sz15 can be attacked with 2 fig 1 bom, vs 1 bb 1 cru 2 tran the odds are
61% all G units dead
15% only 2 trans left
17% BB + 2 trans left
7% all G units survive
This is asuming that the UK destroyer at sz17 was killed with G air on G1.
Either Germany needs to buy more navy to protect the BB, or it must either attack Egypt G1 or take Gibraltar on G1.
Otherwise it will be possible for the UK to launch a solid attack.
@Mallery29 thabj you very much for your post.
You describe a KJF strategy, where USSR is left with very little support against the Germans, and Russia will fall early. Usually that means game over in older versions of the game (balance simply tipped to much).
I guess I better get used to, that it is not a race for Moscow or Berlin anymore.
What puzzles me is the positioning of the US at Solomon, this typically means that my US fleet is out of reach for all Japan units except bombers in Japan and Carrier based fighters, since I would expect Japan to have its navy shuttling sz60 and sz36.
But do I then stay in Solomon untill the US navy is strong enough to take on the Japanese and then go for Borneo or Phili? Problem is that i do not threaten Tokyo from Solomon.
The atlantic navy build up and shuck strategy from US 2 is also quite crucial - you want to take surviving US navy units to the pacific. Why not land in French West Africa if the G subs and bomber is out of reach?
I guess the optimal shuck strategy is E. Canada -> Norway/Finland and from there to go one can hit everything in Western Europe?
@Zhukov
I agree the 6 IPC tank price makes it almost all inf/art for Russia.
And I do agree that with the extra land zones in western Europe, there should be a “soft spot” somewhere. But still UK will probably only land up to 6 inf, and the US I guess will not build up to be the same KGF monster as in 42,1, so Germany can probably allow Allied landings and then counter with a superior number of units, making the invasion very cost-ineffective.
But I have to play more, to see how this works out.
In general I find it much harder to play Allies in this version, since the balance is tipped much toward Axis. There is simply very little room for Allied mistakes and it is so easy to make them, when US and UK has to fight a 2 front battle and the fleet mobilization in the atlantic is very risky.
I seriously need some advice on, how to play the Allies in this edition. It seems the Axis are in great shape from the beginning, and both G and/or J can steamroll towards Moscow.
Does Allies need a bid?
I have been searching for a strategy article, without any luck.
Is there some general good advice on how to play the Allies? Is it still valid to go W.Russia + Ukraine on R1
Does the UK buy air in GB + ground units in India untill a navy can be established+merged with US (or save up for 2-3 rounds?)
I can imagine J often skips the sz53 (Hawaii seazone) attack. How can the US exploit this? Does the US go all Pacific or all Atlantic or a mix?
List of “new” problems for Allies with this version:
As I see most all Allied Navy around Europe is gone G1, and the new seazones around GB makes it impossible to “hide away” a minor UK navy and build it over several turns.
The UK is stuck with an India IC, which requires some investment if it is not to be overtaken by Japan very early.
Karelia now has an IC, which is a great gift for Germany :?
China + Sinkiang is now 4 1 IPC countries, so really no point for the US to try to build an Asian IC early on.
US shuck from E. Canada to N. Africa is now 1 extra seazone away - more transporters required!
List of “new” allied advantages with this version:
Egypt stronger, may hold til G2.
More UK navy in the pacific and a decent UK1 shot at the J navy in sz 37
More land zones in eastern Europe and Africa delays G conquering.
More land zones in Europe makes it difficult for G to use figs active against Russia as well as threatening UK/US navy
Landing of US forces in French West Africa is now possible. Is that a valid strategy early on to get the US closer to some action?
Seems to me like you do get the rule :-D
You have to wait a turn.
Blitzing is a combat move, where you blitz through an unoccupied territory and take it, either to engage in combat in an adjecent territory or to move (or return) to an adjecent friendly territory.
In your case your combat movement phase has ended, since you have already resolved combat in China. You can not take Sinkiang in this turn then, since it would be a combat move.
I have an hierarchy for the 5 major German moves/attacks, that goes kinda like this:
- Counter West Russia
- Stack Ukraine
- Stack Karelia
- Attack Egypt
- Attack SZ2
An average R1 will remove most of the top options for Germany but when it doesn’t I plenty of times skip attacking SZ2 and focus on other moves.
Even with a decent R1 west russia battle, you can pretty much stack Karelia every time, unless USSR also buys 3 arm. Do you consider 3inf 3 arm as the superior R1 buy?
