Allied Strategy

[Harrybanana]

ALLIED STRATEGY GUIDE

INTRODUCTION

I don’t make any claim to being the best allied player, but I’ve played enough games as the Allies against some pretty good Axis players that I think I can pass on some good pointers on Allied play. Unfortunately, I can’t give advice on playing the Allies without also mentioning some of the things you’ll have to be on guard against from the Axis player. This means that even if you prefer the Axis to the Allies you’ll probably learn something by reading this Guide.

Although most of my games were played with version 1.040 I’ve updated most of my comments to apply to version 1.070.

The good news is that with the current victory conditions it is generally easier to win as the Allies than as the Axis. So long as you can prevent the Axis AV and survive until W43, you’ll probably win a Decisive Victory and are virtually guaranteed at least a Marginal Victory. The bad news is that, in my opinion, the Axis stand a much better chance of winning an AV than they did historically. The end result is that most games will end with either an Allied or Axis Decisive Victory, with very few Marginal Victories or Draws.


STRATEGY

A. GENERAL STRATEGY

Generally my overall strategy as the Allies is to not have a strategy. This does not mean I don’t carefully plan what I’m going to do each turn, but it does mean that I’m not going to commit to any particular Strategy until I know for absolute sure what the Axis Strategy is. In other words, the Allied Strategy has to be determined to a large extent by the Axis Strategy. To win the game the Axis Strategy will be to either conquer England or Moscow or Leningrad and Stalingrad. You can be guaranteed that the good Axis Players will know exactly which strategy they are going to pursue before the game even starts. In order to win as the Allies you have to be prepared to defeat the Axis no matter which strategy he chooses to employ. Building lots of high tech WA Bombers from the beginning of the game might be an excellent strategy if the Axis attack Russia, but they will be next to useless if the Axis strike at England.

B. THE EARLY GAME (SPRING 40 TO INVASION OF ENGLAND OR RUSSIA)

Your 1st priority from the beginning of the game has to be to protect England while at the same time preparing Russia for Barbarossa. At least for the first few turns do not assume or guess what the Axis strategy will be, prepare for both. Your 2nd priority is to try and figure out what the Axis strategy is. Is he going to attack Russia or England? Hopefully you can have this figured out by about the W41 turn, but again don’t guess. Your 3rd priority is to disrupt the Axis Strategy as best you can while preserving your own forces as much as possible.

Protecting England from invasion for the 1st 4 turns of the game from Sp40 to W41 should not be difficult as the Axis fighters will not have the range to escort his bombers until the W41 turn and they can’t invade on the W41 turn. However, don’t get complacent. He won’t need to escort his bombers with fighters if you don’t have any fighters or AA in England and don’t forget his paratroopers can attack in Winter. Pay careful attention to how many transports the Axis has and the placement of his aircraft. If it looks like the Axis is going to make an all out effort to invade the UK don’t hesitate to move virtually every single land unit you have back to England and Scotland. This will take you a couple turns so you will have to plan this in advance. Once the Axis has his fighters to range 2 and if he outnumbers your fighters, then base your fighters and bombers in England but have them fly CAP over the Irish Sea. This way they protect your shipping without being exposed to attack.

Since you can only move Russia Supply there is not too much you can do to prepare Russia for attack except to build and research properly; see my build suggestions later in this guide. However, if you become certain that England is the German target you can help England out a little by building Russian supply (10 a turn should be enough) and funneling it to the WA via China. Even if you can’t help out England this way at least have your Russians provide supply to China rather than the WA. Of course you do not want to do this unless/until you are certain that England is the target.

Trying to figure out the Axis Strategy can be difficult if you are playing a skilled opponent. The earlier you know what the Axis plan is (ie England or Russia) the sooner you can develop your own plan to counter it. But beware of guessing, the skilled Axis opponent will try and mislead you. Signs that the Axis will probably attack England include:

1. Building lots of aircraft and improving his bomber tech (especially if he improves his bomber torpedo tech).

2. If the Japanese capture an inland Chinese Province. It is very seldom that the Axis will attack the Russians with the Germans only; but if the Japanese capture an inland Chinese province they can not attack Russia without triggering the US. Therefore if the Japanese do this it is unlikely (but not impossible) that the Axis is intending to invade Russia.

3. If the Germans/Italians build lots of transports.

4. If the Germans invade Spain.

5. If the Germans do not improve their tank tech.

Signs that the Germans will probably invade Russia include:

1. Building/improving tech of German ground units.

2. Not improving the German sub tech.

3. Building up German and Japanese land forces on Russian borders.

But again, be aware that a good Axis player will try and keep you guessing. I’ve seen the Germans invade England without taking Spain. In another game the Germans massed their forces on the Russian border, but then attacked England the next turn. The point is you must keep the UK protected until you are certain that Russia is the target. I understand that a proposed rule change will be to make Scotland rough terrain. This is a welcome and logical change and should help the Allies a little bit.

Protecting the UK does not mean that you have to play passively. You should be trying to disrupt the Axis plans from the beginning of the game. There are several ways you can do this as follows:

1. Italian Fleet: On the 1st turn, if possible, move a large (and I mean large) fleet into the West Med in preparation of attacking the Italian Fleet in the Central Med on turn 2. You might even want to move some bombers into range of the Central Med. Resist the urge to attack on the 1st turn as your fleets will be at a big interdiction disadvantage. Since your fleet is in the West Med anyway, use the opportunity to invade Sardinia. Of course, if the Axis have reinforced Sardinia this move may not be feasible. Even if the Germans take Spain on turn 2 attack the Italian Fleet anyway, just be sure to have enough supply to move some of your ships back before the Axis take Gibraltar. If you are successful in occupying the Central Med immediately move out your Malta units.

2. Gibraltar: If the Germans invade Spain you have to make the decision of whether to defend or evacuate Gibraltar. I generally evacuate unless I am certain that the Axis intend to invade Russia, which it is difficult to be certain of by the Su40 turn (which is when Spain is usually invaded). However, if the Germans do not have a large force in Spain I may reinforce Gibraltar with a couple artillery, militia, infantry and ftrs or AA. Keep in mind though that keeping Gibraltar supplied is probably going to cost you some transports lost to German aircraft. Also be aware that if the Axis move 3/3 subs into the Sea Area West of Gibraltar before you have improved your anti-sub ability he can effectively trap you there. Units destroyed in Gibraltar will not be available to defend the UK. Once you do evacuate Gibraltar move a fleet containing 1 or 2 Aircraft carriers to the seazone SW of Gibraltar. Stationed here they will prevent the Italian fleet from raiding your transport link around Africa.

