My Axis Game from Last Night, or- "A Crushing Fascist Victory"

[daggaz]

Had a fun game, so I thought I would share this one with the board…  This is off memory, so it might not be exactly correct…

Won Axis with a 6 IPC bid. Put a tank in Libya, gave 1 ipc to Japan.  (Both of us feel that an extra tranny is just really powerful in the hands of the Axis…)

Russia bought 3 men, 3 tanks.  Took West Russia with a huge stack, tried to take Belo with minimal forces and a fig, but I lucked out and held the country.  :evil:  Player also pulled out of Bury, stacking troops up just behind for some reason.  Japan was happy.

Germany bought 1 bomber, bunch of men.  Did fully standard moves to take Egypt, sink all med fleets, landing most of the airforce in France and stacking in E. Eur.  Kept the inf in Norway for now to hinder any British landings in R1.  Without a naval build, the Baltic fleet is boned.  Use the tranny for what its worth and hope you nail a plane when they finally come in to sink your ships.

England was played terribly, they ignored Japan completely, even removing men from India and sending the fleet to retake Egypt (lost my two tanks), which normally is ok but there was nothing to keep the Japs out in this case… Australian tranny took two men east. Submarine forgot to attack the other sub, so instead sailed thru to hawaii to join the Americans.  The bomber was sent to Egypt as well, and landed unprotected in Ethiopia.

-This is imho the most game-breaking move for the Allies.  They just cannot afford to leave the Japs unmolested.  I prefer a full out assault myself.  Send all the ships, not just the destroyer, in to kill that tranny, forcing the Japs to contend with a navy in their backyard swimming pool.  Try to land the British bomber within five zones of sz60. Send the sub and the plane against the jap sub.  Noncombat the tranny to the Hawaiin fleet, for god’s sake, dont make Australia any easier for the Japs.  Russia should mass troops in Bury.  Now the Japs are in trouble.  They have to have a capital ship to defend any trannies they must build in R1 as their are now multiple threats on their seazones.  All out attack on China is hard, because there is fleet threatening as well which will demand ships and planes, and then they risk English and Russian attacks on Fic and Man, respectively.  Pearl might need to be ignored completely.  Basically a KJF opening strat, but you dont have to sink into it with the IC purchases in Sing and India.-

Jap had a great first turn.  Bought 2 trannies and 1 IC with the extra ipc.  Mutilated Pearl Harbor, even with the extra sub.  Took India on J1 (!!!) with my not-killed tranny and a well placed Battleship shot.  Now I have a tran, a BB, and an AC with a fig to defend against reprisal, plus two men stationed in India. Put one man into Bury since it was empty (and please please let Russia send their troops forward to die) and stacked Man.  Took China with almost maximum force, leaving a few men in Man for the Russian front. Place the IC in Man, collect 36ipc.

US1 they bought the prerequisite trannies and troops, moving things into position for the first drop into UK, keeping boats out of harms way for now.  Pearl was too well blockaded, so they ignored the counterattack.

R2 bought men and two tanks.  This time they took Ukrain (it was deadzoned) with minimum force as well as Belo.  Stack is reinforced in W. Rus.

G2 bought a med tranny and some tanks and rest men.  My bomb in Lybia took out the Eng bomb, flying back to S. Eur I think.  The new Bomber assisted in retaking Egypt with the original Algerian troops plus 1 tank 1 inf from S. Eur, and the BB shot.  Ukr and Belo are traded back with minimum loss of life, Karelia taken with min. force, two figs stack in E. Eur and a few men are sent to replace them in France.

-I played the Germans well through out the game, but I really feel they weren’t aggresive enough still.  I dont like trading Ukraine, its too much money for Russian hands, and besides, I think it is better to force the Russians to trade lots of men on the front in the first few rounds, as Germany is outproducing them here and they are alone for now.  Still, it is so easy to stack defensively with Russia.  Damn they get a lot of men… So I was a bit more conservative with my attacks, using airforce and keeping a deadly threat of counterattack instead.-

England 2, he moved his BB and 3 trannies and dumped men directly into Karelia retaking it, forgoing Norway.  Moved figs into West Russia.  Merged southern fleet south of India and East of Australia. Began to sweat a bit.  Think he bought a replacement bomber here. heheh.

J2, Buy another trannie, an AA, 2 tanks, bunch of men.  India trannie take 2 men from Borneo and hits australia, with the BB and AC.  Hawaiin fleet moves so that a plane can help and jump ships, as well as being two zones from India and next to Borneo.  Now I own Australia, India can be easily retaken if Eng moves there, and Borneo is a tempting 4ipc deadzone.  I was really hoping he would fall for Borneo.  :evil:  Rest of ships merge off of Buryatia and stack it with everything that can reach.  One tank blitzes thru and takes that far NE russian territory.  Worth the loss if Russia sends men in to kill it and weakens their front.  Sing was taken with 2 inf and 3 figs, with 1 inf surviving.  Tanks and AA put down in Man.  Collect 39 ipc.

