Posts made by Spendo02

So much of the early Allied strategy is reactionary you can’t sum it up in one post.  You’d have to create each scenario and then offer suggestions.

In example, a G1 DOW on Russia would lead to a different UK build than a G2 or G3 DOW on Russia.
A G1 build of Naval indicates a Sea Lion, which is an entirely different build for UK.
A G1 build of all ground units is another entirely different build for the UK.

A J1 DOW is pretty straight forward build for the UK and US.  A J2 or J3 is very much different.

Those are just a couple of scenarios.  The basics are this:  React to the impending threats early.  Push your own agenda as the Axis strategy becomes more clear.

The primary keys for the Allies are:
Sink Japan’s Navy by any and all means necessary.
Don’t let London Fall.
Make it costly for a determined Germany to take either London or Moscow.
Shut down Italian expansion before they get too big.

How you do that is up to you. 
My friend loves the US 10 Sub purchase in the mid game in the pacific.  That usually puts Japan on the defensive.
He also likes to get a Carrier out in the UK the moment the Germans move on Russia, reinforced by 3 scrambling Ftr and 2 Ftr on the CV.  He leverages this to either help the US get a TT rotation going into Africa and then later on by defending his TT builds to keep putting units every round on Europe.
He doesn’t believe Japan can win the Pacific as long as he puts SOME US resources there, but he tries not to overspend - his entire goal is to sink Japan’s ships and not spend an IPC more than he has to do it.
He does everything he can to get India and Anzac into the DEI - as that is the Key to stifling Japan’s growth.  Taking one DEI for Japan is the equivalent to almost half of the Chinese territories Japan doesn’t start with.  It costs less for Japan to get a DEI, so he prefers to keep Japan fighting over the islands instead of reinforcing mainland China.

Anzac is just… slow to play.  He generally keeps them far out of the battles outside of taking DNG and flying aircraft to reinforce DEI and/or China.

Russia he plays depending on Germany.  I’ve seen him play the counter attack game where he leaves a token force (2-3 Inf) in a territory backed up by a stack of Inf/Art and then he counters the German advances with aircraft and units.  I’ve seen him buy Armor/Mech if Sea Lion is obvious.  He’s always playing aggressive with Russia or at least passive aggressive.  It generally works.

London is touch and go, but generally he doesn’t expect me to REALLY do Sea Lion, so he puts up a token force in London.  I took London once while he was playing cat and mouse counter attack in Russia - that created problems for him.  I’ve seen him go with 1 Armor in S.Africa and he cleans up Africa of Italian units.  He almost ALWAYS lands units on Greece on UK1.  I’m not sure why, but he does.

Long story short, you have to react as the Allies early.  There is no single blueprint - the closest thing you have is the 6 Inf 1 Ftr on UK1 for London if you scrambled, 10 Inf if you didn’t.  The US fleet build in the Pacific is pretty straightforward on US1:  CV and BB at a minimum.  Everything else, including those purchases are dependent on the Axis moves.

Bomb Gib is a smart move.

I’d most likely build a stack of 7 Inf and 3 Art in Berlin with the remaining IPC going towards Armor and Mech in WGr.

Assuming the Russians hit Poland, you have a very potent counter attack.

I’d consider taking everything off of London and move your TT into position to threaten Russia’s northern port so that if they advance to Poland you can always ship your units behind their lines and remove their forward factory that reinforces their advance.  You can always pick up units from Finland to fill those TT to help in that effort.

1. Bomb Gibraltar
2. 7 Inf, 3 Art in Berlin
3. Remaining IPC towards Armor/Mech in WGr (maybe a DD in the mix to help defending the TT if Russia attacks or scrambles an amphib)
4. Move all units + TT inside the straights of Denmark
5. Land Aircraft in WGr
6. Reinforce Poland with whatever you can - Russia’s going to be overextended and you need her to lose Inf getting into Poland so your counter attack from Berlin and WGr cleans out the immediate threat.
7. Consider trying to take Russia’s Northern Port with units remaining from Sea Lion, Reinforced with units from Finland and cut off Russia’s Northern Advance.
8.  You can deal with Russia’s Southern Army as they have to decide between advancing or addressing the threat now posed in the North.