3. Suez/Egypt: The same goes here as for Gibraltar, you can not hold Egypt if the Axis really want it. But you can delay them for quite a while with less risk of being trapped. Delay them as long as possible while keeping an eye to make sure that England is adequately defended. Do not let your transport link to England be cut while there is any possibility of England being invaded. If you can’t keep the link open and England is threatened then retreat everything you can to the UK. When you do retreat out of Egypt, and if you have available units and think the defence of England does not require them, then put artillery, militia/infantry and ftrs/AA into the 2 land areas south of Egypt along the Red Sea (Sudan and East Africa?) to prevent the Axis from getting into Africa or the Indian Ocean.

4. Elsewhere?: Every turn examine the map carefully and ask yourself “are there any weaknesses I can exploit.” Use transports or subs to reveal hidden unit as they don’t use up any supply to move (but be sure to save enough Mps for your trannies to move back). Did the Germans forget to leave AA or ftrs in W. Germany? Then bomb it. Insufficient units in North Italy? Invade it and retreat. The point being you have to be ready to exploit any opening. If the Axis strategy is to attack England there usually won’t be any openings, but if he is withdrawing units to the Russian front then it will be difficult for him to defend everywhere. Make him pay if he is not careful. The more units you can force him to keep on the Western Front the less he will have to attack Russia.


C: THE MIDGAME (INVASION OF RUSSIA OR UK TO W43)

If the Axis strategy is to invade the UK your best strategy is to not let them in to either Scotland or England. If you can put enough forces into the UK to stop any invasion then the war is won. Unfortunately, this is very difficult to do against an experienced opponent. In addition to the starting German land forces, by the Sp41 turn you will probably be facing 10+ fighters and 12 to 17 bombers (the latest Axis strategy I’ve seen calls for 14 TAC and 3 Hvy bombers). If you follow my build strategy you will probably be facing this force with approx. 10 AA, 5 Infantry, 3 artillery, and 10 militia. The actual numbers will of course vary depending upon losses, how many units you transferred from the Mideast, etc. The problem, of course, is that you have to split this strength between Scotland and England. Defend both, but remember that England is far more important and that the Italian trannies can reach England but probably not Scotland. Try to keep your fleet out of range of the German airforce so that you can counterattack the invasion fleet; but if things get desperate move your fleet (except the carriers) to the North Sea to try and prevent the invasion. This is particularly useful if done on your Summer 41 turn as it means that unless the Germans invade on their F41 turn (which hopefully your fleet will prevent) they will not be able to invade until the S42 turn. Again, this is a desperation move only as the loss of your fleet will severely hamper your own offensive later in the game if you survive. On the other hand, each damaged fleet you suffer adds 1 pop to your pop pool allowing you to build more of those desperately needed AA and Infantry.

If the Germans successfully invade Scotland then put everything you’ve got anywhere into England even if it means stripping India and Africa bare. If you still have your fleet use it to attack his invasion fleet if you stand a reasonable chance of doing some damage. If England gets cutoff from supply then you can always scrap any fleets you have building to get the resources to build the units you need. Hopefully, by the time he is ready to attack England you will have your infantry teched up and his bombers will have suffered some losses from your AA. All you can do now is hang on as best you can. I’ve lost Scotland in a few games but managed to hold on to England to win the game so don’t give up the fight. Oh yeah, if he invades and captures England instead of Scotland then start learning to speak German.

If the Axis strategy is to invade Russia then he will probably attack you with both Germany and Japan at the same time. You are now in for a very rough time but, in my opinion, defending Russia is actually easier than defending the UK. If you’ve followed my build guide you should have lots of artillery and AA by the time of invasion. The exception is if the Germans launch a F40 attack with lots of infantry. But regardless you have to form what forces you have into 4 big stacks. The first goes into Leningrad (assuming it hasn’t been captured in the 1st German turn). The 2nd goes into Rostov (to protect those southern resources). The 3rd is placed in Moscow and the 4th is placed in Central Siberia to stop (or at least slow) the Japanese. If you are playing with the rule that the Allies can bomb the Japanese to activate the US, I wouldn’t even bother garrisoning Central Siberia; let the Japanese take it then bomb them with WA bomber. Note that 1 of the upcoming rule changes will be to remove this rule anyway, so you will have to defend against the Japanese. Of course if the Japanese do not attack at all then evacuate the Far East completely and bring all those units west to defend against the Germans.

Exactly how strong to make each of these forces is, naturally, dependent on the size and location of the Axis forces. Only the experience of playing several games will tell you what size force you will need to have in each area. It is unlikely you will be able to stop the Axis in their tracks, but your goal is to slow the Germans down and make them choose whether to attack you in the North or the South. If the Axis have overwhelming force in a particular area then retreat; but try and stay to fight it out where possible. Keep in mind that if the Axis damage 1 of your artillery and you damage 1 of their infantry (for example) in the Axis Summer turn you will be able to rebuild your artillery in your Summer turn and have it in position by your Fall turn (or even your Summer turn if lucky). The German will be able to rebuild his infantry in his Summer turn, but can not move it by rail until his Fall turn and even then can only move it next to you to use in his Winter turn if he has rebuilt all the rail in between and has available rail capacity.

In addition to the 3 or 4 major forces you will also want to have smaller forces guarding your factory areas that the Axis can only reach with his tanks (ie that are 2 land areas away). At least initially these are usually areas like Stalingrad and Gorki. I suggest putting 2 militia, 1 artillery and 1 AA in each of these areas. In order to be sure of capturing these areas the Axis will have to commit 3 tanks; these are 3 tanks that have to consume double supply to attack you, can’t be used elsewhere, and with a little luck you might even damage 1 of them. Don’t hesitate to counterattack these smaller semi-isolated groups if you get the chance to isolate and destroy them. If you can, for example, isolate a force of 2 tanks so they have nowhere to retreat you can then attack them with 6 militia (in a nonrough area) and be guaranteed of retreating/destroying the tanks.

