I think it’s pretty balanced. But still something is itching in me that it favors maybe axis more. For the Allies to win the game has to drag on for a long time, Germany is a tough nut to crack if it can play it’s first 3 turns well. Japan is a monster, hardly can be stopped from gaining 40+ ipc production and then it’s only time when Russia is sinking. Only hope is that UK/USA can come and hold the germans at bay, so soviets can free troops to hold the japans. The games usually wavers in a brink of destruction…

My point in Norway, was it is shielded pretty well from axis counterattack. And with unloading troops in Norway, you can change your direction in a flash and make a big push to france or even germany, if german baltic navy is destroyed. Another point in coming from norway, is that germany must push karelia back to himself, but this will weaken his effort in making a push to russia. So it’s pretty much left with holding it’s own and waiting for Japan, but that is the usual way A&A:R goes :), Norway is a good landing zone for planes too. Moving troops to norway gives you more push with allies, than trying to ship troops with transports which is very slow and hard as well costly…

In our gaming group we usually only strafe ukraine and take west russia and belorussia. So that we really slow the meat wall from germany.

But taking ukraine is really good option, have anyone thought of taking norway too with russia? Attack norway with 3inf 1arm 1fig, attack ukraine with 3inf 1art 1arm 1fig and the must take w.russia. If these succeed making germany play their opening round with 4 fighters isn’t bad. But this is really taking chances…

Do you Nix only buy planes and inf? 1bomb/1fig rest is infantry, hmm not a bad idea, it can really keep germany going and the allies has to really bring stuff to keep western europe. Best place would be for a concentrated allied effort in russia. Norway as the key supply point.

If you play with average dices and with good players in A&A it’s so balanced that it really won’t end. We played once a huge 12h game where axis first pushed then allies pushed back, then again axis and once again allies pushed back. Wavering for one side with advantage, but bad dices ruled that advantage away always…laah. We played 10+ turns and decided to end it in a draw, 12 hours is too much…

Yeah the planes are a problem, but this tactic will prevent soviet player from putting purchases to leningrad giving you the option, if the finnish or baltic team survive to G2 to attack again leningrad and destroy british fighters.

This tactic relys on divide and conquer, you prevent the soviet player from using the belorussia stack tactic. He can still do it, but he will give you territory. Usually the game is decided in when germany gets east poland and can hold it that turn and if the russian player doesn’t even strafe, the german player can attack the belorussia stack with everything he can get there. A lot of armor and planes. Then it’s decided in one big battle, the german has options to slowly spread around belorussia, if he doesn’t have enough forces and need more infantry to soak hits. In the end the game is decided in 1-2 big battles in russia…

Love the game :)

My starting turn is like this. The first 12ipc, I buy 1 trans to baltic and 1 artillery to romania(southern place to attack ukraine). Then I watch what the allies do with the 12ipc, this option gives the germans a really good chance to try Sea Lion. If they don’t reinforce too much leningrad, I will go for russia.

My first turn buy is usually 9inf, 1art, 1trans if I go for taking out russia (and we play with the allies getting oil money, taking them away is less money for russia). 1st turn buy could be 12 inf 1art.

Subs destroy all UK fleets around England w/planes supporting. The tricky part in mediterraen, if the allies boosted malta plane with 2 inf,  I wouldn’t maybe try taking it out with only 1inf 1art and 1bb support, too much risk of not taking it out, so I would skip malta and move straight to next the british destroyer&trans, this could lead to 1dest, 1trans, 1fig of attacking my german fleet. But with 1bb, 1dest, 1trans I would have pretty good odds of taking it out and if they attack I would get to attack the oil money on turn 2 already. If they don’t boost malta I would attack the plane and maybe move destroyer to block them from slowing my advance to the oil money. Baltic transports would move to take out leningrad, attacking force would be compared to how many soviet infantry would be against them. Baltic states will be taken, with some german force, maybe surviving 3inf 1art 2armor. East Poland would be strafed with 3 inf and x armor. Bessarabia would be taken w/ minimum force (2inf, 1art) and ukraine would be strafed with 3inf 1art 2 armor 1fig. Finnish troops would take vyborg. If these battles go at least averagely well, I would hold vyborg, leningrad, baltic states, bessarabia. British should have only 1dest, 1trans(maybe 1dest in gibraltar, it’s really hard to get some good attack there with these moves) in atlantic in canada and us is in it’s starting place. Poland should have 2nd wave ready 6+inf 1+art, 2+armor, Rumania 5+inf 1art, 4 armor, 1 fighter. Almost everything is moved east, In france would be left minimum reserve force at this moment. Maybe something like 3inf 1art. All armor is moved east. Africa front 1inf in Libya, Tunisia 1art, 1armor. Reinforcements would be to germany  9inf 1art (or 12inf 1art), 1trans would be placed eastern italy seazone, in that sea zone so that it can move on turn 2 straight next to oil money countries. Norway infantry would all be moved to finland. There is no holding back, in this game. If you go to moscow you go with brute strenght and nothing is left behind defending useless countries, like norway. You get the IPC back from russia and oil money. The 2 trans in baltic are only to harass leningrad and most likely will be sunken with british planes, but if all british planes move to leningrad your subs will harass couple of turns longer maybe, depending how many survived G1.

Now if you can see the situation, russia should have lost some of it’s forces and lands and would see 3 german forces in&around leningrad waiting to be attacked. Now comes the time if you really get lucky, and you manage to hold baltic or even leningrad. Then  you would be in very good position to start finishing soviets off. 1st thing for germany is to get a airfield base on east poland or baltic states (East poland is the best option, but on 1st turn you should take baltic to harass leningrad with force). Russia should and will attack leningrad and baltic states, but this would weaken his belorussia stack tactic. I won’t go to detail as there are now too many possibilities that could happen.