Note:  With Italy I’d seriously consider getting as many Mech as possible towards the front to reinforce any German advances, or at least slow a blitzing Russia down until a German stack arrives.  It may not be the best investment for Italy in the short term, but its going to be better for Germany if she can rely on 3-4 Mech / round reinforcing any losses Germany sustains slowing up the Reds.

I think the key is going to be the same thing Russia does to most German advances:  Trading out your Inf close to factories for her Inf far from factories is a winning battle for you.  Sooner or later she will expose her Armor and Art and you can remove the threat.

I honestly think I should have secured the Pacific myself.

In hindsight, Anzac saved money and bought themselves a BB in round 2 and I had considered making a move to shoot down and take it as it appeared to be the easier of the two capitals to sack.  Particularly because the US wouldn’t have been able to liberate Hawaii AND Sydney with almost no presence in the pacific.  To further compound Anzac’s predicament was that their aircraft were in Malaya and they had already moved two Inf to DNG and lost their TT to get them home.

Of course this is in hindsight, but my lack of experience in going for the Pacific victory played into it - that and I ran into the unfortunate situation that I miscounted spaces and lost my carrier to UK subs because I had to move it into position to land aircraft that eliminated the remnants of the Indian fleet.

In my last game I was able to take moscow on R5 from a G1 DOW.  They didn’t have much left, maybe 6 Inf and 3 Art in the South when I was able to can open the lone Inf blocking a stack of 12 Armor and 10 Mech 3 spaces from Moscow.  They blitzed through the opening and parked right next to Moscow with only a few Inf and 2 Ftrs there which they reinforced with 7 Inf and 3 Armor.

Ends up I took Moscow with 4 Armor or so remaining, but the Russians were able to liberate it on their turn.  Granted Germany had 90+ IPC to spend on the next round, but without any control of a Minor near Moscow to keep the pressure on, Germany was in a bad spot and it felt like the game started over except now the US had the TT rotation landing in Africa, then S.France, and eventually Rome.  I felt it was worth the gambit, but the lesson learned is the blitz is only effective if you can keep the pressure on after obtaining the short lived victory.

All in all G1 worked well, but the gambit to take Moscow quickly only resulted in losing my momentum and turning defensive in Europe without maintaining control of the Reds.

On the other side of the board J1 DOW, took FIC and built a minor down in the south.  Cleared out the US fleet in Hawaii and even cleared the US homeland fleet later on.  China put up a stellar fight as I focused on taking Flip and allowing China a turn to control Burma with the assumption that I’d be able to keep the pressure on with Mechs and my AF until they folded.  Eventually they had, but I had to give up the Minor I built on J1 and replace it with one in FIC on J2.  Japan actually took Hawaii because the US spent 99% of their money in the Atlantic and I was only one VC away from victory there but could never garner the momentum to get into India even though they were perpetually collecting 12-14 IPC / round compared to Japan’s 45-52.  I spent a lot of my Navy and Air Force keeping the US away from any real threat as I tried to keep hold of the DEI, which I was able to hold all but Java and never got that NO.  In hindsight I don’t know if taking Hawaii was a better move which kept the US away or if using those units to get Java would have been more beneficial.

Note I told my opponent the general plan a few days in advance so there was no element of surprise - I didn’t want a cheap-o victory if I could secure it.  Note we also played from around 10 AM, with a break for lunch until shortly after 8 PM.  Even with a G1/J1 DOW the game still lasted many hours.

I look forward to refining the strategy more but I’d say theres more entertainment in the G1/J1 than any other form.

I guess the potential for that being launching from the Carolines and taking Anzac first with US ships in position off Queensland?

Bonus of being able to be the defending fleet if the US remains on their turn or forcing the US back to Hawaii to the nearest friendly NB?

I’d say G1:J1 on the basis that every round you delay is another round the Allies are building units and not losing them.

Sometimes when a rule is unintentionally broken - such as blitzing armor during an Amphib as you describe - breaks the game.  I’d presume its more of an aberration of a game and easily corrected next time you play.

