Any good Allied Strategies?

Most of us here believe the Axis have the advantage and give the Allies extra units on the board. Try that.

Hi Hunter Jones

I don’t think we have crossed paths before, so a warm welcome to the Forum.

These boards are full of strategy threads, which you can study at your leisure. When I started playing I reviewed many old posts to come up with a host of great pointers. Of course these can conflict with each other so you are still faced with having to make choices. Also some forum colleagues are sufficiently motivated to go into great detail, which may or may not be your thing. I might add that learning the strategies for yourself through experience can be much more fun than reading through loads of posts and trying to work out something that makes sense to you.

Limiting myself to some high level attempts to be helpful.

• Of course you cannot do KGF & KJF in the same game, so no doubt you are talking about two different games. For me KGF is definitely the easier option. Plus G is the much greater immediate threat to the allies.
• To get there it is critical to gain a US/UK fleet off Europe and this can require considerable effort and some sacrifice to achieve. In this light the sz37 raid is highly debateable.
• Nevertheless Japan has to be contained as best as the allies can. A US Pacific fleet can drag J’s focus away from an Asian push, which would make R’s life so much more difficult. G & J converging on Stalingrad is a nightmare for R. The trick is for the US to find the balance that allows J to be kept busy while continuing to contribute to victory in Europe.
• Similarly the UK will maximise its India builds. If it can include a fighter a turn down there that adds great flexibility - being able to be used against G in Africa, against J in Asia, to reinforce Moscow, etc.
• If the UK/US are effectively engaging G’s forces via coastal landings, R mounts an effective defence through consolidation (and so threat) - and I quite like a US bomber fleet in the UK mounting SBR’s on Germany - then R has every chance of surviving the G onslaught, even without fighter reinforcements, provided J is not surging westwards across Asia.

Having said all that, the axis are generally held to have the advantage with the out of the box set up. I think that lessens as players get better, because an experienced allied player has a greater chance of eroding the initial axis advantage, even against an experienced axis player. Nevertheless it is common for members of the forum to allow the allies additional units at the start of the game. We have a technique known as bidding, wherein players bid to be allies. Typically I would want an extra 12 ipcs (which I can spend on units at the start of the game) in order to play allies.

Cheers
PP

Welcome Hunter :-)

Some options that works in my previous games playing Allies (depending on situation):

1.  37 sea zone option - if I choose this path I have Russia + UK  vs.  Germany and US vs. Japan.  This will be primarily KJF
2.  Building a fighter defensive zone in Russia supported primarily by UK fighters and some US fighters.  You might need more AC to shorten the travel path as well.
3.  Bomber paradise - have US built plenty of bombers and focus on SBR (usually it’s easier dealing with Germany this way c.f. Japan)
4.  Killing the Germany or Japan’s transport to start with and slow down either one of it’s initial momentum.

IMHO defending Africa is much needed to avoid Germany from getting too much income.    One fun bidding option is giving Russia a bomber to start with - this provides Russia a lot more flexibility on strategies.

Hope this helps.  42 2E is a great game.  Enjoy  :-D

@Hunter:

Thank you for the ideas and yes I was talking about 2 different games. I personally like the sz37 raid even though it weakens the UK fleet in the pacific, it also takes off J aggression from the Indian ocean and south pacific.

Thanks again,
HJ

That’s the great thing about this game HJ. So many different options and preferences. You will find forum colleagues that believe fervently in sz37 and also those that avoid it with a passion. I am in the latter camp. There are a lot of other options for those UK units. In fact, in a recent game I went much further and surrendered India so as to focus UK resources on a North Atlantic fleet asap. In effect I was prioritising Moscow over India. It worked - the allies won. But another challenge is to vary your play so that your opponent does not learn to “read” your responses.

I’m currently in a game right now and I’m playing the allies.  I have played 1942 2nd edition a few times and I would say 90% of the time the axis win.  We tried using the Russian bomber bid and it helped a little.  That being said, Stalingrad just fell to the Japenesse.  We are on round 8 and Moscow is completely surrounded by the Japenesse and Germans.  One new strategy I tried with the allies is to send fighters to defend Moscow.  I have now assembled a total of eight fighters with lots of Russian infantry.  The western allies have taken Norway and Finland.  USA has built a factory on Norway but it may be to late as Japan has 20 tanks on the Asian continent and they are all headed to Moscow.  Japan has completely dominated the pacific and has pushed deep into Asia and now Africa and is now cranking out 58 Ipcs.  With the USA I balanced my resources to mostly Europe but some in the pacific.  As we approach the final stages of the war I will either survive or get massacred lol.  At least we having a good time. :)

I think most would say KGF.

One reason being that it is harder to bring overwhelming force to bear on a capital when it has to arrive amphibiously and no adjoining territories allow a land force to be built. So against J the whole land force needs to be transported in one turn.

A strategy that worked well for me: Do not try to land with just one or two transports in europe. Yes, you will get 6 IPC’S each turn for france, but Germany will re-conquer it every time.

Try building up a huge army with Britain/USA (at least 6 transports each) and establish a beach-head in france. An alternative would be to lang in norway, where I like to build a factory with USA if possible. If Russia still stands until you have assembled a huge army, there is hope you can destroy Germany.

I agree, you shouldent invade France untill you are really good and ready. Howver having kmore than 4 transports as UK is not very smart as you can use them all (only 8 untis can be produced in Engalnd each turn).

oh yes, my bad, 4 transports are enough. I also like to produce 4 inf +4 art instead of 4inf + 4 tanks since they have the same attack value altogether (although tank defend on a 3)

An important difference though is in a prolonged fight. It is true that the combination inf+art hits as hard as inf+tank, but that only counts until you sustain some casualties. Since inf is worth 2 attacking points when paired with an art you lose 2 attacking points instead of only 1 when you have a tank. My favorite combination for 4 UK transports, if I have the money to sustain it ofc, is 4 inf, 2 art and 2 tanks. The budget version would be something like 5 inf 3 art.

