A&A Revised Edition - Game 1 Round 34: Finally an Ending

Axis & Allies - Revised Edition

Game 1 Round 34: Finally an Ending

Game: Axis & Allies (2004 – Revised 20^th anniversary edition)

Finally, an Ending

Round 34, and UK finally falls to German forces.

Victory Conditions (Major Victory +4 Victory Cities):

Allies: -4

Axis: +4

1. Calcutta (captured by Japan 1)

2. Moscow (captured by Germany Round 11)

3. Leningrad (captured by Japan Round 15)
4. London (captured by Germany Round 27)

And while Germany and Japan both took 2 Victory Cities, that doesn't really tell the tale of the game. Japan was the big hero, getting off to an early start and helping to secure and defend Europe late in the game when Germany overextended their own forces.

Lessons Learned:

 

Russia: Attacking and retreating was a great way to keep Germany busy and chip away at their weak spots. This will prove useful in future games, but they must also find a way to send additional forces to help China and Eastern Russia without thinning themselves out too much.

 

Germany: Weapons Development worked well, but they did get lucky and didn't have to waste too many IPCs chasing this tactic. In future games, Germany should probably be more cautious -- if the Allies hadn't lost so many early battles, Germany would have needed those IPCs for units to attack with. 

 

Attacking Africa and the Middle East worked well, but Germany didn't do a good job of securing all of their borders with USSR. They stretched their forces out so much and allowed the capture of Berlin (3 times). In any other game this would have lost them the game. They have to learn that it's okay to let Japan take on the heavy lifting and capture more victory cities. It's a shared victory either way.

 

UK: Early reinforcement is essential. Rather than attacking so much on round 1, it would have been better to secure key territories like India and add naval units that would help open up the North Atlantic sooner. The factory in South Africa worked well, but the game was mostly out of hand and it only helped UK hold on instead of taking new territories. It might be interesting to try a factory in Australia and challenge the Japanese islands. This would only work if the USA was also committed to a Pacific first strategy.

Japan: Basically everything went Japan's way. Luck and good dice rolling don't always last, but in this game Japan didn't have to scramble or take many chances.

USA: Focus. Splitting time and IPCs between both coasts proved ineffective. It took too many rounds to establish a helpful strategy in the Atlantic. USA should have concentrated early on getting units to Africa, UK, Norway and USSR. Their weak strategy in the Pacific cost them units and IPCs that could have been better spent in Europe.

 

The Allies relied too much on the fact that they were earning more IPCs than the Axis and they failed to develop a consistent and effective strategy in the early rounds. By allowing the Axis 9 rounds of growth, they sealed their fate. If they had been able to strike and Western Europe and Germany earlier than round 12, they might have had a real chance in the game.

A&A Revised Edition - Game 1 Round 25-33: The Bitter Bitter End

Axis & Allies - Revised Edition

Game 1 Round 25-33: The Long Road

Game: Axis & Allies (2004 – Revised 20^th anniversary edition)

How Many Rounds Does it Take?

During rounds 24-26, Japan finally pushes the USA navy back and opens the Northern Atlantic for the German Mediterranean navy to move towards UK.

The Axis agree -- UK is the target. USA is still earning 36 IPCs while UK is down to 12. Both Germany and Japan are earning more than 60 IPCs each.

Germany's first attack against UK begins in Round 27. Yes, round 27 of this game. It has been a long road with several tactical errors that made it last even longer.

Germany begins with 4 transports. That means they have 8 units per round to attack while UK can only add 4 infantry per turn to defend. Still, this is a slow process.

During rounds 27-33, Germany eventually adds additional transports and gets to the point where they have 8 infantry and 8 artillery to attack UK with every turn. That means it has taken 8 rounds to break the last of the USA navy and put a proper invasion force together.

Even with USA adding in the occasional fighter for added defense, the Allies are simply delaying the inevitable...

Victory Conditions (Major Victory +4 Victory Cities):

Allies: -3

Axis: +3

1. Calcutta

2. Moscow

3. Leningrad

A&A Revised Edition - Game 1 Round 16-24: The Long Road

Axis & Allies - Revised Edition

Game 1 Round 16-24: The Long Road

Game: Axis & Allies (2004 – Revised 20^th anniversary edition)

The Long Road to Victory

Mistakes were made, resulting in a longer game than anticipated. Finally the Axis powers are on the same page and working together to secure Europe and destroy the UK and USA naval fleets in the Northern Atlantic. Germany and Japan still have a long road ahead, but they know what they need to do and they can agree on how to do it.

