Any way Axis can win this game????

[kfgolfer]

I have ever rarely seen the Axis win this game.  I thought the revised edition was supposed to even things up, but still it is almost impossible to win.  I mean,it’s still 3 countries vs. 2.  Does anybody have a strategy where Axis can win??

I hear in the 50th anniversary edition coming out in October that they introduce Italy so its 3 vs. 3.  Hope that helps.

[Guest]

An extra $7 to $9 of units to the Axis at the start of the game is enough to even things out.

Even without it, the Axis should win 1 out of 4 games.

[a44bigdog]

lets look at the ways Axis can win.

1 Take out the US
2 Take out the UK
3 Take out Russia

1 Taking out the US is all but impossible except for rare circumstances so I would recommend forgetting about this other than learning what the rare circumstances are so they can be capitalized on.

2 Taking out the UK is vastly easier than taking out the US; however this can bee seen coming and requires Germany to invest in Naval units which can be countered by the Allies. Also other than taking the UK’s distant territories Japan is left out of this fight so again I would recommend this as a situational explotation.

3 Lastly that leaves us with what the majority of the games are, Axis elimination of Russia.
That means that smashing Russia flat is the Axis’s primary concern. Grabbing Africa and scattered territories are entirely secondary. Protecting non-vital Axis units and territories is also secondary. With that in mind invest no more in Africa than it takes to eliminate the UK units in Egypt that need to go round one. If Germany can grab extra African territories on round 2 great, if not don’t worry about it. Both German fleets are weak and time is against them. I would recomend getting what you can out of them and then writing them off.  So on round one Germany purchases land units for Russia and Japan purchases transports to send 8 units from Japan per turn to the main land. Once Japan has this set up then they can spend the resources to expand to the far flung territories but do not loose site of what the goal is smash Russia as fast as possible.

[Sergente_nella_neve]

My two cents…

I think that conquering Africa IS NOT a secondary objective for the Germany. Since a good Soviet player can defend easily his/her home territories, retarding german attacks since other Allies are strong enough to invade Germany, I think that the primary objective for the Axis is to weak the economic power of the Allies. To do this, consider that all Africa is 8 IPC per turn: +8 IPC for Germany and -8 for UK, so the difference is 16 IPCs, not few… If Japan conquer India and Australia too (UK cannot re-conquer Australia), this difference is another +5/-5, so complexively is 26 IPC, or something more or less depending US and Russian moves and luck. If Germany plays defensive tactics to contain russians and Japan force his attacks against China, India and Soviet Far East, USSR can be taken between two fronts.

[Jennifer]

@a44bigdog:

1 Taking out the US is all but impossible except for rare circumstances so I would recommend forgetting about this other than learning what the rare circumstances are so they can be capitalized on.

You may want to rephrase that since I’ve become quite adept at taking out America first.

England is almost impossible to take.  Generally speaking, the Allies will see the threat to England and be completely oblivious to the threat to America until too late.  KAF (kill America First) is a tactic of deception where you play conservatively with the axis and then spring the trap when you are set up.

Kill Russia is by far the easiest tactic to take.

[FM_Rommel]

I agree with Sergente_nella_neve, Africa is of the utmost importance for the Axis.
Even if it looks uncontrolable for the Germans, try conquering it with the Japanese. Don’t let the British have that ‘easy’ cash.

[mateooo]

@Cmdr:

@a44bigdog:

1 Taking out the US is all but impossible except for rare circumstances so I would recommend forgetting about this other than learning what the rare circumstances are so they can be capitalized on.

You may want to rephrase that since I’ve become quite adept at taking out America first.

England is almost impossible to take.  Generally speaking, the Allies will see the threat to England and be completely oblivious to the threat to America until too late.  KAF (kill America First) is a tactic of deception where you play conservatively with the axis and then spring the trap when you are set up.

Kill Russia is by far the easiest tactic to take.

Didnt you lose England in last years singles tourney? Twice?
:-o

[dinosaur]

Apart from the “bid”, an Axis win requires some amount of good fortune.  Your good fortune could come in the form of a poor strategy by one or more Allied players, a terrible round of dice for the Allied player giving you an opportunity that should not have occurred, or in a payoff wild gamble attack of good luck for the Axis, which most likely would have to occur in one of the first three turns of Germany against Russia.  If you are a very solid player yourself and your opponent is not, play a solid game and wait for the Allies to hang themselves.  If the Allies player(s) is very solid, you may have to make a big gamble and put the whole game on the line.  For example, Russia often stacks their tanks with infantry to create a counter attacking force against German gains on the Western front.  As Germany, you may have to take a low percentage chance and knock out the whole stack, and then hope the Russian counter attack not only doesn’t defeat you, but leaves you with some infantry and all your tanks.

