If Japan does a great J1 DOW on W.Allies, ie:loses just 1-2 inf… ,
how should US respond? It’s first 2-3 rounds of buy?
And UK India? Should it keep its FTRS or send them to the Med?
UK Strategy -"Middle Earth"
-
A lot of people have tried to poke holes in my strategy but to this point I haven’t been defeated when I use it. Most point to the naval base as being a waste of money.
Rather than trying the strategy as demonstrated or taking the time to come to the War Room and challenge me to a game, they speculate that it is a lousy strategy. I’ve seen other people try it but it doesn’t work for them because they don’t buy the naval base or they put their complex on Cairo (big mistake). Honestly, just try it the way it was drawn up and then criticize it for not working. That’s the only way you will be able to see why things are done in a particular way. If you never build the naval base there you will never know how quickly you can build up Calcutta. You don’t drop the units on Persia, you drop them on Eastern Persia. Then you go back to SA. You can also reach SZ 98 from there if you have to.
Why Iraq on UK1?
Step 1 is to secure the Middle East. If you don’t take Iraq then you run the risk of having Italy drop their transport load of units in Syria and then stepping on Iraq I2. You want to drop your complex on Persia UK 2 and move onto the next phase of the strategy, not worry about leaving troops in the Middle East to fight for control of your complex. UK 2 you are moving out of the ME and into Africa with the units that you no longer need there because you were smart enough to take Iraq on UK 1 and there’s no chance whatsoever you could lose that complex. It’s all about timing. You have to move fast to before Russia or Calcutta are overrun. I don’t care if it takes me 5 turns to chase down the Italians from Ethiopia, Middle Earth is about dropping the complex and spitting out units from Persia and South Africa.This has been so successful for me that I had to develop a whole new strategy to destroy Germany if they attempted Sealion against me. London Calling guarantees that you will either be able to build the complex in Persia on UK2 or sink the German fleet to the bottom of the English Channel if they go Sealion.
Rather than spewing more BS about me not knowing what I’m talking about simply because I don’t play Triplea, come to Prince George and I’ll show you how Middle Earth is done properly. I would look forward to finally seeing it defeated.
-
Rather than spewing more BS about me not knowing what I’m talking about simply because I don’t play Triplea, come to Prince George and I’ll show you how Middle Earth is done properly. I would look forward to finally seeing it defeated.
Throw down!
Taking Iraq UK1 is interesting.
I usually go for securing Egypt UK1.
The only thing I can say is I lost a series of games as Allies against Adam514 where as UK, I “secured” the middle east easily early in the game, but Adam ignored this and stacked Gibraltar prevent an Allied western threat. Germany was then able to slowly but surely take out Russia.
Obviously there are more details there, such as that Japan played a very defensive “keep away” etc, but point is, my belief that control of the middle east alone would ensure victory was proven false to me.
Russia is just so weak, that in the end, if Germany otherwise is unthreatened, it will fall. :oops:
-
EDIT: I see that there have been some new responses since I started typing this, but I’ve got to run to a capella practice. I’ll return to the new comments late tonight or tomorrow!
Also, to honor GHG’s challenge to spell out exactly how I would defeat a pure Middle Earth strategy, here’s an outline of the first four turns for the Axis.
G1: Attack Paris, strafe Yugoslavia, and retreat into Romania. Attack British fleets in SZ 110 and 111. Send 2 subs to attack British cruiser in SZ 91. Activate Bulgaria and Finland. Ship 2 infantry to reinforce Norway. Build 1 transport and 1 destroyer in SZ 112; build 1 inf, 1 art in Berlin.
J1: Attack Yunnan and Hunnan; seize undefended Chinese territories. Build a factory in Shanghai and two transports near Tokyo. Stack most of the Japanese fleet near Hainan, with one loaded carrier, 1 DD, and 1 SS in Caroline Islands and 1 DD in Tokyo. March troops counter-clockwise from Korea through Manchuria and Shanghai toward Hong Kong.
I1: Don’t scramble against Taranto. Use planes and remaining fleet to sink any British ships in the Adriatic Sea that are left over from Taranto. Attack Yugoslavia with all slow units from North Italy and Albania. Send fast units east toward Romania to act as can-openers. Stack all east African units in Kenya. Stack all north African troops that can reach in Alexandria, and move Libya units to Tobruk. Build 1 transport in the Adriatic Sea, save $3.
