Posts made by thespaceman

If us builds 12 subs a turn axis strategy is simple.

No pressure on Europe means Germany Italy have less to worry about and can hammer Russia and UK. Plus eventual push into Africa.

Subs can only hit coastal areas. I would simply build enough factories to launch full scale invasion into heart of asia. It should be fairly easy to mop up china and then knock the russian back door in.

If US gets the upper hand in naval raiding i would snipe those lone subs defending on 1s with bomners and destroyers.

This is why i think a better US strat combines the sub blockade with a shuck into SFE. And anzac pressure on Indonesia and phillipines. US trannies are safe up north and dropping 8 units a turn into russia.  These head down to Manch/ korea. Us subs are dropping japans ipc count. And anzacs are grabbing any islands left weak.

US in a typical turn might buy 3-4 subs for pacific. 8 ground units for asia and 6 ground units for Africa spain.

Thats why the opening move could start with 10- 15 subs against sz 6. Even on a 1. Thats still a hard battle with dds plus 3 scrambles.

Those 10 can cost japan a stack of ipcs and still be fairly safe.

Buy infantry with UK T1

1. See it coming and prepare. You should build as many destroyers as you can. Team them up with air units to make safe zones.
2. Push inland. Prioritites getting income from inland areas. China india and russian territories

3. Use space and time. Its a long way for the us to reach say malaya. Prioritise these safer areas first.
4. If us is going all pacific then life should be easier for Germany. If so either ignore west and do russia crush. Or build german uboats and convoy raid western allies. Either way germany profits if us focuses too much on japan.
5. Keep japan sea zone 6 safe at all costs and launch strikes from there. Dont over extend your fleet.( 2cv + 4 dd + scrambles should do for first 5 turns)
6. Build factories not transports. Your ships go sub chasing not escort duties. Major factory on Korea?
7. Use air bases fighters scrambles destroyers and your own subs.

Hi all,

Germany’s moves and battles on G1 need to be designed around your long term game plan.

The options basically boil down to
A) a single fast strike (London or Moscow)
or
B) a more cautious and divergent strategy of economic and military supremacy.

If Germany pursues A it’s Western border is weak, if they pursue B, The allies may have time to recover from their initial setbacks and weaknesses. This, I guess is at the heart of what makes the Axis fascinating to play.

The problem I see in your essay is that you are trying to do too much. In this essay we have a submarine blockade from Norway to Africa, German cruisers in the Channel and Destroyers patrolling the Med. This is 3 very divergent strategies with no master plan bringing it together.

The first place I would start is deciding where I want to be on turn 5. What is the purpose of this navy?

1. Economic strangulation of Allies = build subs
2. Sink US carriers = build subs
3. Sink allied transports = build subs
4. Keep allies out of med = build subs

Given that it is entirely possible for the US to put together a 200 point fleet by turn 5, the Germans cannot maintain naval parity. a fleet of about 20 subs would be needed to achieve any significant results.

I would say a few subs per turn here and there might catch the occasional player off guard

If by turn 5 things are going well (income 60+) in Russia this could be ramped up to 5 subs per turn. However this could just as easily be 10 extra infantry per turn so you have to decide if its really worth it. Sometimes i completely ignore naval. If the Allies aren’t building enough escorts I might surprise them just to scare them away for a turn or two.

At the moment i would hit the us in hawaii on T1.  Even if it does cost japan. Japan can easilly replace the lost ftrs. It will take uUs an extra turn or 2 to rebuild pacific fleet.

Japan needs the extra few turns breathing room to get its income to the 60-70 range without US interference. Once japans income hits there it can match us build ship for ship.

Leaving that fleet will spell trouble by about T4 or 5 when US can start getting aggressive or even shift it to the atlantic for an early torch or overlord.

I think the first question is to establish clearly a set of goals for the US on the Pacific Map.
I cannot see a direct invasion of the Japanese home islands succeeding until Naval superiority has been achieved. (unless Japan makes serious errors)

A possible goal for us is to assist the Asian allies. Each one of the 4 has different needs and abilities.

1. Assist Anzac
2. Assist China
3. Assist Russia
4. Assist UK Pac

Anzac.
Anzac is no pushover and Japan will have a hard time getting enough troops into position to take and hold.

