Posts made by Spendo02

@wilk7011:

I have seen people reference ships in SZ105 a couple times now. I do not see anything on the set up charts that would have ships in SZ105. Can someone clarify this?

This is in reference to the DD and TT off of Canada.  I may have mistakenly put the incorrect SZ number in my write-up.

Given the ability for FTR to scramble over the DD and TT off of the UK, sending the SS to the DD/TT pair in Canada is better odds and serves to better isolate N.Africa and/or Gib from UK reinforcements for at least a round with a legitimate Sea Lion threat.

@wilk7011:

If you leave the UK BB damaged as you retreat, I assume UK fixes it by G2. How much do you send on G2 to finish it off and avoid possible scramble. Will UK normally combine the left over BB with the DD and transport in SZ109?

German planes on G2 are really flexible.  There is a NB in SZ 111 for the German fleet to repair, so you have options to attack and absorb some losses if the ships end up there.

It really depends on the situation and terrain.

Worst case scenario would be:
1. You lost the battle in SZ 105, the DD survived and sailed back to SZ 109
2. UK sailed CR back from SZ 91 to SZ 109
3. UK kept DD in SZ 109
4. UK moved the now-repaired BB to SZ 109
5. UK flew FTR from Gib to London or landed on the CV
6. UK has 3-4 FTR to scramble
7. UK bought and placed a CV in SZ 109.

That would be 2 DD, 1 CR, 1 BB, 1 CV and 3+ FTR (scramble + CV) in SZ 109.

I wouldn’t be too excited to lead the attack with a German fleet at that point. Although the movement out of the Med by the UK bodes well for the Italians to put some muscle out early and maybe 1-2 punch that fleet with their own ending a round and the Germans following them up.

This is why I’d rather trade planes to make sure their fleet is gone on G1 - otherwise they will be a constant annoyance in Europe until I deal with their fleet.  Left to their own devices, you will not break their Naval strength unless you take Moscow and can drop 10 SS and multiple SB to chase them away.

@taamvan:

They are referring to a “hit and run” attack, the same way you attack Yugoslavia.

In short, Germany does not want to trade planes with the UK once all non-destroyer ships in range have been sunk.

So, depending if the UK scrambles or not, you may have an opportunity to sink the three ships AND retreat the BB back to where you intend to place your CV, DD, SS and NCM in your CR and CV.  This would put a SS, DD, CV, CR, BB, 2 FTR in SZ 112 and up to three more FTR/TAC scrambling over them.

The UK would be ill served to attack this with just aircraft or maybe a destroyer as fodder for multiple rounds of purchases.  It also forces the UK to place ships in Canada due to the immediate threat and proximity of the German Navy.

To achieve this, you need the following to occur:
Score at a minimum 4 total hits (2 on BB, 1 on each CR) in the first round of throwing dice on your attack - a second round of combat could feasibly eliminate everything that remains.
Defender does not elect to save the BB by trading out FTR as losses.
Defending ships cannot score more than 2 hits - you take both SS as casualties.
Scrambled aircraft do not score more than 1 hit - you absorb that hit with your BB.

You could feasibly trade a FTR to save the BB for a retreat if the defender scores more hits - and it may be worthwhile to trade a FTR to save a BB for Germany - trading a 10 IPC unit to preserve a 20 IPC Naval unit is a logical and plausible consideration.  This is debatable, but in my mind a FTR isn’t very useful after maybe G2 or G3 (ARM will pump up your TAC in Russia anyways).  So you do have some wiggle room here in determining casualties.

A scenario like this would mean that all three defending ships are sunk and only scrambled FTR remain.  As the attacker you have the option after both sides have rolled dice and removed their casualties to retreat before rolling dice again.  This would be the time to retreat the BB to SZ 112, which will repair at the beginning if your next turn.

This opportunistic move will make your fleet dangerous wherever it goes with no Allied naval strength remaining in the Atlantic.  Especially if you combine SB/SS purchases after G3 that can threaten naval fleets in a suicide mission to sink a flotilla of ships sitting off of Gib late in the game.

The added bonus is that SB can typically get back into the Russian theater quickly, so they act as a spearhead on two fronts for multiple turns - deterring the placement of an allied fleet off the UK or off of Gib while constantly being in striking range of a Russian stack that decided to make a stand against the German advance.

