New Player Questions

Hi Sans

Welcome to A&A.org. I would suggest reading through some of the topics where you currently are. Especially any that have “strategy” in them.

@Comical_Sans:

A. I’ve played as an overly aggressive Germany, committing all my reserves towards either Stalingrad or Leningrad, and it always ends up the same; U.K. starts storing up units in transports, while USSR keeps on stalling me until a Normandy or Fall of Berlin happens with the U.K. destroying me.

To answer your first question, in the 1941 scenario the USSR is very weak at the beginning. IIRC, they only have 3 offensive units at the start of the game (2 arty, 1 tank) and if you pile most of your units in East Poland, there is a total of 3 infantry and a tank (if you took out Ukraine and Baltic states G1) that can counter attack. Once there, you can move up to Leningrad and take the factory with the help of your transport, or head towards Eastern Ukraine. E. Ukraine is an important territory, as it borders Caucasus and Moscow. If you can pile up there, with Italy as a can opener, you should be able to take out Russia eventually. A good USSR player can counter this after a number of turns, so make sure you haven’t left yourself open. To defend against the U.K. (which starts with a lot of money in 1941) you should buy mostly infantry G1 and stack up in France. Make sure to take out as many U.K. transports as you can in G1 also. For example, you can send one sub from sz7 to sink the DD and Trans in sz9, if you’re lucky. Send the other sub, fighter from norway, and bomber from germany to take out the BB and trans in sz2. That’s just an example, but if you can remove those ships you’re safe for a turn or two. Make sure your luftwaffe is a threat to the UK fleet, that way they need to build warships to defend their transports, buying you more time.
@Comical_Sans:

B. When I play as U.K., I’m spread too thinly, so how do I combat an all-aggressive Axis team?

As mentioned before, the U.K. starts with a lot of IPCs in 1941, but loses them rather quickly to Japan (money islands). Use this money to build a fleet to land troops in france (with US help) or norway, or even Germany itself if it is left lightly defended for some reason. With the UK, hold Egypt as long as you can (to retain N.O.) by moving your men from Trans-Jordan into Egypt… it helps if USSR moved a couple inf from Kazakh SSR into Persia. If Japan appears to be going for India, move some stuff from Australia into India using the Transport in sz41 (i think thats the right sea zone). Once India and Egypt fall, the USSR is vulnerable to attack from persia. You could move everything you can into persia, but that means losing africa and is a questionable move. Building a factory in India is probably a lost cause, as Japan can take it easily, so that is not recommended. You could build an IC in Australia, where it can’t be utilized by Japan that well, but needs to be used in conjunction with USA. Simply put: Keep pressure on Germany; the more units the Germans have to take away from attacking the USSR, the better. Don’t focus too much on keeping Egypt and India; if the Axis want them badly, the Axis will get them, and you can only do so much to stop them.
@Comical_Sans:

C. Best Strategy for Italy?

Italy’s role is relatively simple. Make sure you work towards collecting your N.O.s. Grab Gibraltar, Trans-Jordan, Egypt and sink any enemy ships with your strong fleet in the Med. They are important if Italy is to play a big part in the Axis. You can do one of two main things as italy: firstly, you can go all out for Egypt and Africa. With Germany’s help, you can take Egypt by I1 or I2 at the latest, and then Africa is yours. You can then move into the USSR from the south. Send a trickle of units to the Eastern front to help can-open for Germany. The other strategy is to go all out for the USSR and ignore Africa. If you play with the Dardanelles open (which I don’t recommend), use your fleet to land troops in Caucasus and overall just help Germany smash the USSR. This is a very simple breakdown, as this game has many possibilities, but hopefully you get the idea. Italy is really Germany’s little helper.
@Comical_Sans:

D. What tech should I try to aim for with Italy, U.K., and Germany?

For technology, you can break the charts down into two sections; chart 1 is ground unit and production improvements, chart 2 is sea and air improvements. As Germany, just about all of the tech can help except for improved shipyards. I recommend rolling for chart 1 before attempting chart 2, unless you particulalry want something in chart 2 (e.g. super subs, jet fighters). It isn’t really worth getting tech for Italy early in the game, as they need the IPCs to buy units. Once they have a steady income, they could start buying tech rolls. Anything from the two charts can help for Italy. With the U.K, I recommend going for chart 2. Improved shipyards is a MASSIVE help, and heavy bombers can put the hurt on Germany (Heavy bombers roll two dice and select the best result). chart 1 can also be useful, like advanced artillery or paratroopers is good for landing in france.

Hope this helps… I am by no means experienced with this game, but have played it a number of times and read a lot on these forums. The axis has an advantage in the 1941 setup, so a bid is recommended to go to the allies. If anyone has any constructive criticisms with this, please correct me  :-)

@Comical_Sans:

Thanks for the feedback sjlr1! In terms of tech, are rockets particularly great in europe/africa? For one game I’ve had is that with a German-Russo Stalemate with Italy trying to contest Africa with America, (With an Italian Industrial Complex on Egypt), and both the Soviets and Americans had developed rockets. So they kept on around the clock strategic bombing and rocket strikes on the Industrial Complex in Germany and the Italian Industrial Complex in Egypt, forcing the two Axis powers to constantly repair their factories. On turn 5, three bombers from U.S. all got a six during a strategic bombing on Italy’s Egypt Industrial Complex, completely shattering Italy’s already fragile economy. By turn 7, the around the clock bombing forced Italy to withdraw from Africa completely and Germany, being bogged down by U.S., U.K. and USSR bombings and rockets, were purchasing less and less units. By turn nine, Japan also got kicked out of the Asian mainland, and was stuck with the home isles and an IC in the East Indies. At the same time, Italy only retained the boot as the Russians and a few British mechanized infantry took the Balkans. By Turn nine, Italy had capitulated, with Germany only retaining Germany and Norway. After Germany fell, the Allies won with a total of 15 Victory Cities. The combination of Strategic Bombings and Rockets forced Italy and Germany back when they seemed to have an initial advantage. So are Rockets a tech that the European Powers should aim for?

Rockets are a great tech for the USSR and UK, as the UK can reach either Italy or Germany with its AA in the British mainland, and if the Japanese or italians have built an IC then the one in india can do harm as well. The USSR starts of with 3 AA guns, and all can reach Italy or Germany, which can be devastating. Most of the time, USSR needs most of its money buying infantry and tanks to fight the Germans but can afford a few tech tokens early in the game. It’s a little less useful for the US unless they put their AA guns on a transport and shuffle them somewhere (Okinawa or Iwo Jima against Japan, B United Kingdom against Germany or Italy), which can be a bit tedious. And if the US and UK spam bombers like you said, the Axis will be hurting badly! You could try playing with the Escorts/Interceptors optional official rule if you wish.
Hope this helps