China.
China is weak, little more than a series of speedbumps. but it can easily be reborn

Russia.
Strong defensively, weak on offense

UK Pacific
Furthest away from US. US can potentially scare Japan away so Brits can retake islands

Out of the 4 Anzac is probably in the strongest position to take offensive action. But cant threaten Japan by itself. What Anzac needs is something to take the heat off for a few rounds so that they can build up their income by capturing a few islands. Russia can be activate to make use of the stacks of infantry. China can be rebuilt in the North with the aid of Russia.

Into this equation we have the US. They are able to pick and choose what to do in order to tip the scales and give the other 4 a fighting chance. The biggest threat to the US is Japans starting air force. Provided we take this into account we can plan out first 5 turns.

Here’s my strategy
1. Russian Express.
Japan has a real blind sport which can be exploited in the far north. 4 transports moving tanks and Infantry from alaska to SFE can dramatically shift the land battle in Asia. Russian Inf join push into Manchuria and Korea.

2. Sub Blitz
20 submarines blockading Japanese home islands and surrounding areas. Subs ignore Japans air power and kamikazes too. I don’t mind losing a few subs here and there if Japan is losing ships too.

3. American Air
Station US Airforce in korea to add to Japans headaches. Build Korean factory to add more pressure on Japan.

Its only after setting up this that the US moves into building surface fleet for more wider operations against specific targets. This strategy completely ignores Pearl, Carol, Phill, Midway etc in exchange for the economic strangulation of Japan. The 4 minor powers can then do their bit to nibble away at the edges. continuous battles of attrition will hopefully erode Japans ability to replace land forces quick enough.

If Japans income can be kept in the 40-50 range they will never reach the break out level.

Overall eventually a major confrontation will occur, but as US I want to make sure Japans air is tied up fighting in China and their ships are spread thin trying to stop my termites (subs) bringing the house down. This also allows Anzac more breathing room and opens up opportunities for sneak attacks against key islands.

Not saying I would do this every game but German Navy can be useful

1. Protect and reinforce Norway
2. Invade Leningrad
3. Keep Channel free of allied shipping
4. Convoy raiding UK home islands.
5. Force US into going Spanish route, thus activating neutrals for axis.

If going hard against Russia, then Germans buy all tanks mech inf art, but if playing a more balanced game then building a smart navy has its uses.

Hi all,

Been thinking about this some more and come up with the following ideas.

The problems with an Africa first strategy are as follows.

1. Vulnerability of Axis shipping in the med.

I think if the axis are going to go the Naval route they need to commit to a naval building program. By turn 5 they will need something like

5DD
1CR
1CV + 2FTR
5SS

A fleet such as this would be able to stand up to about 10 enemy planes. The problem I have always found is you can’t protect transports and new builds. So where do you build them to stop the new ships being bombed straight away. There are plenty of spots allies can base planes on including carriers. This limits the Italian navy to operations in the Adriatic Sea only. :-(

A solution would be to try and save up and buy them in chunks or to try and scare off allied planes somehow.

It would be fairly easy for the Germans to pop out 1-2 subs a turn from Marseilles each turn.  These subs could keep the Med clear or even chase away the allies from SZ91 if you can build enough, but again its the vulnerability of transports that is the problem.  I think a too heavy ship building program will leave Germany very weak on the ground.

2. IPCs.

If you do the math there are about 20 IPCs Italy and Germany can collect in places such as Turkey, Persia, Caucasus, etc, This does not include Egypt or Africa. The problem is that while Germany and Italy are fighting their way through the Middle east, Capturing these territories does not hurt Russia or UK. Most of the money comes from Neutrals or NOs. So while it will be great for the AXIS to boost their income, they really need to hurt the Allies harder.

Solutions.
I think a focus on getting a decent chunk of troops into the Syria/Iraq area by T4 opens a lot of doors for the Axis. I think Germany really needs to boost production by building factories in Turkey/Iraq or even Egypt. Tanks/Mec can be built in Germany but Inf/Art are needed too and they are too slow to walk. If this is combined with a focus on capturing the Russian Factories in Stalingrad and Ukraine, Germany can pump out enough to devour central Asia as well as push into Africa.

Building the Italian Navy has difficulties but if it can be done would safeguard the north African coast, as well as protecting Italy from invasion.

