Best posts made by M36

Hello A&A.Org crowd. I used to be a regular on the forums and avid gamer many years ago, but dropped off due to various life commitments. Now I find myself in possession of this wonderful thing called Axis and Allies 1940 so here I am again to peruse the thoughts of strategy masters.

An aggressive UK player can virtually eliminate the Italians from the game on UK1. This is dependent, however, on the Germans and if they give indication of a Sea Lion or not. I typically purchase a transport, infantry and artillery for South Africa first, and use my remaining 14(global) or 15(Europe) IPCs for navy or air in the Atlantic because Germany has typically decimated the available forces on their first turn.

IF the Germans make no Sea Lion preparations you can send the entire RAF from London to strike the Italian battleship (The Taranto raid). The fighters can land on the carrier, because you will need to bring the navy parked at Egypt as well to discourage a scramble. Don’t get too attached to that Mediterranean navy because it won’t last long, but the blow delivered to the Italians makes its loss worth it. The combat strength of the UK in this attack is 15 with 6 units, and the Italians have a strength of 7 with 2 units or 19 with 5 units made possible by a full scramble supported by Germany. Not the best odds, but still a good battle for UK because you are killing valuable units. They don’t stand a chance without the scramble, so the Italians might scramble their two planes which is even better because you get to kill the Italian Air Force. Even if the Germans send planes to scramble I make this attack because it’s one of the few opportunities to chip away at the Luftwaffe which gives the Germans enormous flexibility.

With the cruiser in SZ 91 (assuming it wasn’t sunk by the Germans which in many cases it won’t be) I usually strike the Italian fleet at Malta. I will throw in the fighter from Gibraltar for good measure and land him on Malta. The Malta fighter can either support the Taranto raid or be used in an assault on Tobruk.

The Tobruk battle is perhaps the most important one on UK1. Italy has 3 Inf, 1 Art, 1 Mec, and 1 Tank to face off against the British forces in Alexandria totaling 2 Inf, 1 Art, and 1 Tank. Poor odds for the Brits. Wait a minute, you have a Mec in Cairo that can make it into the battle, and the transport in SZ 98 can’t be used for fighting the Italian fleet so load up an Inf and Art for amphibious assault! Now we have a combined UK strength of 3 Inf 1 Art 1 Mec and 1 Tank, which is equal to the Italian force. Now this isn’t enough to take the territory without exceptional dice, so we need more forces. Well here’s where the Malta fighter and the Tactical Bomber from SZ 98 come in. I’ll bet you were wondering why he wasn’t in the Taranto raid. So the UK now has a total combat strength of 20 with 9 units against the Italian force of 6 units and a strength of 13. Good odds, and as a reminder the British can replace lost forces fairly quickly, while the Italians cannot.

This is my standard opener for the UK and it effectively knocks Italy into irrelevance. They are reduced to only one weak fleet, and only 2 units in North Africa.

@Sgt-Mclusky Unlike previous renditions of A+A I find that AA40 has so many options and paths to victory that were still playing it and seeing new strategies in my group. Granted I was late to the party with this version so I don’t have years of experience, but we do play an awful lot, and almost never see the same game twice.

@Guam-Solo From reading the forum I have deduced that I am a highly unconventional Allied player, therefore I disagree wholeheartedly with everything you have said. 😆 I take issue with the first word on two of three points: Defense.

Defense of London: Obviously it’s a huge blow to lose ones capitol, but is it sometimes worth it to generate an overall Allied victory? Think about it, if you dump too many IPCs on defensive units you will find you have a nice shield but no sword. Now you don’t want to give up UK too cheaply to the Germans, but I still advocate for a “just barely enough” defense to make taking UK costly for Germany, but not an impregnable fortress. Also, if London falls then the Russians and Americans both get to declare war on Germany.

Defense of the Atlantic: I can’t disagree with you here. The Atlantic is the Anglo American ocean. Don’t let those Krauts gain any “ground” there because “nibbling” at Germany becomes impossible, and the US retaking London is very difficult if they must first establish Sea superiority.

Defense of Egypt’s: Attack attack attack. Until I am shown some super strategy that’s a 100% guaranteed success I will always say attack those Italians before they get to move. Build troops and a transport for S.Africa and even an Egyptian complex to crush Italy. UKs economy is three times the size of Italy’s. Show those pastafarian chaps that the sun never sets on the British empire.

I will call my playbook once I have completed it the “Allied book of Banzai” 😂

Wow I’m seeing lots of neat new strategies here. The G1 Carrier purchase that many seem to agree as a standard for Germany would make me the laughing stock of my group, until they saw an actual Sea Lion attempt, which we virtually never do. Typically I have had great success with a throwback to A&A Classic: The IPM. The Luftwaffe can give the infantry plenty of attack power, but the problem is they are slow so a G1 or G2 Barbarossa is essential. Has anyone else had success with the classic infantry march to Moscow?

