Failing to take Russia/India

@Jofes From what I’ve read and the games I’ve played, the axis initially have the advantage at the beginning, at least in terms of manpower and the setup of the board. If they can capitalize on that, they have a very good chance of winning. But they also can not afford to have very many bad dice rolls, especially in key battles. I have had the same problems in Russia. The allies start with more income, so if they can hold of the axis long enough, and make wise purchases, the advantage goes to them.

Use a battle Calc before committing to big fights. You can find one on this site at http://calc.axisandallies.org/

That being said, I’ve been burned tons of times by AAO’s RNG. I lost a 98% chance to win battle for Moscow the other day, having to retreat after the defenders basically got 100% of their units to hit me.

@Jofes Usually the three cities I go for are Leningrad, Moscow, and Calcutta (India). If you’re having a hard time in India or Russia, Honolulu is another option, but I find it hard to hold. I’ve never really tried to take London, but if you can take it early, that’s definitely a game winner. Sometimes India can be hard to take, especially the longer it takes. Maybe try the Thailand factory first, as long as you can hold it. Another option could be an island, like the Philippines, Borneo, and East Indies. You just have to have transports and a large enough navy to keep the enemy fleets at bay. A Manchurian factory is nice because you can get three units instead of two, but it takes two turns to get there by sea, and just tanks going by land take three turns to attack. When you attack India, no matter what you do, some units will definitely have to come by sea. But they can come from Japan in the same time it takes from Manchuria via boats, so Thailand factory first might be your best option.

@Jofes Well first of all, winning as Axis is not supposed to be easy. If it was easy, it would not be a fair game.

If you are consistently losing big battles, you need to take a hard look at your battle decision making. Maybe the odds are not as in your favor as you thought. But if you are always getting terrible luck with big stack battles, yes, there is often no recovery there, as the battle can be game deciding.

With Germany, against a good Allied player, you probably have to risk having France taken in order to make the final push to take Russia. You often will not have the resources to hold France and take Russia. Retake France after Russia falls.

With India, there are so many factors. If UK gets lucky with the big SZ37 battle, it can be really hard to take India any time soon, especially if USA harasses Japan effectively. The big SZ37 battle is actually a reason I am getting tired of this game. It’s a very iffy battle that can go either way and can decide the game. But not everyone does this.

With Japan, try not building any early IC at all. While you can build 8 units per turn, use Japan only. This is faster and more efficient. So build up to having 3-4 transports and ferry troops over. If USA leaves you alone, 4 is ideal, possibly 5 if you want to make excursions to Australia, etc. If UK and USA are both hounding you, 3 transports is max, as you will be building ships and planes too. You will not take India if UK and USA both gang up on you, just rely on Germany to win at that point. In a KJF, you are playing defense, protecting your money islands, ferrying minimal troops to take Russian territory slowly and keep India at bay.

Try the Steam version of this game, not sure if you are playing it. Lots of players, and you can get experience quickly. Just play the Allies and watch what good Axis players do against you.

@Dimitri Do you have Germany try to take India usually? If not, what is your usual third victory city?

@J-o-C Yes, in a KJF, Germany takes Russia and then takes over the continent easily. Or it doesn’t and I lose!

If I am the allies, I usually try to keep equal pressure on both sides, so neither can get out of control. Unless one side is doing especially good or something. Or if one side is doing worse, I focus on the other more.

@J-o-C I agree that pressure on both sides is needed to some degree. Whenever Japan is left alone completely, I feel it always goes poorly for Allies.

I would say that it would be a good idea to relax on India, go for Africa as a more aggressive campaign and leave India to the IJN. Build a decent sized German Navy by turn 3 or else the rest of your game will be defensive. The navy will help you keep pressure away from France, and can even open up possibilities to a small South Pacific campaign.

@Panzerboy0191 I think against a good Allied player, a German navy is a bad idea, and a trap. Allies will build planes and ships anyway to work with transports in the Atlantic, and then Germany is forced into an arms race it cannot win, all the while it has few troops to fight USSR with, resulting in USSR pressing into German territories. Whatever gains Germany might make in Africa, it will give up to USSR in Europe.

In my view, the best German navy, in terms of dealing with an Allied navy, is made of pure planes, where it can be used to deal with USSR at the same time as deterring weak Allied naval efforts.

Subs and Planes. Subs absorb losses as fodder. Its the best solution to keep UK from building anything and to keep USA from landing troops