Alpha 3

Just lost a game where I was playing as the Allies. Going to try and post this while it’s fresh in my head. Just going to highlight the major stuff. I will fill in the details, the best I can if more information is needed.

First the TL:DR. German took France on G1 and attacked Russia on G2, breaking there line and pretty much owned Europe after G4. I did my best to create pressure on Germany in the west, but they took way too many IPCs, way to fast. How can I stop an aggressive G2 attack on Russia or at least slow them down enough to allow the other allies time to, do their thing.

Here are some details.

G1: Germany attacks Norway and France takes both. Destroys a good portion of the U.K.'s navy.
R1: Purchase mostly infantry and artillery, some tanks. Move units to Western border and start building my lines.
U.K. 1: Purchase destroyer/subs and infantry/artillery for Africa

U.S. starts preparing navy/transports and such, Italy at tacks fleets in the Mediterranean, France doesn’t do much.

Here’s where I started having problems. On G2 Germany plays extremely aggressively and attacks Russia and punches through the front lines. Russia was able to hold out for about 2 turns before I lost Leningrad. I then focused my remaining efforts on holding Moscow, which I was able to do for about 4 or 5 turns and the only reason I was able to hold out that long was because German took their sweet time gaining territory.

Initially I focus a lot on air power when building up the U.S. Pacific Fleet. I purchase a few Aircraft Carriers and stock them and station the remaining aircraft at the various air fields. I keep my naval units close so I can scramble air units if need be. Once I feel comfortable I start purchasing naval units. When war if finally declared Japan can out muscle you, but with enough air power you can bite back pretty hard. Once at war the U.S. is now outproducing Japan so it won’t take long to recoup your losses.

I separate my fleet into 2 or 3 sub-fleets. That way, if Japan get’s brave and musters everything, they’ll have to spread out their attacks over a few turns. Of coarse, the entire time I’m ramping up my navy so an all out attack on my Navy will be very costly for them and the U.S. will be able to rebuild more quickly. Also, the more attention they are focusing on you the less they can focus on Chine. Which in my book is they key. The U.K. and China can force Japan out of the mainland, only if Japan has to pour resources into their Navy.

I have a question that goes along with this. If the U.S. declares war on Germany on the collect income phase of it’s 3rd turn, does it collect the  30 IPC National Objective Bonus immediately, to be used at the purchase unit phase of the 4th turn??

I never considered having a new player play as the minor factions, partly because we’ve never had enough players, but I added them to the survey. For someone just starting out I could see how a smaller faction would be a lot more fun if only because they are less stressful to play.

This is great, thanks. I don’t know how many times I’ve attacked with a high number of planes and then just “bulk parked” them because I’m too lazy to remember/figure out what they have left in range or even worse a player inadvertently cheats, because range was forgot in the chaos.

My friend and I have a few people that might be interested in playing A&A with us. They are pretty big nerds, but haven’t played anything as complex as A&A. What is the best faction to let them play? First and foremost, we want them to have fun, even if they lose. Ease of play should probably be considered, if there is an easiest faction. Obviously teammate pairing can’t be considered, since this is a survey. Just consider the basics to each faction and vote based on that. Of coarse any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I really like what Gargantua said, “The only thing you can’t beat, is dice.  But you can fight em! Or fight with em!”

When I play I always keep in mind probabilities. Here’s an example. I once got caught in a naval arms race with the U.S., while playing as Japan. My opponent was buying nothing, but battleships, but rather then try and match him Battleship for Battleship, I chose to invest in cheaper units, that would allow me to roll more die than him.

If you pit 2 Battleships vs. 2 Battleships there is a 33% chance he will win, a 33% chance I will and 33% chance we destroy each other(on average). However, if I take my 40 IPCs and spend them on 1 Battleship, 2 Submarines and a 1 Destroyer, suddenly his odds of winning are reduced to 30%, mine increase to 60% with a 10% of mutual destruction. I’ve given my 40 IPCs more bang.

Just some food for thought.

For those of you with an Android phone I would recommend the Axis and Allies simulator. You plug in what type of game you are playing, any special conditions that exist, what unit types, what type of battle, etc. and it runs the battle 1000 times and let’s you know the outcome. We actually ban it from games, but helps when considering a tactic or in post-play. Obviously there are other factors to consider other than the odds, but it can’t hurt.

Here are the results of a few sims I have run for the amphibious assault of 1 defending infantry vs. the various transport arrangements.

Attacker : Defender | Attacker Win Avg. | Defender Win Avg. |Total Destruction |Attacker avg. IPC Loss | Defender avg. IPC Loss
Inf. 2        Inf. 1      67.5%                  27.1%                    5.4%                3                                2

Inf. 1
Art. 1        Inf 1        86.7%                  9.3%                    4.0%                  2                              3

Inf. 1
Tnk. 1      Inf. 1      90.1%                  4.9%                      5.0%                2                              3

As always I think the best bang for your buck is Inf and Arty. Again, there are other factors to consider, such as your overall objective.

I like the idea of letting your buddy play as the Axis. Honestly, playing from a different perspective might shine some light on your proposed strategies.