Axis Oil strategies

[ThunderLizard11]

I'm confused on managing oil. It's '43 and I have 80 oil supply. Many units show the low oil symbol. How do I get more oil? Did I build too much armor and planes for Germany to supply? I see synthetic oil plants mentioned in manual but how do you build them?

[battlevonwar]

Each unit that is oil based uses oil up. From planes to ships everything aside things like Infantry. You have a cap what you can support. Every time you move that unit or attack with it you use more oil. There is a diagram in the manual that shows how much each item uses oil. Use a lot less... also in the game in the unit information box each time you click it tells you how much oil you have and how much whatever you did used... good luck and Synethics are automatically built by the game you have no control over it.

[ThunderLizard11]

ORIGINAL: battlevonwar

Each unit that is oil based uses oil up. From planes to ships everything aside things like Infantry. You have a cap what you can support. Every time you move that unit or attack with it you use more oil. There is a diagram in the manual that shows how much each item uses oil. Use a lot less... also in the game in the unit information box each time you click it tells you how much oil you have and how much whatever you did used... good luck and Synethics are automatically built by the game you have no control over it.

OK - I get that but my question is as Axis what is the best way to deal with this?

[AlvaroSousa]

Be careful how you use oil.

Rail air when possible
Be selective on when and why you move your fleet out
Be selective about the balance of forces you build
Realize when to use air power and when not to.

[Almeron]

Use less oil based units. Try not to use navy, for no reason. Battleships eat a lot, so mostly keep them in port.
Focus on Mediterranean, and Asia theatre capturing Iraq and Iran. And always keep your eyes on fuel gauge. Stockpile, stockpile, and stockpile.
Oil is the biggest limitation, so use it wisely.

[ThunderLizard11]

Good ideas - I built too many armor and motorized rather than infantry

[FrankGallagher]

I seem to remember that units that end their turn on rail resupply better, and use less oil. Yes?

[ago1000]

Any Unit off rail uses 1/3 oil. This represents trucks delivering supply to them.

[pzgndr]

ORIGINAL: Alvaro Sousa
Rail air when possible

I question this. It might have happened(?), but I doubt if any air squadrons rebased via rail moves. The risk of damage to aircraft is pretty high, so realistically they would have flown. The ground support elements maybe, but this is getting into the weeds.

It might be worthwhile to scrutinize the historical record (if available) to review unit redeployments by rail, at the division and corps level. I suspect that some rail capacities may be too high; e.g., too rapid redeployments from Poland to west in 1939 and from France to east in 1940, etc. Over the course of 2-week turns, rail moves should be more limited than they are. Just a thought.

[AlvaroSousa]

Well it is an abstract representation of moving the pilots and air HQ.

Physical planes are a dime a dozen. The real power in an airforce are the pilots.

The Germans had mountains of planes in 1944. They didn't have pilots. The material cost for a plane is almost irrelevant.

Consider they build 40,000 planes in 1944 and only had 5,000 planes at it's peak power. During the war they produced a total of 189,000 a/c and lost 116,000. They had plenty to spare. Even if we take the spare 73,000 a/c and divide them into 6 years = ~10,000 a/c a year. Assuming we dump any air craft that are older than 2 years and say 50% are training aircraft or recon we are still left with 10,000 a/c. Their airforce peaked at 5,000.

So planes aren't the issue. Pilots are. You put a good pilot in a shit plane vs a bad pilot in a 1944 spitfire the former will kill the latter.

[KarlXII]

I run into the same problem in my first game as Axis. Out of Oil for all my panzer corps and planes. Not to speak of my italian ally which was at stand still with all panzers in the desert. My solution was to occupy the oil fields in southeastern Soviet union. I also did not use the Navy for Germany or Italien for the whole game. I like the Oil limit imposed.

[AlvaroSousa]

There are lots of strategies involved. I am in 4 games right now. One of my opponents is doing something odd that is different than expected. I love it because it makes me think. He isn't using as much oil as the Axis as he should be.

[ago1000]

Axis Oil Strategies
The biggest mistake I made early on when playing the game as Axis is I would use the strategy attack, attack, attack. I must take the whole map, and make it gray. This game requires some strategic thinking and planning especially against another person.

These are my two oil saving strategies:

#1) units that are not in an operation, are on rail or a port. Especially, naval, armor and mech. (0 oil is used per unit) Note pic near Russia: I am starting to prepare for Barbarossa for the following year, so to save oil I place my troops on rail until I'm ready to start the operation. I like to get my oil to 90% if possible. In this game I will not because I'm performing sealion. (ie. bad roll of a die)

#2) Air units are always on RAIL and are within operational distance of the theater being attacked. In the pic below, operation sealion is underway so all air is on Rail in France. I do not use rail to move them around though.

My Building Ratio that I'm still refining, 1/3 Armor & Mech, 2/3 INF.

Sorry if the pic is unclear but the size of photos is limited on this forum. Anyone know what the limit is? 250K ????

[AlvaroSousa]

You are starting to understand game play.

[Vonrich]

So planes aren't the issue. Pilots are. You put a good pilot in a **** plane vs a bad pilot in a 1944 spitfire the former will kill the latter.

Very true. Have you read Stuka Pilot?

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/trotzdem_ ... iq=3921944