Securing Europe

Germany had its work cut out for it and it needed Japan to do much of the heavy lifting, invading Karelia and kicking the Allies out of Norway, while Germany simply worked to secure its own capital Berlin.

Rounds 16-24 – Clearing out the Atlantic

Japan and German submarines slowly chip away at both the UK and USA navies.

The Allies have to protect both capitals from landing attacks.And while their navies are still quite large and formidable, the Axis have plenty is reserve.

Round 17 - USA makes one final big push in an attempt to clear out the South Atlantic and perhaps secure a route to getting units into Africa and liberating much needed UK IPCs.

This works for a moment, but the Axis simply have too many IPCs to spare and can out build USA. There are plenty of new Axis navies, just waiting for the chance to attack...

Once USA is pushed back into a purely defensive positions, the sea route is open for German transports to eventually make their way towards either coast.

Rounds 16-24 – Distracting and Dividing USA’s Efforts

Japan has enough naval units and IPCs that they can attack USA on both coasts, thus dividing USA’s efforts and preventing them from creating a proper defense on either side of the world or developing the ability to counterattack. They alternate between attacking Alaska, Canada and Mexico. USA has to divide its forces and prevents them from defending any of them properly.

USA is Trapped into Routine Building:

Routine building usually means eventual death for the nation in question. Once their options are exhausted and they're only hanging on, it's basically the slow road to losing it all. Japan doesn’t need to win in North America; they only need to prevent USA from helping UK. 

UK is earning so few IPCs, even with their stacks of men to defend London, they will eventually lose. Once Germany can get their navy securely off the coast of UK, then the landing attacks can begin and eventually Germany’s ability to outspend and out build UK will spell defeat for the Allies.

Victory Conditions (Major Victory +4 Victory Cities):

Allies: -3

Axis: +3

1. Calcutta

2. Moscow

3. Leningrad

A&A Revised Edition - Game 1 Round 12-15 (Mistakes Made)

Axis & Allies - Revised Edition

Game 1 Round 12-15 - Mistakes Made

Game: Axis & Allies (2004 – Revised 20^th anniversary edition)

Why Won’t This Game End?

The End is Nigh. Japan controls the Pacific, China, India, Australia and most of USSR. Germany has just taken over Moscow. But if the end is here, then Why Won’t This Game End?

Well, besides the fact that I’m playing this out until there actually is a bitter end, this game won’t end because of Mistakes Made.

Rounds 12-15 – Mistakes Made and the Very Near Collapse of Europe

After taking Moscow, Germany is spread out with too many territories and not enough infantry. Their forces are in the wrong places and they are in no position to mount any sort of proper defense.

And what happens when forces are out of place and spread thin? Opponents attack. 

UK thins out the German capital and USA is able to invade Germany.

The lesson here - Protect your capitals!

The Allies can’t help but wonder if they could have tried this sooner and perhaps prevented Moscow from ever falling. Perhaps they spent too much time trying to hold Norway and Karelia and should have been looking for this sort of attack several rounds earlier. But regrets won’t help them win this game and they’ll never know what could have been. Right now, they have to focus on taking full advantage of Germany’s IPCs.

Lesson learned by the Allies – always be on the lookout for key opportunities, and try to identify them sooner.

Germany was too overeager to take Russia and Moscow. The Allies not only gain 53 IPCs from Germany, but if they can keep this up each round they can now prevent Germany from building new units. If this can last, then this game will be about Japan vs. USA and UK with both Germany and USSR having been knocked out. 

Germany may have accidentally let the Allies back into this game. Things have become very interesting, all because Germany wanted their own major victory in Moscow and didn’t want to let Japan have all of the glory of victory.

Lesson learned by the Axis – don’t get too greedy or impatient.

Round-by-Round Fight for Germany

Round 13 – Germany tries to take back its capital and hold onto most of its territories. They leave themselves too thin and UK / USA are able to take their capital again. Perhaps they will have to wait and let Japan eventually liberate Berlin. One problem is, if they don’t keep fighting and trading the space back and forth, then USA can build in Germany and strengthen their grip.

At the end of the the round, USA has once again taken over Germany and their saved IPCs -- this time for 48 IPCs.

Round 14 – This time Germany brings in all of their forces to take back their capital. They will leave Western Europe totally empty and let UK land there unopposed. Losing 6 IPCs is far better than losing their capital over and over.

Round 15 – Germany is once again weakened by UK.

Germany is too weak and USA is able to take Berlin AGAIN. Germany knows they have screwed up. They know this has to stop. Their best bet is that Japan can bail them out by providing much needed units in Europe and by taking away UK IPCs elsewhere on the board.