This is my standard Germany opener WITHOUT an Allied Bid.

Purchase:
1 Carrier
1 Destroyer
1 Sub

Combat:
Normandy - 96% Odds, Avg 3 Units Remain (1 INF, 2 ART)
2 INF (Holland)
2 ART (Holland)

France - 98% Odds, Avg 8 Units Remain (1 TAC, 6 ARM, 1 MECH)
2 INF (Holland)
3 INF (WGr)
4 MECH (WGr)
1 ART (WGr)
3 ARM (Holland)
3 ARM (GSGr)
1 TAC (Poland)
Yugoslavia - 100% Odds, 13 Units Remain (7 INF, 2 ART, 3 ARM, 1 FTR)
6 INF (GSGr)
2 INF (Hungary)
1 INF (Romania)
2 ART (GSGr)
3 ARM (Poland, Hungary & Romania)
1 FTR (Hungary)

SZ110 - 100% Odds No Scramble, 96% Odds Full Scramble; 8/5 Units Remain Depending on Scramble
1 SS (SZ 108)
1 SS (SZ 103)
1 BB (SZ 113)
1 FTR (Holland)
2 FTR (WGr)
3 TAC (WGr)
*Note - Retreat BB to SZ 112 if you sink all ships and only UK/French aircraft remain

SZ111 - 99% No Scramble, 85% Scramble; 4/3 Units Remain Depending on Scramble
1 SS (SZ 118)
1 SS (SZ 124)
1 FTR (Norway)
1 TAC (Germany - Land on CV you bought)
2 SB (Germany)

SZ105 - 40%
1 SS (SZ 117)

Non-Combat:
Finland
1 INF (Norway)
Place 4 INF
Bulgaria
1 INF (Romania)
Place 4 INF

SZ112
1 FTR (SZ 111)
1 TAC (SZ 111)
1 CR (SZ 114)
1 TT (SZ 114)
Move 2 INF (Denmark) -> Norway
*You may lose FTR/TAC in SZ 111.  See note below for Western Germany Aircraft Options.

Southern Italy
1 FTR (Yugoslavia)
*Enables additional scramble option for Italy if UK attacks SZ 97

Western Germany
1 TAC (France)
3 FTR (SZ 110)
3 TAC (SZ 110)
2 SB (SZ 111)
_*Note these are maximum options assuming perfect outcomes in the above battles.  There will be less aircraft here than this - but this is where the remaining aircraft should go.  The lone exception being to load the CV you will place with Aircraft in the case you lose them in the battle in SZ111. _

Place Units:
1 CV (SZ 112)
1 DD (SZ 112)
1 SS (SZ 112)
*Land FTR and TAC in SZ 111 on CV

Collect Income:
70 IPC

Round 2

Purchase:
10 ARM
2 INF
1 ART

It is hard to script past G1 as there are so many alternative scenarios, but let me give you some options from here.

1. Take 2 INF from Norway and send your fleet to Gibraltar if left undefended.  This was the purpose of attacking the DD/TT in SZ 105 at the 40% odds - to prevent the UK from shipping Canadian units there.  It is unlikely the UK will send INF from Scotland/UK to Gib with a Sea Lion Threat, so winning that 40% battle and the Allies not defending Gib could yield Italy 5 IPC assuming Italy took Greece and S.France in the first round (National Objective).

2. Sink Allied ships in the Med with your remaining aircraft from Western Germany.  Again provides Italy with another potential 5 IPC bonus from a National Objective.  Italy making an additional 10 IPC total equates to an additional MEC and ARM for Italian can-openers in Russia later on.  A good investment for Germany in Round 2.  Side note, don’t sacrifice the Italian Bomber to clear the Med on Italy’s 1st turn if the Germans can clear it with ease on G2 - this bomber is essential for the Italian can-openers.

3. If for some reason the Italians got diced and were unable to land in force on Greece, you can clean up the Allied mess in Greece from Bulgaria, supported by ARM in Yugo and maybe Aircraft from Western Germany.