You do get diced once in a while, but it is not necessarily game over G1 if sz2 or Égypt fails.
Germany can really be a tough nut to crack, and even if the German players dream of Africa and Moscow takes a serious blow on G1, he can really dig in and make it very difficult for the allies to get a foot in in Europe.
A chunk of armor in E. Europe, stacks of inf in western and Germany and an airforce threatening to take a shot at that essential transfer fleet can take a long time to crack.
When I feel I am behind, I often take more risks than usual - going for that 50% UK Navy battle, or making risky strafing attacks on an exposed USSR stack.
You can also try to advance faster with Japan - maybe try to take India J1 or by doing the risky pacific double move hitting both sz52 and the US battleship+transporter at the western us shore on J1.
I prefer playing face to face multiplayer games.
It is just more fun to play with real people, and preferably in teams, where you can discuss strategy etc…
When playing online I also like to play multiplayer games, especially when playing with good players (there I really feel I learn something).
However, it is often more difficult to set up a multiplayer game on GTO (where I play online), so it often ends up being just a quick 1v1 game.
It is not a scenario I have seen in my games. When I shuttle US troops through north Africa, I sometimes manage to take India but that is mainly with a USSR supported US stack.
But what was Japan doing? Even though Germany is a bit defensive against the Soviets, Japan should be able to either hold India, or realize it can’t pull back to FIC and retake India and maybe also Persia in the next round(depending on number of transports position of fleet etc.).
Unless as Bunnys states, Allies had already won the game.
Did Japan have a stack in Sinkiang or where were the Japanese units??
Yeah I have thought about strafing it, this move may bring troops quickly from Jordan to Caucasus and the armor could reinforce a british stack in Eastern Europe next round.
But this definately exposes the Egypt stack (which then should move to Congo)
Bunnies is right (I think this is what he implies) advancing the Egypt stack to Jordan while having a stack in Persia, that Japan can not take out, gives Japan something to think about.
He can probably not take out the Jordan stack and still keep control of India, and after India falls he has to worry about FIC, meaning he has to get that big fleet back to Japan for reinforcements.
If he stacks up in India then the (currently Egypt) US inf stack merges wth the armor stack in Persia, and this buys me another round or two before Japan can advance.
But I actually do not have to take this decision before I have seen the first round of combat.
Thanks for the response Bunnies, that was very usefull.
Its almost always about cracking Germany :-D , but your right in this game that won’t come anytime soon - the game seems to have found an equilibrium, luckily this is not a IRL game, then we would probably have to call it off due to lack of time.
I am very much in doubt on how to setup the US transport chain. Your suggesting with US going back to offloading in sz12 (Algeria) while moving the UK fleet to sz4 (Karelia/Arcangel).
I was also considering having US troops offloading in England (fleets in SZ2+SZ6) this would however mean abandoning Africa.
Your suggestion lets me get UK troops faster to the front while contesting Japan in Africa, the only drawback is that G does not have to worry about defending Germany. I think I will go with that.
With Japan (soon) having 5 bom+7figs the UK naval part (3dstr+car+fig) needs reinforcement (at least 1 fig but preferably also a US carrier so that additional figs can be added if Japan gets more units within range.
US needs to be able to handle the entire wrath of the Japanese airforce, which means I need 3 dstr, 4 car and 7/8 figs.
So the US buy should maybe be 3 figs+car this round and transports and a destroyer next round.
You are right about USSR arm in cauc (that is always sexy :) ) maybe a 2 arm, 6 inf, 1 art buy instead (one additional arm may come to cauc from Jordan).
Regarding Persia, Japan can counter with 11 inf 1 arm 2 fig 5 bomb.
US will probably have 4 art 13 arm and that is a very even battle - Japan should come out with 3 bombers or so.
But with very little reinforcement (an AA gun the UK inf in Jordan and maybe 2-3 USSR inf/lucky US inf survivors) this battle hugely favors Allies.
What is worse is the Egypt stack of 9 inf 2 art. Where to put and how to reinforce this stack?
UK kept marching towards Germany and also tried to take Balkan, but the lone inf made a hit and I decided to keep the bomber.
Japan took out the US ships in sz13 as anticipated, but without loosing a single fighter :x he also sacrificed a fig in balkan to keep Russia from blitzing Southern Europe. Japan marched into Persia, but also put 4 inf in Rodhesia to sweep Africa.
Japan also kept 2 additional bombers, which puts severe pressure on the atlantic fleet, but also leaves Japan quite weak in Asia regarding ground troops.
Now US and USSR has their turns with the board looking like this.
