The CP Playbook

@Athlim:

Reactivate russia? Once RR has occured russia is Out of the game isnt it?

Hi Athlim. We decided to play without RR, the conventional A&A way.

Ok. I See ;)

The Allies should see Russia as a continual front; as the Russians are forced back and capitulate they are replaced by British units via Karelia and India. If they allow the CPs to wrap up the Eastern Front they’re playing like twonks.

The game setup does favor the Allies (mirroring real life), but the CP can definitely compete.  Germany, in particular, is really strong.  In the first game I played, the Central Powers won.  Here is the link to the game recap:

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=30705.0

I think you are spending too much money on navy.  They are kind of a worthless purchase for the Axis in my opinion.  They can never hope to compete with the Allied navy, and if they did, it would mean not spending any money on the crucial ground units they need to threaten Moscow, Paris, and Rome.  Load up on infantry and artillery, buy a plane now and then (don’t go crazy - just make sure you have enough for air supremacy in the territories you plan to attack, so you can roll your artillery at 4), and then when tanks become available, start buying them as well especially if you’re Germany.

Germany needs to keep a daunting supply line going along the coast from Poland to Belgium/Picardy, with plenty of artillery in each space to discourage / make more costly a British amphibeous assault.  Two fronts, threatening Paris and Moscow.  Austria-Hungary needs to come hard after Italy.  In the game I played, Austria-Hungary used a transport to take Tuscany on the first turn as well as Venice, putting immediate pressure on Italy.  They should also be sending troops to Russia.  (Don’t waste troops on Serbia - make only a nominal attack there as the game requires.)  Ottoman has at least a few turns to work with before the Brits really start coming for Constantinople.  Use that time to send troops to support Austria-Hungary against Russia.  Be aggressive, mobilize friendly troops, and pick up extra IPCs wherever you can (Germany in Africa, Austria-Hungary in Switzerland [a crucial first-turn pickup IMHO], and Ottoman in Bulgaria, etc.).  Try to get Russia in bad shape by the time the U.S. enters the war.  Ideally, you can take Moscow or at least force the Russian Revolution by turns 5/6 (RR happened in turn 6 in my game), then all your CP troops can be sent to the west.

@BJCard:

Is this game balanced?  Not as far as I can tell.  The CPs have a huge hurdle to cover- namely Paris.  After a few games that I’ve played Paris has never been seriously threatened- and the biggest obstacle has been supply lines from Berlin.  But this has been my most successful strategy:

Austria (26 IPCs)
Purchase:
1 Fighter, 1 Submarine, 2 Inf, 2 Art
Movement:
Venice- Tyrolia and Trieste Armies (12 Inf, 4 Art) attack 6 Inf, 2 Art
Serbia- 4 Inf, 2 Art from Budapest attack 3 Inf, 1 Art - Minimal attack on Serbia- no reason to get too many units stuck down there. 
Romania- 8 Inf from Budapest and 6 Inf, 2 Art from Galicia (14 Inf, 2 Art) attack 5 Inf, 1 Art -The Army in Romania will be the Austrian contingent in Russia- All other purchases will go to Trieste, then into Italy. 
Tyrolia- 6 Inf, 2 Art from Bohemia
Trieste-10 Inf, 2 Art from Vienna
Galicia-2 Inf from Vienna

-The Austrian strategy is to move as much as possible to Rome as quickly as possible.  The purchased fighter will most likely ensure air supremacy in Italy. 
-If Russia presses hard into Galicia, which I suppose they could, the Romanian Army along with purchased units in Vienna could hit the Russian stack. 
-If Russia hits Romania hard, the idea is the Ottomans would come to help through Bulgaria. 
-If the Allies activate Albania early, just bypass it.  It should not be enough to threaten Trieste.  If it attacks Serbia, then use portions of Trieste/Romania/Budapest forces to counter.  Use the minimum possible forces- it is better to contest a territory in the Balkans and have a few more Inf fighting in Russia and/or Italy.
-Why buy a submarine?  Well, you are growing the Austrian navy and threatening the med at minimal cost.  with 26 IPCs to spend, more than 6 on navy seems counterproductive; and if you don’t spend it your Navy may be toast quickly.  ‘Fleet in being’ at its finest.  Perhaps in a couple turns with more IPCs rolling in you could opt to buy Battleships instead of Subs.

