Hi guys,
What is a good US Strategy? Usally I go for europe and take north africa. Unfortunatly Japan gets too powerful. What is a good buy to fight both axis?
I found playing US difficult, but i found a strategy that works for me most of the time.
My standard strategy for US is to focus on Europe. But first liberate Africa. In the first phase of the game Germany is taking over Africa. In round 3 Germany almost completely owns Africa. This gives them a good IPC bonus. The US has very few units in the beginning and Africa is a good objective to start with. I buy a carrier in the first round, and go in at the second. Every round i buy a transport and enough land units to transport. I bring the leftover sea units from the Pacific to the Atlantic. They can help later to take out German fleets when necessary.
In the second phase of the game Germany is kicked out of Africa completely, and the US is building up a considerable number of units in Algeria. With this number of units in Africa and a tranny or 8 germany is forced to leave a considarable number of units defending WE and SE. They take the pressure off from the East front. But this is not enough. Now it depends a little bit on the circumstances on the board and the cooperation with other players what to do next. But here is a few options.
1. Land on Norway
England most likely is building up his forces on Norway (or Karelia), but is not strong enough to put Germany under pressure by himself. When US starts to shift his forces to Norway, Germany can not overpower them and is pushed back to Germany. This takes the presure off the Soviet Union, whe then can focus on Japan. The US need two fleets of tranny’s. One can bring units to England. And one can bring units across to Norway, or even Karelia and Eastern Europe, depending on your progress.
2. Push Japan via Africa
If from round 2 you are pushing units into Africa, them from round 6 or 7 you are arriving in Persia. It depends on Japan where he has his main force for the US to make a difference there. If Japan’s main push is via India, then the US is not going to stop them there. But with anything less, the US can distract Japan and have him go South. If you play this strategy well every turn the US gets 10 or more new units from its pipeline through North Africa. An other posibility is to sail the US fleet through the Suez Canal and start to take the Islands back. This depends also on whether Japan still has a strong fleet. If that succeeds, Japan is seriously crippled.
3. Open a front in the South of Europe
With the South of Europe I mean all countries that border to the Meditiranian Sea. You might want to start with Ukrain since they do not border a factory from Germany. This will be easier to hold. Then you can push slowly West. Now Germany need to fight boh the US and England. The Soviet Union can now concentrate on Japan. With this strategy the US need to have two fleets with tranny’s. One to bring units to Africa, and one to bring units from the African coast to Europe.
4. Knock on the front door of Germany
An other option is to start attacking Western Europe. Especially if Germany is a bit careless and leave too less defenders there, this might be a good option. England can help by soften up the defenses. Because you fight next to the factories from Germany, he might take it back easily at first, but it will exhaust Germany and take the pressure off Russia. Germany will have to call his tanks back from the East. If England and US are able to take Western Europe a few times, you will see that it will take Germany more difficulty each time to take it back. For this strategy you can use Canada to pick up your troops. You can work with one fleet or two. If you work with one fleet you can attack every other round. But you can bring around 20 units every time.
An alternative strategy for the US is to focus on Japan. I found this in some cases a feasable option. For example if Japan does not attack Pearl Habor, or he has very bad luck on the sea in the first round and looses some ships. In this case you can reinforce your Pacific fleet and go after Japan. You have to take the Carolina Islands for there strategic position. From there you can take all of Japan’s high IPC value islands. If this is successful then England and the Soviet Union can fight Germany. I would use US units from the East coast to liberate Africa as secondary objective anyway.
I hope those strategies will help you. If anybody has better ideas, i love to hear them. Or if you know effective counters for those strategies it would be nice if you share them.
Thanks for reading!
Giddy makes some excellent suggestions. Many of the ideas mentioned have worked out splendidly for me when playing the United States.
It is really impossible to consider the U.S. strategy without considering the Allies strategy. That is to say the only good U.S. strategy is one that fits within the framework of the overall Allied strategy.
The most commonly successful of these strategies usually includes sacking Berlin before the Axis can sack Moscow (commonly known as KGF or Kill Germany First). This is probably the easiest path to victory for the Allies and imho should be mastered first before considering execution of the other common path known as Kill Japan First.
If this is the Allies strategy then certainly many of Giddy’s statements apply to a good U.S. Strategy. The key is to know how & when to play each of these strategies according to how your German opponent is playing.
