Axis and Allies: Classic

There is an old war game on my shelf that is battered and well used. I’m talking about Axis and Allies: Classic from 1984

This game is for up to 5 players. You can play with less, each person taking control of multiple world powers. This game is set in world war two. Russia has just joined the war and Pearl Harbour has yet to happen. The Goal is to conquer and hold at least 2 opponent capitals. The game incorporates land, air and naval warfare.

The Axis players are Germany and Japan. The Allies players are Britain, Russia and the US. Here is a break down of each player’s position.

The first player to go will be Russia. This player has the weakest military and the lowest income. Most players hate playing Russia but this is the most challenging role. Also as it was in World War 2 Russia is a key player. Russia keeps the Axis powers divided in their efforts, Japan fighting on two fronts and Germany fighting on three. If Russia can keep in the game long enough the Axis powers must divide their forces, giving the other allies softer invasion points.

The second player will be the Germans. This is the strongest player in terms of might. Making this the most desired player. However the German position starts where World War 2 takes a turn for the worse for Germany. Even the smallest mistake in planning or execution of tactics can end game for the German player.

Player three is Britain. This player has forces and territory scattered all over the map. This player needs to build a strong navy and/or air force in order to be effective in the game. Focus should go into planning a D-day style invasion but also in playing a support role for the allies.

The fourth player is Japan. This player is stuck on islands in the pacific and must decide on whether to perform a Pearl Harbour invasion on the first turn or not. Attention will be divided over the Americans across the pacific and the Russians in mainland Asia. There are some British and American holdings nearby that can be invaded.

The last player will be the Americans. This is the wealthiest of players however they are stuck on a completely different continent than the war. Transporting forces into the conflict will be a major concern.

Here is a list of my tactical advice:

Buy infantry. The backbone of any military is the infantry. All the expensive units you have could be easily destroyed without the protection of infantry. Infantry units will win the war for you.

Protect your more expensive units. Keep tanks and bombers away from the front lines. These can travel for a distance and do poorly on defence. Only utilize them for attack and pull them back from the attack zone at the first opportunity. Tanks and bombers are solid gold for attack. They are not worth throwing away in an attempt to defend ever. Save these units for key battles.

Speaking of bombers, don’t waste them on bombing runs. During the actual war bombing runs barely made a dent in production. A bomber is worth 15 production credits whereas they eliminate 1 to 6 credits (average of 3) on a bombing run. The cost to benefit ratio is stupid. Having a bomber shot down attempting to make your opponent not buy 1 more infantry unit does not make sense. Again save bombers for key battles.

Don’t bother with research. Research is expensive and there is only a 1 in 6 chance it would yield anything. Put the money towards units which are more effective in winning the war. Whenever I am successful getting a technology it’s usually something I can’t use like rockets for Japan, or attack submarines for Russia. Every player dreams of getting that awesome combination of long range aircraft and heavy bombers but I almost never see it.

If it looks like a territory will likely be lost move antiaircraft out of there. This unit can be captured by your enemy and makes your counterattack more risky. This is especially true if your enemy won’t be using many aircraft.

A single infantry unit can stop an enemy tank blitz. Territories with less strategic value can be defended by a single infantry unit while concentrating your forces in key territories.

Remember you are allies. Taking a hit or softening up a target for an ally to follow up on can win you the war. Just because you aren’t making progress doesn’t mean the war effort isn’t. Liberate your allies’ territories.

Hold Africa. This continent has few units and could be easily conquered by either side if they devote enough effort. It is rich in resource points and can tip the economic scales to either side.

Eliminate your opponent’s navy. The navy is extremely important to moving around the map. Several powers will require a navy in order to be effective in the war effort.

The Axis powers lost the war for two reasons: Pearl Harbour brought the attention of the Americans onto the Japanese and the prolonged war in Russia cost the Germans. Japan player, forget the Americans for the first few turns and focus on weakening Russia. The Americans will take several turns to build their military enough to concern you.

Russia is the key to victory. Like I said before, this power divides Axis attention. If the Axis powers eliminate Russia they can fight back to back against the other two world powers. Also they are only one victory away from winning the game. Axis powers: focus on eliminating Russia quickly. Allied powers: make sure that doesn’t happen!

Germans pull back from the Ukraine territory. It is better to defend the single territory on your Eastern front because if it is lost the next to fall is your capital. Your invasion into Russia will usually happen through Karelia. The lost income will be made up by your invasion into Africa and the Russian gain should be countered by the Japan player’s efforts. Leave a single infantry unit to hopefully take units out in the Russian Attack.

Allied forces should focus on taking out Germany first. In the war it took the involvement of all of the allies to accomplish this, it will require this in game too. Americans this means don’t focus solely on Japan. Help with defending Africa and Russia. Participate in attacking Germany. All of the allies should eliminate Germany’s navy preventing them from supporting the invasion of Africa. Britain: Build a large army and navy and Sabre rattle about invading somewhere in northern Europe, Americans do the same but include southern Europe. This forces the German player to build defences all over Europe and blunts their power for invading Russia. If an opportunity arises to get a toehold in the richer provinces of German held Europe take it.

To finish this off, this game does have issues of balance but that fits in with the status of nations in World War 2. There are better designed games out there but this one really works well and is fun to play. It’s a perfectly good way to spend a day with friends, and you will spend a day on this game with epically long turns and set up. I have played numerous games where the board is covered in stalemates or certain territories switch hands every other turn. Eventually someone will have to make a D-Day style all or nothing gamble which will decide the fate of the game.