Any After Action Reports Yet?

@Plasticdeathbydice:

It is far easier for the combined Axis to defend the Med and keep pressure on Russia vs. the Allies defending Russia and keeping pressure on Europe.

Which is why you shouldn’t ignore Japan. Jap ships in the Med, especially in this map, means the allies are already losing

@Chompers#2:

I have had a lot of fun playing the first 3 games with my friends but we are noticing some trends.  If the US player is determined to shoot through the Gilbartar and then to Italy it can crush the Italians as easy as Japan can crush India in the Pacific.  If the US player is doing this is it leaves no choice for the the Germans but to call off Sea lion and give up on driving deep into Russia.  They then have to go into defensive mood and hope Japan can clear a path to Moscow before America and Britian seize Berlin.

There seems to be no incentive for the Americans to really spend any points in the Pacific.  Taking Japan would be a huge task almost impossible and in this version the islands are far away and America is not allowed to build factories on them.  I still have much to learn but it seems to me by far the best path for america is to seize Rome or possibly shoot up to Norway, capture it and build a major factory there.

I am curious to take the axis out for a spin because I have been allies the first 3 games.

In these games Japan must be attacking early? The US can’t be in the Med or anywhere near Italy by US3 unless at war. The US is not even allowed to be on the coast of UK, Europe, or Africa until at war. Sounds like Japan must be attacking J1 or J2 in order for Italy to fall before Germany is ready.

It’s annoying how the people continue having ilusions about ignoring Japan in Global

First, Japan is not forced to attack J1 and I guess that in Global is a really bad idea letting USA attack the West Axis so early. A wise Japan will prevent any early Italia-Crush just not attacking USA until, at least, J3, thus having free reign to attack China and Siberia without much distractions

Second, USA cannot afford lose the war in the Pacific or ignoring that theater for that matters. If so, not only Australia, Hawaii, China, Siberia and India will be easy prey for Japan: USA will lose 12 IPCs by raid convoys. This means that USA is going to collect about 67-70 IPCs, not 100 as someone want think. Do you still think that you can crush Italy with full 67-70 IPCs? Bad news for you are …

Third, and more important than 1 & 2: if ignored, Japan could annoy Siberia, Middle East, etc, that’s true. But their main target is not Moscow, it’s Los Angeles. Did you noticed that Tokyo is, at least in game terms, nearer to Los Angeles than to Moscow? Japan has enough power to invade America, and when I say America, I mean all America, from Chile to Alaska. The simplest way is the classic Polar Express to Alaska. This time is even more powerfull since that Japan can pop a scary total of 20 infs a turn at Alaska each turn (Manchuria and Japan ICs) and you cannot use the old trick of buying at WUSA, because the road to East Canada is not too long and because, man, it’s 20 japs vs 10 yankees … and surprise! Maybe you could use your new Springfield (CUSA) IC to stop the japs? That will need about 60 of your 70 ICPs  :wink: See the pattern? If you are too busy defending mainland all America, you are going to have serious problems to ferry some type of aid to Europe

So, in resume, as it was both in AA50 and in Revised, USA cannot ignore Japan unless that Japan wants allow that. And since there are so many advantages for Japan to attack America, USA will be forced to fight them, so it’s better doing it in the Pacific (probably saving at least Hawaii and ANZAC) than in mainland America. And I’m pretty sure that Mr. Harris ensured that the things were this way

Functioneta, in general what proportion of its money should US send to both theaters? 50-50? 60-40? 70-30?

Wait could somebody tell me how USA is making 100 IPCs? I was under the impression that with the 30 IPC wartime bonus they make something like 82.

@chompers:

The more I’ve played this game so far the more it seems to benefit the Axis the most for Germany to preserve its forces after its G1 offensives and not commit to any sort of attack against either Russia or Britain.  Even a successful Sea lion ( the earliest I can see this being feasible is G3) will be snatched back in US4 which means the IPC bonus from the conquest doesn’t even come close to defraying the cost spent in making it happen in the first place.  On the Russian side of things I see even less chance of success for Germany as there seems to be no viable way of coming close to Moscow with the force necessary to beat the 10 R inf deploying there every turn before the first US transport convoys are rolling into a completely inadequately defended Italy.  The Germans in Russia are then forced to retreat back to Berlin to shore up defenses there (if it’s not already too late) thus begging the question why bother in the first place?  Isn’t it better just to leave the Germans in position to defend Denmark, West Germany and Gibraltar?  All of which eventually become hopeless fights as the US continues to leverage its overwhelming IPC advantage and Germany is forced to retreat to Berlin for its last stand while hoping the Japs can take Moscow before the US take all of Europe.

I kinda wish Germany could just occupy Italy turn 1 so the Axis could actually get something going in the Med.  :-D  As it is, removing the Indian fighters from India to Africa allows the Brits to lock down Africa and eventually the Med. as well when the Brit ships fleeing the Pacific make their way through the Suez.  Italy just can’t seem to really contribute anything substantial to the game except to hand over already built IC’s to their new American overlords.  It just seems to me the Axis situation in Europe is ultimately hopeless in the face of US industrial might, and any Jap strat I’ve come up with so far to lock up the US is solely dependent on whether the US player has any idea how to play the game, and all of which are far more risky than just gunning straight for Russia.

TL:DR
Global 40 seems to be Monster US beating up on Germany vs Monster Japan beating up on Russia.

