• Russia is not too strong. SBR on the two eastern factories goes a long way to making them even softer. The problem for Russia against a strong Germany is to determine where to concentrate forces. Germany has much more mobility with the transports purchased in Turn 1 or Turn 2 and in one turn totally shift the focus of the attack. Allowing them to feint if you will. A German player that doesn’t come from Scandinavia as well as, the Baltic, Poland and Romania isn’t effectively keeping the Russian player off balance.

  • Customizer

    I say give Germany a minor factory in Romania.  And maybe take away a few Russian inf.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    Tried a true neutral blitz through Turkey?  You can get to Iraq with armor by G3…  Can make the difference.  If you catch them by surprise.

    Then again, it REALLY depends on how well you are doing elsewhere…  Because you activate whatever 20+ infantry against you.

    I like the idea of a minor in Romania, it’s my position that you need one anyways.

  • '10

    @Gargantua:

    it’s my position that you need one anyways.

    Really ? Wouldn’t Yugo be a more useful place for a german Mic ?

  • Customizer

    We are advocating for an IC as part of the set-up.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    Yugo can’t be upgraded to a major, is one less zone away from Russia, doesn’t touch the black sea, and can’t be added to the starting setup.

    If you have a Yugo specific complex strategy, you can still build it in conjunction with the one we are advocating for in Romania.


  • wouldn´t this make too easy for germany? having an IC near the russian borders?
    the minor IC in Berlin already got upgraded to a major one. this already made it a lot easier to catch russia.
    and i agree: russia is not too strong! it is hard, as it should be. but it can be beaten, conquered, sacked, however anyone might call it…sake of an early attack: G2.

    leave yugo for italy, take greece instead. this buys time for the axis. build art (first turn only!), mechs and tanks etc. this way you cover more spaces and take russia out alone!

    and just imagine having some italian mech on your side, paired with a tank from albania! it works!

    rock`n roll

  • Customizer

    Playing a game of Europe only, and it becomes painfully clear that something is needed.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    Play a game of Europe only, with absolutely NO American units or interference…

    see how different it plays out.  And how quickly - if possible, you can win as Germany.

    If you lose, there is a BIG problem.

    One of the problems I also have, is with all the ships in the med… Italy can’t seem to get anything started, if the UK is sent on playing the denial/slow game.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    But there IS America and it IS a consideration.

    In any game in which you are not testing a Pac Strat you will always be concerned if America decides, suddenly, to drop 100 IPC in the Atlantic.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    Ya and then it’s not a 100% pacific Strategy Jen.  Which is my point.

    America is REQUIRED to build in the atlantic, or they will lose.  You force them to do it, by playing as if they were never there.  Voila.  Problem solved.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    No.  Just because you have to plan for the contingency that America MIGHT build in the Atlantic does not mean America ever will build in the Atlantic, only that you have to keep units in reserve to deal with it.


  • @Gargantua:

    Ya and then it’s not a 100% pacific Strategy Jen.  Which is my point.

    America is REQUIRED to build in the atlantic, or they will lose.  You force them to do it, by playing as if they were never there.  Voila.  Problem solved.

    I still think Germany performing a True Neutral crush would be a pretty sweet Strategy to make the Allies pay for having USA spend all their points in the Pacfic…


  • I’ve always like building a Major IC in Romania, because it allows me to grab the more valuable territories in the south. If the Germans just go full steam ahead into Novgorod, they won’t be accumulating a lot of IPCs every turn. I used to build a Major in Romania but now i feel that a Minor is a lot more efficient…by G2 you could have 8 infantry, 6 tanks, and a combo of aircraft to hit southern Russia, which is usually better than anything the Russians can come up with, unless they abandon the North. That’s why a 2 pronged attack is the best…it forces the Russians to split their forces, which they are not economically capable of doing, whereas the Germans are.


  • I totally agree KillOFreeze! Except I still like the major IC in Romania!  :-D


  • russia is really not to strong. i played against a player with far more skill than i had, and i still ended up taking moscow. the key is to not worry about the other 2 VC’s in russia, bcuz they will eventually fall after the fall of its capital


  • Russia is too strong. Or, the Axis are too weak. Against a skilled Allied player, IMHO, the Axis lose every time. I’ve played about a dozen games so far and this happens every time. I’ve only played the Allies so far but I’m currently playing the Axis against a skilled Allied player so we’ll see. Granted some of the Axis players weren’t the best that I’ve played against but from what I can tell on the forums, most people believe the Axis are too weak or the Allies are too strong. It may not be that Russia needs to be weakened to make the game balanced but the Axis need a little more “umph!” and/or the Allies need to weakened a bit.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    No, Russia is not too strong, AMERICA is too strong!

    That’s where the problem lies.  America should have to invest on both sides of the board or lose significant resources for failing to do so.  If that happenes, then Russia would be crushed easier since Japan would have more resources to attack them with.


  • Not being able to kill off a nation “fast enough” if it does almost nothing but turtle does not make that nation too strong. Making it easier to take Russia makes it easier to take the European side of the board, making the game shorter and removing strategy from the game.
    Instead of treating the symptom (loose before taking Russia), treat the cause (too easy for the USA to swing in with a combined Pac/EU side resources).

    As I see it, pretty much the only thing that can be done is tweaking the USA, as it is the factor which tips the board when combining Pac and the EU.
    Putting all your units in Moscow to defend is not a winning strategy, it’s just an avoidance of loosing because the US will come to save you strategy. You can’t take Russia because the US can be a factor too fast, not because Russia is too strong. Tweaking Russia or Germany will not do the game good IMO, on the contrary. A stronger Italy might be useful, but IMO that’s also a short sighted change.


  • Jennifer is very, very right! Russia is not too strong! Just because you cant take Moscow in a couple turns like you could in the previous version does not mean its too strong. Germany will eventually take Moscow if no other power comes to its rescue. The key is dispatching Russia before the Allies defeat Japan or gain enough strength to make a invasion in western  Europe.
    For all of you having difficulty dealing with Russia
    As  Germany build a lot of infantry and artillery for the first 4-6 rounds. As Jennifer said you can use the Italians to place your air craft on the front. Use this to push your way into Russia. Turn 5 or 6 or later buy mechs and tanks to catch up to the front in time for the assault on Moscow.  Feint Sea-lion and use those transports to make a two pronged attack.  The larger force should go to the South and pretty much all of the mechs and tanks should go south. The main idea is to cut the Soviet supply of cash.  Attempt to disable their buying power early. Use the transports and a small land based army coming from the south to take Novogrod early. Then use this factory to create are fair sized northern army. It will then push towards Moscow. The main purpose of this army is to keep Soviet troops pinned down protecting Moscow while your other army takes all of the IPC territory in the south. Position your aircraft so that it can support and protect both armies if the need arises.

    PS The U.S. is too strong unless it splits its income between the two theaters.

Suggested Topics

  • 2
  • 19
  • 18
  • 26
  • 4
  • 13
  • 4
  • 9
Axis & Allies Boardgaming Custom Painted Miniatures

140

Online

17.3k

Users

39.9k

Topics

1.7m

Posts