In the next section – a detailed analysis of each nation’s strategies, with a special focus on opening moves – we’ll focus more on specific military strategies. This principle is self-evident when you think about it, but applying it consistently is the key.įrom these general rules you can really tell the importance of economics. Late in the game, when you are preparing a final push against a capital, you might buy a large number of planes, because by then other troops will not get there in time to help out. Let’s say you’re Germany – unless you plan some really risky Blitzkrieg your first purchase will likely include quite a number of infantry, because they take longer to get to the frontlines against Russia than tanks. There is no point in buying 8 infantry units because you don’t have sufficient transports to move them all right away. Let’s say you’re Japan, and you start with 25 IPC’s. Rule number three: buy your new units in such quantities that you can get them to the front line as quickly as possible. The exceptions are of course capitals and territories that are worth significant amounts of IPCS. Only once you think you can hold a territory till your next turn is it worth putting a big stack at the front line. For your income levels, all that matters is that you control territory at the end of your turn, not at the beginning. You’re much better off keeping major armies together in order to use them for counterattacks. Bigger stacks of troops suffer fewer casualties on average, and so it’s dangerous to spread your troops thinly. Beginners tend to spread their troops out in order to defend every country. You don’t have to hang onto land forever, however. And to get money, of course, you need land. This brings us to our second general rule: economic superiority is extremely important.Ī&A is won primarily by who has the most money. Those IPC’s will give you the economic superiority to finally beat Russia later in the game. Perhaps you can gain IPCs faster elsewhere – by invading a nearly empty India from Africa for instance. If you’re playing Germany, for instance, and you are mercilessly pressing towards Moscow, yet are getting nowhere (let’s say because the British are heavily reinforcing the Russians), this might mean that the Allies have weaknesses elsewhere that you might exploit. The dice are fickle – and sometimes no amount of strategy can help with bad rolls – and so it’s important not to get too fixated on one goal. The greatest skill you need to develop is the ability to adapt. The first rule for A&A is less of a rule than a mindset it is the realization that no plan is perfect. Specifically, there are three rules you should keep in mind: be ready to adapt, focus on IPC’s, and be efficient in your troop production and movement. At the same time, I hope that even experienced players can learn something.īefore we look at each country individually, it may be useful to sketch out a few basic suggestions that apply to each nation. At the same time, there are still some aspects of the game that new players do not grasp right away – so if you fall into this category then this guide to the basic strategy of A&A is for you. Fortunately, the Revised Version of A&A has opened up the game to new tactics and strategies, and allows for a wider variety of opening moves. There are certain actions that seem obvious to veterans of A&A. Axis & Allies: A Basic Strategy Guide for Beginnersįor experienced players of Axis and Allies (A&A), many of the moves and actions will seem either natural or scripted, particularly in the opening rounds.