I do enjoy the thought of landing forces via amphib on Russia and toyed with the idea of moving around to land a force behind the lines - even if its just a few TT with armor that Russia would be hesitant to attack that can blitz IPC out of Moscow early.

Japan doesn’t really have to defend her “rear” as its pretty difficult for the US to get enough TT in position to land on Tokyo and claim it before the late-midgame. In fact, not saying its not possible, but I have seen Tokyo fall once.  However that was more out of a “to say I did it” than anything else as the Pacific board was decide many turns before that occurred.

You do have to be cognizant of Convoys on SZ6 as it does represent income loss, but it also requires the US to maintain ships there, which are easily accessible via Flip if you base your fleet out of there.  Perhaps the biggest threat is a US minor in Korea, but even that is negligible if you’ve already subdued China, choked India and laid claim to the DEI.  Particularly because you would be focused on finishing off your VC wins and the Allies would be focusing on protecting Hawaii and Sydney and not maintaining a convoy on you if you elect to clear those SS out.

Honestly after you vacate SZ6 and have established your Minors elsewhere any attacks on Tokyo’s Major are not as significant as say West Germany, Berlin or London getting SBR’d.  I wouldn’t sweat it if you’ve already positioned yourself with minors in other locations as I doubt you’ll be placing more than 6 units / round later in the game with Japan unless you expect the US to gambit on taking Tokyo before you can secure a VC win and feel putting a chunk of Inf on Tokyo would put a wrench in their plans.

I’m not saying to just hand the US the convoy, keeping a DD or two and a Ftr on Tokyo forces the US to probably commit more than it wants to to establish a convoy outside of a US player putting the entire US fleet there.

Bid the Artillery Breakthrough for India?

@ghr2:

Ur navy needs to be off malaya, and either burma or sumatra to prevent the block

If you are willing, you can just use Aircraft and screening ships to clear the way and NCM through with the ships you don’t need for the invasion.  Food for thought for those of you facing blocking strategies.

@rmcbride:

@Spendo02:

Take the DEI, subdue China and deny Calcutta resources via taking their islands and convoying them.

Ok, this sounds interesting. So a couple Q’s here–-
     1) in taking the DEI, you’ve now awaken the “sleeping Giant” & are now @ war w/all the Allies.  who will probably start steaming towards that position–so how many rounds does it take to starve them out til you take them over & don’t have to deal w/ them anymore so you can now devote attentions to the US & ANZAC?
     2) when you say “subdue China”–how much are we talking about here?
     3) the issue w/ taking their islands & convoying them—I’m assuming we’re taking Borneo (4ipc), but are we also taking Malaya (3ipc) & Hong Kong (3ipc)?
    4) Then there’s the Philippines-- w/ the US now in the war, are the US Air & Sea units there anything to deal w/ usually & what are they likely to do once you’ve made this move?
    5) are all your ships in the SE Sea for this maneuver, as it will take them a couple rounds to get there–then the jigs up? Or are some held back to deal w/ the US & ANZAC?    IE; what about the CV (w/fghtrs) & the DD in sz33?

As I said, this all sounds very interesting & I’m gonna give it a whirl, but if its not too much trouble, could you give me a more detailed “round by round” of How, Where & w/ What you normally do this w/ the factors & Q’s listed above?

Once at war with the UK, you can effectively starve them of resources quickly between convoys and denying them DEI/NO’s.  If the UK is placing 2-3 Inf a turn, who cares as long as you have China locked up.

Now locking China up gets tricky, and my personal preference is a Minor somewhere in SE Asia so that you don’t have to worry about defending unit placement in SZ6 which is likely always going to be under threat from US warships making their way out of the SF Harbor and to Hawaii.  So consider at least a single Minor and possibly 2 of them in SE Asia.

