Germany or Japan first?

That is really great advice and observations.

My first game was just a disaster in operating Triple A and how little I knew how the rules actually impacted the game.

My second game, I’m much better on those, still some holes, but now it’s like getting to the top of a hill and seeing that I’m actually just on the first foothill with the Himalayas before me. The whole scrambling thing still makes my head explode. And the wastefulness of my purchases has been amazingly flagrant. The Allies are fricken complicated.

This game is pretty awesome, because learning all of that stuff makes it fun and will keep me coming back to it.

I’ve tried this out a few times, it is like a “sneaky sea-lion”. I don’t usually have issues with US coming to liberate Britain in this scenario either because it is so fast. You can make it a real blind-side if you move the french troops back and move troops to the Russian front as if you’re preparing for a big Eastern push.

If you NoDOW, this usually means you are after Russia and defeat China and stall the US in the Pacific.
UK will likely grow strong and a Calcutta Crush (CC) is almost not doable.

This helps out Euro Axis alot.
BUT!:
If anything goes wrong with the german march on Moscow, you are screwed on both sides of the Map.

I tried it over and over with minimal success.
Now i prefer a solid J1 in BM and Vanilla since the impact on both Theaters are enormous.
The US has to choose a side and need to quickly balance out the whole board.
UK has all hands full as well.

A J1 is putting a lot of pressure to the Allies.

@Ichabod:

Lately it seems some Axis players have been purchasing a German Navy on round 1 and then they declare war on Russia later like round 3 or 4 because Germany builds navy. Germany then “threatens” London, but the real objective is Cairo and the middle east.

As a counter to that growing threat, would it not makes sense for the UK to hit Iraq round 1 instead of other options being:

1. Activate Persia
2. Kill Ethiopia
3. Taranto and Ethiopia
4. Acivate Perisa and Hit Iraq (risky). You have to use the mech at Egypt and pick up the tank and an infantry from the med. Likely to not capture without taking a plane hit.

Obviously doing Ethiopia and Taranto assumes risk. Maybe the same as Iraq and Taranto?

Anyways, what are the thoughts on Iraq UK1?

Iraq UK1 is an unnecessary risk. If you activate Persia UK1, you can attack Iraq UK2 with free troops and thus Egypt is better defended on UK1. You don’t lose your valuable airplanes rushing the attack. Turn order gives you the edge over Italy’s Syria landing.

Marsh

In games with big bids for the Allies (35+ PUs), it is possible to hold Yunnan by adding in an additional Chinese art plus flying in an additional two or three Russian planes that were bought before the game started.  If Japan pushes all of their units to Kwangsi on J1, the Allies will have to vacate Yunnan before J2 or face annihilation.  However the Chinese can counterattack or strafe Yunnan on Ch2 since the Japanese air force can’t land in that territory, seriously harming Japan’s ground strength in Mainland Asia.

Russia will have to methodically retreat back towards Moscow for the first three rounds with this plan.  The upside in Europe is that the US can execute a KGF plan since there is less urgency in the Pacific theater.

It really depends on which method you prefer.
A G1 attack can catch the Russians a little off guard and take advantage of their defenses still being relatively thin. The downfall is that Germany’s offense will also be a little thin and be more prone to Russian counter-attacks.
A G3 or G4 attack allows Germany the maximum build up time before Russia can declare war and can make for a much stronger punch into Russia’s borders all along the line. I often wait until G4 because you can hit Russia on 4 fronts (Romania > Bessarabia, Hungary > E Poland, Poland > Baltic States, Finland > Karelia) and have a very strong front line after the battles - harder for Russia to counter attack. The downfall of this is that Russia also gets 3 turns of build-up so they will have more stuff for you to fight. Generally, Germany will still have more than Russia, but if the dice don’t favor you, your front lines could get really ate up by the time you reach Moscow.
A lot depends on what USA does when they get into the war. If they go 80%-100% Europe, your Russian offensive could peter out fast because you have to fend off an American invasion or try to bail out Italy. On the other hand, Japan should be doing very well in the Pacific and you may get an overall Axis win that way.
If USA goes mostly Pacific, then you should be very successful in Russia. The UK will be busy trying to fight Italy and your U-Boats while you pour tanks into Russia and steadily grind them back. However, If Japan plays poorly, it’s possible the USA could wrap things up in the Pacific early enough to still come over and cause trouble for you in Europe before you can take Moscow. Then it’s the dreaded TWO FRONT WAR for Germany.

Got pretty lucky on dice for China.  They are down to 5 Inf co-defending with 3 UK Inf and 2 UK Tanks on the last hold before an easy march to India.  Plan is to hit India on an amphip assault next turn.  Should be possible if the dice go my way.

@larrymarx:

@kcdzim:

I’d prefer a solution were russia is required abide the cease fire regardless of war in europe , but allow Japan to break it whenever they please (which still doesn’t cause war with the other axis powers).  Russia just has to make sure it will be costly for Japan, which is precisely what they did with the far east forces.

How about doing this but also allowing Russia to break the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact if Japan chooses to attack early?

The game already favors the allies.  Allowing Russia to preemptively strike isn’t helpful for balance on the Europe side.  However, barring russia from attacking japan first, under any circumstance, probably means Japan won’t bother with russia at all with no need to garrison and will focus on china first, while positioning for the J3 assault which matches far more closely the way AAP40 plays (where russia isn’t available to attack, and won’t attack Japan).

the 18 infantry already is pretty good about giving Japan pause on J1.  J2, it becomes more feasable, but even then Russia can back away and just leave the shorelines open, giving up minimal value.  I just don’t buy that Russia needs more freedom to attack.  While Stalin was of the mind of striking when either axis was vulnerable, the player is NOT the Stalin, and some safeguards like restricted declarations have to be in place so that the game can be balanced.  Otherwise it’s not 1940, it’s 1942.

In my perfect world:

A) Russia cannot attack or enter ORIGINAL UK or US territories ever.  Russia just shouldn’t be in India.  or the UK.  They can take Persia, they can take neutrals, and they can conquer ORIGINAL axis territories to their hearts content.  And even though it’s unlikely, they can help in France.  Frankly, if Russia is in position to take a european french territory, the game is either over, or has gone pearshaped, but this way they can get a token Syria.

B)UK & US units cannot enter ORIGINAL Russian territories ever.  If they do, they are removed (thus cannot defend), a marker takes their place, and Russia has the option to purchase that equiv unit during their purchase phase at half price rounded up (this is lend lease/pilot internment).

C) Russia can attack & control any neutral it pleases at start of game.  No neutral is friendly to Russia - they will all be combat moves, and they will always defend, even if Pro Ally.  Unless strict neutrals are changed to affect regions (unlikely), same rules as OOB for strict neutrals.

D) Russia cannot attack Japan until Berlin falls or Japan declares war on them.  They cannot enter China until at war with Japan (historically, they were still aiding china after the Cease fire in '39, but stopped after the Pact in 41.  However, since the Tigers weren’t in China until 41 (essentially taking over for the russian air group), the single fighter can be abstracted to be considered the Russian air group at the beginning of the game

E) OOB political rules for Italy/Germany.