US2.  More trannies, more troops.  Shucks a bunch of men into UK thru sz 8. Completely oblivious to the growing Japanese presence far across the ocean.  Was really glad here he didnt take Algeria, which he really, really should have.  Allies MUST contest Africa, and I feel US is best for the job.

R3, more troops, more of the same. Trades Ukr and Belo, stacks W. Russia.

G3. Fun fun fun.  Buy 2 figs, men and a tank.  Send two bombs and the 2 figs from E. Eur and sink the BB and 3 tran, losing you guessed it, 2 figs.  Nor inf and 2 inf tranned from Berlin hit Karelia with air support, wipe it out but fail to take the territory.  American boats I think are too far away (dont have map on me now) to retake Nor, but if they did move further in it would break his supply line so great.  Egypt forces burst into Africa and over the canal, claiming four territories uncontested.  Drop another inf and tank into Egypt just to be sure.  Ukr and Belo are traded back, but its pissing me off the Russians keep ending turn with 24+ ipc.  Also Germany is getting SBR’d some by US and UK, so grrrr!  :x

E3.  Rebuys boats!  :-P :mrgreen:  Troops are stuck on England for now.  SBR’s Germany.  India fleet heads to S. Africa, drops off two men, ignores Borneo and India.

J3.  Australian BB’s and tranny take New Zealand, One AC and destoyer head towards home via FiC.  Further troop stacking in Bury, Russia needs to leave or they die.  IC in India. Collect 40 ipc.

US3.  Begins funneling troops seriously into UK and E. Canada.  I can feel the invasion coming.  Trannies are not set up optimally tho, its more like one big push every two turns rather than a steady stream.  SBR’s Germany. (damn this hurts, thank god I have africa).

R4. Retrades Ukr and Belo. Blitzes a tank into Norway.  Pulls troops away from Bury. Attacks the one man in Sing, retaking the territory for no good reason.

G4. Start moving troops in on S. Afr, but dont take it yet as England dropped a fig there, waiting for more inf.  Tran 1 inf 1 art plus a fig and retake Norway, smiting that tank.  Retake Ukr and Belo, walk 1 inf into kar.

UK4. Bunch of figs from W. Rus sink my baltic fleet, I dont even hit a single plane.  2 Bombers hit France with a like 1 tank and 6 inf, I have 8 inf and I think 3 figs defending, maybe it was four tho.  Nail a bomber with AA, lose two inf, and wipe out the UK beach force completely, bomber retreats to UK with one tank left to die at the hands of the Germans.  S. Afr Fleet moves around the cape towards the med.

J4. Fun.  Take Hawaii with New Zealand fleet, total of 3 inf 1 art 2 tran (1 from Japan, I built it in sz 61 the turn before) 1 AC 1 fig 2 BB.  3 tran from bury take 3 inf 3 arm and take W. Can. with ease.  Hollywood is empty at this point, tho there are some tanks and men that could reach me from DC and E. Can.  Take another two Rus territories, closing in on Moscow, Novo stack cant touch me as tanks are too far away.  Retake Sing with some tanks and planes and 1 inf from china.  Dead dead russians. Collect income, its over 42 now, so I am making more than the US.  Germany as well is hitting like 46 or something… Tanks in Man, Inf in India, shuffle shuffle shuffle.

US4.  Panic.  Forgets he can attack the men in W. Can (tho it would have been an even fight with what could reach) and instead invades France heavily, wipes out my airforce. =(  Doesnt have enough troops tho to hold it and no reinforcements for another two turns now so I am glad.  Stacks men in Hollywood and actually moves troops BACK from E. Can.  Axis rejoice.  Africa is still uncontended.

R5.  Moves whole stack, Caucuses and W. Russia into Ukr ???!.  They should have done that at least one round earlier, if at all….  Trades the same damn territories again.  Buying all men now. There is a frightening stack of men in the Ukraine.

G5.  Retrades, tho barely thank god for the extra bombers.  Leaves a thin veil of troops, 1 inf each, in the entire eastern front.  All tanks blitz France along with entire Berlin inf stack.  Russian presence is frightening, but I can deadzone from Berlin in time.  Total devestation of US troops, Eng cannot hope to reclaim next turn.  Move fleet up and take Madagascar, troops massed on S. Afr for total victory next turn.  Build inf in Berlin but not as many as I would like do to brutal SBRs.

UK 5.  SBR. Move fleet further towards Med. The fig flies out to the AC as S. Afr is a gonner now.  Dumps troops in E. Eur thru the baltic.

Jap 5. Use 2 inf from Hawaii and BBs to take Alaska, 1 inf 1 arm wait on the boat at sea. (their job is done now).  Takes all the russian territories east of Moscow.  Stack of planes, tanks and inf building up withing striking distance of Moscow.

