Long time reader, first time poster. My group is playing out of box rules and I want to bounce an early round strategy off of you all.
I have played the UK and am tired of watching the French cruiser and destroyer in sz93 go relatively useless, so I propose to:
UK1 move Egypt cruiser to sz93, Gibraltar destroyer, AC and ftr to sz93. One London ftr to AC in sz93 as well. Move the Egypt tt to sz72 and the SA dd to sz81. On land move all units back from Alexandria to Egypt.
Now on I1 Italy faces 2 cruisers, 1 AC, 2 ftrs and 1dd in sz93 (3+3+3+4+4+2). Italy can bring 1BB, 2CR, 1dd and 2ftrs for (4+3+3+2+3+3) if it attacks. If Italy does not attack fleet, France moves to sz96 on F1 and the UK fleet follows on UK2 (possibly joined by UK dd that moved to sz81 and Egypt ftr) before the Italians have moved on I2.
How can Italy deal with this force? It is my experience that Italy must get to Cairo (and beyond) for the Axis to win and this early game combined threat will virtually kill the effectiveness of the IPC starved Italian navy by UK2 or F2.
Thoughts?
Ok consider one thing:
if italy decides to attack the situation is 18 for the italy and 19 for the uk/french but there are high chances
that the carrier is damaged. If the carrier is damaged on the second round italian retreats and the fighters are lost since the south france is lost and there are no friendly territory in the range of one!
If you are going to lose the fighters on the second round you lose a lot of defensive power and even if you hurt the italian badly to force them not to continue the attack, however will be easy for the german air force knock out the remaining UK forces probably with few unit lost.
After you loose a lot of british force it will be hard to rebuilt.
that’s my opinion bye
Panz3er L3ad3r,
thank you for your comments. You are right about the ftrs situation with damage to the CV, I had overlooked that. I also overlooked the Gibraltar dd in the UK/F force for an additional +2.
My primary objective as UK in the med is to slow Italy down as much as possible IPC-wise. Italy is IPC starved to start and if I can force a wasted/delayed turn on Italy’s part it gives the US time to get a force to the med to counter Italy’s NOs. Killing the tts and keeping Italian troops off of Africa is goal #1.
I need to look into the battle calculator for a fleet action in sz96 more closely. I agree that Germany has the ability to make it a moot point by coming in with ftrs on G2 and finishing a surviving fleet off–wouldn’t that put German ftrs out of position for a G2 Sealion or Barbarossa?
Mostly I am curious as to what tactics others use to slow Italy down in Africa (and the med in general)? Has anyone tried retreating into TransJordan? My thoughts are to retreat ahead of Italy into Sudan and try to link up with a tank or 2 from SA’s minor whilst killing Italy’s 3 inf in east africa on UK2 and UK3.
I’ve had some success in the Med by being aggressive on UK1 - bringing all available naval and air units to bear on the Italian BB group. Usually ends up as a wipeout on both sides with UK saving a fighter or so. Granted the UK fleet is gone too but Italy simply does not have the income to rebuild before the US shows up.
Uhm, just a thought here, but OOB, I have the Germans kill the SZ 93 fleet on the same round they sack Paris.
However, if they are not, then why are we fighting so hard to save the French fleet in SZ 93? It’s already serving a purpose distracting the Italians for a round, and bringing the Italians close enough to be spanked by British aircraft and naval craft, right?
Also, the remark about the aircraft not having a place to land is very valid. You’ll have to leave the carrier undamaged until almost the end of the battle to force the Italians to stay engaged, otherwise, it is in their best interest to disengage from the battle and let the fighters fall into the ocean for free.
I’ve had some success in the Med by being aggressive on UK1 - bringing all available naval and air units to bear on the Italian BB group. Usually ends up as a wipeout on both sides with UK saving a fighter or so. Granted the UK fleet is gone too but Italy simply does not have the income to rebuild before the US shows up.
If you can kill the Italian fleet on UK 1, doesn’t that put the French fleet in great position to be useful? They can head to Egypt on F1 and link up with the Madagascar destroyer for a 4 ship flotilla. This will be a major headache to any Italian designs in Africa for a couple of turns–time enough to get the US there. It also kills the Italian med NO and probably kills the Italian Egypt/S France/Greece NO as they cannot reinforce an attack on Egypt. That’s 10IPC (possibly) that can be denied IPC-starved Italy.
@Cmdr:
Uhm, just a thought here, but OOB, I have the Germans kill the SZ 93 fleet on the same round they sack Paris.
I assume this is G1–doesn’t this take away from all of the G1 attacks in Paris and the north Atlantic? How many ftrs do you send to Sz93 and where do you have them land in noncom? We’ve never had this happen as the German and Italian players have always been independent in our games with their own thoughts.
As for attacking France, I only attack Paris.
As for SZ 93, I only need 2 air units (1 Fighter, 1 Tactical Bomber) and with that, I outgun the French Navy. (Though, I do send 2 fighters and 1 tactical, for better odds, I just dont have too.) 2 Fighters, Tactical from W. Germany.
W. Germany to France
France to S. France
S. France to SZ 93
(Battle)
SZ 93 to SZ 95
SZ 95 to either S. Italy or N. Italy