@ShadowHAwk:

@simon33:

@thespaceman:

But remember any destroyers built in japans turn are attacked in the US turn. Only 3 scrambles can join battle. Destroyers must be taken as casualties because subs cant hit planes. Once no destroyers left planes cannot attack.� �

Us can also add in planes flying out of Aleutian islands or russia in order to keep the seas clear of destroyers.

Unless you’re talking about bombers, they can’t fly out of the Aleutians. You can fly off CVs though.

Still, if the USA are dominant enough to pull this off, I feel like it’s a missed opportunity to not take Korea. Unless there’s tonne of units on it I suppose.

You build the destroyers slightly out of range, now the subs stay out of the convoy zones or you just kill them.
If you place only 1 sub in SZ6 i can ignore it if you place 2 then ill sink them at maby the cost of 1 destroyer

1. The deal with the subs vs destroyers. Its not going to be 1 or 2. If US commits to building 2-4 per round then by turn 3-5 when the attack goes in its going to be 5,10 or even 15 subs. 1-2 subs is a minor nuisance for Japan and can easily be defeated. 10 subs is another story.

2. If Japan is using its mainland factories to relieve its home Islands then this has already achieved the purpose of the blockade which is to shut off Japanese production of ground units and shift their focus north away from Anzac and UK Pac. It also has stopped transports shuttling troops between Japan and China.

3. The Korea factory as opposed to taking money islands allows US + Russia working together to start to rebuild China. Once China can start to regrow its units safely in the north Japan is now under attack from 5 directions

1. UK-Pac in Burma/Yunnan
2. China
3. Russia from west and north
4. US from North East
5. Anzac from South East.

Japan no longer has a safe area and the mainland factories will soon be under attack.

The NO uses the word “original” pro Axis.

I would say this includes only at game start pro Axis. Not countries changing from one to another type of political view.

I think both sides should see the neutrals as the enemy and aim to crush them if the opportunity arises.

If axis can get turkey spain portugal sweden. It cancels out the ipc from south america.

Turkey is a great way to gain access to the middle east. The other options are by sea or through rostov. If italy can open that door it makes life a lot easier for the axis.

If the allies are unprepared then axis can easily grab a stack of territories.

I think that Japan will have to go hard against Russia and germany still needs to go hard to at least to leningrad and or sevastopol so that the Russians dont go having it too easy.

I think that uk factory build in persia iraq and a us landing on morroco could cause further problems for this strategy.

Uk and russia could also team up against fin/swe/nor which would be costly and difficult if all of germany’s ships are in the med. I would probably keep the baltic fleet there and reinforce the northern attack on russia to keep that area strong and busy while the bulk of the axis europe forces go south.

But remember any destroyers built in japans turn are attacked in the US turn. Only 3 scrambles can join battle. Destroyers must be taken as casualties because subs cant hit planes. Once no destroyers left planes cannot attack.

Us can also add in planes flying out of Aleutian islands or russia in order to keep the seas clear of destroyers.

Its not a choice, you need to clear the japan navy from the sea around the money islands.
You dont need to have supremacy, mutual annihilation works just a well.

You cannot convoy raid effectively if japan has a huge fleet available,
and a few subs-destroyers is not preventing japan from taking australia

What I’m saying is that over the initial 4-5 turns the US will not have the resources to challenge Japan in a full on confrontation. (as the initial poster said) Even if you have enough ships the Japanese has the advantage due to its land based air and kamikazes, so the USN must choose  where to start. Add to this the 3-4 turn voyage from America and it is unlikely you will achieve success without leaving somewhere else on the map dangerously weak.

That’s why I would initially suggest a full sub blockade against Japan. If you commit to building 3-4 subs per turn by turn 5-6 you will have 15 subs. 10 at sz6 and 5 in sz 19.

The advantages of this.

Closer to US base of production
Eliminate kamikaze threat
Eliminate threat from land based air.
Japan down 20 production.
Blocks or kills Japanese transports picking up units from Japan

What does Japan do?
If their fleet is hanging out in Indonesia, they will have to turn north. Its going to be a couple of turns for the fleet to arrive so the US player has options. Withdraw and wait for reinforcements or attack the fleet knowing you will hurt the capital ships not the aircraft. Japan can’t use the destroyers as screens.
If they build destroyers then great, at least they are’t building infantry, the last thing Japan wants is to have to build more naval forces when its main needs are infantry.

