Keys to Allied Success

A couple of points:

• AB on Gibraltar is far from an obvious move.
• UK can’t build an AB on Syria unless it takes it back after the Axis conquers it. Certainly not UK1. Just double checked that in the rules.
• Iraq is far from the USSR’s most valuable territory.
• Most critical thing for the allies is to hold Moscow. You’re building those 10 units per round just there? Is that actually enough to stop the German onslaught? You have other factories you can use at least for the first few rounds.

My tips for Allied success:

1. Get the Germany player drunk. Everybody who plays Germany does it primarily for the exquisite role-play opportunities, and what better way to get into the spirit of the game than having a few beers. After all, the France player is paying for them!

2. Team only with retired 4-star generals. (Active duty generals may not be able to devote their full attention to the game.)

3. Japan should be played by your little sister. If she’s not available, ask Mom.

4. The dog ate the submarine rules.

5. Choose opponents who will give up an outrageous bid in order to play the Axis side.

6. Drop a subtle innuendo to a hypersensitive and jealous Italy player about his girlfriend and the Germany player. The less well they communicate, the better it is for the Allies.

7. UK must build a factory in every possible land territory.

8. At the beginning of every China turn, the rest of the Allies should break out into a Monty Python skit.

9. Praise be to the holy dice calculator!

10. This one time, at boot camp…

Not a fan of playing the allies, Elk man?

Not sure about the abbreviations, what is an AB?

Also, I’ve played a few games now playing each side and as the Allies I have been taking my Indian fleet inside the Suez Canal and taking Ethiopia. I’ve also accompanied this by doing the Taranto Raid each time. My question is could the Indian fleet be used to one of the most southern money islands with 2 Inf and pair it with Anzac taking the other? The transports are surely dead after your first turn but are those 2 Inf a piece enough to delay Japan from one of their NO’s, especially if they lost a lot in Phillipines assuming a J1 DOW? Or is this just a waste of a move?

@ProtesT:

Not sure about the abbreviations, what is an AB?

I read/wrote it as airbase.

@ProtesT:

My question is could the Indian fleet be used to one of the most southern money islands with 2 Inf and pair it with Anzac taking the other?

Yes, you can do that at Java. But I believe it is better to land the Indian troops at Sumatra and leave Java for the ANZAC. Both transports are toast with a J2 DOW but if they use a sub you can at least attack that. I guess you need to look at the post-J1 dispositions to decide. Probably, Japan will have 2 SBs and 2 carrier borne aircraft, assuming one CV in SZ36 off Hainan/Kwangsi, that can reach both but that will strip the Philippines attack of aircraft. Unless the Japanese aircraft can land on a carrier while the carrier borne aircraft land on a different carrier or Siam. With a J1 DOW things change up a bit because The Philippines attack has already happened. For Anzac, it’s also 5IPC for DNG vs 4IPC for Java.

If there is peace after J2 you are heaps better off to have two of the money islands as opposed to one, then you can reinforce the existing islands which I’m a big fan of. Sumatra can be reinforced in a single turn from UK_Pac while Java takes two turns for them. And vice versa at Java with ANZAC. Generally in this instance you need to DOW UK2 to save Yunnan.

@AldoRaine:

@simon33:

A couple of points:

• AB on Gibraltar is far from an obvious move.
• UK can’t build an AB on Syria unless it takes it back after the Axis conquers it. Certainly not UK1. Just double checked that in the rules.
• Iraq is far from the USSR’s most valuable territory.
• Most critical thing for the allies is to hold Moscow. You’re building those 10 units per round just there? Is that actually enough to stop the German onslaught? You have other factories you can use at least for the first few rounds.

I am sorry I accidentally said Syria when I meant Trans-Jordan.  I modified my post to make the changes.

Also I know that an AB on Gib is not always an obvious move I just feel that is it by far the best since it gives you the chance to attack the Italian fleet with even better numbers later.

And as far as Iraq being the most valuable Russian territtory, that remark is only an attempt to point out that in Russian hands Iraq is worth 5 IPC’s.  Obviously Moscow is their most important territory but that is still only worth 3 IPC’s, I was just trying to point out that Iraq can be a very territory in Russian hands.

Phew!

wrt Gibraltar: Yeah but to do an amphibious assault after protecting your fleet with the airbase means sacrificing your transports whereas for 1IPC more you get a mobile airbase. If you stay on the coast of an allied territory (including a newly conquered one if it is well enough defended) you also get a free hit.

wrt Iraq: So is Finland. Norway and Romania are worth 6IPC. Iraq and Finland are both achievable for the USSR to take but to take Norway means that the US can’t.

