How win as Axis

[gkopchuk]

I have recently purchased Global Gold. The way I like to play is as the Axis in a wargame. If the Axis can win then its a great game. I have tried numerous times and can't seem to win as the Axis in 1939 World at War. Does anyone have any tips. The thing I find the biggest problem is getting enough MPPs to build up and win, because there isn't enough being produced to defeat the Soviets. As ged down that way.the Japanese I find I can't get anywhere in China etc because the units can't seem to move anywhere and get bogged down in movement.

In 1939 Alliance of Evil the Japanese are on the Allied side so the same thing happens to the Soviets in the Far East.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

[Bill101]

Hi gkopchuk

Welcome to the forum!

A few thoughts are as follows:

• Researching Industrial Technology will increase your income, while Production Technology will making purchasing and maintaining them cheaper.
  
• Be careful to spend your income on what matters. For instance, if you lose any units conquering France, but won't need them until you invade the USSR, it's best to not buy them back until much nearer the time. Instead, spend your income on research and buying totally new units that will take longer to build.
  
• Focus your expenditure, as some things are important for 1941 in the USSR, especially more and better tanks and ground attack aircraft, while things like Anti-Aircraft Defense and Rockets can generally wait.

With regard to your units' movement, I would recommend researching Motorization and upgrading key units with that, as it will increase their Action Points, which will be especially useful in the low supply areas.

I hope this helps a bit.

Bill

[gkopchuk]

Thanks for the info.

What stops the Japanese units from moving through the jungle in Thailand, Burma etc? What prevents Italian, German and Spanish units moving across the desert when I see the Brit units doing it?

[xwormwood]

Bad supply stops your movement.

No fuel, no ammo, no spare parts, no food, no water, you get the idea.

That is why you need HQ units. That is why you sometimes need to stop to allow captured towns, cities and ports to rebuild their supply level.

I know it is hard, but try to read the manual, and if this is too much and too dry stuff for you, than take a peek at this nice forum thread for new players, where some game features have been nicely explained.

[keen9876]

Hi all. Ive also been playing as axis and also having trouble winning. Here are a few things that I've figured out that work

-set HQ's to manual mode. At the start of turn set up what units to cover. Don't bother attacking with any units not attached to HQ.

-infantry is pretty useless for attack until you get motorisation. Once you have that you can take a few cities in china. Don't bother trying to finish them. Just bust them down then refocus on setting up strong outposts. I walked 3 armies with HQ around Hanoi,bangkok,singapore,rangoon with ease

-one time I used Japan to attack russia and it worked well. Made them siphon off forces. But even after Germany captured two Russian capitals they just keep moving east. Eventually the allies invade and you're out of time. I think the trick may be to take murmansk and cut off the 200mpps they get from allies.

-I was able to capture England but not sure it helps much. It delayed my Russian invasion until the fall. Its Apr 44 and USA is now invading UK, so it slows them down at least 6 months.

-I haven't been able to make Italy useful. They always lose in north Africa.

-haven't really figured out the complete combat system. How does the weather and season affect? What is the +2DB you see in the odds calculator? What do the symbols in that box mean?

-very important to focus your strong forces, don't spread out and try to be strong everywhere ie hold them off in the south and drive for Moscow with all armour

-Japan navy can make a good account of itself but can't win. Need to time when to pull at least 8 armies plus air back to Japan. Can hold out a long time. AI doesn't seem to be capable of invading effectively when you have a strong defence.

Happy to hear comments

[Bill101]

-haven't really figured out the complete combat system. How does the weather and season affect? What is the +2DB you see in the odds calculator? What do the symbols in that box mean?

Hi Keen9876

Welcome to the forum!

There's some good advice in your post, and in answer to your questions, snow will halve the effect of attacks, so winter is generally a good time for consolidation. Rain will prevent air attacks, and rough seas will prevent carriers from launching aircraft, and occasionally cause damage to ships. Dust storms in the desert act a bit like rain. I think I've covered everything!

Bill

[gkopchuk]

Great feedback thanks.

[keen9876]

Thanks Bill.

Can you explain what the odds calculator numbers mean when you hover over an attack? for example it will say:

5-2=3 : 4-3=1 (+2DB)

I think the 5 is the attacker rating and 4 is the defense rating. Not sure about the rest.

Oh and capturing England and delaying the invasion of Russia does not seem to work. Russia gets too strong in the delay and you can't finish them. Still don't know how to do it. Gotta cut off support from allies I think.

[Bill101]

Hi

Essentially those number relate to factors in determining the outcome of the combat, in addition to the base attack and defense values (which you've correctly identified).

In case you've not seen this thread, there's a brief explanation of this in the second post here:

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=107356

The +2DB will relate a Defence Bonus, and these will normally come from being in woods, hills, in an urban area or defending in mountains.

I hope that helps explain it all?

Bill

[keen9876]

thanks Bill. Here is something I see a lot and can't explain. I have a german and Hungarian army attacking a russian army in a wood. His strength=10,re=45,mo=35, entrench=0

My army1 re=80,mo=69,strength 9, entrench=0. SA=5-1=4 +25% SD=3-1=2(+2db) for estimated damage of 1 each

My army2 re=67,mo=51,strength 7, entrench=2. SA=5-1=4 +25% SD=3-1=2(+2db) for estimated damage of 1 for me and 3 for him

How do I figure out why the lesser unit is doing more damage? Is it the entrench during an attack?

thanks.

[Bill101]

Hi

If I've understood correctly, Army 2 is weaker in all respects (strength, morale and readiness) but its estimate for damage is better.

Factors could be:

Are there any differences in HQ support between that and Army 1.

Is Army 1 attacking across a river.