Assume its turn 5 and the Japanese decided to go North to relieve the blockade. It could be turn 8 before they get there. The Americans can then send aircraft or more subs so by the time the Japs arrive they are faced with 25 subs or a combination of units.

While the Japanese ships are heading North the Anzacs get busy grabbing the money islands. The UK Pac are still trying to hold out or relieve Yunnan.

If the Japanese try to ignore this then the blockade will continue to grow each turn eating up Japan’s income.

Add to this a US factory in Korea + An aggressive Russia and China could reemerge as a threat based around Manchuria

I guess what I’m saying is that Japan can’t be everywhere at once. I always say attack where the enemy is weakest and then force them to do what you want. From turns 6-10 the naval blockade can be built up into a fullscale invasion force without a US ship ever going near Indonesia.

Hi all.

Great discussion so far. Heres my analysis.

The first thing the US player must do is to decide what the goal of the US Navy is. This boils down to the following options.

1. Convoy raiding against Japan.
2. Prevent Japanese amphibious assaults on Australia.
3. Conduct offensive amphibious assaults.
4. Obtain Naval supremacy.

Each goal will have specific builds. Optimising build strategy avoids wasted points and allows tou to obtain the goal more efficiently.

1. Goal 1 is a useful lead up to the other three. It requires the least investment and can be used in conjuction with other strategies. Basically a fleet of 10 - 15 -20 submarines is built up over turn 1-5 and spread out around japan and china.

2. Send  2-6 destroyers and subs to queensland. Let the anzacs do the rest.

3. This requires a massive committment of forces to protect vulnerable transports. The second obstacle is the sheer distance to refill transports. Japans airforce makes this difficult.

4. Also difficult and requires many turns production

Just my 2cents.

Another effecrive way to support china is bridging Alaska to SFE. Use starting naval forces + build 1 or 2 more trans and shuttle tanks mec inf to russia then on to korea where us can build factory. If japan has gone in hard to china or india often they will leave the back door open.

If japan switches to fight off Us backed by the 18 russian inf. Then uk and anzac can recover lost ground.

If japan ignores it can lead to full invasion or recapturing top half of china. Since us is first after japan in turn sequence they make useful can openers for other allies to back up.

These two areas are prime targets for the allies. Especially if germany cannot reinforce by sea or land.

Question is which ally should go after them?

Does it weaken Russia too much to justify spreading the communist love.

Is it a good spot for US factories?

Is it a better idea to get it with Uk and shuttle troops into leningrad that way?

Can russia send some tanks and mech to help uk pacific or china?

Usa sinks German transports so the wermacht become effectively  pows in london. Then convoy them hard so they gain no benefit from uk territory.

Maybe hit neutrals for extra cash.

Hi.

Allies are fun to play because they have so many options. The trick is picking your battles and hurting the axis where they are weakest militarily. This will maintain the allied economic advantage while you gear up to reach military parity and then push them back to berlin.

Here are a few ideas.

Uk pacific.
Build inf and art. Your objectives are.
1. Stop japan push to india.
2. Open burma road.
3. Push japan out of your territory
4. Reinforce russia.

ANZAC
1. protect Australia.
2. Grab newguinea for +5
3. Build navy/fighters to expand threat level esp subs to raid japan convoys
4. Build transports and try to grab java celebes philipines etc.
5. Late in the game build carriers to prepare for invasion of japan.

US.
1. Build subs. About 15 over 3-5 turns. This can mess up japans plans completely. If you can sink all their destroyers you can strangle their income.
2. Transports. 5 transports for pacific and 5 for atlantic.
3. Land in morroco and clean up italians in Africa
4. Then jump across to france. Or italy
5. Landing troops in russia can help allies clear manchuria korea then drive down coast knockin out japan factories.

RUSSIA
1. build defences.
2. Look for counter attack options.

UK.
Carrier + 3 destroyers + 3trans and land in norway. Build factory. Then relieve the leningrad siege.
Also aggressive builds in africa to get rid of italians.
Then send toops to caucasus volgograd to help russians.