4. Depending on how dire the naval situation is for the UK and their first round purchases, you can enforce a convoy in SZ 109 with your fleet.  This could be especially effective if you had surviving SS from G1.  I tend to not sacrifice my fleet to keep the convoy, but even a single round of hitting for 6-8 IPC is pretty effective for UK to be cash strapped for its UK3 purchase (as it likely also lost its NO and territory on I1 that it cannot entirely reclaim before UK3.)  Its not unheard of for the UK3 purchase to be in the mid to low twenties with the convoy rolling well.

5. Move all ground units (dont forget to move AA guns too!) towards the Russian Border (Units in France to Germany, Units in Germany to Poland, Units in Yugoslavia to Hungary, Units in Bulgaria (if not used in Option 3) to Romania.

6. This all sets the stage for a G3 DOW on Russia where you can potentially move the ARM that went to Yugo, the ARM that took Paris and the ARM you purchased on G2 all in the same move (Its potentially 19 ARM total) with 22+INF into Eastern Poland.  Russia will not be countering the large stack with this DOW.

Side note would be to purchase 10 MEC on G3 that will be able to address any flank issues (space movement + aircraft in a strafe) and the MEC can catch up before the stack you placed in Eastern Poland fully advances into Russia.  IE the 10 MEC purchase on G3 means on G4 the 10 MEC can move to Baltic States from Germany and meet the full stack on G5 in Smolensk or Bryansk.

It is rather difficult for anything other than a full turtle for the Russians (and Allies) to stop 18 ARM, 15-20 INF and another 10 MEC supported by TAC/SB attacking Moscow on G5.  I do suggest potentially delaying a round to get additional SB in range, but much of this depends on the landscape.

There are many more alternatives, but this is how my Germany typically plays out.  Much of it depends on how crafty the Russian player thinks they can be - when in effect they should be maximizing numbers with full INF purchases , turtle-mode all starting units and stepping back until the Germans get close to Moscow and then dumping ART for two rounds to make the Germans reconsider sitting next to Moscow with their own stack.

This is all going under the assumption 4 people have played other A&A games before, but not Global:

Axis:

Whoever plays Japan will do one of two and possibly both things to lose for the Axis in the Pacific:  Run their navy into the ground too early, or wait too long to expand under the idea of keeping the US out of the War as long as possible.  Both of these are pretty unforgiving for Japan and can turn the entire Pacific board into an afterthought for everyone.  To me, this makes Japan one of the hardest to play with zero knowledge about how Global works.

Germany is probably the most forgiving if anyone has even the slightest idea that Germany is supposed to capture Paris, try to sink as much of the Royal Navy as possible, and buy as much armor as possible to take Moscow.  These are pretty typical strategies in most A&A games, so it shouldn’t be a far reach to play Germany rather well for the first time.

Italy is a toss up because it’s early battles are very 60/40 or 40/60 odd types that Italy could be run into the ground early, or could become a monster by round 3-4.  Much of Italy’s success for a new player (and really even experienced ones) is very much dependent on how intent the UK is on harassing it versus what the Germans are willing to do to prop up their starting assets.

My ranking of Axis, Hardest to Easiest:
1. Japan
2. Italy
3. Germany

Allies:

Americans never lose, but they never really win either.  They just push everyone around on whichever side of the map they get involved in, but without 100% into either map, they really are just an irritation to be dealt with.  You cannot really mess up as the Americans, making them very forgiving but potentially very bored if someone makes you wait until the 4th turn to attack.  That’s entirely possible with people new to the game seeing the chance to keep the Americans out of the war that long.

UK - London
Pretty easy game for UK - London players.  I highly doubt a new German player will Sea Lion, so I’d expect UK players to do fairly well.  Still, a determined march on Moscow by the Germans requires UK intervention which a new UK player may not realize until it’s too late as they’re trying to build a fleet and units to land on Normandy.  UK also may overlook Italy and Africa early and find itself working out of the IC in Africa to save the continent.

UK - India
Considering it is highly unlikely to see a new player behind Japan go for the KIF by Round 3 / 4 effectively, UK India should have it pretty easy - especially once in the War.  India’s long play is really contingent on taking DEI, so depending on if a new player recognizes this or not will probably make the difference between staying afloat in the Pacific or turning China into a monster that kicks Japan off the coastal territories.