I think a German crush of Russia is the most probable chance, with Japan’s help, and I agree Germany should get the whole of Africa as quickly as possible.  Even if Russia is not eliminated, but severely pushed back onto his heels (e.g. losing the Cacuses and all their tanks and fighters leaving them defending Russia and maybe two other provinces with an infantry stack), the Axis can hope to make it a game where the US is doing all it can to keep Japan at bay and keep the UK in the game.

[Romulus]

My half cent…  :-D

I play essentially face2face matches and in our playgroup Axis is able to win about 40% of matches we play.
The most easy Strategy is to gang up against Russia. As already observed is the best way to have Germany and Japan to unite their efforts. In our games however we try to stay in Africa as long as possible with Japan coming as a second wave.
Leaving African IPCs to UK is a problem because UK has only to land troops in Norway and Karelia helping Russia to survive and hindering Axis effort to capture Moscow.
If Africa is contested usually USA take the role of liberate the UK territories but less IPCs flow in the British hands and UK will have less tanks and Fighter to assault Germany, relying more on infantry. So when I am Axis I do not underlook Arica IPC, they are an important addition to the Axis for killing Russia quickly.

[Antholin]

This is a different approach that I have had some success with for the Axis forces. I attempt to knock out all the UK forces in Egypt on G1 with attacks from Libya, reinforcements from Italy via the transport, use the Batttleship to take out the UK destroyer, along with either the bomber from Germany or a fighter from one of the Southern Europe contries to attack Egypt. That should be enough forces to take out the UK Egypt garrison, allowing for at least one German unit to move in for occupation. On G2 I buy a production facility and deploy it to Egypt at the end of turn 2, along with several reinforcements to bolster the Egyptian defenses. I realize that this can be pretty risky, as you’re pulling a fighter and/or a bomber from the European front. However, if you can manage without them for some time, you won’t have to keep shuttling forces into Egypt from Europe and can pump out 2 units a turn in Egypt there to help secure the rest of Africa.

[Amon-Sul]

@Antholin:

This is a different approach that I have had some success with for the Axis forces. I attempt to knock out all the UK forces in Egypt on G1 with attacks from Libya, reinforcements from Italy via the transport, use the Batttleship to take out the UK destroyer, along with either the bomber from Germany or a fighter from one of the Southern Europe contries to attack Egypt. That should be enough forces to take out the UK Egypt garrison, allowing for at least one German unit to move in for occupation. On G2 I buy a production facility and deploy it to Egypt at the end of turn 2, along with several reinforcements to bolster the Egyptian defenses. I realize that this can be pretty risky, as you’re pulling a fighter and/or a bomber from the European front. However, if you can manage without them for some time, you won’t have to keep shuttling forces into Egypt from Europe and can pump out 2 units a turn in Egypt there to help secure the rest of Africa.

just two questions from me

what if UK reconqures Egyot on UK1

and if not, how do you defend Egypt in the long run

thanks

[Antholin]

Very true, that’s why it’s a gamble. But, if they do reconqueror it in UK1, they will have meager forces and you should have no trouble ousting them in G2, but of course your production facility would be delayed. As for defense, you’ll have at least one unit in Egypt at the end of G1, which is not much, however if you hold it, you’ll be able to reinforce in G2, along with the production facility and I have thrown in a AA gun in one game, just for a little extra protection.

[Cobert]

I have never played with a bid, and the axis still manage to win about 40% of the time.

[FM_Rommel]

Our games never use bids either, and the games always are very differents. Some periods of time the Allies dominate, then the Axis find a better plan of attack and win a few games in a row. The Allies then adjust their strategy and start winning again, …
and this goes back and forth.
It’s actually very nice, with new plans and adjusted plans coming along when you least suspect it.
And then suddenly there’s a German army assaulting Washington. Weirdest game of my life  :-D

[grimace]

We switch between the 12 point bid, and the axis again 4 NA’s and the Axis seem to win 50-60% of our games, and the last few months no one can beat them. Axis has one 13 of 17 games since this past september.  We have 20 man group that plays about twice a month.