G2: Reinforce Alexandria with about 5 planes, depending on strength of British forces in Egypt. Attack Normandy and Southern France. Attack and take Greece; sink French fleet with air power and any surviving subs. Declare war on Russia, take Baltic States, East Poland, and Bessarabia, start marching virtually all troops east – leave about 5 ground units near Paris to help defend western front. Use Baltic fleet to reinforce Baltic States stack. March Finnish army to Vyborg. Build 2 inf, 8 art in Berlin and about 3 inf, 1 art, 3 mech, 1 tnk in West Germany. Land any air not otherwise accounted for in West Germany.
J2: Declare war on UK & US. Seize Hong Kong with ground units, re-take Yunnan, and send 1 inf from Siam to claim French Indo-China. Use transports to claim Borneo, Malaya (2 transports), and Philippines (2 transports). If Malaya has been evacuated, can redirect 1 transport from Malaya to Sumatra. Use air power to support amphibious assaults and clear out any Allied boats in range of Hainan. Build 1 inf, 1 art, 1 mech in Shanghai, naval base in Hainan, and use remaining cash to build 1 destroyer and then more transports in Tokyo.
I2: Declare war on Russia. If Russia left a thin defense in Ukraine or Western Ukraine, can-open there. Attack and conquer Egypt with the Alexandria stack, two loaded transports, and the entire Italian air force. Move all remaining European units northeast toward Russian front. Move Tobruk units to Alexandria. If Kenyan stack still exists, either occupy Congo or attack a convenient British stack of two infantry. Land planes in Alexandria, build two new transports in Adriatic Sea.
G3: Continue pressing east toward Kiev and Bryansk. Use Baltic fleet to bring 3 inf, 1 art from West Germany to Leningrad; support attack on Leningrad with stacks from Vyborg and Baltic States. If Britain is still trying to stack 3 planes in Jordan with only 1 artillery defending them, as shown in the YouTube video, then use 5 planes from Alexandria plus 2 strategic bombers from West Germany to air-blitz and destroy the British planes. Land survivors in Cairo if appropriate. Stack up any mechs and tanks that survived the battle of Paris in East Poland. Build 9 mechs, 1 tank in Berlin.
J3: Because of naval base at Hainan, the majority of the Japanese fleet is in range of India. If India is weak, take India. Otherwise, deliver 5 loaded transports to Burma with bombardments and air support, wiping out any British that might have been left to guard it. Make conservative attacks as needed in China, slowly pressing China westward. Retreat Caroline islands fleet toward Hainan, and bring Tokyo transports loaded with remaining Tokyo infantry, possibly some Manchurian / Okinawan infantry to French Indochina (you are merging the Tokyo transports with the Caroline warships at the Hainan naval base). Use Tokyo destroyer to screen attacks from Hawaii if necessary. Land all planes on either carriers near Burma or on French Indo-China so all planes are in range of India for J4. Build 1 inf, 1 art, 1 mech in Shanghai, 1 or 2 destroyers in Tokyo, and use remaining cash for infantry in Tokyo.
I3: Retake or reinforce Egypt using 1 inf, 1 art from Alexandria, your two new loaded transports carrying troops from North Italy / Yugoslavia, and your air force. Use can-openers to take Kiev or Bryansk if appropriate. If Kenya/Congo force is still alive, attack Sudan. Build will vary depending on your income and whether British has multiple ground units remaining in Africa – if Britain is doing well, build 2 new transports and enough infantry to load them. If the position is balanced, build fighters. If Italy is doing well, build a minor factory in Egypt.
G4: Retake or reinforce Leningrad and Kiev with enough units to permanently hold them. Clear out any units in Archangel, Belarus, Smolensk, Bryansk, and Rostov other than Russia’s main stack. Stack majority of German army no more than 2 spaces away from Moscow, e.g., in Belarus. If appropriate, use air force in Alexandria/Egypt to pick off under-defended British boats near Suez Canal. Build as many defensive infantry as needed in Paris / West Germany, and then build fighters in West Germany or Germany for flexible use as either defenders of western front or attackers in Moscow. Expected income is 30 base + 9 from France + 6 from Finland/Greece/Bulgaria + 15 from conquered Russian territories + 5 for Norwegian NO + 5 for Leningrad NO = 70 IPCs.
J4: Attack and conquer India with Burmese troops, loaded transports at Hainan, fleet bombardments, and entire Japanese air force. Send destroyers and subs east to harass ANZAC, or, if American Pacific fleet is concentrated near Australia, send destroyers and subs north to screen off the Chinese sea zones. If British stack retreated to West India, attack that stack too using available forces. Continue making conservative attacks on Chinese troops (1 or 2 attacks per turn), with a focus on destroying vulnerable concentrations of Chinese infantry rather than on taking territory. Build 1 inf, 1 art, 1 tank in Shanghai (the tank will eventually catch up with your earlier mech. inf. builds and help them blitz through west China). If Americans are attacking Japan in earnest, build one destroyer and 9 infantry in Tokyo. Otherwise, build loaded transports with destroyer escorts as needed to prepare for capture of Java, Sumatra, and Dutch New Guinea. Expected income is 26 base + 2 from France + 8 from new Chinese territories + 16 from UK Pacific + 2 from USA + 5 from India NO = 59 IPCs.