I think you are hitting on some important things.  However I would start by saying that your assumption that there will be a bid seems to distort your Levantine (near east) plan a bit.

We don’t play with a bid, even if the game is biased towards the Axis, even a few pieces for UK in the med create new strategies that are not really tenable if you don’t play the OOTB basic strategies out.

So, there is always the Taranto/Tobruk combo.  You don’t need the airbase on Gibraltar that early necessarily, though its really good to get it there.  Mostly if you do the T/T combo, the air base may be left vulnerable as you are not transitioning fighters over there (they go to malta or Syria usu),  I guess what im saying here is you should gain your early safety and freedom of action simply by killing Italy on UK1 rather than trying something exotic.

AND, if you have a bunch of extra bid pieces, well, the Italians and Iraq are automatically dead and you can roll all over them, everywhere, by UK2.

So, if you wipe out the Italians (bid or not) there are plenty of reasons to try to transition your planes through the middle east in order to get them to either Moscow or India or just to tool around the med.  Not sure if you need an Airbase in there to do it;  you do need exactly the one more space to get to Moscow (or india), but why not approach this by saving the $$, building your Iraq or Persia MiC (and take Persia turn 1 UKPAC, this is a strong move I rarely have done or seen done) and building your new fighters on the middle eastern bases?

The bases are really awesome when you want to create an unbreakable strong point for US/UK, but the best place for this one seems to be Malta–it gives you the around the board access you’re looking for.  Gibraltar is also really good;  but im doubting without the bid you’ll be able to protect it and London starting Turn 1.

And your neutrals point is well taken;  the rules are so abusive that I simply discounted these but I have a buddy that constantly attacks Spain and Turkey.  You’d think killing 14 men would be hard, but its not because you have a full strikeforce over there doing nothing else.  Germany only gets Sweden and Switzerland and 8 troops when you do this, and your transports can then go home or pick up a second wave as your main army attacks the Axis over land.  It still sucks, and any competent German player can stymy you, but its better than trying to invade Norway or some other KGF foolishness.

Good luck buddy

Tobruk does mean sacrificing a transport. Ethopia crush or Middle East conquest has an advantage here. Not sure which is best on this one.

While Sumatra does commit 13IPC on largely a suicide mission, what is the alternative use for the TT?

@simon33:

Tobruk does mean sacrificing a transport. Ethopia crush or Middle East conquest has an advantage here. Not sure which is best on this one.

While Sumatra does commit 13IPC on largely a suicide mission, what is the alternative use for the TT?

UK1
Take the TT from the Med, pick up an INF/ART and land them on Persia
Take the TT from Calcutta, along with the CR and DD, take an INF/ART from Calcutta and also bring them to Persia.
NCM the BB off Malaya to Calcutta
NCM the Inf to the non IPC Persian territory
NCM the 2 INF and 2 ART onto Persia

Net gain is the IPC from Persia without tossing away the TT to the Japanese

UK2
Bridge the INF from the minor persian territory, plus 1 INF from Persia to Iraq.
Move the BB from Calcutta to join your units off Iraq.
Amphib Iraq with your Persian INF, ART and the 2 INF on the TT, you get Bombards from both the CR and the BB as well.

Now you own both Persia and Iraq.

You didn’t trade out the TT to get Sumatra, or strand the INF on that island to die to the Japanese.  Yes, you don’t deny Japan the DEI bonus, but you also didn’t trade much away and economically you just gave UK London 6 IPC and will continue to give it 4 IPC / turn going forward.

You also now have 2 TT with a DD, CR and BB to move into the Med to threaten all the gains Italy may have gotten in the interim.

Assuming you sunk the Italian ships on UK1, you should be in a very good position (without having to spend ANY additional IPC) to create serious headaches for them.  If you withdrew, the Italians are not going to be able to leave the cover of their AB with a CV, 2 DD, 2 CR, 1 BB and 2 TT without investing in Naval from I1 forward.  Chances are if you leave their navy alone, they’re going to invest in other things which just plays into your hands.

You can also now have the choice for the UK build MIC on Persia and later Iraq if you want to assist Moscow or push back against Japan’s KIF strategy or reclaim Calcutta if necessary by using London’s income.

I actually prefer to build a strong offensive force with Calcutta and eventually evacuate before the Japanese arrive.  Reinforced with some purchases from London, Japan may find it prohibitively expensive to continue to invest in that region with the US and ANZAC now massing in other regions of the Pacific.