You will also want to put at least 1 AA (and perhaps 1 militia) into every resource or factory area that the Axis (don’t forget the Japanese) can reach with their bombers.

Retreat your factories if necessary, but only if you have sufficient resources to supply them. Otherwise they will use up your rail capacity to move and supply to repair for no benefit.

In your Fall turn of the 1st year of war you should move even larger forces than usual as close to the Germans as you can. The First Winter Rule will probably prevent the German from attacking at all (except with his bombers) and you want to set yourself up to attack him on your Winter turn. You should also consider attacking Finland on the first Fall turn of war. You can use most of your force in Leningrad as the fort there coupled with the First Winter Rule will make a German attack there difficult. You will get surprise on Finland so you shouldn’t need too large a force. Occupying Finland has several advantages: It deprives Germany of 2 resources (1 from Finland and 1 of the 3 trade resources from Sweden), it gives the Russians 1 of the trade resources from Sweden and, if Russia is short of resources, allows the Russians to rebuild the Finnish resource, finally, it allows the WA to put supply into Finland rather than Archangel thus reducing the number of transports needed.

Many German players will retreat their units out of range during the German First Winter turn. If they do, move 1 militia unit into each vacated area that has repaired facilities (rail, resource or factory) to destroy them. Forcing the Germans to retreat is good because it means he will have to waste his Spring turn just moving back adjacent to you. If the German does not retreat, so much the better, attack him everywhere you can inflict equal or better damage. Exchanging units with the Germans during the Russian turn is even better than during the German turn as you will get to rebuild your damaged units immediately. Of course, use some common sense; you don’t want to leave yourself overexposed for the German Spring turn.

If the situation gets desperate you may have to retreat out of Moscow and/or Leningrad and Stalingrad. If so retreat back towards the Central and Southern Urals (which hopefully you’ve kept the Japanese from capturing) and hold on at all costs. The Germans will have to garrison a lot of areas and hopefully by this time the WA will be making their presence felt in the West. Even if the Axis capture Moscow or Leningrad/Stalingrad it may be very difficult for them to repair enough resources to give them the AV.

One of the most useful Russian units in the early part of the War is its hvy bomber. Hopefully most of the German fighters and AA are in the west so your bomber should have several good targets. It should be used almost every turn for something. Airfield attack German bombers (unless the German player increases their evasion you will stand about a 50% chance of damaging it), attack stacks with artillery, attack rail lines or resources, soften up Axis units for a ground attack (remember each attack on a unit reduces its evasion), carry supply to your cut off units, use it to paradrop your paratrooper behind the Axis line if a tempting target presents itself, bomb his trannies in the Baltic. If nothing else use it to perform reconaissance behind German lines to find out what he is hiding back there. Obviously you want to keep this valuable unit out of the range of Axis ftrs.

While the Russian are facing the brunt of the Axis assault the WA has to be aggressive in the West. If you are certain that Russia is the Axis target then start sending lendlease supply to Russia even before the invasion (but if you are a wrong, oh oh). Once the invasion takes place you must find a way of getting supply to Russia. The Murmansk convoy is the best way if you can keep it protected. If you expect to take losses than only use the Murmansk convoy if you are going to send at least 30 supply to Russia that way. Its not worth losing 2 transports just to ship 10 supply. Try and stockpile as much supply in Iraq as you can prior to the invasion. On the turn of invasion the Russians should attack Northern Persia and on the WA turn this supply can be moved into Northern Persia for Russian use on the next turn. Moving supply through Persia is safer but uses up more transports and takes longer. Attacking Persia is important even if you don’t plan on moving supply that way as otherwise the Persian Resources will flow to Germany via Turkey.

It is vital that the WA find an opening to attack Germany somewhere. Every WA turn you should examine the German defences carefully to find that opening. Each game will present different opportunities depending upon the disposition of German forces and the overall game situation. Try not to go into any particular game locked into any particular strategy. Historically the Allies invaded Europe via Southern Italy and Western France and these are certainly worth considering; but if these are well defended by the Axis then you will have to gain your entry some where else. Often the German player does not adequately defend Denmark. Don’t hesitate to attack here if the opportunity presents itself. This will allow you to threaten W. Germany and attack the German Baltic Fleet. Other times the German will think that a single artillery and an AA or fighter in W. Germany will deter an invasion, show him how wrong he is. If the German invades Spain than Spain or Portugal may be a good point of entry. But these are just examples, the point is you have to take the war to the Germans ASAP. I generally avoid attacking the Vichy in North Africa as by controlling the Mediterranean you can usually prevent the Axis from making use of these resources anyway. I have occasionally invaded Southern France if there are no other openings. Your goal is to try and have significant forces ashore by Mid 42 at the latest. It is unlikely that you can not find some opening by late 41 or early 42 unless the Germans have not sent enough units against Russia, which can be OK too. Where possible capture the German high resource areas like Yugoslavia or Eastern France, even if only temporarily.


D: THE ENDGAME (WINTER 43 TO END OF GAME):

If you survive to the Winter 43 Turn you probably don’t need any further pointers from me to win at least a Marginal Victory. At this point the initiative will switch to you and you will have to decide on your overall strategy, which usually boils down to Germany 1st or Japan 1st. Which ever you choose, ideally you’ll want to commit your forces in such a way that each will fall within a few turns of the other anyway.

If the Axis strategy was to conquer England then you are pretty much forced to go with a Germany 1st strategy as your WA forces (which are needed to conquer Japan) are probably pretty weak and unable to do too much until late 43 or early 44. Threaten and attack with the WA where you can, but let the Russians do most of the fighting against Germany while the WA rebuilds and prepares for Japan. The Russians should be just about unstoppable with a large force of teched up artillery, tanks, infantry and AA. Just be sure to build lots of Russian supply as you’ll need it to move your massive army, repair rail lines, etc. Attack Germany hard and don’t stop. If possible try and conquer Germany without attacking Italy or France. This way when you do conquer Germany all of these areas will revert to the WA undamaged. Of course, sometimes trying to conquer Germany without taking these areas will delay the conquest too long. Only experience will teach you what is the best plan in any given game.