China is, well pretty boring.  Provided a new player understands holding the Burma road is the key to their success and Japan does not do well in contesting it by landing new units near Burma each round, China could handle Japan on it’s own.  China could fall just as fast against a well informed and strategic Japan without help from the UK.  I’d bet the likely scenario for a game of all new players is China is building Art in Round 3.

Russia’s difficulty really depends on the effectiveness of a German player.  A Germany that takes France and then goes all in on purchases to take Moscow and DOW on G3 is going to be hard for Russia to play against.  Russia had two rounds of purchases that could be really, really bad for Russia if they bought the wrong things or thought it was a good idea to contest the starting borders.  If Germany tries to DOW on G2, and Russia decides counter attacking is a good idea, Russia could be a fun strategic Cat-n-Mouse play ripe with risks that could make or break the battle in Europe on any round.  Overall, Russia could be very difficult to play, or very fun, and sometimes really boring if / when you reach a stalemate sitting on Moscow.

ANZAC is another pretty boring nation to play overall.  Severely limited by economy and proxy to ongoing events, a new ANZAC player may get involved in matters with Japan it has no business doing early in the game.  Losing its Navy early could cripple the mid-late game for ANZAC due to inability to expand to DEI.  Assuming the player is new, I’d bet this happens.  Bright side, is losing the fleet and fighters for ANZAC isn’t the end of the world because ANZAC is unlikely to be a focus for Japan for many rounds.  It just makes for a boring waiting game which assuming Japan makes some mistakes along the way, will just turn the game into a stalemate in the Pacific.

My rankings of Allies, Hardest to Easiest:
1. Russia
2. UK - London
3. UK - India
4. ANZAC
5. China
6. USA

Overall rankings, Hardest to Easiest:
1. Japan - It fights alone in a single theater against multiple nations.
2. Russia - One misplay early could load the deck for Moscow to fall.
3. UK - Russia needs the UK’s help more often than not.  Most think landing on Normandy helps, but often it does not.  UK could lose Europe, Asia and Africa with a few misplays.
4. Italy - A few strategic gaffes could spell the end of Italy’s expansion, and failing to recognize that defending Germany’s backside is just as important if not more-so than it’s own expansion could lose the game for the Axis in Europe.
5. China / ANZAC - Both are pretty minor players.  One has a huge early game impact, the other can have a huge impact on a mid-late stalemate in the Pacific.
6. Germany - Fairly forgiving in the overall sense of the game.  You can make multiple errors and still sack Moscow.
7. USA - Just as forgiving as Germany, but that is because you can just buy more stuff.  Proxy to both conflicts requires planning purchases turns in advance which is about the only difficult thing about the US.  You won’t win on your own, but you’ll almost never lose the game because of your decisions.

1. Building Industrial Complexes 100 - A Comprehensive List
Course Description: A fairly self explanatory list of the starting locations where each complex can be built by each nation.  Includes narratives on China’s special treatment, inheriting damaged complexes, and placing complexes on territories you did not start the game with.

2. Naval Blocking 101 - The Necessity of Destroyers
Course Description: A discussion of the art of using destroyers as screens and how to combat it.  Includes a narrative on the special relationship between aircraft, destroyers and subs when rolling dice and selecting casualties.

3. Amphibious Assaults 203 - An Un-Escorted Landing
Course Description: Scenarios and decisions where scrambles and subs are unable to block an un-escorted Amphibious Assault.  Includes a narrative and discussion for when naval ships can and cannot ignore a submarine in open water as well as during an amphibious assault.

4. Kamikaze 310 - A Study of Potential Landing Locations
Course Description: Establishing the difference between illustrating you can land your aircraft on a carrier in the declare combat phase versus the non-combat phase where you can essentially decide to let them crash into the ocean.  Extra Credit for illustrating how a CV with no offensive combat value can be used to absorb hits in Kamikaze missions.

5. Strafing 510 - A Forced March: The Art of Retreating to Advance
Course Description: An explanation of how you can attack from multiple territories and elect to retreat that will effectively move infantry two spaces.  Additional discussion includes the Mech two space movement restrictions in relation to owned territories versus blitzing.

My BB is damaged.

It is at an undamaged Naval Yard at the end of my turn.

Before my next turn the Naval Yard is damaged.

I pay to remove all counters from my Naval Yard.

