Axis & Allies 1942 Online: Lessons from my match against current World Number 1: Jan

[@oggiisme2458]

His coordination with the Allies is actually incredible

[@manix429]

Definitely, he seems to have everywhere covered at all times. Can't find a crack in the defence lol

[@marksy79]

I'm playing him now in singles tourney but I'm allies gave him a 7ipc bid, he is literally one of the best players in the world as any Power. Great video mate.

[@jerseyjunior]

I would have loved an EVEN MORE in depth by you of Yans play; such as his purchases, placement, etc. Facinating!

[@jamesmills109]

me as well. you can pretty much tell what he is purchasing and where he is moving when you look at the map. it looks like Jan moved his entire pacific fleet into the atlantic.

[@cflamesfanatic]

It feels like he was building 1 to 2 fighters with the UK every turn to have that kind of Defense in russia... crazy good. Thanks for recording and making your observations. Great work.

[@arlekj]

Really like this style of video! Full game analysis all at once is easy to follow and to learn from.

[@vignashtharmaratnam3646]

i think the biggest move for germany is wiping out Egypt by round 2, in a KGF strat, the only way germany can hold out for the japanese is with the extra 9 IPC in africa. Ideally Egypt is taken round 1, but losing the bomber in ukraine with the gen con update basically eliminates that. So for this I build one transport in Italy to help ship troops over. Eventually the US Navy will come, but because it takes a while to get to Italy you don't have to worry about it for a while. To counter this, as russia I like building a fighter at the end of round 1, because with 3 fighters you have 91% chance (vs 53% without) of knocking out the battleship (and all the transports it may be protecting). If this happens, Africa can't be taken in time, and Germany is finished. Fighters are also great for defense so its not really a waste of money, and are mobile enough to help out throughout the map. This one move forces a buildup of navy in Italy to protect the transports by Germany (the best being one aircraft carrier, since you have so many fighters as Germany to work with). This takes away alot of IPC from building infantry, and really sets Germany back. Overall the gen con update is a little too biased towards an Allies victory. The Axis have to get 13 IPC worth of territory just to be even with the Allies, and can only achieve that combined by rounds 2-3. By the end of round 3, if you move your British and American fighters to Russia to hold off Germany, then at best, Germany has somewhat control in Africa but neither Caucasus or Moscow, and British and American troops are either at Morroco (personally don't think this is the best strat, since liberating Africa takes 2-3 turns on its own from Morroco), or occupying France with both British and American forces (which completely ends the assault on Russia and focuses all IPCs to protecting Berlin, my preferred strat since its an instant 6 IPC, equivalent to liberating more than half of Africa by turn 3). Furthermore, if you don't take Egypt round 1 as Germany (which is a given with the gen con mode), this can completely swing the pacific theater. As Britain if you use your indian and Australian forces on the East Indies Japanese fleet with that ONE EXTRA FIGHTER from Egypt, you go from 25% chance of victory to up to 60%!!! It turns the British fleet in the Pacific from either useless or sitting ducks for slaughter to actually impactful, WITH ONE EXTRA FIGHTER. If you win or even draw in this fighter, it gives the Americans an actual chance to fight against the Japanese navy with minimum investment. I personally don't like the Pearl Harbour strat by Japan, since even if the Americans consolidate its fleet it is still not enough to really threaten the Japanese fleet. It stretches your navy thin for virtually no gain in position or IPCs. I prefer to camp out in front of Shanghai and let my airforce help my land units until the US navy comes to me. BUT if your navy in East Indies is lost, this changes things up. This can delay Japanese invasion of India by one turn by Japan reinforcing its navy and fighting back, which basically is game over in a KGF strategy. Japanese needs to reach Moscow as fast as possible to give Germany some reprieve or it will fall too fast. I think just moving the German Bomber to Ukraine (to get wiped out by Russia) with the gen con mode is more than enough to make the both factions pretty even, maybe adding the extra infantry in India too.

[@Forditude69]

Great video! I'm pretty new to a&a so I learned heaps so thanks again!

[@FallGuy-68]

Holding Karalia as long as possible is the key for Germany in KGF. Caucasus only if the opportunity is there. I agree playing good players is the best way to get better and Jan is always in the leaderboard.

[@mr.niceguy3993]

HOLY CRAP! Now that is the proper definition of a freakin Blood Bath. Thanks for the vid, it really gave me a good handful of tips. RIP Manix lol, that was brutal, but gg. Shame that it was the first battle of your tournament. It's gonna be tough for ppl to get Jan out.

