I need some strategic advice for playing UK in RLP

[OlivieroRuggieri]

Hello everyone, I’m new to this forum.

Let me introduce myself: I’m Oliviero, I’m 53 years old, I’m Italian and I’m a teacher in a school for foreign adults. I played the very first edition of A&A a long time ago; I stopped because I didn’t have people to play with in my area, but I remember how I studied the strategies of both sides in depth to “theorize” the best “initial openings” (I’m a chess player, so I’m “deformed” in that sense). Now I’ve picked up that edition again (which has remained in my heart), but I’ve bought practically all the best A&A games released in recent years: Europe 40, Pacific 40, WWI, Anniversary edition … and North Africa (tell me if I’ve forgotten something worth buying). I can’t wait to start playing with all these games, but for now I’ve started with North Africa (perhaps the most complex, or in any case the most different from the others in the A&A series). I would like to have (if there are people available) advice from experienced players about the strategy to adopt as UK (and Allies in general) because I think I will play the first games on that side of the deployment, especially in the Rommel Last Push scenario. I would also like to have an overview of the various units (utility, best use, purchasing strategies), obviously not what concerns the rules found in the rulebook, but advice on which are the most effective in attack and defense based on the cost/effectiveness ratio.

I thank in advance those who will want to respond.

[Herr_B]

@OlivieroRuggieri Hi Oliviero,
I am anything but an expert player but i have played around 8 games of North Africa at this point (6 playing the axis vs a friend, and 2 vs myself) so i feel like i can give you some of my findings at least.

As the axis, using the known ITA - GER Can opener from global is always a good bet, attack with italy first, Tanks, inf and arty supported by planes (preferably bombers), after that use german tanks with mechanized inf + planes to finish the job. this works best before round 7 since the us hasnt joined yet and cant counter in between the turns of ITA and GER. You also have to try to keep supplies from getting to malta if you can, the 15 ipcs the uk gets can really hurt in the long run, even more so if they get it multiple round.

Now as for allies im not that experienced as i have mostly played axis, but i can tell you this, use the 12 ipc starting reinforcements to get a mix of ind/arty/AT/tanks, i dont know if there is a optimal setup but tank + arty/AT + inf makes a nice 12. In my experience it is your best bet to try to get navy control of the med, to protect malta or to disrupt convoys. So first round UK i would buy a battleship + either 2 destroyers or battleship + 1 destroyer and a sub, spawn them at gibraltar and round 2 you can combine them with you starting navy in the malta convoy zone. Put down some sea mines and try to get 2 fighters in malta the convoy zone to really lock it down. The axis can still try to contest it if they really try but 2 battleships + 3 destroyers + 1/2 fighters + sea mines should be quite a deterrent

You also want to be trying to put as many land mines down as possible, on tobruk, bengazi, mersa matruh and cairo, in the Rommel scenario the uk will be under immense pressure and you have to survive until round 7. Focus on mining cairo every turn. Also try using you starting scout jeeps to destroy as much axis supply as you can, dont use them on 1 territory but try to spread them out and maybe even kill a plane if you get lucky rolls

As for unit efficiency, inf is always good, the matilda seems really cost effecive (5 ipc for a 5 def 4 attack is pretty nice) the downside is they get 1 movement so no blitzing or cheeky flanks. Ive played a game as the axis vs a matilda spam and it was not that nice. If you combine them with some meat shield like inf or arty/AT you get a nice defensive force with the means to counter attack.

Those are all the things i could think of right now, hope it helps you in your coming games.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

[Cornwallis]

@Herr_B i´ve played three games as allies (Rommels last push) and axis won by R7.
Axis bomb and thus destroy the Malta supply ( one piece) and the UK fighter on G1.
I also built a UK fleet in gibraltar but german subs built G2 can wipe those out and buying nothing land for egypt will give you problems.

After UK1 i never achieve in reinforcing malta bc axis figtees and subs can wipe everything you built or send without hamperring their advance towards cairo

[Herr_B]

@Cornwallis I agree that UK 1, 2 and 3 are rough, if you are lucky the malta fighter at least takes out the german bomber, and you will most likely not get the malta IPC on UK2. However, i feel like investing in navy on UK 1 is still the best play, you have to at least try to get control of the malta zone, and every IPC the axis spend on navy is less boots on the ground, losing navy units hurts the axis more than the allies i feel like.

Lets say on UK1 you buy a battleship and 2 destroyers in gibraltar and put down a sea mine in the deployement zone + a sea mine in the malta convoy zone, that leaves 15 IPC for ground reinforcements for the UK, should be fine right? You could buy 3 tanks defending at 5 for example. If germany didnt clear the seamine on GER1 that makes for 2 mines, 2 destroyers and a battleship in gibraltar. Yes GER could buy 3 subs GER2 but that leaves them with only 7 IPC for land reinforcements, they probably need supply so -3, leaving them with 4 or 7 if they dont buy supply, thats not that much. The battle they could take vs the royal navy at gibraltar does not seem in germany’s favor to me, they could probably get some hits but i think the chances of wiping it seem unlikely (I have not calculated the odds so correct me if im wrong).