Short notice how this could go, and it has gone in my games.

-Russia succeed in driving you back, but leaves offensive forces in baltic states, that you can wipe out
-Africa egypt is left behind, maybe fleet battle happens, if not then germany moves next to oil money and maybe graps egypt and irak.
-G2 would see another stack of inf build and maybe 1-2 armor. Subs would be hunted, but with luck some could survive.
-G2 would see ukraine taken or strafed or exchanged to german hands, but not taken with full force. Baltic state soviet force is destroyed and east poland is taken. 3rd wave would have 14+inf 1+art 5+ armor. Russia is forced again to either attack the germans back or give them land next to belorussia.
-G3 build up would see 7+inf, 2armor and if there is enough IPC 1fighter.
-If East poland is held, G3 would see East poland reinforced with everything that can be but there, with 4+ fighters to hold it. Ukraine is taken with romania army. Oil money is being slowly put to german coffers.
-First assaults from uk/usa may happen to france. First lend-lease planes are in soviet use.

I will stop here, ask and make reply moves against this and I will try answering how I would see it. Not all games can be won, dices rule most of A&A:E games. But the tactic here is that you divide the soviets from G1 already, by moving close to leningrad from 3 places, in leningrad, in baltic states, in vyborg. At the same time, you start making another assault force in south, romania. And your main drive comes from poland every turn.

Ps. Move your Germany or Italy anti-air gun to east for protection from soviet planes, when you move in force to east poland or baltic states there should be with them 1AA, everything that can help you keep them intact should be used.

Comments are welcome to this :)

The normal Game with russians getting 24 ipc, do you find it more favored for Germany to win than the allies?

Well with my friends we played our very first 5-7 games with the mistake in oil money. We played that allies get them too and they can divide the money with themselves, that led to russians getting about 30ipc a turn. And that made for germans a really hard push to overcome them.

Well in the end I played most of the games as germans and could win even with the oil money mistake and found it pretty balanced. If you have good luck with your subs and wipe out the british navy totally, but canada fleet and u.s fleet. You would delay the allies a very long time and make it harder for them to send planes to russia, because it would make it more difficult to hunt the german subs.

I usually went for the oil money, but not with full force, only reinforcing the attack there with 3-4 inf, 1 art, 1-2 armor, and maybe 1 plane, that being usually bomber, because it wouldn’t lose a turn in moving to africa and back to russia. Most of germanys 1-2 turn buys would go to infantry, maybe 1 armor or 1-2 artillery to balance the force. So that on turn 3 you could start pushing to soviet soil really hard. In the end the game was decided usually decided in 2 hard battles. Russia would stack belorussia and see how the germans would push to russia, I usually pushed first to eastern poland with some force, that it wouldn’t be too easy for the russia to free, my early infantry would have been pushed to positions to move to ukraine and my second force from 1st turn buy and 2nd would move to east poland. The point was to divide the belorussia stack, would they try hitting the stronger east poland team first or the strong ukraine. East Poland team would get reinforcements from buys, so usually the ukraine team would be hit, but that would leave them open for attack from east poland. So the 2-3 big fights would center in that belorussia stack 1st attack to destroy 1 german force and after that the germans would destroy russian team and move more troops to east poland. In the end it came to dice luck, but it was pretty balanced if the dices were rolling averagely for both sides.

After our 7th game way way back, we have played this game now for about 4 years. I noticed in the rules that the oil money could be only gotten Germans and we tried playing without the extra cash. Well we found it really hard for the allies to hold out, if I played with the germans it would be more like 70% 30% odds for axis win. Nowadays we sometimes play with the extra cash for harder game for germans and sometimes without them for little easier for germans.

What do you think about the oil money, if the allies could collect them too?

mantlefan is correct.

A&A:Europe subs cannot take hits from airplanes unless the attacking units have destroyer with them.

So attacking AC & 2 subs is really good option, for taking 18ipc boat down and having 50/50 of not losing a plane.

If you buy IC in India you buy IC in sinkiang as well, there is no middle ground in that, India IC alone is more foolish than sinkiang alone.

And turn 3 would see 7inf 3arm 3figs + 3-4 soviet inf 1fig + US 1 fig

So it would be more like 11inf 3arm 4-5 figs in India and if possible leave a ship in india coast to prevent support fire. Some lucky AA rolls could decide that battle for UK win, but most likely only very lucky rolls on dices could keep it from falling. But that amount what you are throwing to India is really hard to stop, maybe strafing with the UK french indo-china. UK turn 2 would be taking FIC for itself, because all japan troops are in China.

I have been messing with the idea of attacking FIC on UK1 3inf 1fig, that would put some pressure on J1 more if you can succeed in it.

I know that sinkiang alone won’t hold the japans, but losing that factory really isn’t that problematic. The point is can you make it so it really slows down Japan. Atleast it ties Japan for some turns more, than freely moving through. It slows down Japan for very important turns, and sinkiang factory would have from turn 3 Antiaircraft-Gun from India  :wink:

My point is that I am finding ways to slow down Japan, but not quit Germany for free reins. US would buy 2trans and troops to go against Germany. There is that really good balance that you can find with allies that will make it really hard for axis to do as they please, but it really does require very precise moving from Russia, UK and US. But if it’s done very well you can move the game towards allied victory.