Hi everyone - I’m new here, need some help from the experts :-)
I play a semi-regular game with a couple of my friends. I usually like to be Axis due to its fast starting pace and dynamic nature. But I can’t seem to win, no matter what I do. Let me take you through my typical first couple rounds and if you would be kind enough, let me know what I’m doing wrong?
My R1 purchase is 1 Bom, 6 Inf. Attack Baltic with transported Inf & Art, Bombardment, Inf from Poland, and a fighter or two, depending. Attack British BB & Trans. with 2 subs and Norw fig. Attack lone dest. with baltic sub and nw euro fig. Attack e. pol. with remaining polish forces and attack Ukraine with Bulg. troops. Finally, I bombard the Brit. fact. with my one bomber (I’m thinking I should be bombarding Russia with that instead?) I don’t attack Egypt because I rarely manage to take it due to that fighter, prefering to take it on the 2nd or 3rd round with Germany after Italy has softened it up really good (is that too late? and is the game designed for Italy to take africa, coming into its own as a country?)
As non-coms i reinforce my forward divisions with the remaining 2 tanks and an infantry from berlin, and I move another berlin infantry into france. i try to land at least 2 fighters in paris at this time as well, both for defensive and possible offensive purposes. my Med. trnsp. takes the armor and infantry in france and algeria respectively to libya.
Rd. 2 I buy max. armor and a bomber, and rd. 3 I usually have to buy a mix of inf. and art, the armor of which is to rendezvous with Rd.1’s infantry in the east, Rd.3’s purchase to go there also, if circumstances permit. All the while, I keep a general program of maintaining my front line in the east without going in too deep, and keeping an eye on the british fleet in the n. atlantic while bombing britain’s factory to slow them down. This is what always ends up happening:
Britain rebuilds naval behemoth in n. atlantic and is ready for a 4-transp. minimum invasion SOMEWHERE with reinforcements by Rd.3, and my eastern division(s) are staring down a stack of around 17 russian inf., accompanied by the same number of tanks and artillery that i have. I start moving backward because of this stack in time to get sandwiched in berlin by all allies. I usually have 14-20 damage counters under my berlin factory too, since there are 4-6 combined brit and us bombers in UK (they are buying 1 each round minimum, sometimes US buys more), making it difficult to churn out enough units to keep up with the incoming attacks. if i’m lucky i’ll shoot down 2 bombers the whole game (i’m a shitty dice thrower for this game - great at rolling 6’s!)
At about this time, Japan is JUST BARELY a turn or two from Moscow, but with a minimal force, easily defended. Caucasus usually falls to my Italians, but it is too little, too late.
My main problem is that by Rd.2 or 3, russia has consolidated and there is more infantry than i can shake a rifle at, and additionally, i can’t do anything about britain’s naval supremacy, all while getting downright TROUNCED economically by combined brit/us bombers.
There are 1941 German strategy pages in the topics section and i’ve been reading those, so i understand if you don’t follow up with a whole treatise. But can some of you fine ladies and gentlemen give me some tips and expose the holes in my strategy? I’m starting to think winning with Axis is impossible if Allies make little to no mistakes, but that can’t be right.
By the way, we always play with no economic advantage rules.
Thanks in advance!