I think you should try to hold benghazi until UK2, putting every available unit on it UK1 without giving up tobruk for free and slowing down the axis by another turn. UK2 you still get 33 IPC’s and can then retreat to tobruk. With these IPC’s you can reinforce your navy at Gibraltar or buy full land units + landmines. If you put down another sea mine in the malta zone and buy a fighter you can merge your eastern starting navy (Battleship, destoyer + the sub from malta) with the remainder of the gibraltar fleet in the malta convoy zone and deploy the fighter + 3 supply there.

Again, i agree that the axis can still try to fight this fleet, but it is likely to be costly and take multiple rounds so the supply could get out. Its not guaranteed ofcourse, dice could mess up everything for either side but id say the UK has a pretty good chance of getting malta supplied for UK3. Even if the axis throw everything they have at you losing their navy and air units is very costly, especially for Italy. And if they use their planes for fighting your fleet they cant use them on land, also if they lose too much they are leaving their convoy zones unprotected. Making them prime targets for your fleet in case it survives

And yes holding Cairo is still difficult, but if the axis spend everything replenishing their navy and airforce they probably wont be taking it before round 7. (Again the dice could have something to say about it but there is nothing you can do against that)
I try to buy at least 1 matilda and landmines every round so by turn 5/6 you can have a nice stack of tanks protected by mines.

The first few games i only played axis and they seemed way too strong, but the more i play the more balanced the game seems to get. And the most difficult axis games were the ones where the allies controlled the seas/malta convoy zone.

All of this is just my experience however, ive said it before but ill say it again, dice can have a major impact on all of this. But i suggest you give it a try sometime, i feel like the chances of surviving unit round 7 are pretty good this way.

[Cornwallis]

@Herr_B

A battleship, two destroyers and 2 seamines makes for 39 ( 19 + 2 times 8 + 2 times 2).
How do you end up having 15 for land units, they only have sometihing of 48 if i´m not mistaken with the 15 of Malta incl.

I did buy all navy UK1 in gibraltar and it got destroyed. UK2 (33 IPC) i bought battleship and 2 destroyers and they got destroyed as well.

[Herr_B]

@Cornwallis Battleships are 13 IPC in north africa if i remember correctly (Not sure tho you might be right) so that makes 48 - 13 -16 -4 = 15. If your full navy got destroyed (twice) by the subs i assume the sea mine(s) missed as well. Seems to me you got very unlucky, its not impossible for this to happen of course. The germans however will be losing some momentum due to spending 36 out of 50 IPC on subs?

Still, i feel like not investing in navy is a guarenteed loss for the UK, your only other option this way is stacking cairo with 13 units and pray. The suez convoy zone will be clogged up due to stacking limits and if the axis can use all their air power without having to worry about their convoy zones or the royal navy its probably gg before round 7. I will try your situation in my next game to find out for myself, maybe ive got it wrong who knows?

[OlivieroRuggieri]

A&A North Africa - RLP game 1 - ITA3.pdf Ok, I’m exposing myself to public ridicule by posting the situation of my first ever game. We started and stopped the game at the beginning of Italy’s third turn (we’ll continue from Phase 1 of ITA3), I took pictures of the various areas and then uploaded the setup to the file I’m attaching. I’ll try to give you a brief account of the first few turns (from what I remember), to report mostly my impressions. I’m the UK, as I anticipated. Gross errors are evident on the map, errors due to not knowing the map accurately, not being able to create deep strategic plans yet, not being able to predict the long-term consequences of the various maneuvers having to, in these first games, take into account all the rules, the peculiarities of the new units and the combat/supply/convoy mechanisms. For example, I did not mine the border between Tobruck and Bir Hacheim, concentrating only on the Tobruck-Benghazi border and thus allowing the Germans to enter from the South undisturbed, or like the gross error by the Axis to leave Tripoli undefended for the English Scout Car (which was in the Sahara Desert J). The Axis took away my RPs from Malta by bombing it, but I took it back by purchasing Destroyers and submarines and by converging the English fleet of Gibraltar and Egypt around Malta, protecting the English convoy of Malta and managing to attack the German convoy (3 inf and 1 tank will arrive in Benghazi, the rest were eliminated along with the Italian escort). I imagine I will continue to invest in the Navy and any Aircraft for Malta, hoping to be able to slow down the Axis on the mainland and Mersa Metruch to resist as long as possible in Cairo. The point is that, as I have said several times, I still can’t figure out what the most effective combination of troops is both for the attack and, especially in the case of the UK, for the defense. However, it seems clear to me (but this is my first impression) that the only chance of victory for the Allies is (as happened historically) to have control of the Mediterranean to block the convoys and therefore the supplies of the Axis, otherwise holding Cairo I think becomes impossible, perhaps even after the entry into the war of the USA. I imagine Italy will try to overcome the problem and I think it will focus on the restoration of its Navy to counter the English one and try to remove Malta’s support from the UK. This, however, will inevitably take away troops for Africa and I don’t know if the German, (almost) alone will be able to take Cairo (every turn gained works against the Axis due to the entry into play of the USA which will open the second front). I imagine we will replay a few turns in the next few days and eventually, if you want, I will update you. In the meantime, I hope to receive some of your considerations.