Even before Germany falls you need to start preparing for the War against Japan. Japan has probably conquered China, the Dutch East Indies, and performed a “Pearl Harbour” against the American Fleet. It will be a very tough nut to crack. You will need to pull some Russian units off the German Front to defend Vladivostok as it’s capture by a surprise Japanese attack will hinder your conquest of Japan. The Russians should start building transports in Vladivostok while you also build numerous fighters and bombers (teched up of course). As soon as Germany falls launch an assault into Manchuria and Korea and attack any trannies in the Sea of Japan. Meanwhile the WA should try and get to the Japanese home islands as soon as possible.

If the Axis strategy was to attack Russia with both Germany and Japan then the reverse will be true. Russia will be weak but the WA should be very strong. In this case the Russians should put as much pressure on the Germans as possible, but it will probably be the WA that will do most of the fighting. You have the option of going after Germany 1st or Japan 1st. Against Germany you should already have a significant WA bridgehead so expand it or open another front and press the Germans hard. Remember that both W. Germany and N. Italy are Forts so you’ll probably have to soften up the units there with a massive air attack to reduce the German units evasions.

If the Axis went with a Russian Attack Strategy then Japan is probably also heavily committed in Russia, China is unconquered and perhaps even the DEI were not invaded. In this case move units (particularly artillery and fighters) into the DEI right away even if it means exposing your trannies. You’ll need the resources in the DEI to keep your mighty WA Industry running at full speed and they make a nice jumping off point for the attack on Japan. If the Japanese Player is careless you may be able to get a surprise attack on the Home Islands right away. However, the skilled Japanese Player will place the IJN in or near home waters protected by fighters. In this case my preferred Strategy is to invade and conquer one of the Islands close to Japan and station some fighters (hopefully teched up to range 3) there along with some Hvy bombers. These can then provide cover for the invasion of the home islands. Meanwhile I use my Light fleets and CAG to destroy as many Japanese transports as I can. Without these transports Japanese industry grinds to a halt and the Japanese player can not move his armies back from the Mainland to to Japan. I should provide a caveat here however, that my play as the Allies against the Japanese is perhaps the weakest part of my game.


E. CHINA:

You may by now be wondering what about China? How can it be defended against the Japanese? Well the answer is, it can’t. If the Japanese decide to conquer China they will do so and there is nothing you can do to stop them except maybe (if you’re lucky) bleed them, a little. However, it is important that you keep the vast bulk of your Chinese forces in Changsa no matter how imposing the Japanese forces arrayed against you. Yes this means that if the Japanese attack you in Changsa you will be obliterated. But hey, if he decides to attack you you are going to be obliterated anyway so you might as well get it over with. The advantage of keeping your army in Changsa is that it forces the Japanese Player to keep some of his forces in the surrounding areas so that he can’t use them all to attack the Russians if that is the Axis Strategy. Sure you could move your army to Chungking when threatened and then move back again the next turn, but this is going to cost you a lot of supply that you probably don’t have. If the Japanese do invade Changsa retreat any surviving units towards Singkiang, don’t leave them in Chungking to be wiped out. Hopefully your factory in Sinkiang is still in operation and you will have to rebuild from there if possible.

If Japan doesn’t invade inland China then it is probable that it will be sending most of it’s forces to Russia. If he weakens his forces in China too much, take the opportunity to retake 1 or more of your coastal provinces. But be careful, your primary role is to simply keep a large army in being to threaten the Japanese; if you cause this army to wiped out the Japanese will then be fre to commit all of their forces to Russia.


BUILD STRATEGY

A. THE WESTERN ALLIANCE:

The UK (England and Scotland) should start building 1 each of artillery, AA, and infantry in both England and Scotland on the SP40 Turn. In your SP40 turn you should also hold up the production of any Transports. The reason for this is that each transport you build will use up 2 pop and you will need those pop to build other units. Be aware that the WA in general (and the CW in particular) has severe manpower problems and you have to be very careful throughout the game deciding which units you will allow to complete construction. At least in the beginning of the game transports are a low priority. In your SU40 turn you will not have enough pop to build all the units you started building in your SP40 turn, but you will have the luxury of deciding which units you want to complete. This will allow you, for example, to move artillery out of England and Scotland during your SU40 turn to reinforce other areas if necessary knowing that you will be able to build new artillery to replace them. In following turns, and until you know England is not the German target, build lots of AA along with a few infantry and 1 or 2 artillery. Fighters are more useful then AA in helping you invade Fortress Europe, but not nearly as good as AA in defending the UK. You may have to repair the odd damaged fleet from time to time, but each time you do so you have to ask yourself, “Is it worth the 2 pop to repair this fleet since England is still in danger”. You’ll find you have far more production in the UK then pop, so your excess production should be used to build supply and some tech pts. Once (and if) the UK is safe from invasion then stop producing AA (even if this means not completing AA you have in production) and start building mostly fighters, infantry/artillery, CAG and bombers. Having more CAG then you have Carriers is actually a good idea as it allows you to restock your carriers with CAG right away if its CAG is damaged.. Also, what you may not be aware of is that a carrier can move, have it’s CAG fly off and attack, then move back to port, load a different CAG, move back into range of the enemy, and have this 2nd CAG also fly a mission. At some point you will want the UK to complete the construction of all those damaged transports, otherwise you should use the excess UK production to build supply and tech.

With Canada I like to start the production of a 2nd factory right away. If you do the math you’ll see that this factory will pay for itself by W42. Of course it also means that you will be shorting yourself 1 pp per turn during the most crucial part of the game, not to mention the 2 Pop pts it will cost to build the factory. Otherwise I build AA and supply in Canada until the UK is secure. With the factories in India and Australia it is essential that you use them to build 2 turn production units only (like AA, Inf., ftrs, and artillery), otherwise you will be wasting their pop points which would just be plain dumb. I generally like to use these 3 factories to continually build 1 artillery, 1 ftr, and 1 inf.