Europe:
MiddleEast:
Far East:
My plans:
Asia:
The stack in Asia is not strong enough - US can hit it with 13 inf, 4 art, 13 arm and 2 figs and probably only lose the ~13 inf. Japan does probably not have the power to retake Persia after that.
So I definately plan to take that out and advance with the Egypt stack to Jordant to pressure India.
USSR will also hit Yakut with 3 inf + arm.
Europe:
USSR will hit Balkan with 2 inf 2 fig, and use the remaining troops in Ukraine+Belo to strafe Eastern Europe.
USSR will move away west, so that Novo and Kazakh are near empty, reinforcing Ukraine and maybe also Persia.
Buys
US (45 IPC): Since Japan keeps buying air - the sz6 needs more defense, so something like 2 figs, 3 trns.
USSR (32 IPC): 9 inf, arm
Any comments/advice is highly appreciated :-)
@Uncrustable:
I almost always lose my med fleet by G2 no matter where it is.
Yes i give up africa, but its hard to keep anyhow and worth very little. Id rather save a tank and an INF then fight for africa.
Alot of game ive played where Germany took angloegypt, UK took it right back on UK1.
So i dont see the value of attacking anglo and losing all those units just to get a couple of IPCs.
Egypt is a must attack battle IMO.
Exceptions could be if you are buying additional German fleet in the med, trying to merge with atlantic fleet, or going for the kill instantly (if R1 went bad for allies).
Yes UK usually will take it right back and leave both Africa and the middle east with very few defending forces, so that Japan easily takes it all unless Allies invests heavily in Africa.
Letting the UK fighter survive leaves many possibilities for the UK to either really harrass Japan or just reinforce the atlantic fleet, so that it balances the threat from your air buy.
I think the buy is OK, additional air units can pay off by postponing allied landing while exchanging territories with USSR cost effectively, but this also depends on how well USSR did R1. Too few armor for Germany can be a problem it allows USSR to move forward stacking Ukraine or Karelia.
My opening German moves are exactly as Hobbes stated earlier, but what to buy G2 depends on how the war is progressing - not only if it is KGF/KJF but especially the outcome of battles (and buys) of USSR.
Approximate income for each power:
USSR: 32 (down 3 1 IPC countries in Sibiria, up WR, UKR, Belo and Balkans)
GER: 30 (What you see + Belo)
UK: 26 (down aus+nz+india+madagascar up Norway)
JAP: 46 (up aus, nz, madagasker, India, China, Sink, Hawaii, 3 IPC in Siberia, Persia)
US: 39 (up north Africa, down China, Sink, Hawaii) +6 for WE last round.
Thanks for the advice Hobbes and Bunnies.
@Hobbes:
Yup, you got diced badly there but the Allies in general look good although there is 1 problem with your strategy regarding the US - going through Africa is slow and risky because the Japanese eventually can block Persia and cause delays. The US units are also not available to crack holes in Europe and that’s one big reason why you’re having difficulties.
I agree that it is a slow strategy, but if USSR is doing well, the Africa route secures UKs income. If US goes to Norway as well, Japan will own Africa and this swings the IPC balance.
Another drawback is that the fleets (if they consist of joined forces) gets pinned down by the combination of German and Japan air.
Which Allied strategy regarding Atlantic troop transfer do you recommend?
Clearing Balkans to stack S. Eur. may be too risky - the Jap airforce looks like it can sink an US fleet moving to SZ14 - I’d be surprised if they don’t sink the US fleet on SZ13 on their next turn before it can land units.
The best way would probably be to keep the pressure on E. Europe - If the Japs attack SZ13 then Russia can crush E. Europe and the UK/US can hit again E. Europe after the German counter - your goal here is to reduce Germany as quickly as possible before hitting Berlin - you should have about 3 rounds to do so before Moscow falls.
I will clear Balkan, don’t know if I will sacrifice a bomber there though if the lone inf gets lucky, (maybe I should since this also gives the possibility to blitz Southern Europe).
I will not split my sz6 navy or attack Western Europe, but keep marching UK troops through Norway. Hopefully next UK turn they can take Eastern Europe as you state.
Moscow will not fall in 3 rounds (it is a 3 round walk from India), but if Japan advance now, I might consider hitting Persia with US to clear them out (that should be a close battle).
But what should I buy with the US - should I rebuild the transports and get another shuck going, switch to Strategic bombing of Germany or???
