First turn Russia, an IC in Yakut.

I think the Japanese have a good chance of beating the 4 infantry and 1 tank in yakut if they attack with all forces from manchuria and all fighters/bombers they have in store. That would be the end of the game. Also i don’t think you can determine which course a player will choose when implementing such a daring strategy. Each player will react different to it, i for example would use the newly available space for the german army not to attack karelia but to leave less troops in eastern europe and buying a transport and some troops to conquer africa without having to be afraid of the russian thread. I would use the japanese player to buy trannies in order to get a major concentration of forces in manchuria, which will without a doubt capture the Yakut IC quite soon.

I agree with Grensleeves, Russia can only send so many troops to Asia where it won’t sacrifice its defenses against Germany. So inevitably, Yakut will fall to Japanese material superiority and Japan will have a free IC.

If i were Japan and i see an IC ANYWHERE i attack it with everything i can get there. If i get lucky, then you’ve already retreated your other forces to Russia - reducing your chances of retaking it early (mind you - i guess they may have the odd tank left in Russia but they need those to retake Karelia . . . ).
Also the allies do not need 84 ipcs do they? I thought that was just an Axis victory condition.

You know, i think i shat on your idea a little too early. Maybe a well stacked Yakut might better support the IC - drop the yankee fighter there, as well as the UK ftr, and move your stuff eastwards to reinforce it.
At the same time, there is a very delicate balancing act in order to keep Germany at bay and you need a well co-ordinated Allied defense of the motherland.
i like your thinking tho’.

I have to agree with CC, if I see a IC sitting there (even better if it can serve me tactically!), I’ll take it with everything I have. When that happens, Russia has just wasted 15 IPCs - 5 infantry or 3 ARM in losses. The main problem with an IC in Yakrut is that it’s too close to the Japanese mainland of Manchuria, making it an easy target for a Japanese build up. You could support it with the Yankee and Brit ftrs - however, that risks Africa and gives Japan easy pickings in SE Asia.

Wow! And my friends think my Russian opener is radical because I move all 4 infantry from Russia to Novo! :)

Guest: this is very short term thinking and would never work on experienced players. All you are doing is buying a factory for Japan and giving Germany a 5 infantry head start on the front lines. With a factory in Yakut, Germany and Japan are going to party like it’s 1939! groan :roll:

Also, the Magic number for the Allies is 110.

Your strategy might be fatal to an agressive attack by Germany and Japan - I would have to look at it in more detail. But below are some quick thoughts on a more conservative counter - I won’t detail every move, just the part that applies to your strategy. To understand why this would be effective and why your strategy is ineffective, you have to look at the bigger picture instead of just one or two turns ahead:

Germany: On Germany’s first turn, with 5 less infantry defending Karelia, I would straffe Karelia for 1 round - meaning I would attack with everything adjacent (except my planes) and then retreat to Eastern Europe after one round of combat. On average, this will kill about 5 more Russian infantry and I will lose about 6 German infantry (but I ‘rescued’ 3 infantry and a tank from Norway). Long term: Karelia now has 10 less infantry than it would normally have, which means there will be virtually no Russian pressure on Eastern Europe from Karelia until the Americans arrive several turns later. This frees up the German troops that are normally stuck in Eastern Europe, allowing Germany to send extra support to Africa as mentioned above.

Japan: Buy the standard 2 transports and 3 infantry. On Japan’s first turn I would ignore Yakut and the Soviet Far East, attacking China with 1 infantry from Manchuria and everything from Kwangtung, as well as all planes that can make it. There would be 2 infantry left behind in Manchuria, all fighters would land there, and the two Japanese transports would land 4 more infantry there as well. At the end of turn 1 Japan has 6 infantry and 4 fighters in Manchuria, so that a Russian attack from Yakut on turn 2 would be suicide. On turn 2, Japan will land 8 more infantry in Manchuria, still ignoring Yakut. On turn 3 Japan will take Yakut, attacking with 14 infantry, 5 fighters, and a bomber. Long term: the now Japanese-owned factory will start cranking out 2 tanks per turn while I transport 12 infantry every turn on to the mainland towards Russia.

Now, ignoring the details, there are two important tips to take from this example: a.) Russia has to put as much pressure as possible on Eastern Europe so that it ties up German forces in Germany and reinforcements to Africa are kept to a minimum, and b.) with a factory in Yakut, Japan will be landing 8-12 infantry per turn into Manchuria and your factory will soon be overwhelmed, then used against you.

Something to keep in mind - Axis and Allies is a game that changes style dramatically as you become more experienced. When you first start playing A&A, all kinds of wild strategies are possible and games will often end suddenly and violently in just a few turns. As you gain experience the game becomes much slower and more subtle, similiar to chess in a few respects: a.) there are only a few good opening moves with slight variations - anything else and you will lose several turns later, and b.) the games are slower paced and last much longer with an evolving beginning, middle, and endgame, and you have to look at the consequence of every move several turns in advance.