The US should, with some exceptions, build only supply and tech pts from the beginning of the War until mid 42. One exception is that you will want to start building 2 Carriers on the US West Coast so that they are completed on the F42 turn and therefore available for use on the W43 turn. It is a waste to have them ready before this turn as it is very seldom, if ever, that the US will be in the war before this date. You will also want to build 2 CAG to be ready on the F42 turn. The same goes for the Hvy fleets that are already being built when the game starts, delay their production to the F42 turn. In fact, depending on how the Naval War is going, I often don’t build all (or even any) of these heavy fleets. Depending on who you are playing you may also want to start the construction of 2 or 3 artillery in the US Southwest on the first turn. Don’t complete them on the SU40 turn, you just want to have them ready so you can build them in 1 turn if it looks like the Japanese player is going to try to invade the US SW (you’ll know this if the Japanese build lots of trannies). If you are careful with your supply you usually only have to build 10 total supply a turn (ie using 2 production) meaning that you can use your remaining production for Research points. I am a very big believer in spending lots of production on research. Between the US, the UK and Canada (but never India or Australia) you should aim to produce at least 12 (and hopefully more like 15) research points per turn. Starting in 1942 you can begin using more of your US production to start producing combat units and transports. The types of units you build will depend upon the game situation, your strategy and your own personal style of play. Myself I like to build lots of fighters, hvy bombers and infantry, with a few artillery as well, and I can never seem to have enough transports. But I know other players are successful with a different mix. Again, it’s a good idea to have a few more CAG then you have carriers. As I said before, if you’ve survived to this point in the War you will probably win with just about any mix you want.


B. RUSSIA:

Several players like to build lots of tanks as Russia right from the beginning of the game. This can be a very successful strategy if the Germans opt for Sealion or don’t launch Barbarossa until SU41 or later. However, if the Germans attack Russia in the F40 turn with a large Infantry force, you’ll probably find that Russia is wiped out before those tanks roll off the assembly line. For this reason I prefer to build almost exclusively artillery and AA as Russia during the Early Game. The reason for the artillery is that you can build 2 artillery for the same cost as 1 tank, but those 2 artillery will fire a total of 4 times in combat compared to the tanks once and it will take 2 hits to damage both artillery, but only 1 hit to damage the tank. And of course a damaged artillery can be repaired in 1 turn, while it will take 2 turns to repair a damaged tank. Of course if you are building lots of artillery you’ll want to build some AA to defend them from air attack.

In my Sp40 turn I generally build 1 artillery and 1 AA in each of Leningrad, Kharkov, Rostov, Stalingrad, Moscow and Gorki. Depending on who I’m playing I may also build a couple artillery or a tank in Kalinin or the Central Urals. Sometimes I’ll build 2 artillery and 1 AA in Moscow, and sometimes I’ll build 1 Artillery, 1 AA and 1 Tank in Moscow (I don’t want to be too predictable) The rest of my production (around 12 to 14 points) I use for research points. I generally repeat this build pattern for the F40 turn. The exception is if the Germans invade in the F40 turn, if they do you’re on your own to figure out what to do because I forgot what I did to counter this. By your Sp41 turn the Germans (and very likely the Japanese) have invaded or are massing on your borders for a Su41 invasion. If they have not yet invaded but are massing then take a look at the German tank dispositions. They will either be primarily in the North (to strike at Leningrad), the South (to strike at Kharkov) or split between the two. If you can also try and find out where that nasty German paratrooper is. If the Germans have significant tanks or para in the North than you’ll want to build 2 militia in Leningrad, but if you think you can hold Leningrad with the forces you have, than build a couple artillery there, or perhaps 1 artillery and 1 militia. In the south you’ll almost always want to build 2 militia in Kharkov. These militia in Kharkov probably won’t stop the German player from taking it if he really wants it, but they likely will be the difference between your artillery there being only damaged instead of destroyed. Check to see if the German and /or Japanese Player has built any more bombers. If not you probably now have almost enough AA and can concentrate almost exclusively on artillery and the odd tank. On the turn of invasion only attempt to complete the construction of 4 or 5 combat units in critical locations. The reason for this is that the free militia you get this turn will (for some unknown to me reason) only allow you to complete these 4 or 5 units; if you try completing the construction of any more you will just be wasting your production. Instead use your production to start the construction of a few more new units, but primarily for research points. Don’t use all your research points up though as you’ll need some for your next turn as you will be using most of your production to finish off all those units you held up and/or started the previous turn.

From here on in your on your own as what you should build will be very dependent on the game situation, your losses, enemy builds and losses, etc. But generally you’ll want to continue building artillery until the tide turns when you’ll probably want to switch to tanks and supply. Speaking of supply, you may have to expend some production on supply here and there but hopefully you’ll be getting most of what you need from the WA until you are secure. You may be asking yourself by now “What about the infantry.” Well you should rebuild damaged infantry but I would recommend against building any new infantry until they are teched up to 7/6s or even 7/7s. The reason for this is that until you get your infantry’s evasion up to a 6 it’s defence of “20" (5x4) is not much better than your artillery’s “18" (6x3), but it only gets 1 attack to your artillery’s 2. Also if you build infantry it will 1st try to attack the enemy’s infantry (and many German players will increase their infantry evasion to 7) while your artillery may attack the more valuable German armour.

Of course, if it appears certain that the Axis are not going to invade Russia at all, you will want to switch gears and start building lots of tanks (though some players still like to build lots of artillery). You should also build some supply to ship to China for as long as it is holding out (which won’t be long).You also may want switch from AA to fighters.


RESEARCH STRATEGY
A. THE WESTERN ALLIANCE:

Put at least 12 points per turn into research from the beginning of the game. Starting in 1943 you should put 20 to 30 points per turn into research. The Axis will not be able to match this.

Your research priorities for the WA should be as follows:

1. CAG antisub: You’ll want to get this up to 2 ASAP even if the Germans don’t improve their sub tech. If the Germans do improve their sub tech than you’ll want to keep going to get this up to a 3 ASAP.

2. Light Fleet antisub: Same as forCAG.

3. Infantry Attack and Evasion: These units will probably be the mainstay of your army throughout the War. Get them up to 7/7 s as soon as possible. After that keep pumping them up to get them up to at least 8/8s. If the Germans attack England you will want to get them up to 8/8s ASAP but otherwise other units may take priority from time to time.

4. AA Air attack: Get this up to a 7 ASAP.

5. Artillery Evasion: Get this up to a 6 ASAP. This is more to protect it from Axis shore bombardment then air attack.

6. Heavy Fleet Evasion: Get this up to 4 ASAP. This will have a number of useful effects, it will give you an advantage over Axis Hvies in battle, it will make it difficult for Axis Air to damage you even if they improve to torpedo attack 3, it will allow you to shore bombard with a better chance of survival, and it will make it more likely that your Pearl Harbour fleets will only be damaged rather than destroyed.

