Okay, I've played this game way more than I should have been over the last seven years - both the original WoW and WoW:AWD.
Invariably, I play as the Axis powers. Over time, I've gotten a strategy which works most of the time - say about 90%.
Basically, the key is to defeat USSR as soon as possible, compressing them east-west with both Japanese and German forces. Japan then manages a holding strategy with powerful carrier forces in the pacific, while Germany builds fighters.
Subsequently, you use german u-boats + heavy bombers to confound allied navy in the atlantic, and Japanese Carriers to frustrate them in the pacific.
Strategy as follows:
Germany:
Build order is to have 18 panzers ready for barbarossa, plus an artillery.
Research order to for tanks, infantry, fighter speed. Later, u-boat research can be added.
Shift transports and navy into the baltic. Use a minimum of forces to knock out eastern poland. Make sure you shift enough artillery to west germany on the same round, also move your panzers back to east germany after attacking poland to ensure they can join in the the attack on east france next turn.
Attack east france, create vichy. Ignore netherlands.
Shift some forces to austra for attack on Yugo a bit later.
Shift entire italian fleet to engage Wallied fleet, if lucky you will be able tot drive them out from east med. Transport infantry, artillery, fighter and bomber to africa. Must take out cairo ASAP. Once taken, garrison w/infantry, artillery, and 1 militia. Subsequently send probing attacks to eventually seize iraq.
With Cairo down, shift forces back. If lucky yugoslavia coup occurs quickly, so attack and occupy. Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary if lucky are now axis.
By fall 41 have 8 panzers in east prussia, 10 in romania, a paratroop + a heavy bomber in east prussia. Poland is occupied by militia. Infantry and artillery are distributed evenly between Army groups north and south. So are bombers. Supply is also concentrated in these two zones.
Attack USSR. Open with infantry+artillery assaults on kiev, baltic states.
Don't involve more forces than necessary in these initial attacks, so long as aim is satisfied to annihilate Soviet forces instead of making them retreat in both these initial assaults..move unallocated infantry and artillery inland using rail afterwards. Follow up with double-move panzer thrust to leningrad from east prussia, double move minor panzer thrust to the province north of kiev from romania, paradrop to province just south of baltic, and double-move with remaining southern panzers to kharkov. The first attack should be baltic states, then the paradrop into velikiye luki ... this is necessary to funnel withdrawal of southern USSR forces away from the immediate moscow front
Use fighters to attack VVS air power as it retreats, and bombers to knock out choice rail lines/factories which you have not taken. You must make it expensive for USSR to withdraw forces.
Use supply to fully repair all rail lines. Move up infantry and . artillery not used in the initial wave.
If lucky Finland is now axis. Have Finn armies cut off murmansk. Advance east, send northern panzers on wide flanking movement to threaten Gorki/Kazan, southern panzers to stalingrad. When russian fleet later enters black sea, bomb them, and move out your transport (if you want to risk it, you can move out your transport and shadow them with bombers on the attack turn, but then you forfeit chance to hit rail.
Wide flanking movement will now threaten Urals within three turns of barbarossa. As well moscow is surrounded. Inf+artillery will accumulate near moscow. Attack them head on with support from panzer detachments, with tech advantage losses will be favorable to you, Moscow will fall after two consecutive assaults at most.
Mop up in the Urals. Divert research and production to fighters, u-boats. Build supply heavily in first turns post-ussr victory to repair resources and factories, and moderately heavily thereafter to support Japan via land-lease.
Japan:
Idea is to simultaneously bomb out China war production, and attack USSR in tandem with Germany.
Empty your islands of militia and artillery, and supply. Take that one chinese province, and then, start building three heavy bombers,
Research infantry, ASW for light fleets, heavy bomber attack and ALL six relevant areas for Carriers air groups - speed, evasion, air attack, ship attack, torpedo attack, sub attack. You'll need this later. But considerably later. Research only one point at a time for carrier air groups.
When france turns vichy, Siam turns pro-axis, make sure you have a transport there to pick up resources.
Start buidling three heavy bombers for china
Build an extra infantry.
Keep two carriers in production queue in addition one already being built , time production of carrier air groups to arrive in 43, so freeze their production when you need/supply research and only invest in their production during turns you can afford it. But you must have them within a turn after US enters war. So IJN should initiate construction, but only selectively allocate resources when necessary.