Germany (35 IPCs)
Purchase: 1 Submarine, 1 Fighter, 2 Artillery, 5 Infantry
Movement:
If Russia stacked Poland with 18+ Infantry and 6+ Artillery, then move Berlin Army (13 Inf, 3 art, 1 ftr), Hanover Army (6 Inf), Prussia Army (5 Inf, 3 Art) - leave 1 Inf in Prussia) to Silesia- to have 30 Infantry, 8 Art, 1 Ftr. 
If Russia did not stack Poland, should attack Poland with Silesia and Prussia Armies (And Berlin Fighter).  The Hanover and Berlin Army move to Silesia for reinforcements.
In either case, the starting Berlin, Hanover, Prussia, and Silesia Armies are the German contingent in Russia.
Belgium- 7 Inf, 3 Art from Alsace, 7 Inf, 3 Art from Ruhr attack 3 Inf, 1 Art. 
Alsace- 1 Inf from Munich
Ruhr- 10 Inf, 3 Art from Munich, 3 Inf, 4 Art from Kiel.
SZ 9- 1 BB, 2 Cruisers, 2 Submarines vs. 1 BB, 2 Cruisers, 1 Transport (Hopefully this goes well)
SZ 2- 2 Submarines vs. 1 Cruiser, 1 Transport
Africa- um, yeah- Run around a bit, try and survive, make the Allies attack at low odds if possible.

-German strategy is to hit Russia as hard as possible early to force them into Revolution, and play defensive on the western front for as long as possible.
-All new purchases are meant for Paris.  If necessary, a temporary retreat from Belgium to Ruhr is OK as long as you are making headway into Russia.
-Buying a Submarine is an effort to slowly build up the Navy.  The longer the Navy survives (bring back survivors from SZ 9 back to SZ 10 turn 2), the more ships the allies have to buy and the less help the British can send to Russia (through the Baltic).  Cannot afford Battleships until you get a few territories in Russia, but recommend adding some in later rounds.

Ottoman Empire (16 IPCs)
Purchase: 2 Inf, 2 Art
Movement:
Bulgaria- 6 Inf, 2 Art from Constantinople (to activate the 5 Inf, 1 Art) - Ottoman Russian Contingent #1
The rest of Ottoman moves depend on what Britain did, but generally:
Play defensive against Britain; make them attack with low odds- you want them to spend money in India.
Mesopotamia- 6 Inf, 1 Art from Ankara (to add to the 2 Inf, 1 Art) - Ottoman Russian Contingent #2 -or- If Britain attacked Persia, then it fights on this front (depending on how many troops are needed).
Britain probably attacked Trans-Jordan, and there’s nothing you can do about it.  With luck it is still contested.  Doesn’t matter- you leave your Smyrna and Syrian Desert Armies in place.

-Ottoman strategy is thus- supply two Armies to Russia and the rest is spent fighting Britain in India and/or Trans-Jordan.  The best outcome for the Ottoman Empire is to take a couple Russian territories and to threaten India and/or Africa so much that Britain is forced to spend a lot of IPCs down there- and not on the Western Front.

What do you guys think?

Even if the Allies are stupid enough to allow this, how long will it take these CP units to get to the western front?

Remember that the official new ruling on RR is that the Allies can take control of CP occupied Russian tts (rather than returning them to Russia). The British should be in a strong enough position in Persia/Mesopotamia and Karelia to ensure that the CPs can send no troops back west without losing all they’ve conquered in Russia.

The Allies must play as a team, using their sea transport advantage to be exactly where the CPs don’t want them to be. If the Allies play as individuals looking after their own interests they will hand the game to the enemy.

@kraftwrk_5:

Try to get Russia in bad shape by the time the U.S. enters the war.  Ideally, you can take Moscow or at least force the Russian Revolution by turns 5/6 (RR happened in turn 6 in my game), then all your CP troops can be sent to the west.

In my game the Ottomans eventually made it into Egypt - to be immediately crushed by the AEF.

Britain is the key to the entire Allied effort.

They should have:

A fleet of 4 transports protected by warships, shucking 8 units to Karelia one turn, then returning to take 8 into Picardy/Belgium the next. Of course the emphasis of where you send the units depends on where the enemy is concentrating his efforts; but since you can move units from front to front much faster than him, you should always be a step or two ahead.
Now, if there were two sea zones between 9 & 6 it would be a lot harder…

A large Indian army pushing into Persia/Mesopotamia in enough force to engage the Ottoman’s main strength and move north into Sevastopol when needed. Send one infantry there as soon as possible so you can move there from a contested Mesopotamia. Don’t contest Livonia or Ukraine; the aim is to move there by attacking if Karelia and Sevastopol become “shared” after the revolution. If the CPs then move forces west you will quickly take back anything they have in Russia apart from those units uselessly trapped in shared tt.

Units already in Africa should be enough to chase the Germans around, and if needed, block any Ottoman advance across the Sinai in time to allow the eastern fleet to send troops around to attack them.

Look for opportunities to take tts in the Balkans by sea, and reinforce Rome if Italy looks like going under, at least until the Americans arrive to take over that duty.

