@AndrewAAGamer Good to know. I’ve watched a lot of General Hand Grenade videos, and he seemed to picket a lot. I’ve played allies in my group (only 3-4 of us) the last 3 games, and Russia has been steamrolled 2/3. My “blocking” probably had a lot to do with that I’d imagine.
What makes Bryansk a better hold point? I’m new to the game this summer, and I absolutely love it. I find these kinds of guides so helpful! Thanks

@AndrewAAGamer This is hilarious given the current bids I have been playing due to lack of knowledge. On a 34 bid, I’ve done 2 artillery and 2 fighters for the Russians, and a sub for Britain in the med to help with Taranto. Taranto has become a sure thing basically unless Germany hard threatens sealion, but Russia still can’t seem to hold more than 9 turns except in one fluke game where my opponent left 13 infantry and an artillery alone for me to pick off with my main stack.

I’m on the newer side of Global 40 2nd edition. We have played three games so far. The first one was an outlier where no one knew anything and Germany steamrolled. Since adding a bid (34 points- Russia 2 fighters, 2 artillery, Britain sub for Taranto), in games 2-3 I’ve been the allies. I can’t seem to stop Japan. They’re averaging a turn 7-8 sack of Calcutta, but afterwards their navy swells to an absurd size and the US and Anzac fleets combined can’t hold them back leading to a Pacific Victory. My current strategies have managed to stop Germany’s advance into Russia the last two times (gets Leningrad but not Ukraine)but I really think this has been down to the two axis players being significantly out of sync on their DOWs. I’m not sure if I’m over committing on the Atlantic side with the USA, or playing poorly with China/India/Anzac. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for all the advice folks. In our current game, we just finished turn 8. I’ve lost all ground forces in Europe as the US due to a tragically poor roll in Italy. Calculator had my odds at 89% victory. I have a large stack of Russians (72 infantry, 20ish tanks +11 artillery) about to massacre about 40 German infantry in Leningrad. I turtled as Russia and it worked wonders and am now pushing back out. As to Japan, Calcutta fell turn 6 this game, China is dead as of turn 7. With my combined Anzac and US fleets cycling between Queensland and Hawaii, I have +1 net carrier on japan (he has 10, I have 9). He made the mistake of invading Africa without sufficient naval power and a British battleship and a bit of my med fleet seem to have controlled the bleeding down there, but may lose Middle East. I feel like Russia doesn’t have the men to take Germany down, as japan is nibbling them from behind, and they will surely take heavy losses in their upcoming engagement. Though Uk has Normandy and a large force in Greece, German production in Romania and Western Germany has them stonewalled. I fear that japan will move his forces to Carolina islands next and then force me to either hit him or choose between defending Anzac or Hawaii. Thanks for the tips; I’ll try to put them into practice next time I’m Allies, which will be 2 games for us!

TLDR; Europe stalemate/slight advantage, Pacific looks bad.

@WindowWasher I can only speak to OOB, not BM3. I think this depends on Britain’s prep level, and how well the bombing raid goes. For example, when I see any kind of naval/transport build from Germany, I instantly drop either 6 inf and a fighter, or 9 inf in Britain. This is a strong start to building a sufficient sea-lion defense, especially if you then neglect to perform a Taranto raid due to the risk of German invasion (saving an additional 3 fighters for defense). In this scenario, it is clear by T2 that you are going sealion, and the US will likely focus pacific in order to try and liberate London in the event that it falls, and if Germany ends up with few troops remaining, it is more than possible that they made a massive investment and weren’t able to hold it, and now they have the Russians breathing down their neck. With Britain at roughly 29-30 a turn, even if you max bomb their factory, they will have enough to add a few more infantry to the stack, and there is the potential for the armored unit and infantry from canada to get in via 109 if your sub attack fails. I personally think that the Germans going for sealion is one of the best things that can happen for the allies, since their income is low in the long run, the Russians end up with some more expensive attack units, and Germany is forced to go on the defensive quite quickly.
However, I personally have had serious issues stopping a J1. In my current game on actual board, I have saved Russia, and am slowly encroaching on Germany with Russians, British and limited Americans due a tragic failed Italy invasion (89% odds lost). However, because I over focused on Europe, Japan has grown out of control making nearly 90 a turn, and now has like 12 carriers. I have managed to match their forces with a combined US Ancaz fleet, but now that they are in the Carolina Islands, I cannot defend both Hawaii and Syndey from an amphibious assault, and will be forced into a battle that will likely be a loss.

