US1 standard is something like 2 BB and 1 Carrier for the Pacific. Neuter Japan’s fleet early allows the US to redirect its attention to the Pacific because Japan cannot recover once more than 1/3 of its fleet is sunk. The best way to explain this, is trading US ships for Japanese ships of equal or greater value is a win for the US as Japan cannot replace ships or advance as easily as the US can. One of the most dangerous moves I’ve dealt with from the US is the 10 Sub purchase somewhere between US3 and US5. Japan’s fleet is on its heels with that much fodder to attack a US fleet while the US poses significant threats against any fleet without multiple DD escorting it.
UK1 is pretty standard either 6 Inf 1 Ftr or 9 Inf - if your opponent wants to take London you’ll need this purchase or London falls easily to G3 invasion of UK. Sink every Italian ship possible, sending subs up from N.Africa or Canada later on allows you to convoy Italy out of the game efficiently. Basically UK trades impotence early for neutering Italy’s growth for easy US conquest. UK becomes more of a threat later with a few TT off of London - the US strikes for Denmark from Gibraltar and then the UK strikes Berlin for a generally game ending 1-2 punch against Germany. (this is my recommended move against an amateur Axis player, and particularly one aggressively attacking Moscow).
Keep Burma Road open for China for 2-3 turns or Japan gets a strong advantage in taking India. Don’t involve UK/Anzac in that protection or you force the US to wait while Japan runs rampant in the Pacific.
Anzac plays nicely into reinforcing US positions later on to deter Japanese counter attacks, its worth the investment of sending your ships on Anzac1 to DNG for the 5 IPC at war bonus. I like to just buy DD every round to provide screens for US fleets later. Another favorite of mine is for Anzac to purchase SS while the US lays the smack onto Japan away from Tokyo. 3 Subs are a great mop up against a Japanese carrier that escapes from a US attack and has no DD left to protect it - and later as a convoy option to cut Japan’s income and forcing it to place DD instead of aggressive purchases.
India’s best moves generally include early threat to reinforce Burma for China via Mech on India1 while taking one of the Dutch East Indie Islands. After that its fortress time if Japan threatens Calcutta. Adding an AA gun before Japan arrives may be worth 5 IPC so you can roll against all the aircraft Japan will bring, a few lucky dice really swings that battle negatively for Japan. If Japan is ignoring Calcutta, the pacific is generally lost for Japan and start sending Armor to the middle east and up through China to cut Japan’s income.
Russia… is boring and tough. A full German advance routinely spells doom for inexperienced Russian players. Russia is a counterattack type play - utilize your 2 Ftr and Tac out of AB’s to provide punching power for small groups if Inf. For Russia, trading your Inf for German Inf or Mech is a winning move. Germany is too far away from reinforcements that loss of its fodder spells doom for Germany to take Moscow.
Its really an odds game for Russia of deciding how many Inf you need for a round of battle against the larger German stacks. If you assume (defending) 6 tanks equates 3 hits, and 9 inf equate three hits, you need to swing with 6 Inf or you face losing Ftr/Tac. You only really want to play for a single round and then retreat and reinforce any ground units that survive. If Germany loses 3 Inf on your counter and then loses 3 more on the next attack, you’ve effectively cut German fodder from that stack by 2/3 while replenishing your Inf behind the lines and the Germans won’t have reinforcements available for a few turns, nor in the same quantity. This spells doom if you do this twice on the way to Moscow as the Germans will only have aircraft and Armor left to hit with and you’ll cut their striking power each round while defending with Inf at a 2-1 ratio.
Good luck, let us know how it goes!