Once you’ve replaced initial losses the fleet should be strong enough, assuming the French reinforce it. If the Germans want to fight a naval building race you need fewer men in the west.

Infantry is sufficient in Karelia to begin with as the main aim is to defend here until the Revolution. Once turn 4 comes along tanks should be a big part of the purchase for the western front.

Taking T-J, Arabia, Syria and Mesopotamia will give you a boost, but be willing to trade them. Harry the Germans out of Africa, taking over neutral colonies. By the time you’re retaking Russian areas your income should be pushing 50 IPCs.

Look at this way, why would the Allies allow the CP to build their navy?  If they are smart, they will destroy it by the 2nd turn.  They are much better positioned to maintain a strong navy, especially Britain and the U.S.  If I am the allies, I hope Austria-Hungary is wasting money on ships.  Then I can better protect Italy and France, and Russia can at least entertain the idea of making an offensive.

Tuscany will be taken back by Italy, but you get immediate IPCs (and Italy loses immediate IPCs) and you immediately put pressure on them by being only one step from Rome.  Your troops in Venice can reinforce/counterattack next turn as appropriate.  It’s all about being aggressive and moving the front.  And don’t get me wrong, I like planes - but you only need one of them to move all your artillery up to 4s.  I found that attacking a territory with a number of artillery and infantry supported by one or two planes (since most allied territories won’t have even one or two planes) was plenty effective.  I built maybe one plane a turn for the first few turns, and sent them to different fronts until air supremacy was established in each.

@BJCard:

The problem is, if you spend nothing on Navy as the CPs, the Allies can land anywhere by sea- including in Russia.  Even one submarine per turn by Germany and Austria will force at least Britain into building a BB per turn.  You aren’t trying to compete in the sea, just restricting movement of the Allies.  Typically the Allies cannot take out either the German or Austrian Navy on their own due to attacking separately and naval mines.  If Austria over time has a fleet that can threaten the Med, Britain will be forced to send ships there and buy more for the home fleet= less British ground forces in France and India.

I don’t see the point of taking Tuscany as Austria since it would be taken back by Italy anyway- you can only land 2 troops there and Italy will surely consolidate their position there.

With how fragile air power is in the game, you cannot have enough air power, France can easily buy a plane per turn for the first 3-4 turns and still have a defensive front waiting for Germany.

The bonus of the Russian Revolution is it takes that theater out of the game, plus you do not have to send enough forces to take Moscow, just enough to contest it.  You have to take Paris either way, and if you are strong enough to get Paris, then Rome should not be too bad.

The only friendly troops you can mobilize as the CPs are in Bulgaria.

Lastly, for Flashman- if Britain is landing troops in Karelia and supplying Russia from India, what is keeping France afloat and the Ottoman Empire at bay?  Are the Ottomans not going for Egypt? Â

Ah, well there’s the difference.  We are playing with different Russian Revolution rules.  Those have gone through several iterations.  The current rule two weeks ago when I started playing was that the CP had to maintain at least one infantry in any contested territories and could move out other units.  No other units, allied or CP, could be moved into Russian territory that were not already there.  Russian units were removed from the board outside original territories.  Allied units had one turn to get out of Russia or they were also removed from the board.  There is no such restriction for the CP.  (And why would there be, since they caused the revolution?)  It looks to me like your interpretation of the rules strongly favor the Allies.

Assuming the rules are as I’ve stated above (whether official or “house rules”), I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the CP to expect to be threatening Moscow by turn 5 or 6.  Good axis players will be hammering Russia from Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman.  Ottoman can shut down Sevestapool as happened in my game.  Although you correctly pointed out earlier that Britain can keep reinforcing Karelia, if the U.S. is not in the war yet or just entering at the end of turn 4, what will be the cost to France if Britain is focused on saving Russia?  Despite Britain’s economic strength in this game, that just seems like a really tall order.

@Flashman:

Even if the Allies are stupid enough to allow this, how long will it take these CP units to get to the western front?

Remember that the official new ruling on RR is that the Allies can take control of CP occupied Russian tts (rather than returning them to Russia). The British should be in a strong enough position in Persia/Mesopotamia and Karelia to ensure that the CPs can send no troops back west without losing all they’ve conquered in Russia.

The Allies must play as a team, using their sea transport advantage to be exactly where the CPs don’t want them to be. If the Allies play as individuals looking after their own interests they will hand the game to the enemy.

@kraftwrk_5:

Try to get Russia in bad shape by the time the U.S. enters the war.  Ideally, you can take Moscow or at least force the Russian Revolution by turns 5/6 (RR happened in turn 6 in my game), then all your CP troops can be sent to the west.