I4: Expand base of power from Egypt to Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan. If facing major American threat from Gibraltar, build infantry and/or destroyers to defend Rome. Otherwise, build minor factory in Egypt if not yet present. Once Egypt is controlled with a minor factory, shuck two transports from Rome to Jordan every turn (total of four transports needed in fleet), so you are delivering 2 + 2 + 3 = 7 ground units a turn to the Suez region, outnumbering the 5 to 6 ground units produced by Britain in South Africa + Persia. Expected income is 10 base + 2 from Yugoslavia + 6 from Middle East + 2 from sub-Saharan Africa + 5 from Mare Nostrum NO + 5 from New Roman Empire NO + 2 from Iraqi oil = 32 IPCs.
Middlegame Strategy vs. KJF: At this point, all of your powers have a healthy income, you will have taken either India or Egypt and possibly both, and you have some momentum toward taking either Moscow or Persia or both. If America is coming hard against Japan, you’ll need to return the bulk of the Japanese fleet and air force to the Pacific immediately after taking India. You’re only two turns away – India’s naval base means a one-turn move to Hainan (J5), and Hainan’s naval base means a one-turn move to Shanghai or Tokyo (J6). You can build a couple of carriers off the coast of Shanghai to strengthen the fleet as it returns, and land some extra planes on the new carriers. America can seize some moderately important Japanese territories before your fleet returns, but not enough to knock Japan out of the game. You still have your transports, the bulk of your air force, and the bulk of your fleet, and you’re not over-extended anywhere. Meanwhile, German forces can swing clockwise through Rostov, Caucasus, and northwest Persia. The British Persian factory will be nearly overwhelmed from Italian pressure alone, so as soon as Germany arrives, Persia will fall. At that point the Axis will own Europe, Leningrad, Archangel, Stalingrad, the Middle East, India, southeast Asia, and the Chinese coast – more than enough to ensure a permanent economic edge.
Middlegame Strategy vs. KIF: If, instead, America goes hard against Italy, the Japanese will be free to press onward to Persia and occupy the Persian factory using the remains of the Japanese ground, sea, and air forces after the Indian campaign. Japan can build 2 inf, 1 art in India on J5 that can replace the casualties from the Indian campaign and ride on otherwise empty transports to support the J6 attack on Persia. If appropriate, Japan can build a minor factory in West India so as to funnel up to 9 units a turn (India + West India + Persia) north toward Stalingrad and Kazakh to help overwhelm Russia. At about this time, Japanese armies in China should be breaking through the last of the western Chinese defenses, linking up with the Indian forces in central Asia. Italy will need to build nothing but infantry and try to sit and hold Rome and Milan, but Japan has the Middle East under control, so that’s fine. Germany can build a few infantry in France / Western Germany while spending most of its economy on strategic bombers on G5 and G6 to set up for a G7 Moscow kill. Deprived of income and with no remaining fighter routes from New York / London, Moscow will not be able to accumulate enough of a defensive reserve to withstand the G7 attack. If desired, the Japanese warships can sail through the Suez Canal to help defend Rome – you don’t need the transports, so the warships can sail to the Red Sea on J6 and reach Rome on J7. America may eventually be able to take Rome anyway, but Britain’s economy will be anemic – they’ve invested (and lost) most of their money in the southern hemisphere, and so they won’t have a large enough Atlantic fleet to seriously threaten France, Denmark, or Norway. After taking Moscow, the Axis can shift all of their production to the western front, building mostly defensive infantry until the German tank survivors return around G10, allowing the Germans to push the Allies back out of Rome.
-
Hey GHG,
I watched your video. Very interesting. I have a question and a comment.
The question is: you playing this as a no-bid, regular G40 2nd game? Or a BM game?
The comment is: I think you’re missing the possibility of the intervention of the German air force. It could fly down G2 to Alex and thus wipeout any UK ships that dared to come into the red sea or there about on G3.
Also, if Italy took out the cruiser off Malta then it could land its transport in Alex directly, not Tobruk. Maybe a minor point, but that would put more uumf in the Italian front line forces.
Keep it up!
