Best Strategy Games - Axis & Allies Strategy

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All or None

When you have an array of opportunities to take advantage of, but all of them would leave you open to some sort of counterattack by a collective pool of enemy resources, take either none of the opportunities or all of them.

If the German airforce is reduced to a single bomber and the Allied navy is reduced to two transports, and there is an opportunity to attempt an invasion of both Western Europe and Southern Europe, but you are hesitant to expose those lone transports to the German bomber, then either invade both, or none.

By invading both, Germany can allocate his bomber to either transport, but not both (and one of them gets a free pass). If you only invade one, then Germany doesn’t have to make a choice at all, and none of your transports gets a free pass (the worst possible scenario). If you invade neither, then Germany can’t attack either of them and the bomber spends the turn doing nothing.

If you are the Russian player and each turn Japan takes three territories along your border, using a couple of infantry and allocating 2 fighters against each, then you are in an all-or-none situation. Japan has a total of 6 fighters that can be allocated anywhere along the front. If you retaliate by taking all three territories, then Japan has to stretch their forces to the maximum in order to achieve their goal, which means they must allocate 2 fighters into each battle.

If you only retaliate by taking one of the territories, then Japan is free to send all 6 fighters against that one territory, which may likely kill everything on the first turn, minimizing Japanese casualties.

You’re better off as the Russian player to either defend all three territories, or defend none of them. Defending them all stretches the Japanese out; defending just one or two allows the Japanese to have concentration of force; defending none of them keeps the Japanese from making use of their planes at all.

If you’re the US player and are hesitant to invade Western Europe because of the tanks sitting in Germany ready to counterattack, but the UK player goes ahead and takes Eastern Europe, exposing themselves to those same tanks, then that should make it even more palatable for you to invade Western Europe. The German player is then forced with either only counterattacking one of the territories (giving the other allied player a free pass) or must divide his tank forces, which weakens both of his attacks.