@taamvan:

And your neutrals point is well taken;  the rules are so abusive that I simply discounted these but I have a buddy that constantly attacks Spain and Turkey.   You’d think killing 14 men would be hard, but its not because you have a full strikeforce over there doing nothing else.  Germany only gets Sweden and Switzerland and 8 troops when you do this, and your transports can then go home or pick up a second wave as your main army attacks the Axis over land.

when allies attack the true neutrals do you guys ever have anzac set up a force in south america and grab the neutrals there or is that too far out of position for them?

Hi guys,

very important: It makes almost no sense to give strategy advice based on builds as this depends from the beginning about what the Axis did and how it went.

1)The first objective for the allies should be protecting against sea lion.

Protecting against sea lion is not an essential goal as sea lion is good for the Allies unless it’s ridiculously cheap. However your suggestion is ok as air and AB Gib makes sense in the most cases. but it’s not an essential Allies objective to protect against sea lion. If Germans to it, Allies are good in most cases.

3)The UK needs to hold Egypt.  This can be done by spending mos if not all of your bid on land units in Africa.  Only 2 inf are needed but obviously more should be placed. I like to spend 12 on land units with 2 inf and 1 tank.

Egypt is overrated and spending the entire bid in Africa is a bad idea. Allies need to squeeze the Germans with Russia and by Dday. Liberating africa is not a major objective. Supply lines are too long from Africa to hurt the Axis, that’s why dday is perferable as UK can reinforce every turn.

Now the not so obvious ones.  
4)Russia should try to get 25+ art by round 5.

The goal is not to get a certain amount of Arty but look for an opportunity to stop the German army to progress for one turn by having enough fire power. However this also heavily depends on what the Germans have. In some cases there is no way to put attack power on Russia because surviving is everything Russia can do. In other cases buying 6 tanks Round 1 or 2 can be the best buy if this keeps the Germans from progressing.

and so on.

Cheers,
Tobias

Did you get that the wrong way around? If the Allies attack Spain those true neutrals in S America become pro Axis and ANZAC would need to attack them.

A couple of times I’ve used ANZAC to activate Brazil. This makes a bit more sense against my usual opponent’s axis play which is: sink all the UK DD & TT G1, no J1 DOW. Often no J2 DOW.

One time the troops were used to reinforce Southern France. And the TT used to help the UK reach. In general, ANZAC have better use for a transport than this.

@Spendo02:

Now you own both Persia and Iraq.

But that does take income which could belong to USSR away from them and not going into Sumatra reduces UK_Pac’s income. Sometimes the combination of convoy disruption and SBR makes London pretty weak, but even so 2IPC/turn isn’t likely to achieve as much for them as for USSR. Or 2 vs 5 in the case of Iraq. UK_Pac’s income is also more valuable than London’s IMO. They don’t have much of it.

A few more points. With a bid means you can do Tobruk without sacrificing a TT. Bid an art in Alexandria and a sub off Egypt. Then you can use the Malta fighter to support the Tobruk attack. It’s a bit of a dodgy attack without the Mech Inf from Egypt which could be going to Ethiopia. EDIT: But then what value does Tobruk add? Only thing I can really think of is that it prevents combining with the 2 troops in Libya and any brought over on a transport. Might be better to wait until air support is available UK2. /EDIT

Some further thoughts on Finland. Someone has pointed out that fighters can stage UK->Finland->Moscow. The major problem with going into Finland is the troops can be hit by the Luftwaffe, with some troops supporting. A few UK fighters reduces the force needed significantly. The two AAA starting in Leningrad would be really useful if this attack eventuates but the chances are that it won’t happen G2, because the Luftwaffe will be better used attacking the survivors of Taranto.

Going back to the OP, doesn’t the airbase on Gibraltar make Sea Lion too easy? It does nothing to deter it, and SBR (assuming it happens) will make unit purchases in London difficult G2 and virtually stop it G3.

In my usual games, London is pretty inactive with convoy disruption and SBR stopping it almost dead.

One thing I’ll give my two cents. If the German’s go ahead with operation Sea Lion, whether successful or not, is the key to allied success. Now setting up for a fake is a must just to keep UK putting their IPCs on an island rather then somewhere else. But actually doing it is basically telling Japan that the game is in their hands. This is from limited experience and watching a couple games online when it has happened mind you. However, youget UK money that’s great. But now your forces are depleted. You own London now but in order to hold it you need to invest in it which means fixing the IC, the damaged you as Germany caused. And Russia is moving in and the States are on their way.

I’m not an experienced player but this is just from what I seen. Germany didn’t attempt it in the actual war and I don’t think they should attempt it in this game. Barbarossa is the way to go to stop an allied victory. Also anything later then a J2 DOW in the Pacific is a key to allied victory.