Axis and Allies RTS - Recommended Basic Gameplay Settings

As can be seen in the attached image, there are a few important recommended setting we want to cover. The settings at the top should pretty much be left alone, except I prefer the camera zoom all the way out... I believe the rest are default settings there.

On the bottom left you have UI, or "User Interface"
Camera Rotation - Not real important but allows you to rotate the camera view.
Tooltips - will give you popup info on in game tasks and events
Confirmation Dialogs - keeps you from accidentally selling or deleting the wrong buildings/regiments.

In the bottom center you have "Notifications"
I would personally recommend checking ALL of these. You will receive an audio signal everytime and engagement or production occurs. Simply hit the spacebar to jump to the latest event.

On the bottom right you have "Auxiliaries"
Damage Numbers - Displays color coded numbers when a unit is either healing or being damaged. Numbers in green represent healing, and damage numbers are color coded by type as well.
Supply Border - Not sure why anyone would turn this off...? When "ON" the boundaries of your supply border are represented with a green line on the map/minimap.
Elapsed Game Time - This is an important setting for any player to turn on. With experience, you will learn the time to expect certain events, such as airborne and air attacks, and can plan accordingly.

With the popularity of 4v4 Random Games in A&A online play, being able to quickly count how many "bombs" your allies and opponents have, can be very benefitial; and can effect both team and individual strategies/builds for the game. Here's a few tips to help keep things straight.
 

^{Carpet Bomb}
Montgomery  Wavell  
Montgomery, Britian's most charismatic general in real life, is also their strongest general in A&A; so not too hard to remember him. As for Wavell, just think of a "Wave" of bombers.
 

^{V Weapons}
Rundstedt  Manstein
Just remember the Arnold Schwarzenegger film and Steven King book "The Running Man".. Also a bad 1980's dance move
 

^Kamikaze
Yamamoto  Nagumo
For me it's easier to remember the Japanese generals that DON'T have bombs. Mikawa is easy, he's one of the "Eco Whore" generals, and Kuribayashi, whom was portrayed in Letters from Iwo Jima also had no bomb.
 

^{Carpet Bomb}
Chuikov  
Not too hard to remember Chuikov is Russia's strongest general, and has Russia's only "bomb"
 

^{Carpet Bomb / Nuke}
Arnold  Nimitz
If you can't remember which USA generals have bombs, you may be in trouble...
 
 

Taking time to learn the strongest special ops of all the generals will help you quickly size up the strengths, and possible strategies, of not only your opponents; but your allies as well. See Special Ops and Generals for more info.

Commanding a dozen regiments during the heat of battle can be a daunting task. To make it easier, you can select and group up to six regiments at the same time and give them orders simultaneously. To select and group multiple regiments, click on an open area, hold down the left mouse button and drag a box around all of the regiments you wish to include. You can also manually add or remove regiments by holding down [Shift] or [Ctrl] and clicking on a regiment.

Once you have selected a group, you can save it by holding down [Ctrl] and pressing any of the keyboard number keys. This assigns all of the regiments in that group to that number key, allowing you to reselect that group by pressing that number key. When you assign a group to a number key in this way, that group appears in the unit bar at the top of the screen. Note: You can add groups to the unit bar directly by right-clicking in an empty square, and can select them by clicking on their portraits in the bar. If you like, you can also assign individual regiments and buildings to hotkeys and the unit bar in the same way. _{(Source: Axis and Allies RTS Official Manual)}

Japan has many options when it comes to Infantry, and good upgrades as well, such as Special Forces, Improved Mortars, Foraging, Plentiful Ammunition, and more.. While Commandos certainly have their place in the game, many experienced players can't seem to agree on which in better, Japanese Mortar Infantry or Heavy Airborne. So we thought we would take a moment to profile these two commonly seen regiments, and maybe you can decide for yourself..
 
First, let's take a look at the regimental level, with the most obvious differences being that the Mortar Infantry regiment has [2] Mortar Infantry Units and [1] MG Unit, while the Heavy Airborne regiment has exactly the opposite. The Mortar Infantry regiment costs a little less at $65, and of course these these two regiments are deployed from different HQ's. There are differences between airborne and infantry units as well, but we will cover those in a moment.
 

Mortar Infantry Regiment $65

Heavy Airborne Regiment $75

Japan enjoys the benefit of being the only country capable of earning +$30 from all their HQ's (after military surplus upgrade), so their economy isn't harmed by deploying Airborne HQ's as it would be with other countries. Japan is also the only country that can purchase the Heavy Airborne regiment for $75, all others cost $100 (ground deployed version)

Read More.. [Story Continued]
 

The rolling plains of the Ukraine invited invasion by providing no clear lines of defense. Because Ukraine was famed for its agricultural productivity, possession of it meant food not just for soldiers, but also the home front. Situated between Russia and Germany, the Ukraine would be a battleground for the two nations.
 

Situated in a critical position in the Pacific theater, the Philippines could serve as an important forward base for either an Allied attack on Japan or a Japanese attack on Hawaii. The string of islands, often no more than coral or volcanic outcroppings, proved to be the site of some of the deadliest battles in World War II.