Best Strategy Games - Axis & Allies Strategy

Join the MorrisonGames.com mailing list for free Axis & Allies, Risk, and general board game strategies:

Your Name: Your E-mail Address:
Privacy Policy: We hate spam too, and we will never share your information with any unauthorized third party.
UK Strategy for Axis & Allies 3rd Edition

United Kingdom Turn One

If you have 30 IPCs, buy two factories.

If you have less, buy one factory, a transport, and as many infantry as you can afford.

Send Indian destroyer to attack Kwangtung transport.

Send sub against Japanese sub.

Move Australian transport two sea zones to the west.

Move remaining Indian fleet units off Rhodesian coast, fly carrier plane to India.

Move Persian infantry into India.

Move Trans-Jordan infantry into Persia.

If Germany still has their transport and could theoretically invade England, consider destroying the transport and adequately defending England as top priority.

If Germany has built a carrier, you will likely be unable to invade anywhere safely.

If Germany does not have a carrier, attack their Baltic fleet with 3 planes, and perhaps a transport as cannon fodder if it can reach.

If Germany can only counterattack your fleet with 3 or less planes/naval units, invade Finland/Norway in force as a second priority.

If Germany can only counterattack with 5 or less planes/naval units, invade Algeria as a third priority.

If Germany can only counterattack with 3 or less planes/naval units, invade Karelia as a fourth priority.

Move Western Canada infantry to Eastern Canada.

Build factories in India first, then South Africa.

United Kingdom Overall Strategy

Keys to winning:

1. Contest Africa

2. Hold India

3. Tie down/trade with German units

The map changes in the latest Axis & Allies edition have made Africa so much more contestable. Germany is well setup to take Egypt on turn one, and the rest of Africa will soon follow if the UK doesn’t take action quickly. By buying a factory in South Africa, the UK gains the ability to match the German transport, two units for two units. While a factory is expensive, think of it this way. If you could buy two super-transports that could move four sea zones a turn, be immune from enemy attack, and make alternating trips from South Africa to England to pick up troops and bring them back to South Africa, would you be willing to buy a match set of them for 16 IPCs, even if they could only be used on that England-South Africa run? You probably would when you consider the new map’s increased distances and increased difficulty in getting any Western Allied units into Africa. That said, a 15 IPC factory does just that. More importantly, it keeps Africa in play, and those critical IPCs that in the long run will make or break Germany. Once your UK planes (or more likely, US planes) take out the Mediterranean fleet, Africa will be solely yours (unless the Japanese get involved of course).

However, the Japanese probably won’t have too much free time on their hands with a UK factory in India producing three infantry a turn. Backed up by Russian infantry filtering down through Persia, India will become a massive tidal wall to hold back the Japanese tsunami from swamping Asia. India is the main key to keeping pressure off of Russia, restricting Japanese income significantly, and not letting Japan dictate the pace of the game in Asia.

Far less important than it was in the earlier version of Axis & Allies, the UK still wants to tie down German troops, particularly in Western Europe. By landing troops in Karelia, Finland/Norway, or Archangel, the UK can also help Russia at reclaiming land, and fighting some of those nickel-and-dime, back-and-forth battles on the Eastern front, using a few infantry on the ground supported by planes in the small skirmishes. Remember that when a choice presents itself, landing units in Archangel or Karelia are certainly better than landing in Finland/Norway as the units are then much closer to frontline action, and it saves them a turn in the Russian aid pipeline.

Depending on circumstances, if the UK does go after Algeria, they could invade with four ground units. Then the US could reinforce with four ground units and a fighter. From there Germany’s position in Africa is threatened and may even more quickly take Africa out of play for Germany. Allied planes based in Algeria could attack the Mediterranean fleet and the Allied navies off the coast threaten Southern Europe and force Germany to defend it and worry about their soft underbelly. If the Japanese had any desire to land a couple of fighters in Libya, that interest would definitely be lessened as well, since Libya would likely fall next.

Although only one UK battleship will usually survive the first round, try to maximize your ability to take battleship bombardment shots since they’re free. Germany may not leave you with any opportunities, but it’s a nice way to kill an easy infantry when those opportunities do come around.