Ozone,
I prepared a 3,000 word essay for you on Axis strategy, and when I was 90% complete….damn thunderstorm…and yep, I lost it. Was absolutely fuming…so for now you will have to get the short form.
On the Baltic tranny, Finland etc. I use the tranny against the Allied fleet in RR for two basic reasons: in almost all scenarios on G1, the tranny can tilt the balance of the naval engagements to save you a Ftr. Since I view German Ftrs as the most important starting Axis pieces, and absolutely critical for mid-late game defence, trading in Europe etc…I am loathe to lose them. Second, the Allied power to fear most at the start is the Russkie. You definately want to hold EE if possible…but you need to think about the first two complete turns. If you repatriate the 2 Inf on G1 from Finland…the US can take Finland on US 1 with 2 Inf & 1 Bomber. This means that no Russkies will be diverted. I prefer to leave all 4 units there…then the UK can’t hit it (presuming dead trannies), the US is very unlikely to hit 4 units…that means either the Russkie leaves it…or the Russkie hits it. Presuming I have a guy in Ukraine, the most likely outcome is that 1-2 guys get sent with a Ftr or two to Ukraine. The armour and 3 Inf get sent to Finland. Almost all Russian players will commit 3 Inf or more to the Finland battle. That is then 3 Inf less to worry about on an R3 attack into EE. Plus I might actually get some decent defense up there. And cost him a few Inf. But at the least, there will be 3 Russians unable to attack EE. Or, if he doesn’t hit Finland , I hold it through G2. Make sense?
Regarding Caucusus on G1. Go ahead if there is only 1 Inf…I will sometimes do a 2 vs 1 Inf attack in those occasions. But if there is 2 or more there, don’t bother (exception: if there are 5 there…kill em). Why invest $11 to kill $6, and gain $3? German Inf are always at a premium, and you don’t want to lose them in equal or near equal trades. Nothing Germany has should be considered throw away, except her subs and the Baltic tranny, even those have a critical effect by protecting your air. You only have a few turns to build your walls in WE and EE. Every unit you lose is precious in the early rounds. By turn 4, you will be hopelessly out built on the key EE/Karelia front. Trading guys early should only be done for strategic reasons. So sending 3 units to kill 2 Russkies is not my strategy. Defending in EE, those 3 units will require 5 Russkie units to attack.
Regarding hold WE with armour on G1, when you have failed to take out both UK trannies…I want to free all my Infantry (except 1) to sit in Ger/SE so that I can take EE in force on the next turn. If you hold WE with Inf…you won’t be able to hold EE the next turn. IMO, you must hold EE in force within the first 3 rds, or you are dead. The armour are only there for 1 turn…they will go to EE next turn.
Regarding WE…it is less important in the first 3 rounds than EE for strategic reasons. Assuming both UK trannies gone…they can’t hit it, and 2 Inf, 1 Ftr is enough to keep the US at bay. On G2, I want to ensure that I can continue to hold EE. Since the US is often able to land 8 Inf on US 2, I would need significant forces to hold WE…but if I do that, often I can’t hold EE, because of the R3 buy. If I can hold both on G2…great. But, if only 1…then I choose EE. Two reasons: your biggest early game threat is the Allies getting and holding EE at the outset. If that happens you are doomed, you will have to commit the entire German army to get them out (if you can). Even if you win this battle, you lose the war, since you have so few units remaining…and the Allies will be just starting to hit their stride with land units on T3/T4. Consider the math behind massed defence units. The more you have in units on defence, the greater the investment required to hit them. The more the Allies will need $5 Arm instead of $3 Inf. If I can keep the Russkie out of play, and the Jap is foing his job…by R4, the Russkie will start having to place some Inf in Moscow. He doesn’t have to do that the first 3 turns.
So, I let the Allies trade the $6 WE territory for a turn or two, until I can get enough forces to hold both EE and WE. I then take WE back in force. There will always be a 1 turn US lag, somewhere in the first 3 turns. The turn where the US trannies are in the NorthSea, but the Inf/Arm build is in EUSA/WUSA. This is usually US 3…US 1 build 3 trannies…US 2 move 8 Inf, build more Inf. US 3…empty trannies. So, yes, you let them have the $6 if necessary, but the ability to hold EE is paramount to this decision.
On armour holding WE…and wanting to hit Karelia. All I can say is that I never expect to be able to hit Karelia against a decent Allied player. Consequently, I’ll hold it with Arm…so I can free the infantry to take and hold EE on the next turn. My advice to you is pretend Karelia is an atomic wasteland. Bad Russkie mutants can come out of the wasteland, but Germans should never go in there.
On Africa, you should consider it a miracle if the German fleet survives beyond T2. Likely in a no-bid game…you will lose the game and war on the dark continent. Once you start playing better Allied opponents they will smack you in AES on UK1 if you go there and crush your Africa campaign before it starts. Anything less than 5 units in AES after G1…is normally pretty much game over. Hence, why advanced players all play with a bid. In RR it is usually 6-9…all in Libya.
But assuming your Allied player doesn’t want to go to AES on UK1, your goal is to get to SAfrica ASAP, then pull back to AES and await the Allied landings. If you move fast, Japan can resupply AES, and delay the eventual fall of Africa until T6/T7 or even later. She does this with Ftrs and Inf support. You want to hold East Africa…AES to SAfrica. Forget holding or trying to hold the West half of the continent. Get your guy from FWA back to FEA on G2. Then back to AES on G3. Don’t piecemeal attack in Africa against early Allied landings. You want enough of a force sitting in AES, that the first Allied dump into Africa is not enough to take you out of AES. You want to force the US to land at least twice. If you are really good…fortunate…you can force the Allies to land 3/4 or more times…if you go all out with a Jap tranny strategy and constantly reinforce. This takes pressure off Germany in Karelia…and fewer Allies to go through Karelia to Asia…so makes up for less Jap pressure on Russia. In the game I am currently in…the Allies have 35 units in Africa…and still Germany owns AES to SAfrica. I have 15 Jap infantry and 3 Ftrs and an AA supporting 9 German units (was a bid game). Neither Allied force is strong enough to dislodge me. A double attack could probably kill me off, but it would cost the Allies all 35 units, plus most if not all of their 6 Ftrs, 2 Bombers in range. So, on US 8 they are going to be forced to land again…as will Japan. By US 10, they will likely outpace my ability to reinforce…but by then…I’ll be a monster in Asia. The key with Africa is to tie up enough Allied units for long enough that…Germany has sufficient income to keep her borders secure, there are fewer units going to Karelia, which is less pressure on EE, and less pressure through Russia into Asia, and buys time for the Japanese war machine to hit peak stride.
This is difficult with no bid. When playing a strong Allied player who counters AES on UK 1…you have no real choice but to delay attacking AES until G2. That raises other questions…for later. For now, if you can get 4 Inf total to Africa in the first 2 rounds…consider yourself luicky. Anything after that is gravy. If you get lucky in a no-bid game and keep all those 7 units total alive…that is sufficient to withstand the first Allied load in Africa…if you can get Jap ftrs in place.
Hope this all helps.
SUD