7. Light Fleet Evasion: Get this up to 5 only if the Germans look like they are going to improve their sub attack to 4. This will allow your light fleets to go toe-to-toe with those Uboats.

8. Transport Amphib capacity: If the Axis attack Russia you’ll want to get this up to a 3 (where it belongs, damn those developers) ASAP. But if the Germans attack England this one will have to wait.

9. Fighter Speed/Range: Once the Germans attack Russia (or W43, whichever comes 1st) you’ll want to get this up to a 2 ASAP. After that keep pumping in the research from time to time to get it to a 3. You’ll need that 3 to cover your fleets in the Pacific.

10. CAG Torpedo: Try and have this up to a 4 by W43 or soon thereafter. Depending on the relative sizes of your fleets you may want to keep going to get it up to a 5.

11. CAG Air Attack, Evasion and Ground Attack: You’ll want to have each of these increased by 1 point by Mid 43 or sooner. Whether to increase them more or not will depend on whether or not the Japanese have improved their CAG techs.

12. Heavy Bomber Ground Attack and Evasion: Increase Evasion by at least 1 and Ground Attack by as much as you can.

13. Fighter Attack/Evasion: Once Germany attacks Russia put any spare points here to get your fighters up to 7/7s or better.

14. Artillery Land Attack: You’ll probably want to get this up to an 8 sometime in the game.

In my opinion priorities 1 to 5 above are essential for everybody. The rest are my strong recommendations, but you may have your own style of play and choose to do something else. There is not necessarily a right way or a wrong way. Some people I know prefer to research Hvy Bomber Attack up to 10 to get the Atomic bomb before game end. Others like to build a strong WA Tank force, myself I just let the infantry and air do the job. I think this is historically correct as the WA never had any true panzer corps or tank armies like the Germans or Russians.


B. THE RUSSIANS:

If you’ve read my Strategy notes you’ll know that I’m a big fan of Russian artillery. Starting in Sp40 your Russian Research priorities should be as follows:

1. Artillery Land Attack: Always be sure to put the maximum into this every turn until you get it up to an 8. At 8 strength you’ll stand about a 30% chance of damaging even a 9 evasion German tank and since you will get 2 shots with every artillery this will force the German to be cautious.

2. Artillery Evasion: Get this up to a 6 ASAP. You do this for 2 reasons, 1st it gives your artillery a good chance of surviving air attack (unless the Axis tech up their bombers). 2nd it makes it unlikely that the German Tanks will destroy you with 1 shot even if they get their Tank Land Attack up to a 9.

3. AA Air Attack: Get this up to a 7 ASAP; make the Axis pay if they want to bomb you artillery.

4. Infantry Attack: Get this up to a 7 ASAP; this will allow you to hurt his Infantry.

5. Infantry Evasion: You’ll need to get this up to a 6 ASAP to give you a better than 50% chance of surviving the Axis Infantry Attacks (even if they tech their land attacks to a 7). After you get it up to a 6 put extra points in here from time to time to get it up to a 7.

6. Tank Land Attack: You’ll want to get this up to a 9 or 10 by game end.

7. Tank Evasion: Don’t put any research points here until you’ve got plenty to spare as it will be expensive to tech up to a 9 evasion and the German tanks will probably still hit you anyway.

8.Other: Depending on the game situation you will probably at some point want to tech up your fighters and Hvy Bombers. Don’t forget you’ll need to increase your fighter range to at least 2 in order to use them to attack Japan.



GENERAL ADVICE

A. THE UBOAT WAR AND THE NAVAL WAR

Here are some general tips for dealing with those pesky Uboats and surface raiders.

1. If the Germans have a large wolf pack they can move against you and have the tech edge than do not escort your transports with 1 or 2 light fleets or Carriers. To do so only exposes your entire fleet to being destroyed. This is different than putting a large fleet with several light fleets, a carrier or 2, several transports, and a hvy fleet or 2 into a key area such as the Irish Sea, especially if you also add some aircover. It doesn’t matter if your aircover can damage the Uboats or not their purpose is simply to attack the Uboats to lower their evasion so that your light fleets and CAG can finish them off.

2. Place your transports into positions where the German Player can not reach them with his Uboats and return to port the same turn. Yeah I know this is obvious, but I’ve seen some rookie players make this mistake.

3. If you can position a CAG (or until the Uboats get to evasion 3 any aircraft) into a sea area to block Uboat movement, without being shot down by enemy fighters, do so. For example, on the first turn the German Uboat in the Atlantic usually retreats to West France. By placing a fighter and your TAC bomber into the sea area West of W. France you will be able to get opportunity fire against this Uboat if it moves out. Of course if the Germans moves a couple ftrs into W. France this will not work.

4. Keep a Carrier with CAG in the Irish Sea to deter the German Player from moving any fleets (especially light fleets) into the Atlantic.

5. If Gibraltar is taken you can protect your Atlantic trannies somewhat by stationing a fleet with at least 1 Carrier and CAG in the Sea Area 2 SW of Gibraltar; just be sure to make keep it in supply.

6. If Egypt/Suez falls a CAG in Italian East Africa will get opportunity fire against both subs and ships moving through the Narrows (another reason I like to have a few extra CAG floating around).

7.Try not to attack large wolf packs ( 5+ subs) if they have the tech advantage; wait until you have the edge and then hit them hard (and I mean HARD). Do not miss an opportunity to attack his Uboats at sea.

