building with the usa on the lower japanese islands is very popular
German mass tank build - how to counter?
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If your opponent is seriously just building mass tanks as Germany and sending them East there’s a handful of tools available to you to put up a fight:
1. As USSR, forget about trying to hold Leningrad and concentrate your forces in West Russia. Your objective should be to trade Ukraine lightly (as in, send 2-3 of your Infantry + air support to kill 1-2 German Infantry) each turn while waiting for either Germany to make a move or for help to arrive from the UK/US.
2. If Germany just pushes their entire army into Ukraine blindly, you can pull off a “strafe attack”. Basically, you send in several ground troops you have available + air support, stay for 1-2 rounds, then retreat to either West Russia or Caucasus (where your surviving forces will be reinforced during NCM by fresh troops from Moscow + newly built troops. The idea with a strafe is that you’re trying to do one of two things:
A: Remove all or a large portion of the German Infantry from their stack. This will make Germany’s follow-up attack on your forces more cost ineffective to them, as they won’t be able to assign losses to expendable Infantry anymore.
B: If Germany is seriously just building mass tanks, then you’ll be trading Infantry for Tanks in your strafe attack. Even if you take sizable losses there’s no way Germany can take 2:1 IPC value losses for an extended period of time. It’s suicide.
I can go into more detail on strafing tactics if you want, but I’ll leave it at that for now.
3. Fly Fighters from UK -> West Russia (or Moscow if the game gets desperate enough, but you’ll need to by a CV to do that).
4. Have the USA focus on the Pacific. UK stands absolutely no chance against Japan alone and you need to clear out the money islands ASAP to stop Japan from becoming a monster and winning by itself.5. Don’t just spam amphibious landings in Europe. Small landings are too easy for Germany to repel. Instead, focus on building a large fleet as the UK and threatening to land troops in Europe. This will force Germany to divert an increasing number troops from the Eastern Front to guard Europe. If Germany ever leaves a territory empty, just land one Infantry there to collect the fre IPCs and force Germany to waste effort retaking it on their turn.
6. Your main landing target should be Norway/Scandinavia, in case you weren’t aware. Germany can’t defend that part of the board reliably so it’s a good boost to the British economy (which they’ll need since more often than not Egypt+Africa will fall to the Germans for a large chunk of the early/mid game). Plus, a healthy force of British troops in Scandinavia forces Germany to commit forces to defend the factory in Leningrad, lest they allow the Soviets to reclaim it.
7. Never commit a large invasion force to France unless you’re certain it can survive the German counterattack. If you’re going for a last minute desperation play to save the game, land in Karelia (Leningrad) instead. It’s worth less IPC, but is:
A: Farther away from Germany’s centers of production
B: A Factory for the Soviets, who can stick two extra units there on their turn to help hold the territory.
C: An immediate threat for the Germans in Russia, who will need to waste a turn or more attempting to dislodge the landing party before they can finish off Moscow.Your friends (and the other posters in this thread) aren’t wrong, though. 1942SE is a terribly balanced game to the point that Allies basically can never win in a no-bid game when both players are experienced, but I don’t think your opponent is playing particularly well as the Germans, so I believe that you can turn the tables on them.
You also may want to look into the Larry Harris Tournament Setup, as taamvan suggested. It’s a lot more balanced than the regular setup and it might be easier to sell your friends on the idea of a “cool new scenario on the same map” than it to sell them on a bid system.
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Ya, I’m surprised nobody mentioned the previous post till now…
Massed German tanks ignore so many things (also if they’re sticklers for the rules, they better be paying 6ipc for those tanks).
There’s no way they can safely secure all of Europe with just buying tanks if you park a large fleet off Spain and can threaten France, Italy and elsewhere. Force him to go defensive.
Also shuttle fighters to Russia… British and American if needed… make him pay to go all out Russia… trading infantry for tanks as previously mentioned will help.
If he sends everything to Russia than you send everything to Europe, Japan can wait, you’ll get a German kill since he neglects defense.
If your friends 100% refuse bids, change games on them… go get Anniversary Edition and play it buy the book all you want… there’s two scenarios (1941/1942) and two modes for each (with or without National Objectives)… that’s FOUR different “by the book” ways you can play A&A instead of the one lopsided way in 1942.
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@taamvan / Hello, I’ve played with some friends sevaral times Axis 1942 Revised and we also find the game inbalanced in favour of the Axis. Could you please tell me were I can find the patch “42.3” from Larry Harris ? I searched the internet but cannot find it. Regards,
JC from Belgium -
@COJOH Welcome to the forum!