[@bob76195]

I'm playing Jan right now in round 2 as Allies and the infantry approach as Germany is so difficult to penetrate lol. He's built at least 7-10 inf on every single turn so France, Germany, and Karelia are locked down as Axis, and it's difficult to mobilize Allies quick enough to put a dent into the defense. Really cool playing Jan though, even as a bronze player I picked some things up.

[@manix429]

It's tough right? Mass infantry are so difficult to deal with. Agreed, it's so useful playing the top players.

[@cadkisson9]

Is the overall strategy to hold out with Germany until Japan can knock out Moscow? I’m having a bit of a hard time deciding what to do as Germany should I build some subs to try and take out the Atlantic navies or just stacks of infantry??

[@manix429]

I think maybe on turn 1 you could get away a sub, combined with fighters on the coast could act as a nice deterrent for the UK fleet for a round or 2. If the allies are going for Germany first then don't overcommit to water. Lots of infantry is the way to go

[@cadkisson9]

@@manix429 Thanks, Germany can get overwhelmed when the US and UK really combine their forces. I've had a hard time with Axis recently, but I really enjoy your videos and replies in the comments. Keep at it, I know there's not a lot of A&A players on youtube, but the ones that are seemed to be dedicated.

[@manix429]

Thanks man, I appreciate that. I agree, the community behind this game is fairly small but loyal haha, and lots of friendly people which is a bonus

[@eb44345]

Great video. I just started playing this game a few weeks ago, and I've been playing as the Allies exclusively. I had been wondering how to get American fighters into Russia effectively. Parking a carrier in the western Med south of France looks like the way to do it.

[@MarkRentonreal]

I don’t really get why in a kgf situation, Japan doesn’t just throw it’s navy at Washington and try to threaten the American mainland, obviously you have to go for India but why not use that huge navy too

[@confusedcaveman6611]

I need to learn this kill Germany first strat, I have been doing america vs Japan so long

[@manix429]

Well worth trying. I think the general opinion in the community is going for Germany as the Allies is the stronger of the two options, unless Japan gives you a big opening to go for them instead. I will say going for Japan is more fun though!

[@davida6299]

So did Jan basically abandon the Pacific to focus on KGF? Or did Jan keep some kind of sub/destroyer/bomber dead zone to try and harass & slow Japan?

[@manix429]

I can't remember exactly but fairly sure it was a full abandon to hit Germany

[@BoldWittyName]

Please can anyone tell me, is this game "live play" or notification based. The last AAA GM I played was on Gametable Online and there you could have 5 ppl in real time playing. Games would take over 3 hours but dang was it fun!

[@manix429]

It can be both. If your opponent decides to stay in the game you can both play live and watch each other move.

[@BoldWittyName]

@@manix429 Thank you!

[@theamazinggoldfish8713]

Any idea where I could pickup an working iorn blitz version from?

[@jamesmills109]

what did Jan purchase with UK on the first turn? i dont see any navy in uk, so im assuming infantry and fighers.

[@samc6930]

Sincerely glad this channels up. How about a lessons learned from your battlescotch game. I gave you a pasting far worse than jan

[@manix429]

That you did! Well played by the way

[@wingerj1125]

how did you get your calculator to pop up in the game?

[@manix429]

I just press the windows key and load a webpage.

[@dhpropertymanagementownerv9167]

How does Manix flip open a web browser without exiting the game ?

[@manix429]

I just press my windows key and it brings up my toolbar at the bottom ;)

[@dhpropertymanagementownerv9167]

Manix Thank you that saves a lot of time

[@manix429]

@@dhpropertymanagementownerv9167 No problem

[@lorvilleredenbacher8949]

hey, wondering if you still play total war?

[@manix429]

I do. I’m getting a new PC soon so i’ll be uploading a lot more total war in the future. When I can finally run it with nice graphical settings!

[@kevind8184]

you gotta a discord?

[@manix429]

Yep, link to it in the description :)

[@jan-hermanrabbers61]

Nice video! I find the bunkbuilds for Germany too boring, so im a way better Allies player. See a lot of similarities with Jan's Allies play but some new stuff as well (chokepoint Kazak) wich is great.