U.K/U.S. 1-2 punch! The turn order allows the U.K to attack Germany followed by a U.S. attack on the same turn (and the possibility of a Soviet Union attack at the beginning of the next turn) all before poor Germany can counter-attack or reinforce. The allies should use this to their advantage as often as possible. A lost battle for the U.K. just may whittle Germany down enough for the U.S. to knock them out.
Amphibious Assaults (Early & Often) - Your German opponent should show signs of frustration every time you land more troops in the European theater.
*Sea Zone 1 makes an excellent naval staging area. You have a triple strike option from that sea zone (Norway, Western Europe, or Algeria). Strike where Germany is weakest or perhaps least expects. Force Germany to play your game and not play his own. Any pressure on Germany is relief for Soviet Union. If Soviet’s don’t have to worry about Germany they can start to stack units and shift them East to prepare for Japan’s march.
I usually prefer to strike Norway on turn 2 (especially if he moved the fighter out on his 1st or 2nd turn). Germany may be gaining IPC’s in Africa, but I’m taking them back just as fast in Europe. By turn 3 or 4 Fortress Europe can feel like a tiger cage to Germany and they will retreat their forces out of Africa and condense near the center.
In addition, should fortunes change and Japan is pressing Moscow early it is easy for U.S. &/or U.K. to reinforce Moscow when Norway is held. This squeezes Germany south and allows the allies free movement over Scandinavia straight to Russia.
*Bring all Fighters to England. i even vacate my fighters in the Pacific and bring them here so I have 4 without buying any. They can be used in combination with amphibious assaults or in sea battles. England acts a bit like it’s own Carrier in this sense. (I also bring my Bomber for the same purpose).
It is best to keep all Fighters (& particularly Bombers) on the territory of England until you are certain your foothold on the European continent is strong. Only when you are certain Germany cannot attack & win should you move your precious air units to the European mainland.
*Shift your Pacific navy to the Atlantic. This is done by many of the best players. In addition if I play United Kingdom I vacate the Indian Ocean around the Horn of Africa and meet up with the U.S. Pacific fleet (except I use my destroyer to take out Japans transport on turn 1). I also move the Australian navy East and they join the U.S. Pacific navy at the same time. In fact I usually take 2 infantry from Australia and use them to harass the African coast which Germany has probably left empty.
I have lost my entire Atlantic navy to German heavy bombers only to have my combined U.K/U.S. navy show up from the Pacific & Indian Oceans combined with new purchases and without missing a step continued the onslaught of Amphibious Assaults on Germany’s Europe.
*Purchase - I like to purchase as many transports as I can & as many infantry that will fit aboard to ship each & every turn. You begin the game with 2 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 tank & 2 transports so I like to move transports to sea zone 1 & ground units to Easter Canada. Then I’m poised to strike on turn 2. My 1st purchase is 3 transports and 6 infantry so on turn 3 I’m landing those.
I keep purchasing the same mostly and keep slamming them into Germany in 1 of 3 places. Once I’ve established control over a landing zone territory in Europe (meaning I don’t think Germany could or would attack it) then I consider other purchases. This game is a race and Allies must sack Berlin before Moscow falls.
U.K. purchases should be similar so that your placing fat stacks of infantry (supported by artillery & tanks when possible) on the European mainland.
*Sea Zone 5 - at some point (use good judgment on when) you should look to eliminate the German navy on sea zone 5. You may do this with a combined U.K./U.S. assault on the same turn before Germany can counter or reinforce. This will open a path to an Amphibious Assault on both Germany & Eastern Europe. In addition any troops already in a neighboring territory to either of these may join the attack. This should make Germany VERY nervous.
If the allies have made smart purchases & coordinated their play together either U.K or U.S should be in position to strike and take Germany including Berlin (maybe it will require a same turn combined strike). Once Berlin has fallen if the allies can keep it for 1 turn then the outcome of the game should become fairly academic at this point. You can begin sending your combined forces to the Eastern front into Asia and the U.S. can even focus on naval production in the Pacific once again. It may take 8 or 10 more turns depending on the Allies efficiency, but the Axis will be doomed.
Playing the U.S. is fun for me. It requires patience as I only make non-combat moves on turn 1, but by turn 4 it’s fun to smile & laugh with the U.K. while the German player studies the board & sweats.
