Alternate Axis Opening

thank you :-D

Being axis is easier in these newer versions than the previous classic versions.  The three steps it takes America to get to Europe is a HUGE help to the Axis.  But here is my Germany and i can win 5/10 games doing this.  turn 1 buy all infantry YES all infantry then take out the allied navy with German navy and fighters/bomber.  Consolidate all Eastern German forces in one territory.  Turn 2 buy again ALL INFANTRY again.  Move the Infantry you bought turn 1 west so you can defend against Normandy invasion also move your fighters with the infantry in the west.  All the forces you consolidated retreat west closer to Germany don’t worry the German battering ram is coming.  Turn 3 buy all tanks move the infantry from turn two east and consolidate all forces in the EAST.  Turn 4 buy tanks move the massive consolidated force south never separate the infantry from the tanks.  turn 5 move tanks from turn 4 south with the main force.  Turn 6 Russia should be like OMG i cant kill that massive force you should be able to take caucuss now.  With japan my goal #1 is to take India at all costs if Japan has failed to do this use the German army in Caucuss to take India now you can separate the tanks from the infantry to take India.  Russia will take your infantry you left behind but that is fine and retake caucuss that is fine too .  now Japan is free to take Asia at will, Germany should begin to pound Russia wherever avail and take easy territories do not commit to a suicidal battle to Russia. By now the Allies can pose a threat to Western Europe.  But Germany and Japan should be collecting massive IPC’s Russia is doomed here in a few turns they just cannot deal with a mobile Japan and Germany and defend itself on two fronts.  I see a lot of German players go north i do not agree with this  becasue there is nowhere to break out like there is in the caucuss and also if Germany can break out into Asia they can knock the allies out of asia as well. with the defense boost tanks have now they are the most affordable attacker and blocker in one land unit and with some infantry cannon fodder they are nasty on offense and defense.  I go mass tanks with Japan and Germany.  If you cannot win with the Axis in the newer versions you are doing something wrong.  Either not attacking enough or buying aircraft or navy.  Germany really doesn’t need a navy and has enough aircraft to hold the whole game as long as you don’t loose them foolishly.  On paper the Allies have the advantage by getting 3 turns to axis 2 and also should have an IPC advantage.  But Germany is so massive early and it takes Allies 4-5 turns to begin to be effective that’s your window with Japan and Germany about 4- 6  turns after that Allies begin taking the game in their favor.  So you must get your objectives done in this time frame.  If you just turtle forever with Germany you will loose.  And i f Japan leaves India for too long its hard to take especially if UK buys a lot of fighters.

I recently played two games of Spring '42 against my cousin.  On BOTH occasions, I captured UK on G2 and he conceded.  My cousin would be the first to admit that he is a lousy A&A player, but I still took a lot of joy out of silencing his trash talking, even if only for a moment.  It NEVER should have succeeded.  It was entirely due to poor decisions on his part.  Hobbes is absolutely correct.  The UK would have to make GRAVE miscalculations (purchasing and combat), and/or have absolutely horrendous luck with the dice.  Hobbes gave it in a nutshell.  Let me flesh it out a bit for G1 and G2.

Let’s give Germany the MAXIMUM possible force to bring in for a UK invasion on G1 or G2.

G1 assault on UK:  German 1 BOM, 2 FTR, 1 ARM, 1 INF versus UK 2 FTR, 1 ARM, 1 ART, 2 INF, 1 BOM, and the AA.  Germany has 4% chance to win with 1 ARM or better (in order to capture, the standard OOL is changed)

G2 assault on UK:  Let’s assume on R1, Russia went big into WR alone.  Germany has all 6 FTR’s intact.  On G1, Germany bought 1 CV, 3 TT, 1 ARM, and the SZ8 SS sank the SZ10 US fleet (50% chance).  On G2, Germany could bring as much as 1 BOM, 6 FTR, 5 ARM, 5 INF, 1 BB bombardment shot (though the BB would be better used in SZ 9 to interdict/divert the new US1-built fleet hoping to liberate UK on US2.  Let’s keep the BB bombarding UK, however, just to give the best possible odds for the Germans in the invasion of UK. With the sz10 fleet eliminated, the G1 naval purchases are placed in the Baltic rather than the Med.  The UK player has to see the threat of a G2 invasion bearing down on them.  The UK player, not being COMPLETELY inept, decides to shore up UK.  UK purchases 5 INF 3 ARM, the SZ1 TT brought the ECan ARM over to UK.  The BB stays put in SZ2 as Germany’s 3 SS, 1 DD, 1 CV have a 98.5% chance of wiping out the BB without needing to divert any air units from the invasion.  Germany has 1 BOM, 6 FTR, 5 ARM, 5 INF, and the BB bombardment bearing down on UK, who stands with 7 INF, 1 ART, 5 ARM, 3 FTR, 2 BOM (1 FTR 1 BOM from EUS), 1 AA.  Germany’s odds of capturing UK under this optimal condition would still be only 24.5%, and the US would be able to liberate on US2.  If Germany parks the BB in sz9 to interdict/divert the US, a liberation by the US would be impossible, but the German odds of success at UK drop to 19% without having the bombardment.