For the Allies, this makes 3 successful invasions in 4 rounds and it also means the Allies have gained 151 extra IPCs they wouldn’t have had otherwise. In any other game when the Allies control Western Europe, Germany and Norway, you'd assume the Allies were just about to win.

What will these extra IPCs do? USA can reinforce the Western US and Alaska, preventing Japan’s invasion. The North Atlantic navy will grow stronger, and perhaps this means USA can keep the war situated in Europe, and most importantly, keep their dim hopes alive.

Rounds 12-15 – Japanese Expansion, Japanese Victory

Japan could panic and worry only about Germany and Europe. Instead, Japan plans for the future and slowly spreads their power.

They focus on Africa and eventually take away the remaining precious UK IPCs there.

They build units in Caucasus and help reinforce the rest of Europe.

They prepare for battle in Western USA and in the Atlantic.

Victory Conditions (Major Victory +4 Victory Cities):

Allies
1. Berlin +1

Axis:

1. Calcutta +1

2. Moscow +1

A&A Revised Edition - Game 1 Round 10-11 (The End is Nigh)

Axis & Allies - Revised Edition

Game 1 Round 10-11 - The End is Nigh

Game: Axis & Allies (2004 – Revised 20^th anniversary edition)

Where Things Stand

This game reached “The Tipping Point” and may have already been decided. The question about when it is time to end a game was raised at the end of the previous post.

The Axis powers have control of the money board. The Allies are able to hold their current territory, but they don’t have the IPCs or units to fight back. Moscow has become surrounded and cut off and undersupplied. The North Atlantic is strongly held and fortified, but that is all. And both Germany and Japan have developed Super Submarines. The UK and USA navies can’t hold out for long.

The End is Nigh. In any other game, the Allies might concede. But this is not a normal game of Axis. This is a game that will last until the bitter end. This is a game to show just how hard it is to reach that final victory condition. This is a game to show that even in losing there are new strategies to attempt and be learned from.

Round 11 – The Fall of Moscow and the USSR

Germany is finally in a place where they are able to attack Moscow. They will need to use their entire air force and all of their tanks to do it. They will have to leave Western Russia and Eastern Europe mostly undefended. They will have to ignore the Allied forces in Norway and Karelia. They will have to stretch themselves thin and it will be a long-shot.

But they have to try. Why? Because it is time to take victory cities. It is time to limit the Allies to one strategy and only one place to truly fight – the North Atlantic. This game is over, and Germany needs to enforce its will.

Is this the right time for the attack? That is an interesting and important question. Japan is actually controlling the game in terms of IPCs and NPC growth. They have USA cut of in the Pacific and have captured most of USSRs territories. If Germany and Japan were playing as true partners, it might be a smarter move to let Japan slowly chip away at USSR and Germany should spend all their resources on a navy to fight in the North Atlantic and new units to possibly invade Karelia and Norway.

But this is not an even partnership and Germany wants their share in the glory of war and wants to take the Victory City for themselves. If this game were more even, this sort of division between partners could prove costly. But in this game the Axis seem so far ahead, and Germany wants their share of the final victory, so they proceed with the invasion of Russia.

The battle of Moscow is hardly decided and Germany does not have any clear advantage, but they want this victory and they are determined to try, no matter what.

The luck of the dice is on their side, as it has been for most of the game, and it looks like this should just do it for the Allies and for this game.

Continued Axis Dominance

Japan asserts their naval strength and cuts off USA from the Pacific.

They now have the resources and units to attack Western USA, Alaska and Canada.

They also have additional navy near India and can build an invasion force and take Africa from UK.

 Japan has navy to spare and can send extra ships to help fight in the Atlantic.

 The New World Order

What the world looks like with most all of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe under Axis control.

National Production Chart Results

End of Round 9 – End of Round 11

Total IPCs (earned & saved)	End of Round 9	End of Round 10	End of Round 11	NPC	End of Round 9	End of Round 10	End of Round 11
USSR	11	13	0	USSR	12	12	4
Germany	33	32	54	Germany	44	42	46
UK	22	23	24	UK	22	24	24
Japan	52	51	58	Japan	51	51	55
USA	37	46	37	USA	37	37	37
Totals:	Allies	70 / 82 / 61		Totals:	Allies	71 / 73 / 65
	Axis	85 / 83 / 112			Axis	95 / 93 / 101
				Current Winner: Axis (+6 NPC Rounds 9-11)

Victory Conditions (Major Victory +4 Victory Cities):

Allies: -2

Axis: +2

1. Calcutta

2. Moscow