The allies turn 4

[dondoolee]

This seems to be about par for all of our games on turn 3.  We play w/o NO’s no tech

On turn 1: the entire UK navy is destroyed, Karelia lives, The airplane in africa is about 50/50, China loses everything but Yunnan, US and UK pacific fleets sunk minus Australia, The forces from India/ Syria withdraw and meet in Persia (sometimes with the airplane) but it is not a significant enough force to counter attack the Japs in India. Germany builds tanks and throws almost everything at Russia, Italy sends a toknen force in a barren Africa and sends the rest at the Russian southern front, and build 2 tanks. The German Bomber can now threaten transports on the Eastern US, and most if not all fighters can strike all but 1 UK sea zone.  America has no choice but to invest in at least 1 destroyer to prevent getting bombed

Turn 2: Germany builds 1 airplane and then tanks it can not be invaded anywhere from the West this turn, creates dead zones on Russian front has about an 11 tank stack though it starts to maybe look a little thin on art/inf now.  Russia may take 1 or 2 territories back from Germany it has forces in Cauc/Mos/Arch as well as maybe a coupl inf sneaking into China and the 7 man group close to Japan. Japan takes all of china except Chi, walks into Buy and India, takes Phil it is now focusing on asia while simultaneously threatining Alaska.  The UK may be able to dump troops in Nor but not likely it buys more transports and guys the force in Persia usually goes to the very threatend Cauc.  Italy expands a little more freely in Africa while having 3 or 4 tanks and a plane that can puncture a hole in any weak gaurded Russian defence so Russia can now only field 2 armies of any size in fear of a sucker punch.  America has done everything at this point ignore the japs alomst completly (bad idea), build more capital ships on 2 theaters now, or just build bombers, amongst other things.

Turn 3: Germany buys more tanks and an airplane, sometimes this airplane will force the UK to invest in more money on a capital ship (depending on how the breaks went), it now choses the weaker of the 2 territories to threaten either the Cau or Moscow and throws all its tanks there Germany seems poised to take Russia already while the UK and US are almost completley grounded, Turn 4 may very well be inevitable, Africa has been destroyed already with marginal effort and Japan while huge has not even really begun to factor in the game yet, the UK or the US can not do ANYTHING for at least 3 turns, and by turn 4 Russia may be able to hold but on turn 5 it’s over. Japans south Pacific navy may have taken Australia by this point, either way it is close to the US now.

The UK building an entire navy from scratch and being grounded for 3 to 4 turns is painful, all it can do is stay holed up while its territories get eaten away, The US meanwhile can’t do anything in Europe until turn 3 or 4 either and if it is not careful it get shellacked by the Japs.  And the double punch of Italy and Germany on Russia is brutal.  I just don’t see how the allies can recover.

Russia has built everything from all inf to buying a mix with 2 fighters, to going tank crazy.  The UK doesn’t have a lot of options but we tried a factory in south africa to spice things up(suprisingly not an awful idea, if germany keeps the plane in Egy alive). Every game that has been won or close for the Allies is where Britain has at least SOME navy and the fighter left from Egypt  The US is a quagmire, we have tried everything with that too.

So far it is the Axis 16, the Allies 3, draws 1

[axis_roll]

You may need some more specifics to get better answers.

I can answer generally.  The allies need to bear the brunt of the axis onslaught to buy time building up enough units to make coordinated counter attacks.

You say EVERY UK naval unit is lost on G1?  AND Egypt is taken too? 
What is germany using where for these 4 naval battles?

What is your UK1 naval build? a/c and then what for the remaining $29?  CA, DD, tpt, save $2?  USA can add another DD so in SZ8:  2 dd, ca, loaded carrier.  Does Germany go after that?

You should invest in an unsinkable navy at this time.  I suggest moving into sz3/6 on UK2 adding more navy and taking Norway.  Next turn move into Karelia/finland (sz4 should be safer).  A/c’s are nice as they offer landing positions for the US ftrs.  US built ftrs on US1 can make it to sz3 if Germany threatens.  2 loaded carriers with some support ships is tough.

[dondoolee]

Germany Does not always take Egypt.  But about 50% of the time it clears the airplane there, which sometimes mean the Brits that run from India/Jordan to Persia can get killed by the Japs.

What germany uses on the brits is 2 subs 1 fig (from NOR) on the bat.  1 bomber on des/tran off canada.  2 fig on the cruiser/des by gibralter, this attack is the one where I may end up with 1 cruiser left (this helps a lot).

The 1st turn Britain does nothing but build Navy. 1 carrier for sure than any other combo of surface ships.  Usually (maybe not the 1st turn) Germany buys 1 airplane a turn, maybe even a bomber and by turn 3 or 4 that usnsinkable navy becomes vulnerable, plus it may be having to deal with double SBRs on already ltd funds. I usually have to worry about 2 bombers 5 fig and up to 2 subs (this can vary).  This is not as big a deal if England gets spared at least 1 transport and America can help it out a little, but we just don’t get that luxury that often with Japan being able to grow, and in a way keep the US in check every turn.

The real point being England/US can’t consider doing a thing until turn 4, and it seems almost inevitable that Russia is going down turn 5 (by this time not only are they outnumberd by german tanks, they also have to contend with the Italians who have a decent army amssed on their doorstep by now and the Japanese with a factory producing 3 tanks in India and a stack of airplanes).

[beerbelly]

I play with the same rules, w/o NOs and no tech.  I’ve played 7 games so far and Allies have won 5 of those games.

Here are a couple of recommendations:

1. If the US decides to forgo the Pacific, then pull back the Eastern Russian troops back toward Moscow.  This may seem counter productive since it will give Japan even more free range into Asia.  However, I’ve found the extra infantry to make a difference when the Axis are poised on Moscow.

2. British cannot lose Africa.  The British usually maintains control of Egypt on B1.  I usually reinforce Egypt by transporting troops from India and moving the infantry from Trans Jordan.  I would strongly recommend purchasing an IC in South Africa on B1.

[dondoolee]

We won twice in a row with the allies today (a first).  1 Time was even whith the utter destruction of the navy, but the Brit airplane survived both german attacks on EGY. Losing that fighter is rough, when it dies it means the forces in India and Jordan get killed usually before they can attack Africa or defend the Cau.  I have tried the SAF complex about four times with mixed results.  It can’t even be considerd if germany takes EGY, I think.

I still hesitate to build a factory, Britain has to concern itself with a guarantee on protecting it’s transport efforts, which means for 3-4 turns the UK may make 1 attack at most (In NOR).  I do not understand how the allies can spend time and money in africa and expect to win.  The only way they can contend it is with the Indian forces which is fine, but sometimes they are despratly needed in the Cauc.

[beerbelly]

I believe the Allies must invest time and money into Africa in order to win.  IMO the British need Africa.  Not so much for it’s income (since much of the income gained from Africa goes toward maintaining the IC there anyways).  But rather to deny the Italians from becoming an effective threat.

The IC in South Africa allows the British to have an immediate presence there, even with the Italian navy controlling the Mediterranean Sea.