Help with playing UK

[unmerged(42610)]

Sorry if this has been answered somewhere before, but I am new to the game (great game by the way, I used to play Axis and Allies a lot, wanted more detail, HOI gave it to me in more ways I can imagine).

When I started playing it was the USA, progressing from easy to hard, won them all so I decided for a change, being the UK.

The problem was as the USA, I could do everything myself.

I'm now with the UK, and Russia is getting an absolute whipping by 1942, the entire front past Stalingrad. I alleviated it somewhat by shipping some oil/coal/steel to Russia, I noticed their output went up and they acheived parity in troops when prior it was just a massacre. The side effect it now I have acute shortages and my IC drops at times.

To try and alleviate the problem and I know I need to create a second front. The problem is however is I can't do it on my own, IC and Manpower just isn't there. I've taken military control of all canadian forces outside of the pacific. It's 36 divisions, but still isn't enough.

Basically I know I need the Americans, but under AI, they just never seem to do intelligent things, Dumping soldiers off in Yugoslavia, dropping 1 division on the french coast against 6 axis div's, then the transports leaving so the div gets annihilated, str bombers flying into Sperrle's 21 fighter stacks.. etc.

All I am trying to say, I know I need US forces, do people who play the UK take military control of the US all the time when they play, at the moment I can't see the AI control of the US ever being reliable enough.

To be honest, it extends to every nation except the Big axis 3 in Germany, Italy and Japan. It seems their AI is efficient compared to the French, Belgian, Dutch, USA, Australian, etc forces.

 

[dojoboy]

..., do people who play the UK take military control of the US all the time when they play, at the moment I can't see the AI control of the US ever being reliable enough.

Yes, people do take control of the US when playing the UK, but not always. Usually, the US will give you expeditionary forces once they land them in Europe. I found this is enough versus taking over all their forces. But, you can't always depend on them giving them to you. Is the US in the war against Germany in your game?

Hey, you're not really Kurt Angle, are you?

 

[HJ Tulp]

How are you MP wise? In numbers please
Are you sure that you get all the rescourses of your colonies? If so then I think it might be wise to step a little bit down on your Russia helping program Just give them what you can spare but not more. Have you taken out the Italians allready? With a bit of luck you can push through the German underbelly. Maybe it's wise to wait until the Germans to a invasion, even if it's only a couple of divisions and then send a number of your own, expaning the beachhead a bit, usually the Yanks send more after that though often not sufficiently. Like I said, take out the Italians

 

[unmerged(42610)]

How are you MP wise? In numbers please

Heheh, low, about 140. I never had a problem with manpower with the USA, so the manpower politicians I overlooked until late into the war.

My land forces in europe
2 x 9div armies with tanks and mechs
1 x 12 div infantry army
4 x 9 div infantry armies
2 x 9 div marine armies
+
4 x 9 div canadian armies

Are you sure that you get all the rescourses of your colonies?

Yeah, all of them are giving me plenty. I just have my IC output near 600, so even now I only run at small surpluses. I gave a ton to USSR, and dwindled to a small amount. It's OK now, I've played for another 12 months and my resources are under control.

f so then I think it might be wise to step a little bit down on your Russia helping program Just give them what you can spare but not more. Have you taken out the Italians allready?

I've been reading a lot here, and I play Vanilla 1.06c, in regards to AI airplane stacks.

The soviets have no airforce, so every single time I invade anywhere in europe, the entire luftwaffe comes to my theatre.

Now I don't mind this in most battle, I have 2 x 9 air groups both containing Spitfire IX's, and I blow virtually all bomber stacks up to 12 squadrons out of the sky, same as any fighter stack up to 6.

Also 1x9 stack of tact bombers

The problem is I get stacks like Sperrle and Kesselring with 21+ fighter stacks, and whenever my air groups come into contact with this, he blows the hell out of it and it's org goes to zero, and my planes are out of action for a while.

So where this affects my italian campaign, I can't annex it unless I capture the cities up north, and without free airspace (which I can't achieve), it's near impossible to get these mountainous regions to knock Italy out of the war.

With a bit of luck you can push through the German underbelly. Maybe it's wise to wait until the Germans to a invasion, even if it's only a couple of divisions and then send a number of your own, expaning the beachhead a bit, usually the Yanks send more after that though often not sufficiently. Like I said, take out the Italians

I really do commit a very effective breakout of normandy, fromlast time I saved it, I had Caen, through to Paris, down to the spanish border and toulouse. By this time however my forces were spread thinly. This is where I need the US, is to hold my line. The AI doesn't do this, and god knows what the AI does for the USA, it has it's fleet destoyed by the Jap's in the Pacific, it has Patton with 1 division guarding panama.

And in all this time, all of the luftwaffe is in my theatre, and all of Germanies new units get deployed to my theatre.

The positive is whenever I do this, Russia does claw back some ground

I really think I need to start again from 36 and use the MP ministers, I just feel I'm too far behind MP wise.

 

[Christian D]

With UK, I make vanilla infantry mainly, and some destroyers and perhaps transports. You can prevent France from ever falling. Even if you dont make significant advances into Germany sooner or later the SU will declare war on Axis, or the other way around, and then its all over.