KILL KILL KILL! :mrgreen:
-
Weddingsinger, I don’t usually see Germany bombing London on G1, because Germany is hitting both UK fleets and also France. That doesn’t leave too many extra planes! The strat bombers are needed for the naval battles. Also, Britain can scramble 3 fighters to defend against the 2 incoming strat bombers. We play that fighters defend @ 2 when scrambling against bombing raids, so that’s really bad odds for the Germans. If Germany did bomb London successfully, I suppose I would build 6 inf instead of 2 inf, 1 ftr. That still leaves enough for a transport and an artillery in South Africa, and it offers slightly better protection.
ABH, as usual, has summed things up the way I see it about Sea Lion. I agree with him.
General Hand Grenade, your explanation of why you’re going to Iraq doesn’t make any sense to me. You say:
If you don’t take Iraq then you run the risk of having Italy drop their transport load of units in Syria and then stepping on Iraq I2.
That’s really not a threatening risk at all – Italy only has one surviving transport after Taranto, and sending it to Syria is a very poor use of resources, especially if the UK has already activated Persia. The UK can just take Iraq on UK2 using the 3 Persian units (2 neutral + the 1 you used to activate it), the mech, the tank, and a couple of planes. You’ll have more than enough units left over to prevent the Syrian forces from claiming Iraq on I2.
If you never build the naval base there you will never know how quickly you can build up Calcutta. You don’t drop the units on Persia, you drop them on Eastern Persia. Then you go back to SA.
I dunno; I think you’re just wrong that we can’t see how great your strategy is until we try it. You like your strategy, and you beat your usual opponents in northern British Columbia, and you have fun with it, and that’s all fine, but the reasons you give to support your strategy don’t make any sense.
You capture Persia on UK1. You build the naval base on UK2. You use the naval base to return units to South Africa on UK3. You then send that transport back to Eastern Persia on UK4. That means the earliest possible turn the naval base could help you deliver land units to India is on UK5 – and I think India will often before UK5. India certainly is not going to last long enough for you to make two extra round trips with your transports. And once India falls, what good is your naval base?
So you’re paying 15 IPCs to ‘recycle’ one extra transport that can be sent to India, but you could accomplish that same feat by paying 7 IPCs to just buy an extra transport. That’s not spewing BS; that’s just taking a look at the relevant math.
-
Note: This was written before Argothair’s post and makes some of the same points.
@GeneralHandGrenade:A lot of people have tried to poke holes in my strategy but to this point I haven’t been defeated when I use it. Most point to the naval base as being a waste of money.
Rather than trying the strategy as demonstrated or taking the time to come to the War Room and challenge me to a game, they speculate that it is a lousy strategy. I’ve seen other people try it but it doesn’t work for them because they don’t buy the naval base or they put their complex on Cairo (big mistake). Honestly, just try it the way it was drawn up and then criticize it for not working. That’s the only way you will be able to see why things are done in a particular way. If you never build the naval base there you will never know how quickly you can build up Calcutta. You don’t drop the units on Persia, you drop them on Eastern Persia. Then you go back to SA. You can also reach SZ 98 from there if you have to.
Why Iraq on UK1?
Step 1 is to secure the Middle East. If you don’t take Iraq then you run the risk of having Italy drop their transport load of units in Syria and then stepping on Iraq I2. You want to drop your complex on Persia UK 2 and move onto the next phase of the strategy, not worry about leaving troops in the Middle East to fight for control of your complex. UK 2 you are moving out of the ME and into Africa with the units that you no longer need there because you were smart enough to take Iraq on UK 1 and there’s no chance whatsoever you could lose that complex. It’s all about timing. You have to move fast to before Russia or Calcutta are overrun. I don’t care if it takes me 5 turns to chase down the Italians from Ethiopia, Middle Earth is about dropping the complex and spitting out units from Persia and South Africa.This has been so successful for me that I had to develop a whole new strategy to destroy Germany if they attempted Sealion against me. London Calling guarantees that you will either be able to build the complex in Persia on UK2 or sink the German fleet to the bottom of the English Channel if they go Sealion.
Rather than spewing more BS about me not knowing what I’m talking about simply because I don’t play Triplea, come to Prince George and I’ll show you how Middle Earth is done properly. I would look forward to finally seeing it defeated.
With all due respect, this challenge is somewhat ridiculous. Why not say that if you came to Sydney, I could defeat this strategy (if you’re talking about a no bid game, I’m pretty sure of that). If you only play against people in northern British Columbia, that’s a pretty small pool.
As others have pointed out, I cannot see the merit in the naval base. You could just buy another transport for 7IPCs instead of 15. Only downside is losing a production slot. That also has the advantage that the shuck can go direct to West India as well as Persia.
I also cannot see why Iraq UK1 is needed. UK2 is before the Italians can conceivably get there. I normally take an artillery from Egypt/Alex to activate Persia UK1. This allows a reasonable attack on the Iraqis, although it still needs arm/air to support it.
