So I've been trying desperately to figure out the Axis. I bought a lot from a guy and have almost everything - NO DUPLICATES - I'm starting to wonder if I need to buy multiples to make them work.

So I have read everything I can on them and I guess I'm not getting it. I suppress the heck out of an enemy unit - then send the gorillas in (bad dice) but still what's the point? If I just sat back and let my enemy come to me I could have the drop on him several times over via reactions. Is that how the Axis should be played. Controlled stance - not aggressive?

Granted a "You just suck" answer is the easy way out - but does anyone have any sort of direction for me?

Your tactics really should depend on what exactly is happening in each specific game but it really depends on which units you are fielding, the Axis can excel at long range, close up or using a mix of both, so you can really tailor your army to fight at any range you see fit. When it comes down to actually playing a game it really depends on how you think your force could best fight in the current situation. also you will almost always want to put suppression down before sending a close combat squad.

I could give you a better answer if you could post more specifics, like your army list and what situations you're having trouble with.

Also, try manipulating the battle builder towards what your armies strength is if you can. You'd be surprised how much effect that has on a game.

Last night our match was wide side of the table. Off target Shelling. and a point per unit eliminated. He had soviets.

Heroes:

Lara

Sturm Platoon: Improved Command

Kommando trup

Batt gren

Laser gren (fodder

Lothar

Beobachter Team

Schwer Platoon

Heavy Kommandotrupp

Gorillas

Heavy Flak

Recon Grenadiers

Ludwig (proxy model using Flame Luther)

Sniper

I built this knowing my opponent tends to love his heli - but also fields his mechs and typically relies on them heavily.

Plan was for Flak to take out heli, which it did in round 2

But - the army list was construted PRIOR to the battle builder. Isn't that the way you're supposed to do it?

Not sure of all his army specifics - save for KV47, rifle squad, volunteers, close combat squad, a proxy hero, Natasha with pilot, His two command units.

The field was mostly urban, but with his KV47 and its grenades they tore through my Batt grenadiers. I used the laser grens as bait for his close combat unit. Except he just punished me with that KV47 grenade no cover stuff. I probably should have NOT played aggressive, but I did.

Yes, you build your list before the battle builder, but knowing what you have and what he has, you can sometimes (and should always try to) manipulate it in your favor.

For now SSU has almost no way of dealing effectively with armor 7 walkers. You can put a konigsluther and a sturmkonig in a 300 point list. They'll take some damage but should survive just fine.

1st platoon

kommandotrupp

recongrenadiers

snipers

konigsluther

2nd platoon

sturmpioniere

zombies

zombies

sturmkonig

300 points.

use kommandotrupp to repair damage on walkers and the blitzkrieg move to swivel your heavies around to line up shots, use walkers to kill choppers and walkers, counter attack with sturmpioniere and zombies. keep your back to the wall/edge of table. try to build scenario towards eliminate the enemy (185 of your points should be nearly invulnerable at this point) or assassinate. Off target shelling isnt bad either, remember zombies dont get suppressed. A clever SSU opponent will try to move the battle builder to the key positions objective and use his superior numbers and mobility to seize objectives and win the scenario (not the fight) and thus the game. Try not to let them do that, the fatherland is counting on you.

While arty isnt bad in this game, for my money a Wotan AR will carry you further.

Molatov cocktails. These will hurt any armor, including the biggies. Including setting the target on fire, which will make even the largest targets nervous. And there's a platoon option to convert all of a platoon's grenades to cocktails…

Warboss Krag said:

I was attacked by cocktails last game. they did 1 point of damage and 1 point of fire damage. furthermore, if you have kept your command squad nearby, you can cancel the burning effect automaticly and restore damage 1/3 of the time. furthermore, if you have kept the zombies and sturmpioniere on hand for counterattacks this shouldn't be much of a problem.

Yeah, my Punisher got flamed by the SSU in a recent game. I just overran them in return. I never did bother putting out the fire - even with an automatic hit per round, the heavy wasn't about to be taken down.

The trick with the russians is to attack en masse. It sounds like both of you only had a single squad attack you. Since the Armor 7 monsters cost about 100 points or so, then that's, say, almost 5 SSU close combat squads, or 5 Chinese Volunteer squads with the Resourceful upgrade. The SSU demands a different way of thinking when using them: En masse or not at all.

i was attacked en mass. only one squad made it into close combat. Thats what Sturmkonigs and konigsluthers along with counter attacks and effective screening get you. im sure it wont work everytime, nor do i claim this is a 'push to win' army. but for someone having trouble against SSU, this list is effective and worth a try.