Posts made by MikeMasino

For the Asian conflict, the goal typically is to stop the Japanese from producing on the mainland, then ruining their navy/income, though that occurs mostly due to the Americans.  The UK Indian fleet can be a huge assest to me in this case, because it can make opportunist attacks and still defend itself from air.

The Russians I’ll have be pressure on Manchuria - though not on the coast, unless I’m pretty safe there - and get aggressive when I have good chanes against the Germans.

I don’t typically put up any ICs when I play the full board.  India requires too much commitment from the European theater for my liking, and Australia produces too little (and still too much mony for me to spend there).  I find the US income more effective at keeping Japan in check, and still able to put men on the ground in the Atlantic.  If Japan has a grand successful Asian campaign, though, they can outspend my American fleet turn after turn and I have difficulty keeping them in check at this point, necessetating use of blockers/keeping out of range of their fleet.

I find much of the Triple A community to be more abrasive than you described!

I dislike playing solely VE/VJ (I don’t even like the K terms, I stick to the real ones)

So, on to playing both theaters:

As Russia, I typically hit West Russia R1, and not getting too aggressive that turn.  AS UK1 I gather the Indian and Australian fleet with 2 Aussie land units in the SZ south of India.  May or may not hit the Kwangtun trannny with a plane (depends if I want that plane on my carrier, and the fate of Egypt.  Land token UK force in norway (smashing any German air if possible, you usually see 1 ftr/bmr there) or France, if available, or merely build navy in the SZ off France.  This allows my American transports to stage off Canada unless the Germans keep a bomber in France. 
With the Americans, if the UK keeps th seas clear, I’ll put up a token transport force. relying on UK navy to protect it.  3-4 transports, often will stage in Canada to move to UK fleet protection or Algeria.  US 1 sees a transport build on the east, US 2 the next transport, if I didn’t lose any, and land units to fill it.  May replace tanks with art on those trannies if I need a couple dollars to fill out a Pacific fleet.  If my bombers had no targets of opportunity westward, they often fly to UK.  If Egypt survived, or is taken back by UK2 with that Indian fleet, (a typical move of mine) I’ll use the US bombers to bag whatever remains of a med fleet.  The US replaces a bomber whenever lost, to have a min of two.

In the Pacific, the US spends whatever income is left after the Atlantic, in many cases when the transports in the Atlantic are not on shore, it can be my full income.  I typically don’t begin moving to threaten islands until I have a comparable American fleet, or I can fly-swat Jap planes and avoid ships/place a blocker.  If the UK Indian navy is tied in the Med or nailed by the Japs, the Americans will take any high-value islands/land back that it can safely reach.  If the Japs built ICs, well, I consider that the best that can happen, as I wil force them to drop money into the water.  If they build heavy navy, I have to stay clever and outmove them, or even drop a WUS sub buy/bmr buy to lure them into attacking my fleet/keep my fleet safe.

Redhunter, that is slightly incorrect.  If the original owner has lost their capitol to the enemy, and you ‘liberate’ one of their other territories from the enemy, you take that territory’s income, and can use their IC, etc.  If the original owner still has their capitol, then, indeed, the territory is liberated back to the original owner.  To my knowledge, the USA cannot go and nab Canada unless they have been taken first by the Axis, as the original post suggested.  It does seem a bit funny w/ regards to the Dutch territories, but if I recall correctly, the manual states that the UK and ANZAC consider themselves the protectors of those Dutch islands - changing that logic ever so slightly.  The US wouldn’t say they protect Canada, just that they’re our hat :-D

Sorry, I was too lazy to look at a map to confirm.  The SZ I speak of is 2 moves directly south of the Indian fleet, and 2 SZ directly west of the Australian fleet.  If you manage to have a surviving ftr from Egypt, and the ftr that sinks the Kwangtung tranny, lands in China, and if it manages to survive, rejoins that fleet… that Indian fleet becomes more than a mere nuisance.  2 loaded transports are able to hit many islands,  That Australian sub suddenly becomes much more deadly in this situation.  Also, if you deplete Australia of its troops but not India, an IC in India becomes more reasonable with a fleet protecting it.