Does the BB get repaired the same turn I pay to repair my damaged Naval Yard?

@SubmersedElk:

I’ve been seeing a lot of “move the eastern Russian infantry to Moscow” recommendations, but many times when I see someone do that they end up being used to fend off Japan on Russia’s backside instead of reinforcing Moscow against Germany.

Some consider stacking Amur on R1 but that just seems to invite Japan to wipe them out conveniently.

What I’ve been doing recently is stacking them on Bury in R1 then moving them to Amur in R2 when Japan moves south and can no longer conveniently kill them off (or later, if Japan can counter). I do this in conjunction with a R1 DOW on Japan and moving some mobile units to southwest China to help in the contest for Yunnan. This pins a dozen Japanese units in defense of Manchuria/Korea which appears to make a world of difference in the sustainability of UKPac/China/ANZAC in the south.

US keeps enough fleet at Hawaii to keep the Japanese navy from moving too much navy towards India. Heavy inf/art buys by Russia and mid-round fighter support from UK and ANZAC keep Moscow from falling in this scenario.

My question is: why not keep those INF in the east to pressure Japan every game? Why do the long march east and take them out of the game for five, six rounds of play when they could be useful all that time - especially early on when Allies need every counter threat they can muster?

March the Russians back to Moscow and fill the void with US ground units / aircraft.

The US is better equipped to flood that side of Russia with real offensive units while Japan is busy in the South Pacific and India.

It creates the same effect for Japan to deal with while the Russians benefit from those units racing home before the Germans attack Moscow.

If Japan is loathe to open its northern border to the Mongolian hoards because it has nothing in the north to address them, stage the US units in Amur and harass both Korea and Manchuria.

If China knows the US is going with this strategy, a great boon to the US and a giant thorn for Japan will be China eventually giving up trying to reclaim the Burma Road and saving the IPC to dump 6-10 units in Northern China once the US opens up Manchuria.

Anything less than Japanese IC’s on both Korea and Kiangsu probably means Japan faces losing the northern coastal provinces and much of northern China until India has been settled and potentially long after it depending on how costly it was to get in the first place.

It also means Japan has to decide if trying to take ANZAC with any remaining forces is plausible or if it has to return to the Sea of Japan to try to break the US siege, get reinforcements and decide if Hawaii is viable at this point.

Fastest sailing from India’s fall to the Sea of Japan is three turns.  As I’ve seen India typically fall on J4, that means the earliest you can expect the remnants of the starting IJN back is probably J7.  Thats a lot of time for the US if it was a J1 DOW.

If Hawaii is not viable, the US just bought ANZAC multiple turns to continue building and maybe even steal a DEI or two depending on what Japan decides is the best choice of multiple bad ones.

Of course, this is a 100% KJF strategy for the US - completely ignoring Europe on the assumption that Russia plays turtle and the UK funnels all possible resources into FTR to deter / delay the eventual German attack on Moscow.

There comes a point where the Russians are prime for a counter attack, out of Moscow and you should play cat and mouse as the US with the IJN until you see the outcome of that battle.

@variance:

With bids now getting solidly up into the mid 20s, a lot of things now depend on what kid of starting bid the allies choose.  There will be cases where it may make sense to skip either z110 or z111 and go for the z91 cruiser or even the french ships.

Agreed, we don’t play with bids so the suggestion is purely from the rule set posted on these forums without any bids.

We have discussed using bids but nothing has materialized as of yet.  It does appear that with a solid player behind the Axis Moscow tends to fall in our games.  I have yet to deploy my Allied “Save Moscow” strategy yet except in TripleA against myself.

It typically requires a Persian Minor IC and funneling all UK purchases into FTR that end up flying to Moscow with Russians in full turtle INF purchases until the Germans are 2 rounds from Moscow - then full ART purchases.  The odds turn against the Germans with 60+ INF once there are around 20 ART with them on Moscow.

I basically give up on a landing on Europe as the Allies, accept losing India and go 100% KJF with USA until one side breaks.  Its actually a rather boring game for the Allies as the UK just buys FTR out of Persia, Russians buy INF and the US simply spends and spends in the Pacific playing Cat and Mouse with Japan’s early gains.