You clearly like this strategy but the advantages aren’t entirely clear as you’ve explained it. I don’t quite follow the end game of this strategy. Is it to shuck more units into India or Moscow? Something else?
When do the axis normally declare war in your games? When do they control the money islands? How long does Moscow hold? Calcutta?
Having said that, I totally support your enthusiasm and the fun you have in the game. Kill! 8-)
-
Look guys, I appreciate your questions but after 6 pages of answering them I can only say “try it yourself and you will see” in so many ways. What harm would it do you to throw a naval base on Persia just once to see if there’s something to be said for it? Kill!!
-
Weddingsinger, I don’t usually see Germany bombing London on G1, because Germany is hitting both UK fleets and also France. That doesn’t leave too many extra planes!
No, I was referring to G2 bombing London since that is when they’ve will have decided whether to go for Sea Lion or not, meaning UK2’s purchase is hampered by 1-3 bombers hitting. Or possibly even some convoying.
The point being that UK1 is the only time you’re guaranteed to have all your income available to buy as much as you can for London.
-
Ah, my mistake, weddingsinger. The G2 bombing raid makes more sense, and that does increase the risk of a successful sea lion. I guess I’ll have to keep an eye out for surviving German subs! If I can’t knock most of them out with surviving British destroyers on UK1, or if Germany buys a thirf strat bomber on g1, then I may need a more defensive uk1 buy.
Note that if on uk1 you activate Persia and take Ethiopia, you collect 37 ipcs (29 + 1 + 2 + 5)…so there is some room to pay for some bombing damage and still buy lots of infantry. 2 bombers deal an average of (2d6 + 4) * (5/6) = just under 10 damage. With 37 Ipcs and 10 damage I can pay to heal 9 damage and then buy 8 inf, 1 art on uk2. Still almost a full buy.
-
-
With the posted UK1 build of 1 fighter + 2 infantry, that leaves a bit more money to spend on UK2 if a sea lion appears to be in progress. That means that London will have another fighter or two built for defense. A fighter defends worse than 3 infantry, but it isn’t quite as big of a deal as you would imagine because Germany will need some more defense of their invasion fleet because you have an additional potential scrambler. The chance of sea lion goes way down if there is an initial bid so that Scotland gets a bonus fighter.
-
It isn’t too reasonable to ask people to travel to northern BC… not many of us are within a 10 hour drive, or will have other reasons to come within a 10 hour drive of your town. You can master TripleA in far less than 20 hours! I agree that it isn’t as fun as face-to-face games but driving that far isn’t that fun either (or cheap for that matter). If you were within a few hours of a major metropolitan area, the invite would be much more feasible.
-
I agree that building a naval base in Persia is not going to be game-changingly bad in most situations. It isn’t that costly and there definitely should be some benefits of shucking troops from South Africa. That can’t possibly be a major flaw in the plan. The big issue is that a good Axis player should be able to win 70+% of the time against an equally skilled Allied player. The flexibility of the Axis air forces to push power in one direction while still defending in the other direction gives a huge advantage in a no-bid / no-BM game.
-
-
GHG, drive down to Seattle. We’ve got our annual Portland vs Seattle coming up. We’ll be more than happy to add Canada vs Seattle annually too!
Marsh
-
I dunno; I think you’re just wrong that we can’t see how great your strategy is until we try it. You like your strategy, and you beat your usual opponents in northern British Columbia, and you have fun with it, and that’s all fine, but the reasons you give to support your strategy don’t make any sense.
And just how do you know there isn’t a secret cadre of excellent A&A players in northern British Columbia, eh? :evil:
Marsh
-
EDIT: I see that there have been some new responses since I started typing this, but I’ve got to run to a capella practice. I’ll return to the new comments late tonight or tomorrow!
Also, to honor GHG’s challenge to spell out exactly how I would defeat a pure Middle Earth strategy, here’s an outline of the first four turns for the Axis.
G1: Attack Paris, strafe Yugoslavia, and retreat into Romania. Attack British fleets in SZ 110 and 111. Send 2 subs to attack British cruiser in SZ 91. Activate Bulgaria and Finland. Ship 2 infantry to reinforce Norway. Build 1 transport and 1 destroyer in SZ 112; build 1 inf, 1 art in Berlin.
J1: Attack Yunnan and Hunnan; seize undefended Chinese territories. Build a factory in Shanghai and two transports near Tokyo. Stack most of the Japanese fleet near Hainan, with one loaded carrier, 1 DD, and 1 SS in Caroline Islands and 1 DD in Tokyo. March troops counter-clockwise from Korea through Manchuria and Shanghai toward Hong Kong.