Then the day will come when you have perfected your game to an artform and you will be able to execute your plans with the style of a Grand Master. After hours of near-perfect play, you will see the inevitable flaw in your opponent’s game and make your move. Basking in all your glory as you transfer your units to the battle board for the decisive battle, you taunt your opponent. “Checkmate,” you grin.

Your opponent grimaces, closes his eyes, and rolls… 5 out of 6 1’s for his AA guns - costing you the game and prompting you to throw your dice across the room and into the wall - and you quickly realize that A&A is nothing like chess after all… :o

I understand what you are trying to accomplish, but you are missing a few things after Japan 1:

1.) There are no US troops in China - I own it. (This is a ‘golden rule’ of Japan 1 - they should always, without exception, take China on their first turn.) All you have are 2 infantry in Sinkang - if you build a factory there I have a good shot at taking it on my second turn, depending on how many infantry survived in China and what my Burma infantry did. Sometimes I will even take Sinkang on Japan 1 from Burma.

2.) Even if I choose to ignore the Sinkang factory, I am attacking Yakut on Japan 3 with 14 infantry and 6 planes. US1 - build a factory, US2- build troops at factory… Yakut falls before US3. There are no US troops able to support Yakut in time unless you vacate Sinkang and give me a second free factory.

3.) The UK will not be ‘sweeping’ anywhere. There are 3 Japanese infantry in Burma at the start of the game. All England has is 3 infantry and a fighter, and the fighter will probably have to defend one of the factories. If you leave 3 infantry and a fighter in India on turn 1, I would probably hit that from Burma, spliting forces between India and China. Just 3 infantry from Burma, a fighter, and a bomber has a 70% chance of taking India - not a 35% chance. If I bring the transport and 2 more infantry it is a sure thing. (There is an odds calculator, “P10000”, that you can dowload from this website that is very helpful in evaluating strategies.) Also, it is easy to sink the transport if it tries to go to to Australia, which would only be 2 addition infantry on UK turn 3 anyway. I would probably ignore that move as well - let you bring the 2 infantry to me to be killed - saves me the trip out there. Also I’ll be glad to let you vacate Australia for me so that later on I can pop 1 infantry there and take it at my convience.

4.) Japan can still easily out-produce both Allied factories in this part of the world, so both will fall sooner or later. Allied factories in Asia are nothing more than a delaying move - to delay Japan’s push on Russia while they take care of Germany.

5.) By far most importantly, all this action in Asia means Germany is having a field day in Europe and Africa. Remember, every ‘positive’ move made by the Allies in Asia has negative consequences in Europe. If too much effort is spent in Asia by the Allies, Germany will quickly become unstoppable. One of the other players on this board has a good saying for the Allies:

“What’s the worst Japan can do? Take Russia. What’s the worst Germany can do? Win the game.”

Tonight, play out your USSR 1, UK 1, and then this Japan 1. See if you like the way things look for the Allies afterwards. I think you will find that a UK factory in India instead of the Russian factory will accomplish the same goals you are striving for, only much more effectively.

There is nothing wrong with trying out new strategies though, and it all depends on the experience level of your opponent. Your strategy could be devesating to a player unable to deal with it, and it might help you rack up a quick victory.

I think you are guilty of something we are all guilty of when we are working on a new strategy - there is a default tendancy to assume that our opponents will play exactly into our hands. You get excited about one specific strategy and you have tunnel vision focusing on that strategy.

For example:

America Turn 2 (A2):
Because Germany needs to constantly reinforce the troops in Eastern Europe just to keep up with the Russian forces Eastern Europe will be weakly defended. So invade Western Europe using the support of your Fighters and Bomber.

That’s just crazy! Even if you only have a few games worth of experience, I guarantee that if you were playing as Germany in a game there is no way you would allow the US to take Western Europe on the second turn of the game. So why do you assume your opponent will allow this?

OK, you have an idea of what you want to do with the Allies for the first few turns, right? So now you need to play devil’s advocate - play as the Axis against your Allied strategy and look for the best way to stop it. Then go back and tweak it, test it again, etc. - until you are happy with it. Then test it out against some live opponents.

Just as an example, you missed some important things on Japan 1: If you leave your 2 infantry and fighter in India you will lose them. I will attack them with 3 infantry and a fighter from Burma, and the bomber from Japan. I have about an 80% chance of taking India with one Infantry remaining on average. I will land 2 infantry in Burma to protect the bomber, and 2 in Manchuria to reinforce as above. So everything that you have planned out after Japan 1 is invalid in this case. No factory in India. No factory in Sinkiang - if you build a factory in Sinkiang, you will lose it on turn 2 - I can attack it on Japan 2 with 2-4 infantry and 2-5 planes. You will lose the Yakut factory on Turn 3.

