if you are doing an “all-in” Barbossa strategy (one that does not involve buying a fleet with the Germans on G1).
In our last game, the German player did a standard CV, 2 Transports buy with the Germans on G1 to force the UK to pull everything back in defense in London. The second turn he bought a major IC in Romania and attacked Russia on G3. While the Major IC was helpful, he used too many resources early game between the Fleet buy and the Major IC and was not able to topple Moscow before the US was fully in the war.
I think that the Alpha 2 setup makes the Major IC buy helpful, but not necessary. If you are aggressive with the Germans and capture the Minor ICs in Russia, you can pump out all the tanks that you need in the later turns with your newly captured IC’s. Again, if you are going with a true Barbossa, I think that buying the Major IC is only worthwhile if you forgo buying any fleet on German G1.
When the Russians pull back to Moscow and turtle all of their forces, it makes it makes it extremely hard for the Germans to deliver the quick knock out blow against the Allies. Even if the Germans are extremely aggressive in the early game with a turn 2-3 Barbossa, it can be very hard to crack Moscow by the 6th turn… the effect is that it gives the US an opportunity to really get into the war and make life miserable for Germany on the western front.
Here are a couple of things that I think helps topple Russia:
Do not bother with buying a Major IC with Germany in Romania - I don’t think that it is worth the money
When launching Barbossa, take the Southern Route as quickly as possible… once you grab the national objectives in the south (controlling Cacuses) you will generally be producing double what the Russians are pumping out.
Strategic bomb Moscow - This may not be possible if the Russian player is stacking fighters there, but if you get the opportunity it is worthwhile.
I know that there has been some debate on the board about whether it is worthwhile to attack Russia with the Japanese; however, if the Russian player is adopting a total turtle strategy I say hit them from the East.
I would go with the UK, followed by the US as the hardest nations to play. Both nations are challenging because each has to adopt a reactive strategy to what the Axis players do in the first few rounds.
Depending on how successful the Germans are in the first turn, the UK is forced to make some hard choices with VERY limited resources in the Atlantic… do you cripple the Italian fleet and try to slow the Axis advance in Africa, or do you pull back to the North Atlantic and challenge the German fleet in the Baltic (or prevent a Sea Lion if that is what the German player is trying)? In the Pacific, you have to react to the Japanese strategy also… if Japan is going India crush you have to hunker down and try to buy as much time as you can. If there is not an India crush, then your goal is to help the Chinese by keeping the Burma Road open, while trying to grab up territories in the South Pacific with a very limited surface fleet.
The US is challenging because the way that they allocate resources after turn 3 can make or break the allies war effort. The US has an abundance of resources, but they must split them on two fronts… if the Axis are winning in one theater, then it is up to the US to tip the balance of power back to the Allies. If you are up against a skilled Axis team that uses Japan to put pressure on the US’s interests in the Pacific, while the German/ Italy combo are putting major pressure on Russia, then you have a very tough decision indeed!
@Trisdin:
I am seriously considering attacking all the reachable US ships on J1. If I don’t, I feel I will be giving the US time (to build up) money (NOs) and position (consolidated fleet).
Be careful attacking America too early in the Global game. Granted, the earlier that Japan attacks the greater the advantage that they have against the Pacific allies; however, an early attack not only bring America into the war against Japan, but against Germany/ Italy as well.
A J1 attack would allow America to start invading Africa on US2, and start pushing into the med on US3 and 4… this would be devastating for the Axis in Europe. Germany and especially Italy need as much time as possible to make early gains against Russia/ Africa respectively. If the US is allowed to enter that early, Russia should have no trouble holding back the Germans and it will be a quick game for the Axis.
In my group’s Global games, the best thing that the Japanese can do is force the US to devote its resources into the Pacific theater rather than the European. If Japan can put pressure on the US and force it to take its eye of Europe, this will give Germany and Italy the time they need to topple Russia. For that reason, I suggest attacking on J3 (at the earliest) or J4 to give your allies time to do their thing. If you are playing a straight Pacific 1940, I see no reason not to attack on J1 or J2.