Hm, good point. Today I played a Hard-AI game against the axis and tried getting 3 tanks each turn with britain in india. Nevertheless, USA went Germany first, but this mixed attempt didn’t end too well for me :/ Maybe I should have tried a KJF right away.

Seen a few comments re tanks and thought I might be able to add a useful comment on their value.

As attack or defence units they are not the most economical. 2 infantry cost the same as 1 tank but far outperform them in defence and even slightly beat them in attack. Add in the artillery combination and tanks just do not compare.

However, tanks do have some advantages over infantry/artillery:

1. Movement - this can be an important consideration when needing to add quickly to an attacking or defending stack.
2. Blitzkrieg - which can be combined with MI.
3. Tactical Bombers - in combination with tanks gain 1 in attack (well they do in other A&A versions and now I have typed this I am unsure about 42.2!)
4. Firepower per TT - but an inf + art gives the same attack power as an inf + tank, but costs less. An inf+tank gives one additional power in defence, but at quite a cost premium.

So I would say don’t buy tanks unless you have a clear need for them for one of the above. Those needs do lead to tank purchases, primarily for Germany, but an ill-considered oversupply of tanks can cost you the game.

Cheers
PP

@Hunter:

Ah. So it depends on what the starting situation? So maybe round 1 is too early to choose which way to go or is that just enough time?

If you are deciding between KGF and KJF, you can wait. The exception may be with bidding units, if you specifically bid a sub or 2 to help with sz 37 so you can go KJF or if you get extra Russian units to help go after Germany, etc. There are also “generic” bids you can use that won’t show your focus either. Inf for Egy, any inf for Russia, dd to protect US trns in the Atlantic, etc.

So outside a specific bid for a specific purpose you can wait until after rd 1 to see how the board lays out. You’ll probably have to decide by US 2 though. Russia can be played the same in the early rds and so can UK (say 3 units Ind, 2 ftrs UK for the first 1-3 rds is fairly safe).

There are a few “conservative” openings for the Allies that won’t necessarily commit you to anything.

Russia 1, buy 8 inf, or 4 inf 3 rt. Attack Belo/Wrus.
Fortify heavy in Wrus and begin bringing eastern units to the west to defend against Ger. Send 1 inf to help protect US ftr. in Asia

UK 1, buy 3 units (ind), 2 ftrs (uk) - I’ll assume no Sz 37 attack.
Sink any vulnerable Ger ships and if you can land ftr(s) in Wrus do it, and get bom to Wrus/Rus if it will reach after any attacks.
Attack J dd/trn with ftr/Cru from Ind sz land ftr with US/Rus units in Asia to protect against attack. Send Aus troops East to Atlantic on Trn, Remaining India ships to sail around South Africa. (note: if you did bid a sub for Ind, you can attack J dd/trn wuth sub/ftr instead and save your Cru).
Consolidate troops from Afr and defend Trj (if safe), Per and Ind. If you defend Trj you may be able to trade Egy on UK 2 if you have units to spare.

US 1 can be highly variable but at least you’ve seen how the board plays out. Did J by a factory? more trans? Where are their ships/planes? etc.
It is fairly safe to buy a AC/DD for the Atlantic with 2 ftrs (or substitute in a trn and troops if you’ve already decided to go after Germany).
Pac fleet consolidates in Sz 56 (unless J left a real opening)

You can do a lot of things with the US but you never really show full on KGF. For example if you bought AC, dd, 2 ftrs and place in the Atlantic. They will ultimately be usefully against Japan if you go that route. The ftrs can be in sz 56 on US 2 and the surface ships by US 3. Or if you stay Atlantic it may be possible to be off of Afr on US 2 or 3 by the latest. Which is fairly typical anyway in a KGF game.

Uk is also versatile with the 2 ftrs from UK 1 buy. They can go to Wrus (on way to Ind) or land on an AC for the Atlantic.

The general design is, you’ve made no clear move toward J or G leaving you the ability to see how rd 1 shapes up. The one thing I wouldn’t do is buy a US transport on US 1 (if your intention is to go KJF) and you want to see if you can get Germany to make a purchase that assumes you are going after them. In all likely hood it won’t make a difference but if you get them to heavily defend France for another turn, that eliminates some troops that could have been on the Russian front a round or two earlier.

A final caveat is, if Germany buys any ships for sz 5 or even the Med on G1, you are probably going to have to focus on the Atlantic and Germany. You are not going to want to have a German fleet parked in sz 5 indefinitely or the threat of a united fleet meeting up off the coast of Fra or Afr. You can still do the 3 units Ind 2 ftr Uk buy, but US will have to consider how it wants to take down the G ships. 1 AC, 1 dd, 2 ftrs isn’t bad in that case, but your follow up turns will probably be air heavy with ftrs/boms to ultimately go after those ships. And the time it takes rds 1-3 to get into position is probably enough to for J to get set up in the Pac, meaning it is going to be too late to swing your ships back into the Pac. In this case you’ll want to do the bare minimum to keep J off of Hi/Ala with the bulk of your focus being sink the G ships, get to Afr then Europe. Hopefully you can hold Ind for 4-5 rds and hope your stacks hold in Wrus/Cauc/Per area with US either coming through Fin/Nor/Kar or North Africa. At that point it just depends on how you set up your Atlantic shuck.