US5. Retakes Alaska (I wanted them to get this far, why I left W. Can totally empty) by blitzing some tanks in.  Starts landing more troops in UK for another assault on France. Puts destroyers into Baltic to guard UK ships.  Amazingly he empties LA…

R6.  Takes the country next to S. Eur instead of stacking with English in E. Eur.  Builds some men in Caucuses and Moscow.  Its over for Russia…

G6.  Takes S. Africa with force, landing Mad inf on the west Coast with the tranny.  A small strike team (inf, bomber, art and tanks) hits Eng stack in E. Eur, reducing them to one tank before retreating to Berling.  Everything but 11 inf and five tanks in France stack in Berlin.

U6.  Fleet moves towards N. Atl.  Drops troops into Norway and takes it, finally.  They dont have enough to really hurt Germany and dont try to invade France.

J6.  Total annhilation of every Russian territory up to Moscow and the Cuacuses.  Large Stack is waiting to sack the Capital on the next turn.  Enough troops to overwhelm Caucuses as well.  Retake Alaska using BBs and another 2 inf, AND I drop two men into LA as the US left it empty!!  Japan is way over the 50 ipc mark now and owns basically everything within reach.

US6. Takes back Alaska and LA, but whats the point.  Drops a pile of guys into Normandy, but the Germans hold the position handily.

R7.  Moves the Stack into E. Eur… I really dont know what he is doing at this point, I would have taken S. Eur at least, but it is pointless because it is absolutely over for Moscow.

G7.  Takes Brazil! Begins walking troops back across africa.  Stacks men in Berlin. Turtling, but we are solid now.

UK7.  Drops a bunch of guys into E. Eur.  pointless now.

J7.  Finally.  Take caucuses with only 3 inf, 3 arm, against 6 inf.  Total massacre, didnt lose a single man.  Full scale invasion of Moscow, which is severely undermanned. Lose all my infantry, but Moscow is sacked.  There is no army which can counterattack this turn.  Germany is turtled in Berlin and will lose the beach next turn, but it doesnt matter, no chance of actually sacking the capital and nothing can stop the Japs at this point.  Russia is routed and soon Germany will retake the beaches, as well she owns all of Africa and Brazil so is still taking full income.  It is game over, the Allies surrender.

I coulda swore it was less rounds, i might have added one on accident, but maybe it was seven.  All in all some solid axis expansion, with enough pestering to disrupt an already sub-optimal alliled supply train, it was game over from the beginning, really. =)

I think Germany could have done better with less air and more ground troops, but still was able to hold out well even at the end, there was no true risk of losing Berlin.  Still, would like to work on a more aggresive ground war against Russia.

So what do you guys think? Sorry bout the length…

[EagleX16]

Who were you playin against? Brit player should give up A@A right now cause rule #1 is to pressure Japan and help out russia!!!

[seth4god]

@daggaz:

Submarine forgot to attack the other sub, so instead sailed thru to hawaii to join the Americans    .  .  .

.  .  .  Noncombat the tranny to the Hawaiin fleet, for god’s sake, dont make Australia any easier for the Japs  .  .  .

All in all some solid axis expansion, with enough pestering to disrupt an already sub-optimal alliled supply train, it was game over from the beginning, really. =)

I think Germany could have done better with less air and more ground troops, but still was able to hold out well even at the end, there was no true risk of losing Berlin.  Still, would like to work on a more aggresive ground war against Russia.

So what do you guys think? Sorry bout the length…

I agree with your conclusion, it’s hard to fault a game that was won so handily. The only thing I’d pick at are really just difference in playing style. I don’t like getting ICs with Japan until turn 3+ and I like boots on the ground with Germany. But given your bid and the 2nd Jap transport still being around, I probably would have done the same. I usually don’t consider buying more ftrs with Germany unless I start losing them. Depending on the game, I might replace the German bmb because of its versatility and power. Typically I’ll just try to keep the bmb around as long as possible and won’t replace it once it goes down in flames.

My question for you though is where did you guys place the UK Australian fleet? No way can the tran/sub reach Hawaii because they should start 3 spaces away.

[uffishbongo]

I disagree with your analysis–from what it sounds like, UK1 was played quite well.  Ignoring Japan for a few rounds is not a problem.  As far as I can tell, the main factors contributing to Allied loss were
—not contesting Africa (big one!)
—losing the British fleet (carelessness + your luck)
—Panicking on the USA west coast–your landing in Canada could have been handled easily

Sounds like there was solid Russian play all the way through, and mostly sound Allied play, but with the aforementioned oversights.  If he had shut you out of Africa and not had to rebuild the USA fleet, I’ll bet Germany would have been about ready to collapse by the time Moscow fell.  Generally the Allies can win if Berlin falls even a round or two after Moscow.  I don’t think the idea of letting Japan go for a while and going full bore against Germany is wrong as a big picture approach, it just sounds like a couple of the details were botched.