Im seeing quite a few recommendations of a 1st turn purchase of an aircraft carrier and destroyer even if just to bluff a sea lion. Doesn’t this leave you with a very thin 2nd wave for Barbarossa on G2? Has anybody had a successful Barbarossa with a G1 fleet purchase?

I have some fairly strong allied strategies, primarily for UK that I will have to summarize in a form of playbook. They’ve all been tried against me or used by me with good success rates and tend to keep the Allies competetive. When in doubt, Attack!

@Guam-Solo Wow, sounds like en epic battle. Germany took out both SZ111 AND 110? When I’ve done this I find myself spread a bit too thin and the Luftwaffe takes casualties due to scrambles. That’s actually a win for UK if you trade your fleet for German planes because it reduces their strategic flexibility. As mentioned Canada is the best spot to start building ships. If the Luftwaffe is in range they will just get sunk every round for minimal German casualties.

I’m curious about you’re statement that the fighters from UK couldn’t reach the action in the Mediterranean. Even if they’re guaranteed to be lost should the carrier have to take a hit I always send them. Trading UK planes for Italian ships is a positive for the Allies, because you can build more fighters, while the Italians can’t build ships.

@AldoRaine I like it, but I have questions. No attack on Tobruk? Italy still has two transports, so they can drop four units into Trans Jordan or Alexandria giving the Italians ten units to crack Egypt, (And sieze Iraq) plus the three coming up from Ethiopia. Can enough reinforcements reach Cairo UK 2 to prevent its capture?

Well naturally almost every allied plan is an “if, then” plan. The openers I propose are ones that typically work regardless of what the Axis are doing.

@chernobylime This is incorrect. Air and Naval units are full participants in combat just like land units, with a couple exceptions.

1. Naval Bombardment: Sea Units eligible for bombardment only fire once

2. Strategic Bombing: Intercepting and Escorting fighters only fight for one round of combat.

Did I miss anything Panther?

@taamvan I find that J1s consequences aren’t felt in the Pacific as much as they are in Europe. USA is sufficiently far away that Japan can take all the money islands and achieve near parity with them quickly as Weddingsinger outlines. Germany, however, has to consider American troops in Africa by round 2.

@crockett36 I would argue the complete opposite. Attack where the enemy is not is what the art of war recommends no? If you’re playing for victory cities then ignore fortress Moscow.

@Argothair Precisely my point earlier. If UK commits every plane to Moscow immediately then the Germans have a leg up taking London and the Italians can take Cairo.

@Panzer-V I also play solely with a group of friends and find that contrary to the consensus on the forums, the Allies are hardly at a massive disadvantage. This could simply be as a result of playing with a group of equally skilled opponents who know how you think, therefore granting an immediate advantage to the defender, the Allies.

Everything changes when you’re playing an opponent you don’t know.

@DCWhat My friends and I have tried a 1939 setup that we came up with in the original Axis and Allies Europe map. Countries started with virtually no militaries or IPCs and had to “political action” cards which dictated what they could do i.e. purging the red Army, violating the Washington treaty etc. Was a lot of fun but took simply forever to work out the kinks.

@aequitas-et-veritas Thank you, I’m glad to be back after many years absence. 😁 If I ever have enough time I will have to try some of the forum games, as I only have the experiences of my group to base my opinions on. We have taken to playing China much like the Soviets, with one big fighting withdrawal/delaying action, and adopted an aggressive UK/ANZAC to keep Japan busy playing whack a mole. While the overall strategy remains the same it’s always a challenge coming up with fresh tactics since we all know each other and our playing styles. So far the Allies are generally able to hold on by the skin of their eyelids until the sleeping giant arrives on the scene to find a very spread out Japan. That is why I always advocate aggression. Any Japanese attack that does not take them closer to Calcutta or Sydney is considered a success.

@simon33 I see your points. In my experience however ANY additional turns Japan spends fighting in China is a benefit to the Allies.

@RedRyder01 The national production is not necessarily the same as the available IPCs a power has. In the scenario you provided Japan does not take any IPCs from the Chinese player, but rather their production ability. Japan will collect an additional 4 from the “bank” on their collect income phase. China will still start their turn with 12 IPCs, but in their collect income phase they will receive 8 IPCs assuming they did not take any territories back. I hope that helps.

@weddingsinger Sound advice, so I’ll put you down as a no for infantry purchases? I find that my infantry screen has been melted away by Bryansk and Smolensk, and the Russians get to trade infantry for mechs and tanks in the final battles. This is especially true if I divert some troops to the Balkans. My vision is to have a stack of 30 infantry attacking Moscow with Air support. This would prevent the heavy ipc damage of losing a stack of tanks and having little left after Moscow.