I am assuming that by coming to this website and posting various strategies to get feedback on them, your overall goal is to become a better player as quickly as possible. Probably so that you can deliver a butt whoopin’ to your friends. :D
Well here are some good ways to get a jump start on that:

Below is a website that has several essays that are a great resource for newer players. The strategies aren’t as black and white as the author makes them out to be, but overall they are sound and will help improve your game significantly. Among other things they describe a UK India factory strategy that is decent.

http://donsessays.freeservers.com/
One relevant quote:

“… you will have to believe that your death will occur if you make a purchasing mistake on the first, second, and third turns against seasoned A&A players.”

As I said earlier, all of this depends on your opponents. If you are playing against friends who are relatively new to the game, there are a lot more viable strategies for both the Axis and Allies. But if you are trying to improve your gameplay as quickly as possible by posting strategy ideas on a board with a lot of experienced players, then you need to learn what works, what doesn’t work, and why.

Take an in-depth look at these essays, absorb them, and then practice the strategies in them against your friends. They won’t stand a chance - you will deliver some serious beatings!

If you do want to improve quickly, get the CD game if you don’t own it already and start playing others on The Zone. There are about 100 people playing every night. I’d be happy to meet you there and help you get started, both with the game and with your Allied strategy. You can send me an e-mail at jg2_ansbach@yahoo.com.

There are also three great Online Axis and Allies clubs:

War Club: http://www.axis-allies.com
BOP: http://www.balance-of-power.net
Spring 1942: http://www.spring1942.com

You can join any or all of them! They have a lot of newbie support and resources, as well as various levels of opponents. Your play will improve dramatically, you will have more potential opponents than you ever dreamed of, and you will have a blast!

Also, if you like it here you ought to quit logging in as a guest and join this BB community as well! Continue to post questions and strategy ideas so that we can disscus them with you. This board will help you improve your strategy as well, IF you take what’s discussed here and try it out in real games.

Good luck!

Yeah, that would work too! :)

Ansbach, I’ll take you up on that offer!

Ansbach is (as happens so often) correct. If you might indulge me a tad…

One year ago: I was our group’s worst USSR player. But as is so often the case, I became super-interested in USSR and stared at the board for hours trying to come up with the ultimate USSR strategy.

What I came up with was the ultimate “worst case scenario” strategy for T1 that enabled me under virtually ANY circumstances to live for at least 3 turns–if BOTH Japan & Germany attacked on T1 w/ everything they had. My strategy was based on judicious counterattacks to set the enemies back just long enough for a massive USA force to come charging in to the rescue.

The 1st (and only) game I tried this strategy, the Axis didn’t attack me from 2 sides T1–in fact, neither of them strongly attacked me T1 at all. Now I had this massive “counterattack” force just sitting there useless.

So I attacked Japan T2.

Needless to say, Germany swamped me T2 with massive forces and Japan (after defeating my “1-shot”) attack, came in T3. My reputation as the group’s worst USSR player was secure. :o

Since then USSR has become only my 2nd-worst country (after USA). But also since then I have learned the cardinal rule of Naval Combat (and by extension, any combat):

Never prepare for what you think the enemy WILL do. Rather–prepare for what the enemy COULD do…

Ozone27

Ok, guest, I’m going to be very harsh with you because, well this is an awful idea. First of all, I dont know how your Eastern front can possibly last with 5 less INF there on T1, and I dont know why you think it can. Didn’t Ansbach run the numbers earlier in this thread? I sort of skip over the long posts, but I’m fairly certain this idea is suicide. Second of all, you can accomplish the same thing a Yakut IC would accomplish (2 INF in Yakut every turn) by marching 2 INF from Russia and Novo over the whole game. That would only take 2 INF out of Europe every turn, instead of 5 the first turn and 2 after that. You’ve grasped the big picture idea - stalling Japan, but you really need to look at the details and realize that Russia cannot afford an IC.

@EmuGod:

Ansbach, I’ll take you up on that offer!

Sure thing! Just send me an e-mail and let me know when you want met up - weekdays between 5pm - 11pm CST work best for me.

jg2_ansbach@yahoo.com

I agree with Ansbach’s first post. It also leaves the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine to clean the Royal Navy’s clock.
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Try Again!

An IC in Yakut is unneeded. Its only 2 spaces from Moscow. I have 2 infantry going east every turn usually. Once the patern is established, its like having an IC there. Every turn, 2 infantry arrive from Evenki.

Guest,

Guest First post

Japan T1…Japan will have an opportunity to take over India using Infantry from Manchuria…

You goofed here(in case no one else pointed it out). Infantry from MAN CANNOT reach India…NO WAY…NO HOW.

Guest First and Second post

GB T1 (E1):
Buy: Infantry and Transports

You goofed again! With Germany concentrating Navy& Air on the Royal Navy nothing would be left to defend these TRNs. YOU JUST WASTED 16-24 IPCs!
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Try again!