Axis Strategies

@Jaycawbz:

Hello folks! I’m new to the community here, although I’ve been lurking around reading here for a few weeks. I think it’s been a major help with my Axis game. Generally, I play both Germany and Japan, while my three friends play the Allies (an odd way to play, but we all enjoy it.)

I generally play a Kill Russia First strategy, stalling with Germany on their Western border while Japan eats them alive from the east. It seems like I always have a problem with an Allied landing in Western Europe and the Western half of Africa though. So, my first question is, how do you counter this with Germany?

On G1 you should buy 1 bomber and attack the UK Battleship + Transport on SZ2, landing the German fighter and bomber afterwards on Norway. You should also kill the UK Cruiser on SZ13 with 2 German fighters and move the 2 subs to SZ7. This should remove any substantial Allied threat of amphibious landings since the UK will have to rebuilt its navy and keep it away from the German planes and submarines.
You can’t really stop the Allies from landing on Algeria but if you keep adding infantry to Western Europe (I usually get up to 12 by round 4 or 5) plus basing the German airforce there you’ll be able to prevent the Allies from ever taking it, with a little help of the Japanese. And as a side bonus the UK won’t be able to collect income from W.Eur, which will slow down its naval buildup.
If the US sets its fleet off SZ12 and threatens to take S. Europe, let them have it. The US/UK will be splitting their efforts, making it easier to defeat their landings. The drawback of losing S. Eur is that you’ll be limited to buying 10 units, and G will have to buy as many infantry as possible to fortify W.Eur and keep an eye on the Russians.
As for the Japanese, I usually send their entire airforce to Europe, through Egypt or carriers parked on SZ34. Then they can work great to defend Fortress Europe: since J plays between UK/US the planes can be used to either reinforce the defenses on W.Eur/S.Eur/Germany or even sink the UK fleet if the UK player gets careless (which can be a game winner for the Axis). Again the drawback is that the Japanese advance to Russia will be costly but at the same time Russia is busy against Japan and not helping the Allies landing on Eastern Europe.

My second question is, is there an effective way for Germany to go about a Kill Britain First strategy? I was experimenting with this in my mind, and wondered if it would be viable to build transports bridging Germany with Britain, and investing in naval protection for it, bringing up the Mediterranean Battleship and the northern fleet to protect them also. With Germany’s economic advantage, it seems to me that they could succeed in destroying Britain, especially if you’re stealing their IPC’s in Africa. Are there any thoughts on a viable Kill Britain first strategy?

Unless the Allied player is completely careless or crazy it is impossible to take Britain with Germany. The UK can simply drop a bunch of infantry on each turn with further reinforcements from the US. You’d need to take complete control of the Atlantic and somehow avoid Russia from overrunning Europe.

Also, what would you do as an Axis player if the U.S.A went full force in the Pacific, while Britain and Russia focused on Germany themselves? Is this a viable thread to the Axis players? How would you counteract this?

Thanks for your answers in advance.

Build tons of infantry with Germany (with the 1-2 tanks) for the first 3 turns. Fortify W. Europe with Germany as above (but don’t send the Japanese planes) while massing a big infantry stack on E. Europe. Then switch to all tank production and go take Caucasus from the Russians and eventually Russia. Or move your stack to Karelia to prevent UK landings to reinforce Russia and keep your income in the 40s until you can safely move the unit stack to West Russia without fear of the Russians killing it.
With Japan you should always buy 3 transports + 1 DD as usual for J1. Japan will only know if the US is going Pacific until US1 so there’s not much you can do about it until then. If they are going after Japan, then you will need more destroyers, specially if the US is building a lot of submarines. You should only buy 1 IC and for Indochina and usually only after turn 2 or 3, otherwise invest on at least 1 plane or submarine per turn.
The best route for the US is to take Solomon and be in position to hit Japan/East Indies/Borneo/Phillipines. If it does so, move 1 DD to SZ51 to block access to Japan (if necessary) and move your fleet to SZ48/49/36 to respond to any landings on those islands and retake them. Keep a close eye to the US fleet and airforce before leaving your fleet within range of US ships: it can be easy (and deadly) to underestimate the number of planes that can reach it.

Hobbes beat me to it. He’s giving solid advice, the G1 bomber is a good tactic that will often prevent the Allies from meeting at z8 on round 1 and slowing the Allies down a full turn.

The one point I differ on is defending Western Europe with tall infantry stacks and the Luftwaffe. If Germany does this, the Allies will have her separated from Russia too soon. The alternative is to defend Western Europe in the opening rounds with the Luftwaffe, minimal infantry, and however many tanks it takes to deter attack. Then when Germany has a chance to advance on the Soviets, they can shift the units in Western Europe east. In one turn, the tanks and fighters go from defending Western Europe to threatening a move on Caucuses/West Russia adding to Russia’s problems with Japan.

@Jaycawbz:

Hobbes beat me to it. He’s giving solid advice, the G1 bomber is a good tactic that will often prevent the Allies from meeting at z8 on round 1 and slowing the Allies down a full turn.

