Managing Axis Allies: Thoughts

[Q-Ball]

This is my opinion, wonder what others think:

Looking at AARs, I personally think most Axis players misuse their Allies. The most important thing they miss is replacements. You have to plan for the long-haul.

Everyone seems to be OVERUSING the Finns. They keep them over the no-move line in 1942, which is a disaster for Finnish morale. Finns can't go static, so they also attrite over time. Finland gets almost no replacements, so doing this burns the Finnish army out forever. Those 10-CV Infantry units are gone permanently if you do this. I think it's smarter to use them sparingly until 1944, when you will likely REALLY need them. (exception might be first Blizzard). At that point, they can easily take-over large sections of front from German units north of No-Move line. In the meantime, you can still use Finnish HQs to relieve command burden, and command German units.

Everyone underuses the other Allies, particularly Slovaks and Italians. The Slovaks are decent, but get plenty of replacements; that SEC div should be at the front taking attrition losses in lieu of a German one, IMO. The TOE of that unit is an Infantry unit, even though it's called "Security". Most players seem to use that unit for Security, but it's wasted there; use a Romanian unit that needs a break instead. Because the Slovaks get plenty of replacements and armaments, losses to that unit are basically "free".

The Italians really stink, but the one thing they have is plenty of replacements and armaments. Italian losses are basically free, so anything they do to the Soviets is a bonus. Plus, losing an Italian unit in 1942 or '43 isn't a big deal, because it's leaving anyway. The Italians are the ultimate "throwaway" units.

The Hungarians are the best balance, because they are decent if given rest, and by 1942 you will have a good replacement pool of Hungarians, plus a surplus in armaments.

The Romanians are brittle, but they are OK if you give them rest. This means rotating them, which there is plenty of opportunity to do, as you need garrisons anyway. They do struggle to accumulate armaments.

Everyone uses the Axis Allies primarily as diggers and security only, but if you are going to make it to 1945, they have to also be at the front taking attrition losses in lieu of Germans. Ideally, German units should be digging, not because they stink, but because you don't suffer losses digging. Obviously, players should pick quiet sectors or easy to defend hexes to put Romanians/Italians at the front, and probably need to stack them.

That's my two cents, but I think you have to manage all this to keep the Wehrmacht in reasonable shape in late-game.

[Ketza]

In my game against 76mm I think I am doing ok with my allies. A few things I would do different:

1) The Finns. You are correct that in many early games the Finns were misused mainly due to the old Blizzard rules. My Finnish army is recovering since I pulled it back across the "morale line" in mid 1943 but in future games I doubt I will let their morale drop as much as it did. I think there is a window of time to use them that is fairly short then you have to scoot them back over the line.

2) Italians - They mainly were used as diggers except for the Alpine corps and the motorized division. You are correct that they should be used for more combats to cause casualties. The problem is they could give the Soviets a bunch of cheap victories if used incorrectly. In the future I will strike a better balance.

[delatbabel]

The one game I have played recently that I won handily as the Soviets was due to the Axis player over-extending the Finns.  Eventually I surrounded and destroyed the entire Finnish army with about 400 brigades and some cavalry (I exaggerate, but barely).  Once they are surrounded or gone there is nothing to stop the Soviets looping over the top of Lake Ladoga and taking out Helsinki the long way around.  I even liberated Leningrad from the north.