Bomb chinese factories using all air power, only using Carrier groups when risk is non-existent. If light bombers cannot reach factories, use them to attack vulnerable chinese infantry w/o protection of flak.
Shift a heavy fleet into sea of Japan.
All Infantry, artillery should be concentrated in Manchuria, together with all suplly you can spare. One barbarossa turn, suspend strategic bombing campaign on china and attack first the province west of vladivostok, and then throw everything at Vladivostok. Use air power as well. Don't underestimate the russians here, you must seize both provinces in turn one. Once taken, repair both resources.
Delay on repairing all your damaged infantry, instead focus on research and supply, while creeping westward, and also northward with your army across russia. Be ginger, take one province at a time, and don't ignore the "northern provinces" either which don't have rail lines.
After a couply of turns your should be putting the squeeze on USSR with German allies. Needless to say, China should at this point be at effectively at zero production.
When russia is down, germany diverts supply production to support japan (and later on, vice versa as well) But the flow most of the time will be Germany --> Japan, at about 10-15 supplies a turn so that Japanese allies can focus on their carrier research to handicap Allied navy.
In prep for Allied war, withdraw transports from pacific except where necessary (that is along coast of asia). Move out carrier fleet just one zone away from Japan, and wait.
Keep critical transports well protected by destroyers. Keep an additional destroyer in build queue.
When war starts, use own subs for recon. Your target is USN carriers, and USN heavy fleets. When they creep forward, you move your carriers strike group forward, launch an attack and withdraw. Hit them hard with a concentrated Kido Butai carrier air force. Your tech advantage will give you only nominal losses.
When enemy subs appear, hit them offensively with carriers strikes. They will still cause trouble for you, but after a couple of turns they will be under control. A couple of transports is no big deal for IJN at this point.
Have other Carriers Air groups in production queue, you'll need them land -based to harass allied shipping and fleets.
Keep carriers on guard in pacific.
Once russia is effectively out, shift forces to Indochina, occupy Malaya, Luzon to taste. Garrison heavily. Creep to burma if feeling bold, use bombers to harass allied transports around india/Indonesia.
End up with six carrier fleets, one in group of four in the general sea zone south-east of japan, one in a group of two in the zone east of japan. These can support each other offensively, and can also be supported by rebased land fighters on island for protection in case Allied navy is aggressive. Allied navy will be very hard pressed to handle this force. Meanwhile, axis subs can roam the pacific via cairo (if italy does well in the med, and produces a sub every now and then)
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At some point towards middle-end of the strategy , you should have three new factories started in production in East Germany, and 3 new factories being built in Kyushu (as Japan)...to take advantage of all the resources you should get. Only do this though as you closely approach approach your production limit.
Some other points:
Once VVS/Soviet air force is knocked out early in barbarossa, move fighters to W. Germany for guard duty.
Italian factories should continuously build Heavy fleets and Light fleets all through, concentrate forces in the central med, and this fleet must always be covered by a fighter unit while in the central med to stop allied carrier attacks.
Ignore the Soviet forces in which get surrounded in east poland, they shouldn't be in supply, if they are, keep nominal militia in areas surrounding them in Hungary, Romania, East poland, etc.
Don't bother repairing resources in france early in game, or even in yugoslavia, poland.
Romania+Hungary should gradually build militia to garrison russia so that german forces can be withdrawn. This is important since allies will likely attempt a landing in europe, and if successful will have to be faced down ASAP by full force of wehrmacht to drive them back. Also, greece and netherlands might turn spontaneously allied at later stages, so you need forces to handle them which are near at hand.
Vichy will only be garrisoned by militia during early stages.
Take denmark only when it becomes necessary, garrison with flak and militia.
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I have found that AI really can't handle this strategy, at all.
However, I know human Allied/SU opponent will mangle this lopsided Axis emphasis on Soviet attack.
Just sharing tips for the new players.
Thus. Here's a pic of a lineup on the german side in fall '41, just as barbarossa is going to be launched. note in this game hungary didn't join axis, but that isn't critical...what is critical is that romania joins so that the army group south is in position, and to a lesser degree that that finnish support is available post conquest of leningrad.