8. When attacking Uboats (or hvies or lights for that matter) 1st attack them with as many aircraft as you can that have no chance or only a remote of getting a hit. Your purpose here is to lower the evasion of as many enemy ships as possible. Next attack him with your CAG. If attacking fleets send in all your CAG at once, if attacking Uboats and he has more Uboats then you have CAG send them in 1 at a time. The reason for this is that if you send them in all at once each of the CAGs will choose a different target; but if you send them in 1 at a time there is a good chance that your later CAGs will attack a Uboat which has already been attacked previously (and had it’s evasion reduced). Of course if all of the Uboats have already been attacked you might as well send in your remaining CAG all at once. Finally send in as many light fleets as necessary to outnumber the Uboats 2 to 1. If you don’t have enough light fleets to do this then send all that can reach in. If after the battle there are any Uboats left and you still have light fleets left that have not taken part in the battle, then send them in. If you have no light fleets left to attack with and you want to continue moving some of your surviving light fleets you have a problem because each fleet you move out will be susceptible to opportunity fire from the surviving Uboats. Take a look to see how many Uboats have torpedos left; depending on the number of Uboats that can fire at you, the Uboats torpedo tech and your Light fleet evasion tech, you may still be able to move your fleets away. Always move your light fleets which have not yet been attacked 1st. Each one you move will deplete the Uboats torpedo levels by 1.


B. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

Try and be prepared for anything. Some Axis Players are very creative. I’ve seen the Germans invade Murmansk and the Japanese invade the SW US. The only way you can really be prepared is to train yourself every single turn to examine the Map, the size of the Axis forces and the tech levels of the Axis forces. Combined these 3 things should give you some idea of what the Axis is planning.


C. LEARN THE RULES

It is very important that you learn all the important rules. These include:

1. Knowing how opportunity fire works. For example, did you know that aircraft on an island (say Sardinia) will intercept fleets, aircraft, and transported units and supply moving from the Seazone in which the island is located ( say the W. Med) to another seazone (such as the C. Med), unless the fleets started their turn in that seazone; but will not intercept air or transported land units moving to a land area (such as Sardinia itself or N. Italy).

2. Knowing how combat works. You should know, for example, that an attacked unit has it’s evasion reduced by 1. You should also know that units in combat will always attack like units 1st. This can be very useful to know, for example, if you are the WA defending in Egypt with five 7/7 infantry and five militia , against five 9/8 German tanks and five 6/6 infantry. If the German had his options he would probably prefer to have his tanks square off against your infantry while his infantry squared off against your militia. This way he would average 3.5 WA infantry damaged and 4.5 militia damaged at a cost of only 1.4 tanks damaged. Instead the system forces his tanks to attack the Allied Militia while the infantry square off against one another. The probable results are therefore that the Allies will lose all 5 militia but 0 infantry, while the Axis will have 3 infantry damaged and will be forced to retreat. If you want to know where I got these likely results see Paul Vebbers very useful Hit Probabilities Chart in the War Room.

3. Knowing that units in Morocco will not get opportunity fire against fleets moving from the West Med to Atlantic and vice versa if those fleets can move through Gibraltar. Actually this is part of 1 above.

Its late and I’m tired but I hope this helps all those Allied Players out there.

[JanSorensen]

Amazing guide. Splendidly written and very accurate. I may not agree 100% in all particulars but thats what makes the game fun.

[WanderingHead]

ORIGINAL: Harrybanana
<snip>
C. LEARN THE RULES
<snip>
will not intercept air or transported land units moving to a land area (such as Sardinia itself or N. Italy).

Really? I'd have expected those transported units to have been fired on.

Good guide and interesting read.

[graf spee]

Thanks for sharing this.
Interesting info for new players like me.
Regards
Bob

[BigSnig]

Hi Harry,

That was a great synopsis; thank you very much.

One question re the CV making two trips to launch CAGs. After the two CAGs complete their mission, what happens to the second one? Is its situation the same as when a CV is damaged?

[Harrybanana]

ORIGINAL: BigSnig

One question re the CV making two trips to launch CAGs. After the two CAGs complete their mission, what happens to the second one? Is its situation the same as when a CV is damaged?

Perhaps I should have explained a bit more. Step1: Move Carrier into strike range of target; Step2: Move CAG to attack target, after attack CAG, if it is not damaged, will be marked as having attacked; Step 3: move Carrier back to port where you have 2nd CAG stationed; Step 4: Change 1st CAG's status so that it is not linked to Carrier; Step 5: Link 2nd CAG to Carrier; Step 6: Move carrier back into strike range of target; Step 7: Move 2nd CAG to attack target. After combat the 2nd CAG will be marked as having attacked.

Note that if your CAG have enough movement points (speed) you don't always have to move your carrier all the way back to port. For those who don't know, to unlink CAG from a carrier your CAG has to be in a friendly land area and you then right click on it.

Hope this helps.

[archetype]

i want an AXIS guide like this Very good job

[SeaMonkey]

HB, if I'm reading your analysis right and the Allied player loses England, then it is pretty much game over, correct?

If so, then the determined Axis attempt at Sealion, ala Jan's strategy, is the conclusive conflict for ascertaining the winner?

If Axis are successful, the Allies have very few resources left to counter any further Axis maneuvers and the AV is achieved?

If Allies are successful, then AV is averted and Allies ultimately win, given opponents with equal skill levels?

[JanSorensen]

In my opinion
If the Axis goes all out for Sealion and
- Takes London early = Huge Axis advantage
- Takes London late = even game
- Does not take London = Huge Allied advantage
So, as the WA I do not think you absolutely have to avoid losing London. If you can delay the fall long enough you will still be in good shape as the Axis will not have time to reach the AV before the unchecked Russians make their presence felt. Going all out for Sealion

[Harrybanana]

I generally agree with Jan. Sometimes even if you only delay the Axis in taking England you can still win the game. But it sure makes it a lot more difficult. But by delay I mean you have to delay them until early 42 or later. If the Axis conquers England before this then, depending on the game situation, it is usually game over.

[graf spee]

[quote]ORIGINAL: Harrybanana

Fighters are more useful then AA in helping you invade Fortress Europe, but not nearly as good as AA in defending the uk.

Could you please explain why AA guns are better in defending the UK?.
Is it because they have a higher land attack ??
Thanks
Bob

[JanSorensen]

Fighters are much easier to kill because you can use the German figthers to do that - and the Germans fighters dont have other targets. AA is harder to kill - because you need to use bombers to do so - and those have lots of other targets too. Also, AA shoots before air to ground combat while FTR vs FTR has both sides shooting at the same time.

[Harrybanana]

ORIGINAL: JanSorensen

Fighters are much easier to kill because you can use the German figthers to do that - and the Germans fighters dont have other targets. AA is harder to kill - because you need to use bombers to do so - and those have lots of other targets too. Also, AA shoots before air to ground combat while FTR vs FTR has both sides shooting at the same time.

