Posts made by jiman79

Great scenario, not that uncommon either.

How would an all out attack turn out

saying UK: 20 inf 5 art 5 arm against GER: 40 inf 15 arm
Then you would probably take out 20 inf (17 says my statistics, but you probably have some air that could be used in round 1 of combat).

Then you leave it to USSR to take out 20 inf 15 arm and say 5 jap figs with 27 inf and 17 arm this is a 50-50 battle if the USSR also has a few figs to bring.
If a huge Jap stack will move within striking distance then can’t see how even a succesfull attack can prevent Russia from falling next turn.

The option of advancing is intriguing, but it is hard to give that advice without knowing the situation in Europe exactly. Best case would mean that both Russia and Germany falls, which would still mean that the game is open.

Retreat to Russia is the safe play - as long as it is Germany that captures Caucasus, you might be able to recover. It is all depending on the general situation - how is the IPC balance? - what is the US doing?
Retreating might actually make the German overspend a bit to reinforce the front with 4 units in Cauc, which could be what will make him lose Germany.

So retreat or advance is what I would do.

I have been glancing through the boards looking for a good article on KJF (Kill Japan First) in 42, without finding that golden recipe.

As I see it it is possible to perform an opening something like this:

R1
Buy 3 inf 3 arm
hit WR maybe Ukraine
2 inf to sinkiang
Stack Bury with 6 inf
Place 3 armor in Cauc

UK1
IC in India
Kill Jap Transp with carrier
Consider hitting FIC instead of Egypt (If FIC attack fails badly IC could be placed in SA)
Get some air to cauc to clear the med and help in asia

US1
Well depends on results - Pacific navy builds
Sinkiang IC

The goal is to push Japan of the mainland and for US navy to land in east indies+Borneo and setup ICs and pin the Japan navy.
Doing this, while the russian front holds against Germany, means that the Allies will be cruising towards IPC dominance and an easy win.

I realize that this is not an optimal strategy - the counter is simply for Germany to push hard towards Moscow and quickly USSR will be in big trouble. But sometimes it is just fun to try some other variations to a standard KGF stalemate.

Does any of the more experienced players have better tactics for implementing a KJF strategy?

Seems like you understand it

low luck 6 tanks vs 6 tanks would go like this:

round 1:
Att 3 hits - Def 3 hits

Round 2: 3 tanks vs 3 tanks

Attacker rolls 1 dice if 3 or below: 2 hits otherwise 1 hit
Defender rolls 1 dice if 3 or below: 2 hits otherwise 1 hit

Round 3 then depends on the outcome of round 2, but the attacker of course has the advantage of retreat if the dice roll was bad.

I usually play standard rules - low luck forces me to think too much - thereby making the game take much longer time  :-D

Another thing that is different in low luck is that you never score many hits in one roll - it is always the average +/-1 this means that it is fairly easy to bring air units without risking them being shot down. This changes especially the eastern Europe land swapping.

Have any of you tried to play at gametableonline?
There is a small activation fee and it costs a few cents to play by e-mail, but I pay happily, since I find it working quite well.

There is also some very good players around.

I usually play with a 1 inf German bid in Africa.

I agree with the list of risky battles that in case of the attacker getting diced seriously alters the game being:

USSR:
Any western attack (WR/Ukraine/Norway)

Germany:
Egypt (including BB vs destroyer for amphib landing)
SZ2 (loosing air and leaving the BB in the atlantic is a serious blow for Germany)
Gibraltar cruiser (loosing 2 G figs here is also a disaster)

UK
Egypt counter
Baltic navy (don’t loose air here either)

Japan
SZ52
Bury
China

US

• can’t really loose the game on first round dice, however although a sz52 counter can go very bad if attempted.

The game as I see it is balanced, but with more early round risks on the axis side, that is why I prefer an extra inf in Libya

Thank you for another great article Hobbes.

What do you think about only attacking west russia in the first round?
Not my favourite, but I have seen it a lot and like it in IRL games, since the outcome is very certain allowing for the game to start balanced. For the same reason I hate the triple attacks - leaving so much to first round dice chance is just not my favourite way of determining a strategy game.

I prefer the WR+Ukraine attack.
Often I do end up in a situation with (for instance) 3 russian armor left after a round of combat against the german fig.
What do you prefer to do in that situation - withdraw the armor to Cauc, or kill the fig?

I also favor the med AC over the BB.
Especially if the USSR build a sub with the intention of whiping out the med fleet - this sub will then almost be a waste of money, meaning that the ground unit balance does not tip dramatically in favor of USSR.

Only problem is you have to stay put in Italy unable to land in Egypt G1.

Especially if there are transports involved you may want to protect them at all costs.
Then it makes good sense sometimes to take the carrier first.

I have a follow up question in the same category.
What if there is a place to land the figs, but this territory is also to be attacked in the same round.
Will the figs then be able to land there and take part of the defense - or will they be lost (with only taking place in the naval battle) if the territory is lost?

@Speusippus:

In a game I’m playing right now, G has a fighter and bomber on Norway, a sub in sea zone 2, two subs in sea zone 7, and a Bomber in Germany.

(Also two fighters in Western Europe, so SZ8 is covered as well.)

That’s in round just after Germany’s move.

Is there something I can put in SZ2 that can’t get killed by all that? It’s 17 attack points, 6 pips.

If I’m doing the math right the best I can do is a carrier (land the two fighters on it*) and two destroyers. But that’s not enough–not even close.

To be clear: as is usual, UK has no navy whatsoever at this point other than a transport off the Canadian coast.

*Is this legal? I haven’t been sure. Gametableonline’s A&A 1942 allows it, but I know they had to play a little lose with fighter landing rules because of some earlier bugs. I THINK it’s legal because the rule is I have to be able to show how my fighters could land before the end of my turn. If I put my two fighters in SZ2, I can show it’s possible for them to land before the end of my turn by pointing to my bought carrier and saying “I can put that under them during my new unit placement phase.” If it’s not legal, then things are even worse for UK!

If you insist on a KGF tactic, I would probably buy 1AC 2DD. I don’t like the figs to Russia strategy.

I would then place 1AC + 1DD with the addition of a UK and US fighter on the AC in SZ2
The last DD I would put in SZ8 to block the two subs - now youre odds against 2 bombers + 2 figs + 1 sub  against 1 sub (I assume you have the USSR sub otherwise you really got diced on G1) + 1DD + 1 AC + 2 fig is 63 - 37.
I would perhaps live with these odds. Average is you take 2 subs + 2 figs with you. Next round you could merge with US fleet in SZ8 wipe out remaining subs and get a transport chain going - but this is much more difficult in 42.

Very helpfull discussion on strategy - I was following it for a game where I play Axis and it worked out well  :-D

For the G1 non-combat turn do you not usually move the Algeria inf+arm to Libya?
It was not explicitly mentioned in the G1 non-combat.
I always do it to be able to retake Egypt?

Do you guys keep them in Algeria to absorb US landing???

Hard to say - all depends on the magnitude of the threat from Germany.

Going full KGF with a pretty standard German opening round means that the sea zone next to Algeria is threatened by 2 subs 3-5 figs and a bomber.

I almost always buy an AC + Destroyer.
Maybe also a Fighter (UK maybe require 1-2 figs on their AC).
this leaves room for 1 transport + 1 tank

I often land in Algeria with 4 units round 1 - meaning I sacrifice the two transports.

Giving me the possibility to move in next with AC + 2 figs + cruiser +2 dd and maybe join up with the UK navy.

Germany can beat this, but not likely without substantial losses, if they do my next buy will be similar, and reach Europe together with the pacific battleship.