Northern SZ:
2 SS
1 FTR (Norway)
1 TAC (Germany)
2 SB (Germany)

English Channel:
1 BB
2 SS
3 FTR (Holland, WGermany)
3 TAC (WGermany)

Send last SS to Canada’s DD and TT.  I prefer to strand the Canadian units in lieu of trying to sink the CR that’s likely hitting the Italians.

Order of losses:
SS when able
Tip BB
FTR
Sink BB
TAC
SB

A tipped BB makes the UK think hard about using its DD and SB to sink it - bigger benefit for Italy if the SB doesn’t fly to the Med and create havoc flying out of Malta early.

I will strafe the LC if I’m going to trade TAC for UK FTR.  Those TAC are more valuable to me in Russia later than trading them for a UK FTR early.

That being said, my singular goal on G1 Naval is sending the entire UK fleet to the bottom.  Germany cannot deal with a Royal Navy later on without trading aircraft for ships for more than a single round or Moscows life expectancy increases dramatically.

If I recall correctly, it’s 85-90% odds for Germany to lose at worst some of its FTR in my order of losses.  Odds get much better with no scramble and any surviving SS is an absolute headache for the UK early.

Note, my G1 purchase is always 1 CV, 1 DD and 1 SS which irrelevant of the outcome of the above battle means I close off the English Channel and threaten Gib early with a NCM of the CR and TT to merge with the ships I bought.

It forces UK purchases in Canada or FTR on UK for the first 2-3 turns while Germany merges the French invasion army with G2 purchases to DOW Russia on G3.

Plenty of alternatives to G1, but this one gives me consistently good results to plan off of.  And nothing is better than making the Allied Europe purchases more predictable.

Reverse Allied bid:  Cow you want to give me 18 IPC?  No thanks, instead please remove all of Japan’s starting TT.

I’d suggest for research, you take a serious look into tech “trees” from other PC empire building games.

I’m sure you can assemble techs into three trees, each step requiring the prior to obtain the next.

If you price it right, you can pit Allied Research Investment vs Axis Research investment and have all nations on each side share the expense and the technology as it is unlocked.

Fastest way to get ANZAC into the game?  Build SS and convoy DEI Japan leaves behind.  If you can get your SS to mainland China, Japan is generally very unhappy with small SS stacks all across the Pacific.

When(if) the IJN turns, back up the SS into a single stack under the USN.  Great fodder for the USN defending - and if the USN fails to wipe out the INJ, a stack of 8 ANZAC SS is sure to create problems for the IJN surviving from the USN battle.

Its a rather boring strategy, but it puts many thorns in the IJN expansion plans, cuts into Japan’s income and provides a great 1-2 punch against the IJN.

Its useful if you think the Allies are going to activate the true neutrals…. placing 5 TT (Ukraine and Romania) and a BB lets you load up those Turkish units and be one move from Cairo.

Cairo is going to have a hard time dealing with all those units flooding in every turn once you establish the TT rotation.

I wouldn’t build a major, however.  Minor would be sufficient for such a strategy.

I view Malta is my CV in the Med.

SZ97: CV, DD, CR, 1 Ftr (Malta), 1 Tac (SZ98), 1 Bomber (London)
SZ96: CR (SZ91) and FTR (Gib)
I use the TT to move 1 INF/ART on NCM to activate Persia, joining up with the Indian DD/CR.  Round 2 I can use the CR via the TT for an extra bombard to take out Iraq.  Bomber is in range as well if Italy stays in Europe.

I’ll sac the CV on the first two hits in SZ97, because its not going to survive an axis counter attack anyways and I don’t want to lose aircraft as sitting ducks to a full swing by the Italians if they elect to not scramble and counter with their airforce and naval ships in SZ95.

I generally end up after Turn 1 with a CR in SZ97 or a CR in SZ96 with 1 Ftr and 1 Bomber on Malta.  Sometimes its an empty Med with a UK DD waiting to slide in on UK2 or act as fodder if the Italians have ships left in the Med.  The French DD in SZ98 will suffice to deny the Italians the Med NO going forward if I’ve cleared the Med as the UK.

Having aircraft in position, plus a DD inside the Suez generally keeps the Italians bottled up buying ground units or a Ftr.