Clearly, a G1 attempt is suicide.  Assuming the G1 attack succeeded against the SZ10 fleet (50% chance of success) followed by a best case scenario G2 attempt after a G1 build of 1 CV, 3 TT, 1 ARM (19% chance of success while preventing liberation by US).  By compounding the probabilities, your chance of a G2 assault of this sort succeeding is less than 10%.  If Germany is missing a single FTR from their original 6, the odds are cut in half again.

IF you are playing against a lousy UK player, you might have better luck forgoing the naval build on G1 altogether.  Germany can opt to smash the sz2 fleet, and hope the UK will turn around and buy 1 CV, 2 DD (or a similar navy heavy buy) and ignore the Baltic fleet on UK1 (2 big IF’s), allowing Germany to invade UK with 1 BB shot, 2 loaded transports, 6 FTR, and 1 BOM on G2.  83% chance of success without US units on UK.  Long story short, unless you are playing inept opponent(s), a G1 or G2 invasion of UK is a suicide mission.

Flying the fighter to the US Carrier? Ooh, never actually considered that.

Although, I think no matter what you do, you must kill the defenseless Japanese transport, slowing their onslaught into Asia.
I tried Borneo, but in all honesty, the UK can’t hold it, so is it going to work in the long term?

I am thinking about this for my next game…

Amphibious assault into French Indo-China with 3 infantry & fighter & cruiser bombard. Carrier destroys transport. Fighter lands in China, optionally with the one from Russia for 2 infantry & 3 fighter defense. US factory in Sianking.

In our games, we are in a trend where the US builds a factory in Sianking with Russian (two inf.) support, which is making the games more even as it stops the Japanese steamroll to Moscow.
I am sure three planes in China will be taken as a sure sign of a US factory in Sianking.
Even if the amphibious fails, wiping out the French-Indo infantry leaves Japan with 2 fewer men to attack China. Manchuria needs some defense from the Russians, and they need something to attack French-Indo, if the attack was successful.

Japan may retaliate with an all-in to China, which is 1 Bomber, 4 Fighters, but assuming at least one man is left behind for Manchuria, only 4 infantry going in.
With three fighters (one US, one Russian, one UK) the Japanese may take enough losses so that it: a) cannot not take China, b) take with one or two men.

It then would have very few if any men actually on the land territories of Asia, and Russian, English and American troops able to challenge the three 3 IPC territories.
Japan may even hold off on a factory purchase if it thinks it may lose the factory?

In any case, this is taking a lot of attention away from attacking the US, and any attempt to do so would result in an even stronger hold of China.
The US can observe what Japan does, and possibly even hold China for a 2nd factory there, if things go horribly on the Japanese open.

ok but with the UK battleship left unharmed I would definately not go KJF. Then it is all about getting some boots towards Russia ASAP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-4nV3s92A4

I don’t understand how Moscow can fall on G4, much less both London and Moscow.  Russia must play aggressively, building a mix of infantry, artillery, and tanks.  If Germany sends straight tanks, the Western Allies can drop the hammer much faster.

I can certainly understand the graphics thing…the first time I played TripleA I felt the same way.  But now I’m used to it and don’t think one version has better graphics then the other.

There are pros and cons on both sides.  Possibly the biggest pro for GTO is that it’s much easier to find a game of Spring42 or Revised on GTO because of the high volume of gamers on the lobby and playing PBE.

TripleA, by contrast, is primarily 41 and NWO, with Revised the 3rd most popular.  The main pros for TripleA are it is less buggy, takes up less memory/bandwith, and boasts better features.