As for dealing with China, the one thing to remember is that you have the advantage because their counter attacks are relegated to Inf and a single Ftr.  The UK throws a wrench in subduing China the longer you allow them put offensive units on the board.  In the end, as Japan I’ll trade Aircraft to eliminate the UK offensive punch and crush Burma - but that has to be an all-in move - which is why having 1-2  Minors in SE Asia allows you to either replace aircraft or keep pumping Mech’s until you break the UK’s back as it tries to reinforce Burma.

Once you’ve gotten your DEI and the NO, subdued Burma and choked India you can claim India rather easily and keep the US deciding what to do in the Pacific while your fleet is lying in wait to pounce on any US incursions that splits its fleet.  I’d never attack a US fleet unless I had secured my rear, rather enjoying 3 scrambled aircraft from Flip plus a large fleet contingent thats not convoying India.

Long story short, subdue China, choke the UK, take and hold the DEI and then you can launch yourself 6-9 SS and put the US fleet on its heels as you relocate to strike out towards either Anzac or Hawaii.

There is a lot more to this, but thats the general outline - subdue, choke and expand.  Even with an early US entry into the war, the longer you make the US spend in the Pacific, the bigger favor you are doing for Germany’s Europe VC win.

Take the DEI, subdue China and deny Calcutta resources via taking their islands and convoying them.

Much of it depends on if you think you can outplay the Allied player in the Pacific or in Europe.

There are some inherent bonuses to allowing Germany to advance on Russia before the US starts harassing Italy, and then Germany.

There are some inherent bonuses for a J1 DOW in order to race the clock to secure the VC’s before India starts creating problems.

@Degrasse:

I’ve started favoring a simple formula, buy four subs a turn to use for crushing Italy and the rest for Japan.   Sooner or later Italy will collapse under the submarine pressure.

This.

I think its a pretty strong play as an IC in Iraq opens lots of doors for the UK to backup Russia, support Calcutta and Cairo and put a threat on the Med with bombers that can land in Malta.

I’d probably be willing to lose Cairo for a round or two in the mid-game to gain those advantages.

You could always just NCM that SS into position off of S.France instead of risking its loss in SZ97 from the probable presence of the Italian destroyer.  Germany can’t get to it and Italy will have to decide to either buy a DD on I1 and move it out of position to S.France on I2 to deal with the convoy or accept 2 rounds of SS convoys from there.

Cut the table talk. 
Agree on breaks between entire game rounds (or any point) instead of discussions and debates before each country goes.  Form your strategy and then react to the best of your ability as the landscape changes.

Try to pre-plan your purchases when it isn’t your country’s turn to cut down on the decision making time when it is your turn to make purchases.

Something I thought about was the attempts at sinking the “non-main” fleets around the UK.  You know, the one off Canada with the DD and TT or the one in SZ109 or even the CR in SZ91.

Now I know the UK can get in 2, or even 4 more units from Canada if you ignore those ships early, but I think there is a significant benefit to initially ignoring them:

I would rather have fodder in the form of SS to take hits when I’m risking my aircraft to eliminate the fleets in SZ110 and SZ111 so that I can leverage those aircraft to clear the way on G2 and/or G3 in battles I’m confident I’ll win.

So instead of risking a SS vs DD in SZ106, or 2 SS in SZ109, I think theres more benefit and less risk in sinking those battleships early while preserving my aircraft and then dealing with some DD rolling @2 under potentially scrambling aircraft with the remaining subs with the entire German Air Force swinging where there is likely only one roll of the dice to clear the threat.

I’ll take my chances later with 4 more fodder units on London if I have more of my aircraft engaged in that attack because I protected them with my SS fodder units early.

Food for thought anyways, particularly if you want to wait until G4 to Sea Lion with “better” odds.

Its a pretty fair representation, yes.

If you think about it from a representative point, that one air unit represents many aircraft.  That infantry unit represents an entire unit made up of many many men.  Historically an aircraft wing did not eliminate entire divisions or battalions of units on their own.

You’d be much better served to having any unit the aircraft is paired with attack at +1 on die rolls if there are no competing aircraft in the territory.  If there are aircraft in the territory the attacker can opt to engage the aircraft in an air battle or ignore them and both sides’ ground units roll at +1, otherwise the bonus for pairing with attackers is negated.