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
How does Russia stay alive in KGF?
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It seems to be highly recommended that if you’re doing KGF you should take the Pacific fleet and send it into the Atlantic. I find if you do this and give Japan too free a hand then they will have a smallish stack in Kazakh on J3, exactly when the US has any chance of landing in France. In this situation Russia’s ability to trade territories will cease and they either have to give up Kazakh to Japan or Caucasus to Germany. The India stack can be safely bypassed and if it tries to move out to help Russia, then it runs the risk of falling to Japanese attack by sea. Are the Russians expected to just camp out in Moscow starting R4 at this point?
As a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever won a game by literally ignoring one theater has some advice frequently goes. The other power just balloons up too quickly and you can never really make a dent in the other power fast enough even with 100% spending there. I usually end up leaving most fleets in the area they start in and dribble in a few more replacements just to make sure I can’t be completely ignored there.
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Yeah I think the ‘ignore’ advice what they’re really saying is more ‘don’t buy ships in the other theater with USA.’ So USA/Britain aren’t ignoring Japan they’re just managing Japan from the center instead of head on from East/South Pacific. And Usually if you withdraw Atlantic fleet, then you still have to purchase position to cover the West Coast and VC snipes.
I’d prob end up trying to use Britain to threaten an early Japanese press into Kazakh, since they have more to work with than Russia usually. But just having enough Brit fighters there to get the job done sometimes depends on how first round cracked off so that’s rough too. Germany can come hard all by itself, basically they just mass artillery/inf stack pushing. So you have to start trading as quickly as possible into Europe with UK/USA to draw off German hitpoints, or else Russia just topples eventually (usually you want it holding till about round 8-9, but that means drawing Germany back in sufficient numbers that they stall out a bit after W. Russia/Caucasus push intstead of careening straight into the Soviet capital in the 8th round). Germany has so many starting aircraft and tanks that you basically have to force them into half a dozen combats every round just to make a dent in their forward progress to Moscow. And probably have to bomb at some point too, if you really want an edge over even then, which is the most nerveracking. Ideally bombers you’d just want for combat, but sometimes you just can’t even get close to challenging German income without a max-damage into the dirt sort of round, which is a pretty dicey proposition. Allies also have the challenge of landing enough inf units with UK/USA that Germany has to actually funnel hitpoints west each turn to die in trading, instead of heading east for the stackfest. So its more than just the bare minimum inf and bombardments+mass air, usually gotta send more dudes just to die, just to spread G thin enough that they’re actually risking something for the reconquest every round in the trade. Hoping for lucky dud on their part or maybe holding a tile on d every once in a blue moon.
I usually go Africa coverage first then swing north. Depends on sz11. Most people I saw in Plat were going all-in on sz7 attack as Germany, with all the subs on G1 just to make sure, only a couple balsy exceptions out of like 50 some odd games that I saw. So the USA is a little better off with those transports and dd in tact but still hard to get it going fast enough even then.
I like carrier and transports+ art focus first two rounds to get the chain going, then bomber focus. Most of my wins as Allies in KGF have come from the bomber stack like 6 or more deep. Its important to at least threaten airblitz amphib of Berlin in case they mess up their no com fighter landings or placement phase and leave open an early snipe attack vs Berlin, which can sometimes happen.
Its usually easier to prop up Russia by trading north via sz5 or sz3 over the Med trade game I find, but I’ve seen the Med work in some prolonged type games, or where something went wild in early Africa battles. But basically only way to keep Russia up, is the fighter wall to the center and then trading as many spots as possible along German coast so they have to pull back to cover coastal trading instead of just hammering Soviets with everything.
I think it takes 100% USA focus in Pacific if you want to do anything to break IJN early. Otherwise its about meeting the IJN somewhere else in the engame. Usually at the canal/Med, or Indian ocean reverse press where your fighter wall at the center can help prevent the Japanese fleet from just parking into Africa sz34. If you see Japan going against USA in KGF, better to build ground chain up through Canada like the old games, write off Honolulu, and play to make the trade Alaska or whatever that way if Japan goes all balistic with transports north, when they should really be pushing em into Yunnan shuck. Then hope to make em pay for the distraction on the other side of the board with the repeating launch sz10 to sz3 Finland.
ps. another thing not always obvious is how sometimes just funneling hitpoints with USA into British held territory and holding puts pressure on Germany. They don’t always need to advance into territory unless you can start splitting G hard in each fight. Other times it can be helpful just to juice a territory like Northwestern or France after Britain has taken, just to force larger numbers into the next trade. Trying to have even larger numbers via transports for the following clap back to up the stakes. But always optimal is liberating Karelia while the center is still holding, so I like Finland push after Africa coverage for the set up. To at least try for putting heat on Karelia and securing Norway, but there’s always that tension between trying to prop up Russian in the north repeating launch, or just start slamming into G from the West head on? KGF is hard because G is so beefy and has such strong defensive position to stack Berlin. Just trying to save Russia from G is tough enough, but then turn around and save them from J while crack’n Berlin at the same time? pretty tough even with Gencon boost. Bombers in the back pocket helps
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@Eqqman - Real talk - you need specifics. Exactly what’s built, what the moves are, the specific expected outcomes, etc. Very very SPECIFIC.
“Are the Russians expected to just camp out in Moscow starting R4 at this point?”
"The India stack can be safely bypassed "
" I usually end up leaving most fleets in the area they start in and dribble in a few more replacements just to make sure I can’t be completely ignored there."
That stuff is just so wild, none of it should remotely be the case.
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