Has Army 1 moved before attacking.

These are the three things that immediately spring to mind as possible causes. Please let me know if any apply?

If not I'll have to put my thinking cap on!

Thanks

Bill

[SeaMonkey]

And the "experience" factor can be a big plus for any formation submitted to combat.

[keen9876]

it wasn't any of those first things but it may have been experience. I didn't take note of that.

thanks.

[keen9876]

back to the original topic of this thread...is it possible to defeat the Russians on medium skill? I've found by the time you reach Moscow, (by summer 41 this last try), your moral and readiness are so low you can't really continue. plus the Russians are pulling in more MPP's than Germany, have more units of pretty much equal calibre. There are so many allied subs in the atlantic my subs just get eaten away and can't stop the convoys. anyone have any other advice?

[SeaMonkey]

When Poland succumbs, do not accept M-R pact and prepare to move to attack USSR in late Summer of 40 after the French surrender. Maneuver and deploy units for the best jump-off positions for the Spring-Summer 41 campaign.

Orient the Japanese to hold off Chinese aggression and add them to the USSR campaign in the east in 1942. USSR won't last until 44.

[dtreller]

I tried the 1940 Barbarossa against the AI once. I didn' honor the M-R pact, and then moved into the Baltic States before the Soviets annexed them so as to get an even more forward position. It was a fun game but there were several problems:

- Germany doesn't have time to tech up by summer of 1940 so you're going in with little or no tech advantage over the Soviets. That means a slow sluggish advance.

- You don't get the huge MPP boost from the fall of France.

- You don't really save any occupation troops in the West because you have to man the Siefried line.

- Without the French ports at your disposal, using your subs is even trickier than it usually is.

- You'll be going in without the help of Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. Sure they'll join later on, but those extra troops could sure help at first.

One good thing is that there are no severe winter events scripted for 1940, meaning that you don't have to worry about supply and strength suddenly collapsing.

EDIT: Oh and the french navy is also an extra problem you have to deal with in this case.

[gkopchuk]

So I thought I would try playing the Allies and see if I could dominate the Axis. Turns out the Axis AI kicked my butt. They conquered the Soviet Union and have pretty well taken out 90% of China and its only 1943. What happened? I can't seem to win either way.

[Bill101]

Hi gkopchuk

It's hard to say without knowing your strategies more, for example, while some investment in research is good, indeed necessary, too much at the expense of buying units would be a mistake.

The USSR should struggle to delay the Axis advance, sacrificing weak units to buy time while preparing strong counterattack forces behind (most importantly, tanks, air, supported by HQs).

Always position your units so that they will benefit from entrenchment bonuses. These increase (up to their maximum, which varies according to where they are) by one per turn, and provide protection.

It is better to attack before moving, and try to avoid losing any expensive units when they are in low supply, as buying them back will cost a lot more that way. Also protect your HQs as they are vital to providing both supply and combat bonuses to the units under their command.

That's just a quick round up of thoughts that came to mind when reading your post, and myself and others here will no doubt be willing to help further.

Bill

[TuacaTom]

I have also had some trouble winning as Axis, but did learn a few things in some unfinished failed campaigns:

Germany: Instead of spending time and money on politically getting Denmark to go Axis, just take them right after Poland. Spend research on Amphibious and long range air and ground attack air. Take France as efficiently as possible. Spend on Navy units to use to keep Allies away later. Take England after France and ignore Ireland. Then go after Russia. I haven't tried the "No" to M-R pack with this strategy yet (will on next try).

Italy: To make better use of the Italians, I tied up many UK Commonwealth units by staying in Abyssinia making small forays but generally just defending. Threatening Egypt, then falling back, baiting the UK to commit resources there. When available, move HQ and units into Syria to threaten from that direction. If an advantage can be had, destroy English naval units. Spend research on infantry.

Japan: I learned too late vs China to spend early and often on Infantry, Mechanized, Ground Attack and the end around through Thailand, Vietnam, Rangoon, as someone else mentioned (had limited resources do very well that direction before quitting due to German failure). It seemed a waste to hit the US early when I tried and will next time keep upgrading Naval units to be ready to defend instead, like someone else mentioned move units back as needed. When I did try to tangle with the Russians once, the Japanese ground units got their clocks cleaned, so need more units and air before messing with them. I have a few ideas of where to hit them to hurt them the best next time and will report back on those attempts.

Happy Gaming to all

[GhostRider3/3]

Hello Everyone.. was thinking of purchasing this.  I have the first Strategic Command, but it sounds like Global is the way to go.  One Question... can you still Edit the campaigns and countries and resave it under a different name like in the older versions?  Just curious.

 

thanks,

 

Happy Hunting.

[Bill101]

Hi GhostRider3/3, yes you can. The editor allows you to change many of the game's features.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Bill101

[GhostRider3/3]

Hi GhostRider3/3, yes you can. The editor allows you to change many of the game's features.

Thanks Bill, I remember the first version was fun.. but it looks much more grandiose now.. So I will give it a go.. need another game anyhow.. the Market Garden Campaigns are taking a toll on me.. Thanks for your post.

[silvercourage]

gkopchuk,

 

Play as allies with fog of war off, then try and mimic the moves you see in another game where you play axis.  This helps get a feel for opening moves.  Assuming you play on beginner with no no AI xp bonus to start with you should be in pretty good shape. 

 

Fog of war is one of the toggles on the options screen when you start a game, or can also be done in game under options if "allow game changes" is set to "on" when the game is first created.

 

You can do the same in reverse of course and I recommend it.  By the time you've played both ways and noted what worked well against you, then you should have no problem with FoW back on on and defeating the AI on beginner from either side.. 

 

Glad to see some new players,

--AOM