The one point I differ on is defending Western Europe with tall infantry stacks and the Luftwaffe. If Germany does this, the Allies will have her separated from Russia too soon. The alternative is to defend Western Europe in the opening rounds with the Luftwaffe, minimal infantry, and however many tanks it takes to deter attack. Then when Germany has a chance to advance on the Soviets, they can shift the units in Western Europe east. In one turn, the tanks and fighters go from defending Western Europe to threatening a move on Caucuses/West Russia adding to Russia’s problems with Japan.

Hmmm… but by moving your forces out of Western Europe, won’t that cause the allies to move into Western Europe and leave Germany vulnerable? Although I DO see the benefit in the extra threat on Russia.

Moving out of WE does invite a landing on Western Europe. That’s the sacrifice made to continue to press Russia from the West. The Allies should only land a small amount to collect for Western Europe. Germany should maintain Western Europe as a deadzone so a large landing would not be a good idea for the Allies. It does not leave Germany vulnerable as long as Germany itself is defended.

@Fleetwood:

@Jaycawbz:

Hobbes beat me to it. He’s giving solid advice, the G1 bomber is a good tactic that will often prevent the Allies from meeting at z8 on round 1 and slowing the Allies down a full turn.

The one point I differ on is defending Western Europe with tall infantry stacks and the Luftwaffe. If Germany does this, the Allies will have her separated from Russia too soon. The alternative is to defend Western Europe in the opening rounds with the Luftwaffe, minimal infantry, and however many tanks it takes to deter attack. Then when Germany has a chance to advance on the Soviets, they can shift the units in Western Europe east. In one turn, the tanks and fighters go from defending Western Europe to threatening a move on Caucuses/West Russia adding to Russia’s problems with Japan.

Hmmm… but by moving your forces out of Western Europe, won’t that cause the allies to move into Western Europe and leave Germany vulnerable? Although I DO see the benefit in the extra threat on Russia.

Moving out of WE does invite a landing on Western Europe. That’s the sacrifice made to continue to press Russia from the West. The Allies should only land a small amount to collect for Western Europe. Germany should maintain Western Europe as a deadzone so a large landing would not be a good idea for the Allies. It does not leave Germany vulnerable as long as Germany itself is defended.

With Revised I usually leave W. Europe empty for the Allies to take. In 1942 it is just too useful as an airbase to the Luftwaffe/Japanese Air Force and, also as important, to help starve the UK’s income to near irrelevance.

1942 has a much stronger side regarding airpower because of the reduced costs of bombers but more importantly because of transports having 0 defense and being removed at the end of a battle.

If there are a lot of Axis planes on W. Eur. then the Allies have no choice but to buy carriers, destroyers and planes to protect its transport fleets during the first turns, which limits the ability of the UK to recover from the income loss of India/Africa/Australia. Quite commonly the UK is limited to 20 something until Africa is liberated by the US and even so it gets very hard to bring it up to 30s without India/Australia/Persia/Trans-Jordan and Western Europe. And the less units the UK has to land on Norway/Karelia/E. Europe, the less have the germans to deal with on the ground.

After liberating Africa, the US has 2 options: either join the UK fleet on SZs 6/7 to protect it as it moves towards SZ5 or stick around SZ12 and go after S. Eur. The optimal move is usually for it to go SZ5 since it then allows the UK/US to attack the same territory but I’ve seen quite often players that decide to use it to take S. Eur, which then requires for the Allies to have 3 fleets (SZ5, SZ12 and SZ14) to protect it against Axis planes on W. Eur, instead of 2 fleets (SZs 8 & 5). And while the US/UK are building fleets, Germany is simply piling up on infantry and after a while it can switch to a more offensive role if W. Europe and Germany are secured.

@Jaycawbz:

@Hobbes:

On G1 you should buy 1 bomber and attack the UK Battleship + Transport on SZ2, landing the German fighter and bomber afterwards on Norway. You should also kill the UK Cruiser on SZ13 with 2 German fighters and move the 2 subs to SZ7. This should remove any substantial Allied threat of amphibious landings since the UK will have to rebuilt its navy and keep it away from the German planes and submarines.

Hmmmm… mmkay. I think I see what you’re saying. What do you generally recommend doing with the German Battleship? Keeping it where it is to protect your transport shuffling troops through to Africa?

I always keep them together. What I do with them depends a lot, especially how long the Allied player decides to let them live. Shuffling troops to Africa, using it to retake Ukraine.  Sometimes it is possible to pull it back to the Indian Ocean with the transport and then use it to take Madagascar/Australia/New Zealand. On Revised I used to try to keep the Suez Canal open enough for the entire Japanese Navy to move to the Med and protect it. On 1942 it is possible but more risky to have the fleet trapped on the Med and sunk, plus Japan should go after Australia/New Zealand/Madagascar/etc.

You can’t really stop the Allies from landing on Algeria but if you keep adding infantry to Western Europe (I usually get up to 12 by round 4 or 5) plus basing the German airforce there you’ll be able to prevent the Allies from ever taking it, with a little help of the Japanese. And as a side bonus the UK won’t be able to collect income from W.Eur, which will slow down its naval buildup.