It depends on two things:  
1. What is the benefit of keeping those aircraft going forward vs risking them to hurt the Germans now?  Generally that would mean flying those Aircraft to Moscow for a later confrontation against the Germans.
2. Does your UK strategy involve stifling the Italians?  Those aircraft are infinitely useful in keeping the Italians down and out in the Med.

I prefer to keep the Aircraft and not scramble unless Germany fails to present an overwhelming amount of units to sink my ships.

If I can get into a low unit, high probability of dicing the Germans, I might risk FTR to carve into the German’s airforce, potentially even causing them to retreat before sinking all the ships.  Note, this is a rare occurrence from my experience, which I chalk up to amateur decisions whilst learning the game.

I think a very important component to strafing is understanding how it can rapidly move units beyond their normal movement range - which has been displayed in the G1 Yugoslavia to Romania example in prior posts.

It would be impossible to get the units from Greater Southern Germany to Romania on G1 without understanding strafing.

Of course, the units could simply step into Hungary and still be in position to strike at Eastern Poland.  However, you sacrifice the utility of clearing out much of Yugoslavia and thereby helping Italy by not understanding the mechanics of the “Strafe”.

Russia can also employ a Strafing strategy that would trade resources (generally Russian infantry) with Germany in a way that blocks a German blitz or denies the Germans the use of a minor IC.

In example:

Russia withdraws its stack to Bryansk in response to a German stack in Eastern Poland, inviting a German blitz of
Armor and some Mech into the teeth of 30 infantry, and another half dozen armor and artillery supported by Ftr and Tac.

Germany, unwilling to risk its Armor without protection, elects to blitz a single armor to Ukraine, waiting on a stack of Mech to arrive as reinforcements in Eastern Poland.

On the subsequent Russian turn, the Russians strafe into Ukraine, which is currently owned by Germany with 2 Infantry, 2 Ftr and 1 Tac.  Russia prevails, losing 1 Inf.  Effectively, Russia has denied Germany the use of the Ukraine IC, and traded a 3 IPC INF for a 6 IPC ARM.

On the subsequent German turn, Germany claims Ukraine for good, losing 1 Inf in the process.

Total cost for the Russian strafe:  6 IPC for Russia, 9 IPC for Germany + losing a turn of production out of Ukraine that can immediately threaten Moscow.

That, is the value of a strafe from the Russian perspective.

The list goes on, but understanding the strafing technique helps develop the early round strategies to keep pressure or alleviate pressure depending on the nation you play as.

Later in the game, understanding the strafing strategy can completely ruin your opponent and potentially tilt the scales in your favor to an economic stalemate or quickly end a game for a player not cognizant of the strafing applications.  From experience, this becomes a significant strategy to understand in the Pacific theater in application during the mid to late game.

A final input, is a variant of the strafing is a can-opener applied by Italy.  Italian units, due to their turn in a round, can open a door for a German blitz that Russia planned on having blocked.  Italy typically accomplishes this with Mech/Armor and a Bomber whereby opening a flank can ruin Moscow’s day.

The US has a variant of this if Germany leaves Berlin undefended whereby the US seizes Denmark, and the UK sails through the straights to land on Berlin.

Neither of these are true strafes, but they employ the same strategy of taking territory or denying territory in unconventional ways.

@Cow:

No matter what Italy has 12 units attacking (4 air 2 transported 6 tobruk). 3 from ethiopia you got to send something to attack round 1 or round 2.

UK1:
Purchase 6 Inf, 1 Ftr - Place London.

Combat:
CR SZ91 - SZ96
FTR Gib - SZ96
vs 1 DD, 1 TT
95% odds, 1.5 Units survive.  2/3 of the time the UK CR survives.

CV, SS, DD, CR, 1 TAC SZ98 - SZ97
FTR Malta - SZ97
BMB London - SZ97 (Land Malta)
vs 1 BB, 1 CR potential for 2 FTR scramble, 3 if Germany sends FTR from Hungary.
Odds w/out German help:  Scramble: 95%, 3.9 units survive.  No scramble: 100%, 6.4 units survive
Odds with German help (scramble): 2.4 Units survive.
So worst case scenario for Italy is no scramble w/out German help.  Leaves all but the SS still in SZ97.  Best case scenario Germans help with a Ftr and UK ends up with either 1 Ftr/Tac or all 3 aircraft landing on Malta. (This still isn’t good).