Thanks Jan, you've explained it better than I can.

Essentially the WA has a choicen to build either fighters or AA; but whatever you build they will have to split between Scotland and England. If you decide to build lots of fighters you could perhaps have 12 built by SP41 (not including the frozen ftr in the US) which will allow you to place 6 in each of England and Scotland. But by this time the Germans will usually have at least 9 fighters they can use and at least 12 bombers (usually more). Assuming that as the WA you also have 4 AA, 4inf, 4 artillery and 12 militia which you split equally between Scotland and England, this means that the Germans can concentrate their entire airforce on a force in Scotland consisting of 6 fighters, 2AA, 2inf, 2artillery, and 6 militia. Let' assume the Germans attack this force with 9 fighters and 15 bombers. 1st the air to air battle will probably result in all 6 WA ftrs being at least damaged with a few being destroyed; these WA ftrs will only be able to shoot at the German ftrs, probably damaging 5 of them. Lets say the WA get lucky and both AA shoot at and damage 2 German bombers (rather than the less expensive fighters). This still leaves 4 fighters and 13 bombers to attack the 12 WA land units in Scotland; each unit will probably be attacked at least once and several twice (though since targetting is done before air to air it is possible that some WA units will be attacked twice and some not at all). Total WA losses would be something like 6 fighters (say 2 destroyed), 2 AA, 2 art, 6 milita (total production cost 18) ; all at the cost to the Germans of only 5 fighters and 2 bombers (total production cost 9).

If, alternatively, the WA had 6 AA in Scotland along with the 2 inf, 2 artillery and 6 militia; then those 6 AA would hopefully damage 2 fighters and 4 bombers before air to ground attack. This would leave 7 fighters and 11 bombers to attack 16 WA units. The fighters are unlikely to damage anything by themselves so you'll probably only lose 10 units. Net effect is that the WA will lose approx. 10 production points of units and Axis will lose approx. 10. A much better trade off then if you had built fighters.

[SeaMonkey]

I wanted to add a way to manage the Axis sub problem, especially early when they are cutting your tranny routes and before you obtain ASW 2 level.

Usually the Axis subs can reach 3 EV and 3 Torps while your still at 1 Sub attack.

Simply run them out of ammo. Attack with your light fleets, they will defend, minus one torp. Move out with Lt. fleet, sub op-fires, minus two torps. Run another light fleet in/out of the seazone, sub op-fires....minus another torp?

Well I didn't try that third time as it was not necessary since the subs had already used 1 torp on my tranny previously.

Using the Lt Fleet to make subs op-fire is best, since there is only a 3% chance to be hit when they move out.

Now no torps...make your tranny runs.

[Forwarn45]

Using the Lt Fleet to make subs op-fire is best, since there is only a 3% chance to be hit when they move out.

This is an interesting suggestion - but I think your 3% calculation is based on the sub's torpedo value still being at 2. The light fleets start with a 12 defense value (evasion X durability) - since armor is ignored when calculating the chance of hitting with a torpedo. Thus - a 2 torpedo would only hit with 2 6's - about a 3% chance. But if the subs have a 3 torpedo value the chance is much higher. An average die roll would be 10.5. I think you might be thinking the armor value counts versus torpedos......

[SeaMonkey]

Yeah, you might be right about that Forwarn. Being it is the third turn and Axis subs just received the advancement, which showed on the research level screen, they don't actually get the benefit until the next turn.

Theoretically all turns are occurring simultaneously, although in game terms they are sequential.

But then again they did show a full load of 3 torps in the ones that hadn't fired that 3rd turn? They killed my tranny 1, they defended 2, they op-fired 3????

I should have examined the battle screens.

Well anyway this is a good reason to get your fleets' evasion levels up a bit, for ammo depletion runs.

I'll be more careful next turn.

[JanSorensen]

The odds are ~37% rather than 3% as the subs have 3 dice vs 12 rather than 2 dice vs 12. Apart from that running subs out of ammo can at times be a very good plan - though often somewhat costly.

[MrQuiet]

If you make an attack on a sub with a light fleet and fail, will the light fleet defend with a 12 or 9 (-3 for being previously targeted) on the opfire if it pulls out?

-MrQ

[SeaMonkey]

Well at this point I believe it is necessary to bring up a glaring anomaly of WaW.

Since turns are sequential, but they occupy the same game time period, they should be completed as if they happen simultaneously,......right?

The fact of the matter is that because the Axis and Japan go first in the sequence, the Allies have to submit to any upgrades they make in that turn, when it should only be applicable in the next turn.

The Axis do not have to submit to any Allied upgrades until the following turn, giving them a one turn bonus(3 months) throughout the game.

To be fair and in the theoretical principle that turn base games actually occur/application of effects is simultaneous, any research upgrades should take place during the next turn and not immediately for any players that follow in the sequence of that same turn.

Now I did model this and found that as stated above there is a 38% chance of a hit on the Lt. Fleet. In doing so, the action taking place in 29 S.Atlantic 9 seazone off the coast of French West Africa, I found my Lt Fleets could not attack, even though amply supplied at the beginning of the move and at the seazone of attack, supplies were in Fr.W.Africa.

Any explanations?

Oh yeah, Mr.Q, they defend with 12 on the op-fire, actually the second attack, but because I could not initiate combat as stated above, I could not check the validity.

Good point though, if indeed the second attack(op-fire qualifier) suffered by the unit in the same turn, then it should have the -1 evasion modifier.

[JanSorensen]

Since turns are sequential, but they occupy the same game time period, they should be completed as if they happen simultaneously,......right?

Wrong. There are some advantages to going first - but there are also drawbacks. Repairing bombed resources for example favors the Allies because they can do so before the resources are collects just prior to the German turn.

So, its not symmetrical in many senses and that asymmetri is simply part of the game.

The only reason I can see why your LF could not attack would be if they had no chance at scoring a hit. Lets say you had 3 LF trying to attack 3 subs. As the LF have 1 ASW they cannot score above 6 - which is not enough to hit the subs with EV 3. If instead you have more LF than there are Subs then some of your LF will get the bonus of firing at the sub that has its EV lowered.

I am fairly certain thats why you experienced not being able to attack.