[Hansolo88]

@OlivieroRuggieri

Thanks for the report and the thread!

I do believe you guys played with at least one rules mistake: Scout Cars cannot take enemy controlled territories. Attacks against even empty controlled territories are still declared attacks (and can be opposed by minefields), and the Scout Car “Hit and Run” ability forces them to retreat after the first round of combat so that they can never move in to take control.

[Hansolo88]

FYI there is a similar thread on the Boardgamegeek forum:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3480001/british-strategy-for-full-campaign

I’ll cross-post here what I posted there, because I am also struggling with UK strategy for the first half of the full game:

I’ve slowly come to realize just how incredibly weak the UK situation is at the start of the Rommel’s Last Push scenario.

My huge caveat is that I’ve only played solo (sadly), but I’ve managed to see the Axis player take Cairo quite a few times even against what seems to be competent UK play.

In terms of the ground war, the fundamental problem I’ve seen is that the UK only starts with 12 IPC worth of ground units in the “pipeline” for the first 3 rounds. I typically sequence that as 4 infantry, then tank/AT/infantry, then tank/artillery/infantry. No matter how you spend it that’s only 36 IPC of units arriving for the first 3 turns, and against that the UK will be losing quite a few units during those same turns. That’s also against the Germans/Italians getting over 40 IPC a turn right away (going up when they take Benghazi and Tobruk). The German/Italian ground units also come into play much quicker.

Mersa Brega is annihilated on the first turn and Benghazi is indefensible on Turn 2 unless UK throws everything in there, which then means a likely defeat there will probably also lead to the rapid fall of Tobruk; there just aren’t enough UK land units arriving to replace losses. The German/Italian armor using flank attacks and the superior Axis air force is incredibly strong and can melt even strong-looking UK defenses. Defending Tobruk in strength makes sense to take advantage of the fortifications there, and a few more forces will arrive before it can be realistically attacked, but it’s still very unlikely to hold in my experience. Cairo can come under pressure by Turn 5/6 quite easily. By that point the Axis can be taking in over 50 IPC a turn to the UK only getting a little over 20, making it surprisingly feasible for the Germans and Italians to set up a 1-2 punch, usually the Italians attacking first to weaken and then German mobile/air units coming in from 2 spaces away for the kill.

The UK will collect Malta’s income on the first turn, giving it a big pile of IPC on Round 1 which feels great. The temptation is to spend this on a strong navy or fighters for Malta but I’ve found either way this tends to get countered by Axis air/submarines and also results in too much weakening of the UK ground forces. Those ground units purchased Turn 1 won’t actually land till Turn 4 by which point the situation near Tobruk can be very poor, and Mersa Matruh is a terrible defensive position as it can be attacked from 3 directions.

All in all I think Willem’s advice above is really sound. The only ones I struggle with are his #4 and #6. #4 can be foiled by a single sea unit and is also a little sketchy at times in terms of payoff, though I probably need to experiment more; being able to knock out a needed supply token or German tank could be a big deal. #6 goes back to my problem above: you need Malta to have the income to afford defending it, or else you are spending IPCs that should instead have been spent on ground units you will need 3 rounds from now.

It seems that trying to defend Malta but failing is the quickest way to lose the game as the UK. Not defending Malta leads to a very unfavorable attrition situation on the ground. Successfully Defending Malta even intermittently likely diverts so much IPC to naval/air units that Cairo is under risk. I’ve yet to find a good solution to this dilemma.

I am making no claim that any of this is a result of an imbalanced design, or that it detracts from my enjoyment of the game. Playing solo is especially problematic because you can get stuck in a repetitive rut of strategy. I’m really enjoying the puzzle and look forward to reading people’s perspectives on it.

[Matt Hyra]

@OlivieroRuggieri

Thanks for the map! Hansolo88 is right. Scout cars alone cannot capture RP territories.

A few comments on your map situation:
The UK scout cars should be picking off Axis supply (solo attacks). They have none inbound and won’t have enough to capture Cairo if 4 of it is destroyed. Supply Raider will destroy 1, and then the Axis will likely use 1 to defend. That’s 4 supply lost minimum. If the UK is lucky, could be 6. If they are even luckier, could destroy the Stuka which is illegally parked in Mersa Brega. Remember, air units can only land in territories with a friendly control marker.
Sea Mines in 11 and 16 do little. Convoy zones are where they are most effective.
In the early game, don’t send Bombers to Malta. Fighters are much better at protecting the supplies on land and incoming supplies.
Supply cannot be deployed to Sicily, as that is not a staging area. Move it to Italy. Page 25: “…may also deploy AAA, air, and German AT guns directly to Sicily, Sardinia, and Crete…”
As soon as the UK fleet gets into the Malta convoy, Malta is easily resupplied. Then they can attack the Axis convoys.
No reason to leave supply in Mersa Matruh. MM can draw supply from Cairo.
Add 1 mine to the Cairo/MM border each round and the UK should hold.