@goldenbearflyer:
I need more detail about how you play Germany, because I have trouble with it. Caveat: I’ve played Revised only a couple of times; my experience is mainly with the original version. Although certain changes helped the Axis, the Allies also gained advantages here and there. Also, I have no experience with the bid system. (This post was intended to follow up on the “Axis and Allies first turns - Germany” thread started by newpaintbrush, but I have so many questions and I didn’t want to kidnap that thread.)
First, let’s assume R1 took Belo and W. Russia, left Karel and Arch wide open, but left big stack in W. Russia (3Inf, 1art, 4arm) and heavily fortified Caucasus (e.g. 7inf, 1art, 2F) – I based that assumption on newpaintbrush’s R1 option to attack Belo and W. Russia and used the battle simulator at http://www.dskelly.com/misc/aa/aasim.html to estimate results. (F=fighter, art=artillery, arm=armor, inf=infantry)
Second, I’m intrigued by all the talk about G1 AC; I’ve always thought building any navy at all would doom Germany, but so many folks seem to disagree, so I guess I better try it. :wink:Â So let’s start with 1AC, 8 inf for the sake of argument.
Questions:
1. I figure I should take Karel, but from where and with how much inf? from Norway? with 1, 2 or 3 inf? This is important, because…
2. Should I reinforce Norway with 2inf from Germany, or move those 2inf to Eastern Europe. If I reinforce it, should add fighters? Except…
3. Which fighters should land on AC? from Norway and E. Europe?
4. I assume I should take back Belo (which should have only 1inf based on the simulator), and I would do this with 2inf, 1F?
5. After all that, the most I can leave in Ukraine is 5inf, 1art, 2arm, 1F, but Ukraine then faces a huge combined stack from W. Russia/Caucasus R2. Do I pull 2arm back into Balkans for a counter-attack?
6. How much to leave on W. Europe? I would like to leave at least 3inf, 2arm, 2F, possibly 3F.
7. I assume I take Egypt with 2inf, 2arm, 1F, so S. Europe has only 1inf to move into W. Europe or Balkans. (Note: the battle simulator says on average I will be left with but 1arm in Egypt, 2 if I’m lucky. I move 1inf 1art from Algeria to Libya during NC.
8. Where to place 8inf? 1-2 in S. Europe, 6-7 in Germany?
I really enjoy reading all your posts, everyone, and I certainly appreciate there are many good strategies and no one “best” strategy, which is why it’s a great game. However, many of the strategies I see discussed could address these types of details in order to be more helpful to less experienced players like me. Thanks in advance for your thoughts on the above.
1. I advocate a very lightly held Caucasus, with Russian fighters landing in Moscow, if Russia goes for Belorussia/West Russia.
2. Taking Karelia depends on the Russian move and purchase, and the German naval plan. If Norway is to be secured as a fighter base to stop the Allies from securing a fleet northwest of London, then Germany should not attack Karelia heavily. On the other hand, if Germany does not plan to keep Norway, Germany should attack Karelia with quite a bit.
2A. German fighters should either land at Western Europe or Norway. Splitting German fighters invites the Allies to attack an underdefended Norway to kill the German fighters. So, if Norway is to be held, it should typically have a good fat stack of infantry plus fighters. Of course, infantry at Norway are infantry not used to fight Russia. It is not a light decision to hold Norway.
3. 2 inf 1 fighter is the “standard” for taking a 2 IPC territory.
4. Fighters that land on the carrier should do so to minimize numbers of territories fighters are in. That is to say, if you CAN put three fighters on Norway, two on the carrier, and one must land in Libya, so be it. But it is probably not right to put one fighter in Norway, one in Western Europe, one in Balkans, two on a carrier, and one on Libya. That invites the Allies to attack one of those territories and cheaply kill a German fighter.
5. Trying to take Ukraine in force early with Germany is pretty risky. You have a counterthreat of E. Europe infantry plus assorted German tanks if Russia does attack Ukraine, but, well, it really depends on the German goals. If Germany controlled Ukraine at the beginning of G1, Germany can POSSIBLY abandon the Atlantic early to land fighters at Ukraine, but that is very costly, as Ukraine fighters don’t threaten Algeria as Western Europe fighters would. Nevertheless, it’s an option that Germany can consider.
6. Generally, you want two units in Southern Europe available for transport to Africa on G1, G2, and G3; the transport is changed to Ukraine/Caucasus on G4+ (BUT that can change depending on the Allied play). You do NOT want to produce lots of units in Southern Europe. The ONLY things that should be produced in Southern Europe are units to be transported to Africa AND units that are planned to be moved to W. Europe on the next turn.
Rationale - if you march from Germany to Eastern Europe, you can then go to Ukraine, Belorussia, or Karelia. But if you go from Southern Europe to Balkans, only Belorussia and Ukraine are available. Thus, producing infantry at Germany offers greater tactical flexibility on the third turn after production.
