Whats your favourite SURPRISE move?

Here is a smooth move to get US ground units to Sydney fast (not Queensland).  Build a naval base in Johnston Island and NCM your fleet there, picking up ground units in Hawaii on the way.  Next turn they are in Sydney.

My favorite suprise move is landing my airforce in an allies territory and then having them build an airbase.  Similar thing can be done with a naval base.

suicide attack done at the exact right place.

in the game I am playing now, I did a mistake with india (put the army in burma), so japan declared in J2, hit killed my burma army (took a few planes as losses), he took shan state with 1 inf and had 4 inf +3 art +1 tank in kwangsi, where he also had built a port and AB.
His fleet was placed so that blocking was imposible.

I managed to avoid disaster by strafing shan state with my 3 planes, china took yunnan, lone ANZAK inf took shan state, so now his planes could not land anywhere

and 2 UK inf in hong kong attacked kwangsi, rolling 1 hit.

the combination of reducing his attack from 19 to 8 planes, and killing 1 inf was just enough to make his attack on india to bad (40% ish, with the extra inf his losses in india would have been about 10 IPC less if he had tried).

the thing about supprise moves is that they are only something to use against bad players, I have always been one for meticulous planning and conservative gameplay.

Sometimes the more “meticulous” you are, the easier you are to surprise.

Yeah. It’s alright to see the ant on the bark, but don’t miss the tree.

This is my newest favorite surprise move…
Russia attacking a blocker in z92 with S.BMB from Sukr (land Gib or Mor) after which US moves in and takes Rome without a fight :-)

That’s a great idea if you get the chance.

@Gargantua:

I don’t think playing conservatively, plays well in Axis and Allies.

it plays really well (that is depending on what you mean by conservative). I try to be as agressive as possible without exposing myself to counterattacks. as an example, one way of defending in russia is to make sure that the counterattack strength russia has is so great that germany cannot stand next to the stack.

another example is to pull out of france after a landing, rather than to let germany counterattack what you have put in.

but the most important is to try to maximize your defence against the best plans, like building only inf in india the first turn, almost no matter what japan does.

another example is not to be so eager to scirmish (on the ocean) if it will put you in an awkward position with the fleet.

but in general I try to play with the assumption that my opponent will make the best possible move and make sure  I am not exposed to it, rather than gamble that he does not see the best move. I have seen people build tanks and bombers, because they assume that the opponent will make a mistake and expose a fleet or a stack to a profitable attack, they then need the movement to exploit that mistake. I just assume that my opponent will not make such mistakes (when making stratigic choices), and try to make damn sure I don’t make them. (probably why I used an hour on UK! the last time I played)

I used my transports that I bought to fake Sea Lion to drop 12 troops in Leningrad while at the same time having my troops invade the Baltic states. Secured a perimeter in the North wich helped me out a lot!

@Gargantua:

You can’t retreat from an amphibious assault,  so I don’t understand what you mean by your statement.

land in normandie because germany has no counterattack
pull out of normandie the next round when they have built up a counter attack.

one of the most “conservative” things I do is to not make 60% attacks for the game if I feel I have more than 60% chanse of winning without doing it.

similarly, giving my opponent the ability to do a 40% attack for the game, if i feel I have more than 60% chance of winning the game without letting him do it. Anoter problem with the 40% attack is that if he can withdraw, it can be a good idea for him to do it. (because then he can do the first combatround and see how it goes).

the main thing I think of as conservative is to not build flashy units, but focus on the cheapest way to get the volume needed at the place needed. like not building many tanks with germany, building more ftrs than tacs for the sea (because it is all about being able to withstand the opponents navy IMO), not building BBs and CAs in general. only building the number of CVs needed, not more (bc there are usually better units for fighting at sea /ipc).

and in general trying to deny the opponent the ability to do good attacks, rather than doing marginal attacks myself.

Well if Germany is smart they’ll either have really strong defenses in Belgium and Normandy or a strong counterattack force in France ready to mobilize…so pulling back won’t work.

that is why one should not do the attack, unless there is enough to gain. if he has a counterattack, then I will not attack…… don’t understand why I had to say it 3 times…

Like taking GBR. Both axis and allies want that island!

@Gargantua:

the thing about supprise moves is that they are only something to use against bad players, I have always been one for meticulous planning and conservative gameplay.

My favourite style of play to SURPRISE!

I don’t think playing conservatively, plays well in Axis and Allies.

Conservative play doesn’t always work, yes. However, some players seem to confuse well planned attacks with over extension of forces. Their desire to try to end the game on a quick note, can be a costly one indeed.

Good tips and strategies on this thread!!

What about tech!?  All kinds of surprises there.

Long range aircraft, heavy bombers, jets, super subs, or paratroopers can all make a very unpleasant surprise for your unsuspecting opponent!

Especially a surprise in G40 because there are no tokens, so tech is riskier and a bigger surprise!

So one of my favorite SURPRISE moves is to buy tech!!  Especially surprising if you haven’t spent any on it all game and then you spring for several dice!