Find Larry Harris’ tweaks here:
http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=18945&start=8#p67254The discussion about this on our forum is here:
https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/29339/larry-harris-semi-official-tournament-game-patch/ -
@COJOH said in German mass tank build - how to counter?:
@taamvan / Hello, I’ve played with some friends sevaral times Axis 1942 Revised and we also find the game inbalanced in favour of the Axis. Could you please tell me were I can find the patch “42.3” from Larry Harris ? I searched the internet but cannot find it. Regards,
JC from BelgiumNot taamvan, but I notice you used the world “Revised” in describing the game you’re playing. This is the board for A&A 1942: Second Edition, released in 2012. You may be referring to A&A: Revised Edition, released in 2004. You can tell the difference between them easily, as 1942: Second Edition has a brown box, while Revised Edition has a blue box.
Just making sure you’re asking about the correct game, as several of the Axis and Allies games have similar names, which can make it difficult to distinguish them from one another.
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@taamvan said in German mass tank build - how to counter?:
If your buddies don’t like the bid, tell them that’s fine–they can play the Allies OOB no bid until they win, you get Axis by default (and will only surrender control of Axis for one case of premium beer delivered at each game start)
Alternatively, your buddies may play the axis against a zero Allied bid, but only if they drink the majority of said case of beer within an hour or two of the game start.
:smirk:
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@DouchemanMacgee ok sorry, my mistake. It is the 1942 2nd edition. I also have the original anniversary edition but I never played with it because I want to find out if it has still some collection value.
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@Panther Tks a lot !
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@vodot In Belgium, some beers can be very strong :beer:
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@COJOH I agree with @Nowhere-Man and @DouchemanMacgee; I’m surprised they get away with the tank build. I think something’s wrong with US and UK’s KGF shipping efficiency, or perhaps Russia’s defense.
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@vodot Well, I bought the game 10 months ago on a second hand market for only 10 euro. it was unplayed. Later I start reading about the different A&A games and I found out about the prices for the anniversary edition untill… they brought the game back on the market. But maybe there are still collectors interested ?
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@Panther ok I’ve read everything on both links. I do not understand much about the discussions of “thread”, “censored text” and “chime in but if your off subject “ping” I delete you…”…
Most important is the 42.3 patch. I suppose DD is a destroyer (why 2 “D’s” ?).
And what is the OOB game ?
Much appreciate -
@vodot about the shipping efficiency (KGF = ?), I’ve asked some questions about transport ships to the helpdesk of Wizards of the Coast (see attachment). [0_1544263130042_Wizards of the Coast Re Question about AxisAllies 1942 2nd edition World at war.msg](Uploading 100%)
Their answer is even in favor for the japs who can even faster get some troops on Asian grounds… -
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@COJOH said in German mass tank build - how to counter?:
Most important is the 42.3 patch. I suppose DD is a destroyer (why 2 “D’s” ?).
And what is the OOB game ?DD indeed is destroyer
OOB means “Out of box” - play according to the rulebook/official FAQ (no house rules)See
https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/17402/axis-and-allies-acronyms-commonly-used/
and
https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/topic/4193/list-of-standard-acronyms-noob-confused-by-ipc-ic-fig-kjf-etc/ -
@Panther Thanks. And is this 42.3 patch effective for a more balanced game ?
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@COJOH Some say it is a step towards more balance. Just try it out. This setup is included in the respective map for TripleA - so maybe look for an opponent in the “Play A&A Online” - section to test it.
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Yes, it makes the game much more balanced. The opening decisions are much the same, but the Allies don’t get blasted off the map by a simple Germany Dark Skies strategy anymore. Previously, the imbalance was bad enough that we wondered whether anything under BB level (24) would make a difference–a BB probably would so 23 was the max bid.
Now its 7 to play the Axis.
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@COJOH said in German mass tank build - how to counter?:
@vodot about the shipping efficiency (KGF = ?)
KGF = Kill Germany First (as opposed to KJF, Kill Japan First). Most Allied sides will agree before or during the game to focus primarily on either Germany or Japan to focus on eliminating first, electing to simply ‘contain’ the other of the two Axis powers. KGF has essentially always been the de facto A&A strategy for the main games (of which AA42.2 is the latest), since it has always been harder to KJF because of design decisions made by the game’s creator.