Good points Gargantua.  I had a game where the Italians managed to stall a sizable American fleet by trading Gibraltar.  I have always been a fan of sub buys as any power… assuming the Americans put 2/3 of their income in the Atlantic, that is 50 some ipc’s being spent on navy.  The Italians that beat me down in Africa were making 40 ipc’s a turn after objectives.  Would a Gibraltar fleet stall combined with most Italian money going into subs and aircraft (subs that can still pass the straight, and be taken as cheap hits) be enough to handle that American fleet, or cause it to retreat?  It can be a bitch for them if they need to return home to repair their cap ships because the can’t hold on to that naval base.  Just a thought - this assumes the Americans don’t put all money to the Atlantic (which would cause the Japs to run amok anyway), and that the Americans are spending this money on more than combat ships - such as trannies and ground units.  Thoughts?

In previous iterations of Axis and Allies, time was always on the Allies’ side.  If the Axis failed to expand enough by several rounds in, that economic advantage kicks in and a war of attrition could grind the Axis down eventually.  Is it me, or is G40 an even faster race against the clock?

I had an opponent play a conservative Germany with early buys heavy on infantry, slowly adding some aircraft and tanks as the rounds progressed.  Italy nabbed nearly all of Africa except the British complex in SA, not to mention getting income touching 40 at their high point, and by round 8 the Germans captured Moscow, as well as nearly all of Russia with some far eastern help from the Japs - though the Germans lost 30+ troops and literally had a tank, tac and ftr remaining in all the USSR.

Despite all this success, The U.S. were kicking Japan’s can all over the Pacific, those crafty Chinese sprouted like weeds, and my UK retook the Asian mainland and were preparing to fight over the remains of Russia.  The U.S. had enough cashmoney to build a Pacific fleet, liberate much of Africa, cap a German fleet (2 cv’s, bb, dd strong) and begin landing operations in Europe.

What crafty things have you Axis players done to counteract the Americans?  In my game (2nd global I’ve played so far) the Japanese failed at putting good pressure on the Pacific and the Americans.  Is this the key ingredient to keep them from stomping all over Europe?  Is a German leet/bomber or two a turn an exercise in futility vs. the American economy?  The Allies won the above game but man was it a hell of a battle.

While the UK gets the most action in both theaters, the Russians play a pivotal role in the early game.  Make a careless blunder or two, and the Axis could potentially stomp you.  I voted the U.S. though, as one person stated, because you almost dictate Allied strategy once you’re in the war.  UK Atlantic needs a covering fleet for its transports?  Africa needs liberating?  IJN looks too menacing anywhere in the Pacific?  The Americans can dedicate resources to all of the above.

I find three moves typically useful, depending on some factors:

If I forsee a British IC in India (with Russian support) then that fleet can combine in SZ 30 with the Aussies and their loaded transport and dodge the Jap fleet in the East Indies.  This allows some flexibility in future turns, especially if that IC produces some navy (though costly enough to prevent UK money from flowing into the Atlantic).  I had this strat used against me once where a particularly well-fought and risky naval battle on UK 3 actually tagged 2 Jap carriers and my 3 transports.

As McLovin’ pointed out, nabbing Borneo can offer the UK substantial cash flow for a turn or two at the cost of that Indian navy.  I’ve run that a few times, and used that money in the Atlantic as part of an overall KGF.  That move certainly marks your fleet for death, but its a pain in the dick for Japan to have to go out of it’s way to handle that island.

If the Japs don’t seem to be going for an immediate India push (which is rare in my experience), I like using that fleet to retake Egypt as someone stated previously, as well.

If you haven’t staged in SZ 30, you should give it a shot, it’s a surprisingly tough move to counter, and can always turn itself towards Africa, expecialy with the troops from Austrailia and India to land anywhere.

P.S. I think it’s SZ 30, it’s the one where the Jap ftrs can reach but not their bb/cv

Well written.  The cheapest naval unit, the submarine, can have a devastating (albeit lucky) effect if chosen last as a casuality, as one successfully nailed my sinking battleship, my last naval unit escorting several transports - preventing a 2/3 chance of me simultaneously sinking the last remaining enemy naval unit - sneak attacks can be devastating.

I enjoyed reading that… perhaps some of those ‘low luck’ proponents on Triple A are missing some of the most crucial aspects of the game.  The Joy, as you put it, is lost on those who are poor sports.

Me, however - you’re preaching to the choir.