I1: Don’t scramble against Taranto. Use planes and remaining fleet to sink any British ships in the Adriatic Sea that are left over from Taranto. Attack Yugoslavia with all slow units from North Italy and Albania. Send fast units east toward Romania to act as can-openers. Stack all east African units in Kenya. Stack all north African troops that can reach in Alexandria, and move Libya units to Tobruk. Build 1 transport in the Adriatic Sea, save $3.
G2: Reinforce Alexandria with about 5 planes, depending on strength of British forces in Egypt. Attack Normandy and Southern France. Attack and take Greece; sink French fleet with air power and any surviving subs. Declare war on Russia, take Baltic States, East Poland, and Bessarabia, start marching virtually all troops east – leave about 5 ground units near Paris to help defend western front. Use Baltic fleet to reinforce Baltic States stack. March Finnish army to Vyborg. Build 2 inf, 8 art in Berlin and about 3 inf, 1 art, 3 mech, 1 tnk in West Germany. Land any air not otherwise accounted for in West Germany.
J2: Declare war on UK & US. Seize Hong Kong with ground units, re-take Yunnan, and send 1 inf from Siam to claim French Indo-China. Use transports to claim Borneo, Malaya (2 transports), and Philippines (2 transports). If Malaya has been evacuated, can redirect 1 transport from Malaya to Sumatra. Use air power to support amphibious assaults and clear out any Allied boats in range of Hainan. Build 1 inf, 1 art, 1 mech in Shanghai, naval base in Hainan, and use remaining cash to build 1 destroyer and then more transports in Tokyo.
I2: Declare war on Russia. If Russia left a thin defense in Ukraine or Western Ukraine, can-open there. Attack and conquer Egypt with the Alexandria stack, two loaded transports, and the entire Italian air force. Move all remaining European units northeast toward Russian front. Move Tobruk units to Alexandria. If Kenyan stack still exists, either occupy Congo or attack a convenient British stack of two infantry. Land planes in Alexandria, build two new transports in Adriatic Sea.
G3: Continue pressing east toward Kiev and Bryansk. Use Baltic fleet to bring 3 inf, 1 art from West Germany to Leningrad; support attack on Leningrad with stacks from Vyborg and Baltic States. If Britain is still trying to stack 3 planes in Jordan with only 1 artillery defending them, as shown in the YouTube video, then use 5 planes from Alexandria plus 2 strategic bombers from West Germany to air-blitz and destroy the British planes. Land survivors in Cairo if appropriate. Stack up any mechs and tanks that survived the battle of Paris in East Poland. Build 9 mechs, 1 tank in Berlin.
J3: Because of naval base at Hainan, the majority of the Japanese fleet is in range of India. If India is weak, take India. Otherwise, deliver 5 loaded transports to Burma with bombardments and air support, wiping out any British that might have been left to guard it. Make conservative attacks as needed in China, slowly pressing China westward. Retreat Caroline islands fleet toward Hainan, and bring Tokyo transports loaded with remaining Tokyo infantry, possibly some Manchurian / Okinawan infantry to French Indochina (you are merging the Tokyo transports with the Caroline warships at the Hainan naval base). Use Tokyo destroyer to screen attacks from Hawaii if necessary. Land all planes on either carriers near Burma or on French Indo-China so all planes are in range of India for J4. Build 1 inf, 1 art, 1 mech in Shanghai, 1 or 2 destroyers in Tokyo, and use remaining cash for infantry in Tokyo.
I3: Retake or reinforce Egypt using 1 inf, 1 art from Alexandria, your two new loaded transports carrying troops from North Italy / Yugoslavia, and your air force. Use can-openers to take Kiev or Bryansk if appropriate. If Kenya/Congo force is still alive, attack Sudan. Build will vary depending on your income and whether British has multiple ground units remaining in Africa – if Britain is doing well, build 2 new transports and enough infantry to load them. If the position is balanced, build fighters. If Italy is doing well, build a minor factory in Egypt.
G4: Retake or reinforce Leningrad and Kiev with enough units to permanently hold them. Clear out any units in Archangel, Belarus, Smolensk, Bryansk, and Rostov other than Russia’s main stack. Stack majority of German army no more than 2 spaces away from Moscow, e.g., in Belarus. If appropriate, use air force in Alexandria/Egypt to pick off under-defended British boats near Suez Canal. Build as many defensive infantry as needed in Paris / West Germany, and then build fighters in West Germany or Germany for flexible use as either defenders of western front or attackers in Moscow. Expected income is 30 base + 9 from France + 6 from Finland/Greece/Bulgaria + 15 from conquered Russian territories + 5 for Norwegian NO + 5 for Leningrad NO = 70 IPCs.