@trulpen As things currently stand, if he leaves the air on Gibraltar (not sure if he would given he likely needs them in the east), you’re going to need a rather large navy to protect your transports and contest Gibraltar. Things are looking dark in the med. That need may be even larger if Italy neglects a Cairo attack, fortifies Gibraltar, and begins to build a strong navy. When I play allies, I try to figure out what my sort of meta-strategy is, given that the British, US and Anzac all seem to work in concert, albeit in different theaters of war. Obviously you have to play the field that you can see, but I still think it is important to have long term goals in play then adjust them as needed. I think your US buys are alright. I can’t think of anything better to do at the moment unless you want to bomber spam to cause Germany deployment problems, but ultimately that would leave getting boots on the ground to UK, which is totally possible. A few ideas I have off the cuff, I will admit I haven’t calculated odds or long term ramifications, just some spit-balling, feel free to shoot me down hard, like I said I am somewhat new! :)

1. Buff UK navy (a carrier and maybe another BB), occupy outside of Gibraltar, and in a few turns try a Spanish beachhead for USA
2. Minor facility in Cairo: As I mentioned earlier, I personally disagreed with your UK1, but to each their own. It seems to me that Italy could use a swift kick in the pants, and moving some of that navy back into the med could help that. Conversely, you could move them towards calcutta
3. Bomber spam US sending them towards UK to bomb Germany and italy back to the stone age in concert with building a large UK fleet (enough to fend off Luftwaffe and at least 4 troop transports. invade normandy, then shuck 8 infantry into the territory every turn, hopefully giving you enough to eventually liberate France and hold it if things go super well.
4. US super spams Japan, building everything pacific in concert with Anzac navy buff, try to KJF strat. Personally not wild about this, but given you already seem to have forced them into naval buys, if you keep it up, calcutta will stay up longer and give you a chance to do some real damage on the mainland between Britain and China.

Like I said, totally off the cuff ideas, like them, hate them, ignore them, whatever floats your boat! Happy hunting my friend.

Hello all!
I am a new player. I got the 1941 version a few months ago, loved it, and just bought 1940 global 2nd edition parts. We are playing our first game during this lockdown, and wondering about carriers. I am playing all of the allies, and in the process nearly every country that normally has a navy have built the navy to massive lvls. There are easily 20+ japanese battleships and a similar number between US and ANZAC combined as well. However, because in 1940, carriers have no attack value, we assumed this meant they could not join in an attack on the enemy fleet. Because each of us has 6-7 fully stocked carriers, this basically means whoever attacks first will lose as they other player will have 12-14 extra hits to take to defeat them. So firstly, could someone help me out with the carrier rules, and secondly, is this a normal issue to have with the massive fleets, or have we made noob mistakes?

Thanks!

This was… interesting to say the least!

@AndrewAAGamer I figured out that carriers were better on defense pretty quickly, but because I did not think they could come into attacking battles, I figured if I wanted any punch then I needed to do battleships to attack! Thanks for the info, really appreciate it. This changes a lot in our current game. We also did not realize that subs could not block, and had been using them to picket each other’s fleets the entire game lol. Rookie mistakes I guess! Thanks

This game is heating up. Allies seem to be doing alright, even with the slow start in the med!

If an allied transport attempts to land in Denmark via sea zone 112, and I have three planes in Western Germany (with airbase), can these be scrambled to defend the sea zone against this assault?

This isn’t exact rule language but my understanding.
If Japan moves within 2 sea zones of the continental US it is a declaration of war. The rule does not hold for Germany though.

Hope that helps!

@Private-Mike Np. If you ever want to play test anything on triple A, shoot me a message!

@Private-Mike Depends on the odds, how many units your opponent is bringing, and a few other factors, but generally I say no. In that situation, I would consider a Taranto raid using only the units in the med plus the bomber, hopefully your units in sz 106/109 survive, and you can get the 4 units from Canada back to Britain on the second turn. Build a ton of infantry and a few planes. If the British prepare properly, Sealion likely fails. And even if it wins, the US comes and frees the UK in a few turns anyway if they build up properly, as they enter the war upon the fall of London. Germany may have helped Italy in the med and middle east, but now they have a full strength Russian Bear in the east with the US and revitalized UK back in the game in the west. Things look alright for the allies if they can be smart against Japan.

@WindowWasher appreciate the info. Thanks!

@WindowWasher So then am I banking on Japan to win the game? Or with enough consistent push do I eventually break through? I assume I have to use Italy then to hold the continent given that they have basically very little ability to do anything else except can openers in a post Taranto game.

Typically, something along the lines of a Bryansk/Tambov/Moscow area huge infantry stack that I am unable to beat without massive loss in a head to head. I don’t usually get to Moscow, get diverted and sent down into Caucasus and Mid East area. I find that by the time I am nearing the area, the US/UK fleet is landing on my doorstep, and I need the airforce back home to pick off stragglers and such. To be completely fair, I am rather new, and I have played allies 5-6 times and Axis only 2-3 (all live games). I do a lot better as the allies haha.

@aagamerz13 anywhere I can see this happen? I constantly get stopped by huge Russian stacks.

What exactly are you defending though? I don’t think he is going to take the entire stack of fast movers German troops into Chinese territory. Maybe he would blitz through to Turkmenistan to threaten Calcutta/ME from the other side, but at that point you could stack Persia and leave a blocker in Eastern Persia and it wouldn’t be an issue. If it is only to save 2 Chinese territories for another turn, I dont think it is worth it because the Japanese infantry and artillery in the north are also picking off territories one by one. Sure, it might get China 2-3 more points for 1 more turn, but that’s roughly a wash then isn’t it? I’m new, so I am not by any means trying to be confrontational, and if I am missing something totally point it out! Thanks :)

I also kind of think the infantry and Kazakhstan is wasteful.