I’m going by the official RR rules as they stand. I don’t really agree with them, but we have to have a common reference at this stage, so its OOF I use.

The more Britain sends to Russia, the more Germany has to send east. The key point is that Britain can switch armies to either front much faster than Germany, so use that to your advantage.

Now, if the official RR rules changed again and the UK had to hand over “liberated” tts to Revolutionary Russia, or had to leave Russia altogether after the change, then the strategy would have to be very different.

@kraftwrk_5
You are correct!  8-)

@Flashman
Don’t think about the tempo for your beloved railways.
Allies have 118 IPCs starrting income (including US), whereas CPs only get 77 IPCs.
The best way for victory for CP is to clink Russia out of the game as soon as possible to eliminate the income disadvantag or even more likely get the upper hand economically yourself. If you force it by pushing agressively east and play as best with what you have west (with marginal builds) then RR will most likely happen R4-6. Germany and/or A-H should have conquered Poland, the adjacent TTs and one other north of Moscow by transport. (ca. 14 IPCs). Germany is supposed to gain about 50 IPCs at that time, A-H 30 IPCs and the Ottomans might have hold their ground or get a little less. Overall it should be between 90 and 100 IPCs. In this case Allies would earn about 5 IPCs less. AND: Geographically they are on a disadvantage as much of their spending must have been gone on transports to bring troops. CPs just need to build them.

So you can oppose the allies by just building the units. YOu simply wait ti,ll the reinforcements of the east arrive for the decisive battle(s).

This IS the way for winning the game with the CPS!
Question is: Is there an equally viable STRAT B? Clink out Italy?

P.S.: For this STRAT A you (only) build 1 Surface Warship G1 if you have the feeling you need one. In R2 you build 2 transports (for Baltic Sea!)
      Besides that, don’t spend any German production on Navy!

What do you do about the large British armies in Karelia and Sevastopol waiting to take back Russia when you move your victorious troops slowly west?

First, let me say that the new rule (Western Allies conquering Russian TTs) is nonsense!

Ok, now to your questions:
In both CP victories Russia was forced into RR R5 with 5 Russian TTs conquered by an G-AH-OT-East Strategy.
So there ARE no massive UK troops neither in Karelia nor in Sevastopol.

Here is the getgo:
A-H: 5 Art, 1 Fighter
MOVE:
-> ALL Trieste into Serbia and take 1 additional Art (or 2) from Hungary to assure it is an immediate wipeout.
-> Rest Hungary and ALL Galicia into Rumania for an immediate wipeout (cannot be countered by RUS next round!)
-> Move ALL Austria units into Galicia
-> Take 1 Art from Tyrolia, load it on transport and unload in Venice for a 2 hit/1 casualty amphinbious assault.
-> Leave enough troops in Tyrolia for an appropiate change if Venice feels to attack. 1 Inf to Vienna.(otherwise all built Art would be lost! :evil: and the rest into Trieste!
-> Bohemia depends on how you handle Switzerland. (but goal is to move as many units as possible into Galicia!)
(You will see all this is an immensely powerful move!)

G1: 3 Inf, 5 Art, 1 Fighter (alternative: 1 CR if you cannot resist! :wink:)
Obligatory: ALL German ships wipe out the British Fleet!
-> You will get 1 mine hit, most likely a sub and then 2 hits which results in Germany remaining with 1 damaged DR (can we say dreadnoughts?), 2 CR, 2 Subs
(maybe if the opponent is lucky only 1 Sub).
-> Most important thing: Fleet is unattackable by the 1 French DR or RUS DR and at least a temporary threat even as is!
-> MOVE ALL from Prussia and Silesia and the fighter into Poland! (wipe out what is left there by the Russians)
-> In the West depending on Switzerland again attack either Holland, Belgium and Lorraine or Holland, Belgium and Switzerland!
(Switzerland from Alsace and Munich with enough units that it is uncounterable. Leave enough that Alsace is not interesting for France to attack.)

After those 2 turns you stand KILLER!
So you can figure out the rest.

Note 1: Don’t play bungee jumping here and there with the Ottomans! Be focused on the main objective! Build ground units solely to kill Russians and Brits who could reinforce Russia!! One exception: Attack the 2 Russian CRs R1. If you survive or both killed think about a transport - AND ONLY THEN!

Note:2 Germany builds 2 (maybe 3) transports R2!

Good luck!

I agree it is nonesense, but I will try out your scenario.

The only system that really makes any sense in post revolution Russia is a civil war with Russian factions on each side.

I won’t go that far but in a more complex game it would certainly be the best!

Well, I still think it could actually be less complex in practice than the forcefields and Commisars of the official rules as they stand.

In effect all that happens is that some of the Russians break away from the Allies and become a new Central Power. Simple really.