Africa and Brazil?

@aaFiendish:

Do you really go to syria with your battleship and transport? I’ve always liked the move, but never had the balls to actually do it.

I don;t play with bids (lacking the RAM on my PC to handle the Java based version of AA available online).  So I normally do the initial landing in Egypt.

However, on those occasions when I “change up” my strategy and send air support to Egypt instead, I will indeed attack Syria on G1 with tranny, using the BB to plow through the sub.  The odds are highly probable that the sub is going to go “glub”.  And if it happens to hit on the counter, I’ll lose the tranny, and the INF.  I will ONLY attack Syria in a no-bid game when I have bought a tranny for the med as part of G1’s buy; so I have a replacement just in case.  Obviously my version does not work against the mega-stacked Karelia strategy (since it pulls too many INF’s from Europe due to tranny buy and multiple troops to Africa).  But against anything less than the mega stack, it makes for an interesting game that is a bit off the “normal” game flow.

As far as losing some troops in the exchange… that is kind of part of the game, especially for the Axis… roll the dice and go for it.

Using the bid-strategy outlined in the preceeding posts, and likely counters, by the end of G2, Germany is going to have all of Africa (perhaps less SA, assuming UK moves that INF to Rhodesia to cut off the tank blitz) plus Syria.

And if you only single INF the West Africa territories (putting 3 INF of the 4 from the bid in Libya) you could also land in Madagascar in G2 (in addition to grabbing Congo, Italian East and Rhodesia) leaving yourself staged for Persia OR India in G3 AND getting your navy out of reach of those pesky UK fighters that are somewhere in Russian territory…

Unless of course those UK figs stage to Persia… then you don;t blitz Africa in G2, you send the tank from Egypt through Syria to hit Persia, combined with your INF that survived the Syria landing and 2 transported units, and your BB, and add any fighters from Ukraine or Eastern, and your bomber.  Say goodbye to the UK Airforce :-D  And if they pulled forces from India to Persia in UK 2, so much the better.  Now Japan has India free in addition to being able to follow-up in Persia in J2.

All in all, risking that sub to get your med fleet into the Indian Ocean in G2 is a damn fine idea; bid or no bid.

@Cecrowca:

A fleet of transports ready to cross from South Africa to India, threatening an expanding Japan’s flank could be interesting.  On the flip side, Africa becomes fairly well protected against an aggressive Japan.  Tanks via the Suez canal can also hinder Japanese expansion.

S. Africa only has an IPC of 2.  It would take a LONG time for UK to build up enough naval and transportable forces at 2 a round to create any real threat to Japan; and then they would still have 2 moves to reach any original Japan territory.

And all the time UK is building navy and “transportables” in South Africa, Germany is running rough-shod over Russia.

The simple fact is that the cost to build the IC, and then the cost and time to develope it simply DO NOT EXIST if the Axis is being played by even a slightly competant gamer.

UK has ONE job, and ONLY one job:  Batter the heck out of Germany, no matter what.  Anything less, and Russia falls, and then it is just a matter of time for US and UK.

Well, here is one strategy I’ve used in the past that may help with Africa (RR, no bid). You won’t be able to keep Africa with this, but you might have a chance to at least take it for a turn or two.

On G1, sink the UK Navy in the North Sea as usual, but do not use the Baltic sea transport as fodder. Once all Allied ships there are sunk, take the Baltic sea transport and move either the Norway tank (my preference)or two Norway infantry to Morocco. Also land at least one of your fighters there as well. Instead of taking Egypt, simply move two infantry into Libya.

This sets you up fairly well for G2 in the following ways

The transport blocks the UK/US from an easy run through this area. The UK will sink this, but this will divert forces from other uses (i.e. if they use fighters, they will not be able to land in Karelia on UK1 - possibly making a G2 assualt there feasable). Probably the UK will also sink the German Med fleet (its really inevitable).

The extra forces in Morocco will delay UK/US forces from landing in Africa on round 1.

On G2, use all available forces to take Egypt. The extra tank and fighter(s) will help defeat any forces that may have been moved to Egypt on UK1 . You should also consider using the bomber as well if they have done so. Now the Allies either won’t have sufficient forces to effectively counter-attack, or you will have sufficient forces in Egypt to make a counter difficult at best.

On G3 and onward, you then use these forces to fight north-south. You should be able to reach S. Africa then retreat back to Egpyt to defend that against the Allies. Here you are just scrambling to keep as much as Africa in German hands as long as you can. The Allies are able to take it all back, but now they must devote more resources to do so. Also, it is possible for Japan to bring in reinforcements to help Germany, but I never do so since the Allies are closer to Africa than Japan and the Japanese forces are better used elsewhere, IMO. At some point you should probably conceed Africa and move the fighter back to the relative safety of Europe.

There are problems for the Germans with this (loss of a defensive fighter in Europe for a few turns, Norway is weakened, and the odds for this working as stated are not exactly a slam dunk) but you should try it to see how it works for you.

@BigBlocky:

Big fish in the little pond … ?

We are all that at times… me alla time! :roll:
@BigBlocky:

…and seen tonnes of hairbrained ideas IE. Germany building a carrier and all armour… ?

Seen it … killed it. My personal favourite is Germany building a CV & TRN. in the Baltic sz. Once saw the US build ICs in CHI & SSI on US1! I was Germany, so my partner had the pleasure. :lol:
@BigBlocky:

…what kind of bids are we talking here? I’d love to play Germany with some extra goodies… :-) I’m assuming nothing like 4 extra tanks that can hit karelia right? Just extra IPCs?

I’ve seen a variety … from 8 INF in E EUR or UKR down to 2 INF in LIB.
Some folks try 2 INF in KWA or FICB. But most want to turn Germany more offensive(your example, too.)

Hey whats up Ozone 27, Long time no see.
I’ve been experimenting over in A&A Europe

Only problem is, I continue to fail in my attempts to convice my esteemed colleagues of the necessity for a bid…

Germany rules!

“sigh” :cry: Man I Hear That,
Freakin Noobs :x

Thankfully I can still pwn them with no bids,
my problem is, I can’t get them to use RR
That is What Pisses Me Off

its a house rule

Um, no. Can’t speak for SUD but I was not talking about Germany’s northern transport. I was speaking of the Geman transport in the South East Med Sea Zone. You know, the one doing the transporting of troops to Africa. The vital one. The pain in the ass. Oops. Sorry, CC, hope ass was censored

Um, no. I believe or atleast I have always played that the UK sub starts in the EMed SZ. I can’t imagine any UK player wanting it anywhere else but maybe I’m just not imaginative enough.

Geze, I believe - depending on circumstances - that Russia is perfectly capable of handling itself in the first 2 rounds. Anything Germany can throw against 19+ INF and 2 FTRs G1 and 27+, 2 FTRs G2 seems to me to doom Germany to an early Keg Stand (hosue rules for losing - actually those are the house rules for any type of punishment, we’re what you would call “mature”. No, wait, that’s “Immature”, sorry) I digress.

It would be something to think on or get a second opinion from your partners but I might attack that EMED TRN, that’s the one in the South East Sea Zone for those of you keeping score at home :wink: , and I think getting Germany out of Africa before they even have a chance is a pretty powerful blow, especially so early. Well worth making the Ruskies a little nervous.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have a keg stand to do - I forgot to take out the garbage.

Sounds good, but I’d like to request that you get AIM or MSN MEssenger so that I can talk to you in real time about it and so that maybe I can try it by telling you my moves and you could play them out for me.