Allies strategy discussion

@cernel said in Playing in 2017 still, General Strategy/Discussion:

That submarine is making a battle with an average +10 value swing there (140% the value of the attacking force!), which is more than sending it to kill the lone British transport

Actually, sending the German submarine which is in the North Atlantic to kill the transport next to Eastern Canada (average +7) instead of taking the shot against the 1 cruiser and 2 transports next to Eastern United States (average +10) is some less than a -3 difference since, if using it to kill the British transport, then nothing can kill the submarine on the same round, whereas the 50% chance of the submarine surviving next to Eastern United States implies the ability for the Americans to make a battle with 1 destroyer, 1 fighter and 1 bomber (or even more units) against 1 submarine, which is an about +4.4 value swing, to be reduced to +2.2 on the account that the submarine will be there only 50% of the times. So that covers at least most (2.2/3) of the difference between the two options the submarine has if you actually think that having that submarine alive next to Eastern Canada at the start of the second German turn is actually worth its value or more. Opinions?

In any case, the battle next to Eastern United States is certainly a good option which your opponent may take and, in this case, it will be a 50/50 on either:

Germany having 1 less submarine for nothing. America having 1 less cruiser, 2 less transports and having to invest units to kill 1 German submarine, with slightly more than a 1/6 chance also to lose 1 destroyer in the process.

@Uncrustable:

@Hobbes:

@Uncrustable:

The one thing i generally dont know when to do is build ICs in India and/or FIC .?
And what is the best way to move air from japan to germany? Carriers in the indian ocean ? Or FIC -> Egypt -> Europe. Most of my games Germany is not yet prepared to hold Ukraine on G3 so japan cant land its fighters there.

IC on FIC is less efficient than getting 4 transports for J to maximize usage of Japan’s starting IC and using 2 of those transports to bring units from Japan to FIC. 2 transports cost 14 IPC, carry 4 units, 1 IC costs 15 builds only 3.
India on the other hand should have a Japanese IC as quickly as possible, but without risking it to fall to an early Allied (Soviet) attack from Caucasus.
Air, depends on the situation. If you keep a carrier on SZ60 and another off Egypt you can move newly build fighters to Europe in 2 rounds. Bombers can be sent through Egypt or India (and if you build an IC on India then any J bombers built there can hit SZ5 on the next round), fighters India can reach Balkans or E. Europe  - really depends on the situation.

Yeah i agree. Thanks for all your help Hobbes ;)

Something else I remembered. Sometimes an IC on FIC is a good option if the Allies go KJF.
If the UK has built 1 IC on India on UK1 then Japan needs to focus everything on conquering it and it is a quicker way to place units on FIC than shipping them from Japan. However, there’s a risk that the Allies may conquer FIC instead and then its former IC will be used against Japan.
If the US go with a Pacific strat an IC on FIC may also be a good option since it allows to add additional ships/ground units for Japan away from the main battle.

Luftwaffe, games are played on this site.  There is a facility here to use a forum posting to roll dice.  There is a map utility called Battlemap that allows you to post maps to show your builds and the results of moves and combat.  This map file is then uploaded for your opponent to download and do their move.  It’s a great way to see how others play the game.  You find games here:

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?board=40.0

@Bunnies:

@Hobbes:

@mtngoatjoe:

If, If, if, if.

Famous last words :)

As famous as “Oops”?

True, not as famous as “Oops” but the top of list to me goes to “Awww s…”

Yeah stacking is the way to go. Hope the Japanese don’t attack right away then try to send some fighters over for more of a deterrent from another allied player. Then sit back and enjoy your vodka while you can.

Thanks will check out tripleA.

I’ve played games yesterday as allies and won them against the other player. We had played before using the same sides and I lost. Here’s my impressions of what happened and what you described:

The initial Russian opening is pretty much standard, he should have lost 3 inf according to probabilities but G will lose 2 of the following 4 territories to R on the first round: Ukraine/West Russia/Bielorussia/Norway. G has to push Russia back on the first or second turn. Buying only inf for G on round 1 is not the best choice (the allied player did it on both my games). Ideally, if you buy 5 tanks you can be able to make Karelia impossible to take by the Russians (depending on the number of russian casualties and their initial purchase). If that’s not possible then you will have to take and hold Karelia or Ukraine somewhere on the following rounds. What you do regarding the Brit fleets really depends on how much you want to risk sacrificing your air force. Taking out the UK Battleship and the Transport with the sub, fighter and bomber gives some breathing room for G on the Atlantic, along with killing the Cruiser. And don’t forget to move the G subs. Regarding J it really depends on what R and the UK have made. If they are playing aggressive then you’ll have 6 inf on Buryatia, UK controlling Borneo and New Guinea, UK fighter on US carrier on Hawaii. Your first buy should be 2 transports and 1 destroyer, in any case. You’ll need the DD do deal with any allied subs, while the factory can wait a little longer. With Japan I’d say that the US fleet is the biggest target, followed by China and Borneo. If R moved to Buryatia leave 1 inf behind in Manchuria and land as many fighters as possible there. If the US goes Pacific (like I did on my games) and starts building a fleet, then your focus is to prevent the US fleet from invading either East Indies/Borneo/Phillipines and building an IC there. You’ll need some infantry to drop on Asia using the transports available but combat ships and planes have the highest priority. On Asia focus on taking India, the Chinese territories and the 3 Russian territories. Don’t leave your ground units where they can be destroyed by allied  counterattacks.

I take back what I said about forgetting Africa.  With the new transport rules, it is much easier to fend off Allied convoy’s, especially for the first few turns.  I did some testing (having the new TripleA now) and this is what seemed to work best:

-Take out see zone 2 with sub and whatever air needed.  Leave Canada transport for Baltic fleet as it won’t have much of an escort with sea zone 2 dead
-take out battleship in sea zone 13 with remainder of air that can reach.
-grab 1 inf and 1 tank from Southern Europe, land in Egypt with all land forces that can reach and fighter that can reach from eastern front.
-take Karelia with Norway troops and reserves.
-consolidate on Karelia, Belorussia and Ukraine

Hold Eastern line (trading if need be) until Japs storm in back side.
trade Baltic fleet for any UK1 fleet build
Keep majority of air in Western Europe and buy a bomber a turn (for 3 turns).  Sink everything

Eventually Japan storms in as usual, and it takes 3+ turns for a large enough fleet to hold off Germany’s air.

Another thing I tried was taking the Japan fleet in the East Indies and spare fighters and take out India fleet, then move through Mediterranian see to hold Gibralter with the German Battleship.  This bought an extra turn or two of holding off allied fleet.  You don’t need it in the Pacific anyway assuming you destroy the Pearl Harbor fleet.

It caused me to lose all but Kwangtung on Asia initially, but I ferried so many troops in after the first turn it didn’t matter.  The allies have no supply line in eastern Asia to stop you, and with half the Japan fleet in the Atlantic with the German boats left, it made African and Western Europe landings impossible.  They only thing the Allies can do is Norway landings, which take twice as long from the US.

I’m not sure of a good Allied counter to this.  I did have the PC move the Russian sub to sea zone 2, which helped take out more units in that battle (still only lost a fighter and sub).