[@manix429]

Thanks :) Yh the kazakh blockade was a new one to me too. Was a nice move

[@bravehome4276]

Thank for for this very informative video! Just started playing. Question -- in retrospect, do you think the J1 move of PH was worthwhile? I guess the follow-up, what else to do with J1 on KGF....

[@manix429]

I think I’d agree, as Japans job in this situation is to expand as rapidly as possible and put the pressure on Russia. Having extra units on the board particularly that fighter would help do that. I don’t think I could have done much more in this round one though, Szechwan was also stronger than normal with that UK fighter so a difficult battle to win

[@bravehome4276]

@@manix429 I agree, a propitious opening! The dice were favorable. The idea of 'no tanks' in a KGF by Germany was very informative to me! What do you think about the BS to SZ13+Morooco versus the attempt at TJ? If SZ13, would you add 1 Fighter insurance, or prefer to land all F in NWE?

[@YoxfordBoy]

Great vid with Jan... How did you converse with Jan? I'd love to converse with him about his strategies and have a game with him as well. Thanks for any help

[@manix429]

Yes we were chatting throughout the match. Was definitely valuable, I could pick his brain for hours on Axis & Allies!

[@YoxfordBoy]

Manix how did you guys chat?? I’d love to have a game with him as well if I could

[@manix429]

He's in my discord. It's a nice way of being able to talk with people from the community since the game still has no chat function. Especially useful when we have community/tournament games going on

[@YoxfordBoy]

Manix oh ok ... is there a community of axis and allies on discord?? I don’t have it so I need to figure out how it works

[@YoxfordBoy]

Manix also thanks for the reply’s I appreciate it

[@pags86]

A 30 year aa vet, board game exclusively, but use triple a for strategy practice, ai sucks though on triple a. Was on game table over a decade ago, but most players sucked and complained when their terrible strategies did not work. Seen many vids lately on this online version, bought it and could not get past the initial load screen. I would love to show all of you how to pressure usa with japan. Kgf is a terrible strategy, unless you play against a novice Japan player. Japan should NEVER pass india. What were you doing in Africa with Japan? Also, you do not need a ic in Asia for japan. It's a waste of money. Transports, then you can easily pivot to the americas. Finally, if you want to take moscow with Japan then you need tanks in asia. Hopefully I can get this loading issue resolved then I can show you.

[@silasg3650]

You took the words out of my mouth. Not such a long time vet as you, but since covid, I've played dozens and dozens of G40 games as well as a handful of G36 and recently a more advanced version of G40. Recently got this online 1942 version to pass time casually. I've played over a dozen games already and only lost twice due to not making my turn in time. Anytime I see the American player neglect Japan, I get so excited. I can also typically set up an army on Burma on round one that can threaten to take India on round 2 if Britain doesn't put decent reinforcements there. If I take India, I always keep it. You can make bombers there to hit the Russia factory, hampering their economy big time. You can also send fighters to Berlin to aid in defense and threaten exposed transports. But when America is entirely in the Atlantic and England has under-invested in India, I buy two bombers on turn 1 to really secure that capture of India. After India is taken, I ensure my navy is such that it would take America an entire turn's buy just to challenge it. Then I start adding and loading transports and the odd carrier. Take Alaska when secure. Begin supplying Alaska from Tokyo and/or position fleet for a landing in west US. Germany should easily be able to hold Berlin with three or four Japanese fighters assisting. The fall of Russia may even be possible with constant bombing raids. And for some reason it seems very popular for American players to ignore the Pacific. I want to grind up to platinum so I can see if they still play this way or if there's more to it.

[@Checkmate54321]

Hi Manix. I was wondering what is the etiquette on forfeiting a game that you know you have lost? I have just recently started online play and I have forfeited two games so far because I knew my defeat was certain. I didn't see the point in dragging it out for my opponent. Is this what everyone does, or should you wait and let them get the win?

[@manix429]

Yes forfeiting is absolutely fine, it saves times for everyone. I have on occasion let an opponent take a capital city or fight a big battle before I resign to give them the satisfaction if it was a good match, but no one will mind a forfeit :)

[@Checkmate54321]

@@manix429 Cool. I really hope they implement an in game chat. It doesn't feel right to me to quit a game without being able to send them a GG first. I joined your Discord and I joined the official A&A Discord too so maybe I can get lucky and find my opponents in there.

[@manix429]

@@Checkmate54321 In game chat would be great, its definitely something thats been missing from the game. Well our 2 servers combined you'll have a good shot ha :)