NCM:
TT SZ98 1 ART (Alex), 1 INF (Egypt) - SZ80 - Persia.  UK has 3 INF, 1 Art on Persia
DD, CR SZ39 - SZ80
DD SZ71 - SZ80
ARM Alex - Sudan
ART, MECH Egypt - Sudan
INF Alex - Egypt
INF W.India - E.Persia (UK2 is picked up by TT from SZ80, enables CR bombard on Iraq)
2 INF S.Africa - Rhodesia

So now you have Cairo with 4 Inf on it.  Two are UK, two are ANZAC.

Persia has been activated and can still return to Cairo with those units depending on what Italy does.

Sudan is a hard nut for Italy to crack with just 2 Inf and 1 Art.   Italy can send her bomber there if she’s determined to try to get next to Cairo, but thats a 50-50 battle there.  Maybe Italy triumphs with 1 Art remaining?  That bomber has to land in Ethopia and get defended by the INF from Somalia.  Btw that can still get hit by that TT sitting in SZ80 with 1 Inf, 1 Art.  Personally, those units are trapped or have to march south to gain 1 IPC for a round or two.

Italy has a single TT at this point, meaning at best you’re seeing 1 Inf, 1 Arm show up on Alex on I1.  And that is entirely dependent if the UK has ships remaining in SZ97 and SZ96.  Benefit of the doubt you CAN get the units there.

So I1 comes and you stack up Alex with Tobruk units and reinforce with 1 INF, 1 ARM.
So Alex has 4 INF, 1 ART, 1 MECH 2 ARM staring down 4 INF.  Odds are in Italy’s favor, until you factor in a Ftr and Tac flying in from Malta, and Persia ferrying in 2 Inf and the UK units in Sudan stepping back to Cairo.

All told Cairo holds after UK2:
7 INF, 1 ART, 1 MECH, 1 ARM, 1 TAC, 1 FTR
vs 4 INF, 1 ART, 1 MECH, 2 ARM, 1 Bomber
2% odds for Italy to win that battle on I2.
On I3, perhaps you bought a Ftr on I1, which landed on Alex on I2.  You also are now adding 1 Inf, 1 Art that started in Libya.
45% odds to win.

And what does Italy have to show for all this?  Egypt with a couple units left on it, and units coming in from South Africa, and a second ferry of units from Persia.

At best, you’ve played to a draw.  Good for Germany, but this is round 3.  Germany needs Cairo 3-4 rounds after this.

Point I’m making is there is no way you’re brining 10 Inf to Cairo by I3.  Possibly I4 if UK turtles, at which time the UK has been buying a TT,  Inf and Art every round, placing it in South Africa and shuttled three sets by the time you strike, plus the Persian units.

As Italy I’ve found myself being able to resist going for the throat in Egypt early.  I’ve had opportunities, but I’ll lose a lot of units accomplishing it, and there’s no guarantee I’m holding it long.

In general I try to:
Bottle the UK in Cairo
Take Greece, S.France and Gib if possible
Clear the Med of Allied Ships
Send Armor to potentially can-open for Germany with my Bomber

Outside of that, I’m building INF and ART to repel Allied landings.  I know Italy will not rule the world, and to extend too far in Africa means the Allies will probably try to cut your supply lines in the Med.

If I’m very successful with Italy, I may churn out a few SS to keep the Allies worried about a SS strike - but I’ve found its generally better to put 2 INF in S.France than to build an SS there.

The bane of my existence as Italy has always been Allied aircraft on Malta after the first round.  It almost always shuts down any Italian movements into Africa - and by the time I’ve got the IPC to defend against 1 Ftr/Tac/Bomber from sinking my little fleet… I’ve realized I have very few ground units to defend against Allied landings in N.Africa or Europe.

It seems those naval purchases end up becoming wasted on Italy.  Aircraft may help a bit, but realistically, continuously building ground troops seems to be my MO with Italy.

^ Thats my standard G1 move.

I generally retreat once I’ve sunk all the ships in those two SZ.  I’m not interested in trading a Ftr for Ftr with the UK, but I’ll happily wipe them out when rolling to sink all the ships.