Axis and Allies Unit Purchasing Strategies

I am still waiting to play Axis and Allies 1941. It is very hard to get four or five people together when we all live very busy lives. In the mean time I have read through the rule book once and I am strategizing. I have looked at many different aspects of this game and will be sharing my thoughts on these points in upcoming posts. One point I wanted to mention today is the mobilization process.

As you can see from the accompanied chart, there are three types of units that can be purchased: Land, Air, and Sea. Each county is given a starting amount of Industrial Production Certificated (IPCs) and must plan ahead and purchase units best suited for their upcoming movements and strategies.

Land units consist of infantry (3 IPCs) and tanks (6 IPC’s). Infantry units defend at 2, but only attack at 1, however they are very economical units to purchase and a player should make sure that they have at least three infantry units for every one tank in the defensive mode.

Tanks are not too expensive, at 6 IPCs per unit. They attack and defend at 3. Their advantage is that they move 2 compared to infantries movement of 1. Like I mentioned before, purchase 1 tank for every 3 infantry in the defensive mode.

Next are the air units. There are only two of these units, the fighter and the bomber. Fighters are more economical (10) compared to the bomber (12). That is only a difference of 2 IPC you say; yes, but look at the other aspects like attack and defense ratios and you will notice that the fighter is more economical to purchase than the bomber. That being said, a bomber is better for offensive movements. It has a movement of 6 and they attack at 4. Just don’t send your bomber without support from a fighter or two.

That brings us to the sea units and we have quite a few types of units to think about. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. None of these units have all that great of an attack or defense rates, with the exception of the battleship, which has an attack and defense rate of 4. However, at 16 IPCs per unit, you don’t want to send them out without some type of support, perhaps with a submarine and at least one destroyer. The destroyer nullifies a surprise attack by a submarine. The same with aircraft carriers, at 12 IPCs per unit and with a defense rate of 2, you want to provide as much cover as possible.