@Bunnies:
There is no point in “softening up” Western Europe. UK screws with Western Europe, Japan wipes out the US fleet south of Western Europe, and there is zero followthrough with either UK or US as far as I can tell from the screenshots. I don’t know what you mean by “feasibility IPC wise”.
The point of softening up western Europe should be to be able to keep southern Europe by moving both tank stacks, but I agree it is too risky. By unfeasible IPC wise I mean that UK will lose more IPCs on that battle than Germany.
@Bunnies:
Next turn, Russia takes Southern Europe with tank, and takes Eastern Europe in force or preferably strafes it. If Japan isn’t pressuring at Persia, Russia puts four tanks at Caucasus. Germany can counter or strafe; regardless, UK takes Eastern Europe for keeps next turn. Japan can move a fat stack up into Novosibirsk or Kazakh. US reinforces Eastern Europe. US moves fleet bought last turn to East Canada. Hopefully the Axis will have been pressured enough in the east to not have been able to put a bomber on Western Europe.
Now at this point Japan will have a huge chunk of fighters on Berlin, and you will have a bunch of Japs screwing around in Caucasus and near Moscow. You won’t have lost Moscow just yet, but it’s going to be a really nasty thing. If you strafed Eastern Europe successfully with Russia, and/or got lucky, you may have the resources to set up for a successful triple attack.
–
If neither side messes up badly, the game should last another 7-8 turns easily, but I would guess Axis victory in the end, due to economics and the players involved.
This is probably what I will do
Regarding the players involved I have won 18 of 23 games against this guy, but he is really improving (especially as axis).
Another Image including India:
BTW sz6 has 3 US carriers 1 US fig 4 dstr 1 UK fig 1 UK carrier 4 UK transports.
I an currently in a nice game I play allies - classic KGF, with Germany performing a very succesfull “Fortress of Europe” strategy.
US has been shuttling across Africa, UK through Norway. USSR is doing great with a strong stack in Ukraine. Japan controls everything in the pacific
I took a shot at western Europe with the US (6inf 4 arm 7 figs vs. aa gun 10 inf 2 fig) I got diced badly and lost 5 figs (4 to AA gun).
Germany recaptured and heavily reinforced western Europe in order to be able to take out my transports with Japanese figs in Eastern Europe.
Now it is UKs turn: Balkans could be cleared giving US+USSR a 1-2 punch against Germany or the possibility of a stack in Southern Europe.
UK can also attack Western Europe or Germany to soften it up, although this is propably not feasible IPC wise.
Any suggestion to how to proceed in this game?
Great post Bunnies.
Regarding a stack fighters in FIC - UK actually has a shot at them. Typically they can have 1 bom 1 fig and 2 or 3 inf from India against a stack of 3-4 fighters in FIC.
This is asuming FIC was not supported with Japanese infantry.
In this case I find it very tempting as UK, to try to hit the fighter stack (especially if it is only 3 figs) and hope to take out a couple of figs.
Especially if Germany is relying on reinforcements in Ukraine.
I realize it is a bit of a gamble, but the reward and the advantage of being able to retreat as the attacker makes it worth it, especially if Axis is of to a too good start.
If Germany missed badly in Ukraine, Egypt or sz2, then I would probably use my UK planes elsewhere (hit med battleship f.i.)
The odds for 1 round of combat 2 inf 1 fig 1 bom against 3 fig:
Jap loses:
0 fig: 11%
1 fig: 40%
2 fig: 35%
3 fig: 13%
UK loses:
0 inf: 3%
1 inf: 22%
2 inf: 45%
2 inf + fig: 31%
Seriously Guppers - “play for the money” was good advice.
If you have a few weeks of play against an AI you would probably know the power of a superior stack and the advantage of either taking and holding territories, or trading them cost effectively.
Understanding this simple balance in the game will win against many novice human opponents.
I have played several multiplayer games with allies who where missing basic understanding of the game. In those cases, games where easily lost if UK or US lost an atlantic fleet.
So two pieces of advice:
1. play cost effectively (buy plenty of infantry)
2. Do not lose the fleet
If you want to keep an IPC advantage over an axis opponent, Africa may be important in a long term game.
Targeting western europe from the beginning of a game is not a good strategy IMO. Get a shuck going landing in either Africa or Norway/Karelia/Archangel to support USSR. If (when) Germany exposes a weak territory (Western, Southern Europe or maybe Germany itself) then do the shift.
I think 42 is pretty well balanced.
Allied are a bit more difficult to play IMO, since it requires more coordination and forthsight to play especially the US effectively. Therefore axis may have a slight advantage.