Is there any way for the Axis to win with them waiting for the Allies to declare war? I don’t think it’s a good idea (they lost like that in real life), but a new Allied strategy is keeping the Axis on edge. Is there a way (for a new game) for the Axis to win?
I don’t quite understand the situation. The Axis hasn’t declared war on who exactly? Also, what do you mean by keeping the Axis on edge? To me what it sounds like is Japan waiting for the Pacific UK and Americans to make the first move while Germany is just sitting around hoping the Soviets send them an invasion invitation… and I don’t think that’s what you mean. :)
I mean the US and the Soviet Union in Europe, and UK and US in the Pacific.
Exactly what I mean, Japan goes against the Soviets and China whilst they wait for the US and UK to do stuff and Germany either does:
A: Fortify the border for the Soviet invasion and have backup forces to the do a massive Third Battle of Kharkov.
B: Invade Britain and hope the Soviets are nice.
Until now, the Axis were successful in Europe because the Soviets attacking under condition A leads to a loss of their entire pre war army.
The Axis were successful in the Pacific as the Soviets usually don’t intervene in China (an easy way to beat Japan there), and the Soviets concentrate their Eastern armies at Amur, wiped out by aircraft, naval bombardment, and infantry.
The US also does the bad move of moving their entire Pacific Fleet (sometimes British and ANZAC forces move as well) around the Philippines, along with all their fighters, which then scramble when attacked. Placing themselves in range of most of the Japanese navy and air force allows for Japan to concentrate for one turn there, moving all their ground forces to take down the Philippines. Now that the navy is gone, Japan can go on to beat India and ANZAC.
The Allies have learnt their lesson now though.
This time the Allies focused on Europe, sending large amounts of units by ship. However, several lucky Chinese moves lead to Soviet intervention, heavily damaging Japan.
The Soviets also withdrew their Pacific armies and with Mongolian forces, drew the Japanese inland and destroyed them.
Both the Chinese and Soviet victories destroyed 80% of Japan’s starting army in the mainland.
Japan would have won though was it not for a massive British overland offensive through China, coming one territory away from Shanghai (and the minor industrial complex) on multiple occasions.
Before the British Pacific forces would build a navy to defend the Dutch East Indies, quickly destroyed.
But what wasn’t enough income at sea was overwhelming on land, and it showed.
In the West, the massive pour of resources into Egypt stalled Italy until the US entry, whilst spending all income on London forced Germany to use 90% of their starting army for the operation, weakening the east significantly (and new builds were for transports and new units for Sealion).
When the US entered the war, things would have went really bad for the Axis had the US not made several strategic mistakes.
Still, even with Japan controlling the Dutch East Indies (they prepared three transports to strike at the right time) and the Philippines, it’s still very much in the balance.
The Soviets invaded Germany with enormous force, and even by the seventh turn, the European Axis still haven’t set foot in original Soviet territory, as the Soviet economy grows fat from the 3 IPC national objectives, increasing so high that surplus income was invested in medium size navy.
This won’t be as great next time, so what can I do?
To be frank, a Japan that doesn’t aggressively pursue the DEI and threaten the UK Pacific in some existential way (which it sounds like you did) is already losing. Japan’s economy needs those critical IPCs from those southern territories, and if India is allowed to call the shots, Japan will find itself in a pinch fast. This coupled with a Germany that is content to wave at the Soviets as they pass each other on border patrols leads to a rapid economic deficit for the Axis as they rely on rapid expansion to keep their war machines running. Even with Sealion, in my opinion, this isn’t worth the wait, since holding London is a huge hassle once the Americans start thinking about entering the war. Then you’ll need a navy to keep it, which will take your precious, limited funds from the eastern border. Time is just about always on the Allies side.
If your strategy is to wait, I would recommend only doing so if you can set yourself up for an explosive turn (e.g. Japan getting 4 transports ready for the DEI and taking both Manila and Hong Kong on a J3 declaration) that catches the Allies off balance somehow. You should always be dictating the front lines in order to be successful; make the Allies react to you. Just my two cents.
Yeah, this time I set up three transports to get Sumatra, Borneo and Celebes on the fourth turn, then Philippines, Java, and Hong Kong on the fifth turn.
Yeah, it’s really hard to keep London. I was lucky this game because of several mistakes the Americans made.
Did you find the Japanese to be more successful with that move?
And yes, keeping London is always a massive task that is rarely worth it in my experience. It looks cool until the Soviets have Poland and Romania. :p If the goal is to hit the British where it hurts, I prefer to invest in a modest fleet of bombers to harass London but that can swing to Moscow when I need them to. This will force the British to either build elsewhere (could not be helpful for the Italians though) or focus on fighter production in London, which keeps them from building a transport fleet, especially if your air force is strong enough to wipe out any single turn’s build. This also changes when the Americans arrive in force, but to me it is a more viable option than a huge Sealion attempt that is almost doomed to lose you the long game.
I’m not sure if I can compare, as I never have done a J1, 2, or 3 before.
And Sealion did work once when the Allied player wasn’t too good.
I’d be curious to hear your thoughts from trying J1, J2, and J3 attacks to see which you prefer. I tend to prefer J2 since it gives Germany/Italy more time than a J1 but still allows Japan to be collecting 60 something IPCs by turn 3 if done well. However, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts!
We’ll see. I’m just super afraid it’ll increase American morale if I attacked first. Worth a shot though as morale never undermined most campaigns on either side.