Definitely agree with you were. I make the mistake of building too many tanks early on as Germany, and underestimating the defensive firepower of the infantry. So basically, I should continue adding infantry to Western Europe, and move any available fighters to that location? Do you recommend building any additional fighters as Germany early on?

If you get the Japanese planes there, you won’t need any additional fighters. If you have enough income later on to invest in some airforce to scare the brits off get bombers instead.

If the US sets its fleet off SZ12 and threatens to take S. Europe, let them have it. The US/UK will be splitting their efforts, making it easier to defeat their landings. The drawback of losing S. Eur is that you’ll be limited to buying 10 units, and G will have to buy as many infantry as possible to fortify W.Eur and keep an eye on the Russians.
As for the Japanese, I usually send their entire airforce to Europe, through Egypt or carriers parked on SZ34. Then they can work great to defend Fortress Europe: since J plays between UK/US the planes can be used to either reinforce the defenses on W.Eur/S.Eur/Germany or even sink the UK fleet if the UK player gets careless (which can be a game winner for the Axis). Again the drawback is that the Japanese advance to Russia will be costly but at the same time Russia is busy against Japan and not helping the Allies landing on Eastern Europe.

Hmm… you would recommend giving the U.S. Southern Europe? That would seem like a major threat to me… will Germany have the power to retake and defend that?

Depends on what the UK is doing, if
it simply is shuffling troops through SZ4 to Karelia/Archangel or if it is on SZ5. If US takes S. Eur. usually troops on Germany and tanks on E. Europe can retake it. If using tanks you can use a bunch of them to dissuade the US of trying to retake it (and meanwhile his fleet is mostly harmless for 1 turn since it can’t attack W. Europe or S. Europe).

Unless the Allied player is completely careless or crazy it is impossible to take Britain with Germany. The UK can simply drop a bunch of infantry on each turn with further reinforcements from the US. You’d need to take complete control of the Atlantic and somehow avoid Russia from overrunning Europe.

You have an excellent point here. Would you stand by this statement even if the Allies were going for a KJF strategy?

It would still take a long time for Germany to build a fleet capable of conquering the UK. If the UK places just 8 inf per turn (24 IPC) then G would need to buy 4 transports each turn (28 IPC) + troops for them. And meanwhile the comrades in Russia would either completely kick Japan off Asia or push Germany back to E. Europe/Balkans. Comrades would be very happy I would say :)

Russia has the best position on the board. If it has no immediate threats then an aggressive Russian player can make a lot of damage to the Axis income.

Some knowledgable people have offered some really sound advice.  Just a few things to think about.

If the allies split their atlantic fleet then each fleet has to defend against the same resources.  If you add 1 bomber, the allies have to add enough to both fleets to ensure an attack is not worth while.

Germany requires mostly infantry in the first few rounds.  The allies generally will not have more than 4 transports for each of Britain and the US.  So initially it is a challenge to cover all your bases, but as your stack grows, their threat decreases as most likely, the allies won’t build extra transports and withhold units from the mainland just to impose a greater risk of a larger amphibious landing.  By replacing infantry with tanks in western europe you can move up the slower units first, then as mentioned, move up and threaten Russia.

@Jaycawbz:

I do see your point. And with Russia out of the way, it would be rather simple to turn your forces around and take back (and hold) Western Europe. However, would a stacked infantry defense not be cheaper than a defense with more fighters and tanks, which would allow for more building elsewhere?

Stacked infantry is much more cost effective, you’re right. The reasoning for using tanks and fighters, primarily starting units, is their mobility. German tanks in one move go from defense in Western Europe to offense in Eastern Europe while Germany’s infantry builds can go primarily east so when Germany makes the lurch forward, they are much more threatening. If the Axis game plan is a constant defense in Western Europe, than infantry and planes are all you’ll need in Western Europe and any tanks can go to Eastern Europe. Tanks are only good defending Western Europe if Germany is a) deadzoning Eastern Europe or b) planning to abandon Western Europe to go after Russia.

@Jaycawbz:

My second question is, is there an effective way for Germany to go about a Kill Britain First strategy? I was experimenting with this in my mind, and wondered if it would be viable to build transports bridging Germany with Britain, and investing in naval protection for it, bringing up the Mediterranean Battleship and the northern fleet to protect them also. With Germany’s economic advantage, it seems to me that they could succeed in destroying Britain, especially if you’re stealing their IPC’s in Africa. Are there any thoughts on a viable Kill Britain first strategy?

Germany can swiftly overrun Africa if the US response is weak/Germany gets multiple transports. Japan is also in a position to take India or Australia + NZ swiftly, but I don’t think it’s possible for the Axis to invade GB and win. Japan is too isolated and has to deal with the US superior IPC collection and possible Russian aggression if Germany allows Russia to go unchecked. Apart from ridiculous luck, the only plausible way for Axis to kill Britian is if Germany kills Africa and Japan takes India before the US response. Germany would need a lot of Battleships and Cruisers for shore bombardment and I don’t see how they could amass enough IPCs while leaving Russia alone. But this is coming from a novice at 1942 (I just bought 1942 recently, been playing A&A on my computer  for years)

you need to 1) stay defensive for 3 rounds, then go offensive