J4: Attack and conquer India with Burmese troops, loaded transports at Hainan, fleet bombardments, and entire Japanese air force. Send destroyers and subs east to harass ANZAC, or, if American Pacific fleet is concentrated near Australia, send destroyers and subs north to screen off the Chinese sea zones. If British stack retreated to West India, attack that stack too using available forces. Continue making conservative attacks on Chinese troops (1 or 2 attacks per turn), with a focus on destroying vulnerable concentrations of Chinese infantry rather than on taking territory. Build 1 inf, 1 art, 1 tank in Shanghai (the tank will eventually catch up with your earlier mech. inf. builds and help them blitz through west China). If Americans are attacking Japan in earnest, build one destroyer and 9 infantry in Tokyo. Otherwise, build loaded transports with destroyer escorts as needed to prepare for capture of Java, Sumatra, and Dutch New Guinea. Expected income is 26 base + 2 from France + 8 from new Chinese territories + 16 from UK Pacific + 2 from USA + 5 from India NO = 59 IPCs.
I4: Expand base of power from Egypt to Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan. If facing major American threat from Gibraltar, build infantry and/or destroyers to defend Rome. Otherwise, build minor factory in Egypt if not yet present. Once Egypt is controlled with a minor factory, shuck two transports from Rome to Jordan every turn (total of four transports needed in fleet), so you are delivering 2 + 2 + 3 = 7 ground units a turn to the Suez region, outnumbering the 5 to 6 ground units produced by Britain in South Africa + Persia. Expected income is 10 base + 2 from Yugoslavia + 6 from Middle East + 2 from sub-Saharan Africa + 5 from Mare Nostrum NO + 5 from New Roman Empire NO + 2 from Iraqi oil = 32 IPCs.
Middlegame Strategy vs. KJF: At this point, all of your powers have a healthy income, you will have taken either India or Egypt and possibly both, and you have some momentum toward taking either Moscow or Persia or both. If America is coming hard against Japan, you’ll need to return the bulk of the Japanese fleet and air force to the Pacific immediately after taking India. You’re only two turns away – India’s naval base means a one-turn move to Hainan (J5), and Hainan’s naval base means a one-turn move to Shanghai or Tokyo (J6). You can build a couple of carriers off the coast of Shanghai to strengthen the fleet as it returns, and land some extra planes on the new carriers. America can seize some moderately important Japanese territories before your fleet returns, but not enough to knock Japan out of the game. You still have your transports, the bulk of your air force, and the bulk of your fleet, and you’re not over-extended anywhere. Meanwhile, German forces can swing clockwise through Rostov, Caucasus, and northwest Persia. The British Persian factory will be nearly overwhelmed from Italian pressure alone, so as soon as Germany arrives, Persia will fall. At that point the Axis will own Europe, Leningrad, Archangel, Stalingrad, the Middle East, India, southeast Asia, and the Chinese coast – more than enough to ensure a permanent economic edge.
Middlegame Strategy vs. KIF: If, instead, America goes hard against Italy, the Japanese will be free to press onward to Persia and occupy the Persian factory using the remains of the Japanese ground, sea, and air forces after the Indian campaign. Japan can build 2 inf, 1 art in India on J5 that can replace the casualties from the Indian campaign and ride on otherwise empty transports to support the J6 attack on Persia. If appropriate, Japan can build a minor factory in West India so as to funnel up to 9 units a turn (India + West India + Persia) north toward Stalingrad and Kazakh to help overwhelm Russia. At about this time, Japanese armies in China should be breaking through the last of the western Chinese defenses, linking up with the Indian forces in central Asia. Italy will need to build nothing but infantry and try to sit and hold Rome and Milan, but Japan has the Middle East under control, so that’s fine. Germany can build a few infantry in France / Western Germany while spending most of its economy on strategic bombers on G5 and G6 to set up for a G7 Moscow kill. Deprived of income and with no remaining fighter routes from New York / London, Moscow will not be able to accumulate enough of a defensive reserve to withstand the G7 attack. If desired, the Japanese warships can sail through the Suez Canal to help defend Rome – you don’t need the transports, so the warships can sail to the Red Sea on J6 and reach Rome on J7. America may eventually be able to take Rome anyway, but Britain’s economy will be anemic – they’ve invested (and lost) most of their money in the southern hemisphere, and so they won’t have a large enough Atlantic fleet to seriously threaten France, Denmark, or Norway. After taking Moscow, the Axis can shift all of their production to the western front, building mostly defensive infantry until the German tank survivors return around G10, allowing the Germans to push the Allies back out of Rome.