I thought this too, in one game of AA50-41, I had Germany mostly send navy and air down into the Med to help out Italy against a determined British and US player; this ensured that the Russian front was the weakest front imaginable after 3 turns in.  After 3 turns I was building all inf/art as Germany, trying like hell to turtle against the Reds till the Japs arrived, and running out of gas in the Med.  Fortunately the Japs arrived in time to turn back the Allies at Gibraltar, but since Russia had generally been ignored for 5-6 rounds, the Japs couldn’t make a dent in their stacks with the forces they had leftover from India.  Russia eventually ended up crushing everything on the map with overwhelming numbers of inf/tanks.

Axis players beware!  If you leave your boot off Russia’s throat for too long they will come back and kill you!  Germany needs to attack Russia at some point just to give the Japanese player a chance when they come in to finish Moscow off.

Japan attacking America might work, but I think it’d be better to put their forces where the rest of the Allies are: Italy!

@mike:

Wait could somebody tell me how USA is making 100 IPCs? I was under the impression that with the 30 IPC wartime bonus they make something like 82.

After devouring Italy/N. Africa.

This game might seem hopeless for either side sometimes but i dont think it is.

The brits must be careful not to fall on G1, 2 or 3 to sea lion. It is a real concern.

Then the germans must decide how to protect their soft underbelly, er italy lol.

The russians can loose 18 inf in a round of combat for a 1 point territory in siberia.

The americans can cost themselves 3 turns if they mess up and loose either eastern or western navy for naught.

The japanese can get side tracked in siberia but that takes pressure off the germans.

This is an interesting game. I think it plays in fewer rounds than most think even though the map is huge

@calvinhobbesliker:

Functioneta, in general what proportion of its money should US send to both theaters? 50-50? 60-40? 70-30?

That’s unclear until we play some games. However, seeing how AAP40 has played, I guess that Pacific side needs as minimun of 30 IPCs, probably more

@Funcioneta:

That’s unclear until we play some games. However, seeing how AAP40 has played, I guess that Pacific side needs as minimun of 30 IPCs, probably more

Why spend anything over there if the Jap player does the most sensible thing and moves forward in Asia full steam?  The Jap player needs to get his eco as close to matching the US as it can in order to bring down Russia in time, and putting any sort of adequate pressure on the US to force them into spending in the Pacific requires either a huge percentage of Jap starting forces (which completely hampers their eco, making it a disaster when the US finally pushes them out) or several turns worth of mid-game spending (which makes their push through Asia much harder, if not impossible to sustain).  The US can spend 2 turns worth of its war-time IPC’s and make the US completely unconquerable, and after either pushing the Japs out through pitched battle or by forcing them to retreat in the face of hopeless odds, the US can then march these troops over to the Atlantic side and board transports for Europe.  The Jap player’s economy is unable to sustain continued pressure on the US and their offensive in Asia is completely losing steam, while the US player pretty much hasn’t missed a beat.

Don’t get me wrong, I think overall the game seems pretty balanced so far.  I’m also very open to trying any strats suggested on these forums over the next few months, but I don’t see any strat for the Axis besides German/Italian defensive builds combined with a Japanese push through Asia at maximum speed that’s gonna give the Axis a chance to beat a determined US push for Europe supported by Brits while the Russian goes full turtle on the eastern side of things.  I want my Germany to be able to kill something darnit!  And I don’t mean just sea lion and hold GB for all of 1 turn.

I think one should consider a G1 attack on Soviet Union. I think you can take out enough infantry early on so that the Soviets are far enough behind that they can’t take advantage of a weak Eastern Front and they can’t build that wall of infantry supported by a smaller wall of mech and tanks, supported by a smaller wall of planes. It only takes two turns to have German reinforcements there. This way, you have smashed British Navy, Taken France, and killed more Soviet infantry than you have lost by the time your mechs (and planes from Western Europe) reach the front. It also ensures that the Soviets are focused on their Western Front rather than sending mech and a tac/fighter combo into china to slow down the Japs. This will compliment a Japanesz plan to hit Soviet Union and China first. The main issue, I think, might then become defending the Med from Yanks on the left and Indians n the right.

I’ll give this a go next time, although it wouldn’t work with Europe, only global, I think.

Sure, give it a try and let us know how it works out for you.  Personally I don’t think Germany has the units in position to make any sort of G1 attack possible to sustain, especially with you having to earmark enough units to take out the French as well as try and sink a few brit ships and cover west germany.  I tried a game of positioning germany to make a G2 attack by skimping on tanks into France and sending the freed up tanks east but the offensive lost steam about 2 spaces from Moscow in the face of 70 R inf.

edit it bears worth noting I also sent in all the Jap planes for a turn combined German and Jap attack on the Russian stack that game in turn 6 but it got slaughtered.

And this is why the inane pacific half setup just causes issues in global.  Why wouldn’t the UK just send its crap into africa to force Italy to go stillborn.  At that point either Japan a) activates US early or b) UK has no consequences for doing it.

Now as far as US builds i’m uncertain on how they should go, but I can see absolutely no reason not to send the UK India fleet and planes into africa.

I mean, there are more planes in India than in England proper!  That makes no sense to me and I will revise the pacific setup when I play (-2 figs UK/ANZAC, -1/2 US, -6-8 Japan) or it’ll just drive me nutty.

And as far as Polar Express goes, its a bit more difficult for Japan to earn its income in this, and Russia/China can potentially become a huge PITA for Japan so i’m unsure on how that will play out.