This strategy of yours is superb! I can’t wait to try it!
-
Are there any online players who actually use your strategy, GHG?
-
I don’t know, Simon. I don’t play online.
-
I played against someone who used a similar strategy, building up a huge force in the Middle East to block German movement into that theater. The flexibility of the UK air force to reinforce Moscow made it impossible to affordably take down that capitol. India also became a difficult place to threaten. Eventually I saved up the German money for a round and then plopped down a huge Sea Lion assault force to capture London! The American fleet was out of position in the Med to block the attack.
It is easier to execute these sneak attacks during a face-to-face game.
-
In your experience, how well does this strategy work if India falls early say J4? If Japan does a focused amphibious landing against India early, by the time the transport shuck has been established only 1 transport shipment of troops will have arrived in the middle east UK4. There is not one strategy that is perfect, but a lot of concern seems to be directed towards Italy’s ability to threaten Egypt. I would counter this argument by saying that the amount of aircraft present in the mediterranean would give the UK the firepower needed to recapture Egypt if it fell. Additionally German aircraft would be out of position and unable to support early attacks in Russia. The real problem this strategy has, as has been identified, is large amphibious landings by the axis. It does not work against sea lion and it does not work against a calcutta crush. Sea Lion is pretty weak, but a naval landing in India is not unheard of.
My criticism is that I don’t think this strategy effectively reinforces India in time. Units moving from Eastern Persia to India are not fast and only 1 or 2 waves could arrive by J6. The incremental advantages gained in the long term from a transport shuck are really strong, but how can you save India with this strategy against determined Japanese attack?
-
If Japan wants to commit the resources it can take Calcutta on turn 4 regardless of what the UK does. The only way they would fail is extremely poor rolling. In my video all I laid out is how to set up Middle Earth. The challenge is what to do from there with the influx of British units in the middle of the board.
It takes all of your creativity and instincts to properly utilize your position. After securing the Middle East my preference would be to secure Africa and the Med. The only thing that would delay that for me is if Japan is making a move towards Calcutta. As you stated there is only one transport load of units from South Africa before J4, but there is also 3 units built in Persia and the air from the Med that can be shifted to India. What that gives you is 5 ground troops (at least 4 fast movers), any leftover units from taking the Middle East (2-5 units), plus the air (2-5 planes). I’ve had to deal with the Calcutta Crush before while playing Middle Earth.If Japan is going to Calcutta J4 then they will not have many ground units left over after the assault, leaving you the opportunity to retake it. There’s no guarantee you’ll get it back but if you don’t have all of those units there you will likely never get it back. If you do get it back then Japan will have blown it’s wad in the attempt and forsaken the Chinese, the Money Islands, and the Americans who now have the opportunity to turn the table on Japan. The naval base that I put in Persia allows me to throw some units (sacrificing transports) as far away as Burma and Shan State if the right moment presents itself. Bottom line: The Calcutta Crush is not a reason to not do Middle Earth because no other strategy is going to prevent it either.
As far as Sealion goes, please do Sealion if you’re playing against me. I will make that a short game. You don’t purchase your Persia complex until UK2 and by then you will know if Germany is doing an early game Sealion. Forget about Middle Earth and gang up on Germany. After you sink their navy on US3 and UK3, feed them a steady diet of Russian tanks, mechs, planes, artillery, and infantry. Support that with Americans and newly liberated British on the western front. Do enough to keep the Japanese from capturing 6 Victory Cities in the Pacific and burn down the Third Reich.
That would be London Calling;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0ZYQ-C4i28&t=3091sThe one time that my opponents did Sealion and Calcutta Crush on me simultaneously, the assault on India failed due to bad rolling and then I sank the German navy. It would have been a close game if India would have fallen, but it turned out to be pretty one-sided. You can’t count on that kind of luck every game, but then again if the Axis are completely fixated on the UK and determined to prevent Middle Earth it should leave the other nations open to coming up with a way to pull out a win.
-
GHG, I’m in the middle of a game right now in which I have opted to play the Middle Earth strategy. Germany has gone full Sea Lion, while Japan has failed the attempt for Calcutta, and failed to hold the money islands. You outlined perfectly how to counter the axis forces, and I am now in a position to destroy the German navy, and feed the Soviet advance. UK has enough residual forces left in the Middle East and North Africa to hold of the weak Italians. I don’t see how someone could argue against this UK strategy. In my experience the Middle East has been a power house for any power that controls it.
-
I guess the problem is that the strategy is so similar to the standard strategy of the UK taking the Middle East and strengthening it. The only real variation is the two transport shuck with the naval base and Iraq UK1 instead of UK2. Neither of those things have any discernible reason.
Suggested Topics
