Thanks for the answer.
Couple of clarifications:
Move up SAfr inf, move over TJ inf.
TJ? transporting from india? Not sure what this acronym is …Transport Jump?
Panama Move is possible, depending on outcome of pearl harbor (didn’t show the japan side, but chances of both ships making it thru the canal aren’t really that high) unless the bomber is used to target the probable surviving Japanese battleship. Of course Pearl harbor can swing wildly due to the small number of dice involved.
Likewise, not really sure in Africa. The S. European transport is assumed dead (it stays as sub fodder) and all german troops in africa are in Libya (4 inf +1 tank) so picking them off is not possible … slower IPC for the german (only +1 in the first round, but safer to leave as a unit until fighters can be diverted or the allies leave an opening, IMO. The brit tank could grab 1 IPC and retreat back to the canal, or grab 2 and end up stranded in Algeria. If its assisted by US troops, it changes the balance in Africa but also significantly increases the vulnerability of the US fleet to a bomber run.
USA BUY
44 IPC cost? Did you mean 3 trans/4 inf and leave the one at home on the coast? (36 IPC)
UK fighters. To Karalia. Doesn’t matter a lot at this stage, just curious.
Note: The bomber is likely available for other duties 2/3 chance as the German Battleship is taken as a casualty in the naval battle to keep the Bomber alive, should it come to that, which it usually does.
The USA W.Europe invasion, presume thats scheduled for round 2, or is it an immediate attack, not really clear.
IIRC USA only has two fighters, are you landing both on the carrier? Or am I forgetting one?
Thanks for the clarifications.
BTW:
Norway evac usually happens, 2 submarines as priority casualties and the overall odds favor this most of the time. Not uncommon to see a sub live, both subs surviving is fairly rare.
Once I understand the countermoves better (clarified) will give you my response.
If I’m understanding your counter correctly, this does put a lot of pressure on Germany
(very probably should have gone after the caucasus in rd. 1, with both infantry assuming a dead zone, but thats a fairly minor point)
Germany basically has a number of options here and they all have pros and cons, does make it interesting though.
1. An all fronts attack
a) A strafe attack with the bulk of the line troops on the Russian infantry. supported by 2 fighters, probably only goes one round, potentially disasterous. W. Europe will have to be reinforced by infantry to cover the contingency of the bomber failing in its transport busting mission.
b) five fighters into the Brit fleet. 50/50 proposition, (leaves Germans with only 3-4 fighters, but British invasion is crippled for round 2, their IPCs are probably sunk buying one round
c) Bomber vs. Transports, Not so good on average, 67% to get one, and a fifty/fifty shot at taking a swipe at a second one. Don’t feel like doing the math, but its not spectacular. Battle calculator states 2 trans is average outcome, but not sure that its typical. However, even knocking out one transport does put western europe out of reach for a round. Anticipating this makes the 2 bomber variant look much better, at least vs USA.
- Overall this is risky, and chances of all three working out aren’t too hot. Variables come into play, and if the initial round fighter ops didn’t go perfectly is definitely not worth considering.
2. Ignore the Americans, kill the brits
Survival odds of the airforce go up considerably if the bomber is brought in with five fighters. Probably two planes getting out of that and the bomber probably goes in the second round. A strafe could trade 3 fighters for the transports and a fighter, but thats a poor choice as the brits only have a small delay there. If you take the entire airforce, you are looking at a pretty even chance of 3 or 4 fighter losses, and a much lower chance against russia.
The US is still looking at facing 4-5 aircraft on their unescorted transports if they decide to take a potshot at W.Europe and will have to rebuild. Buying more time.
A strafe will cost 3 air units typically, but slows the reinforcement window just a bit in Karalia. A mixed response heavy on the soviet front could consider this although most of the airforce needs to be committed to keep the allies from taking fighters as casualties instead of the transports.
Pressure from the Soviets may limit the amount of airpower that can be committed post invasion, but with this many aircraft a run across the Atlantic is pretty likely to be a disaster for the US, who can’t realistically attack until R3 and
will have to consider a N.Sea landing instead of Atlantic.
This strategy does have the advantage of limiting Russian reinforcements considerably, at least for a while.
The Germans still have a fairly sizeable Luftwaffe which is now pretty much designated for defense, but it does force the Allies to be careful in splitting ships off of the main convoys.
3. Fortify
Ok, this didn’t buy much time against the Allied invasion, but it does provide a large pool of fighters to defend the three fronts. The Russians will have to move quickly to exploit their short term advantage. Particularly if the English jumped their troops in infantry out of Asia.
The IPC advantage from the Eastern Bloc countries will diminish rapidly once the almost unopposed Japanese start chewing through lightly held Russian real estate. British Forces in Africa will have to assist the gap in the Mid East fairly soon, or the Soviets will have to divert forces. Round 3 may present opportunities for a more offensive build if the Soviets try to defend themselves as their supporting troops will have to either divert, put new builds in the Russian capital, (either of which shifts advantage on the eastern front which now has counter attack potentials) or hold very lightly against Japan and hope they don’t get crushed by a tank/airstrike into Moscow.
The bomber probably goes on a one way trip to slow down the Americans as each transport killed now, slows the advance somewhat. Alternately if the Germans are willing (and have the resources free) to face a continental invasion it can provide a deterrent to US mixed builds.
4. Dig in and assist Africa
This is a variant on the above, although a portion of the airforce can be diverted to Africa. This makes Europe harder to hold, but does increase the probability of later round IPCs, which can mean a major difference in IPCs for the allies.
It may help if you can lure the British main force into Libya, where it can get massive air support on an otherwise defensive turn. This is obviously not guaranteed to work, but its worth keeping in mind should the opportunity present itself.
5. Hard Strafe
Attack the Russians full on, with the intent of falling back if things don’t go extremely well, as in extremely one sided.
Ideally you batter the Soviet line and then dig in. The ability to execute this effectively goes up considerably in Round 3 after an infantry buffer is obtained. The Japanese factor is also more of an issue at this time.
At this juncture there are a number of tactical options in round 2, which does tend to make an interesting game.
Germany will be fighting tooth and nail, although will be essentially digging in at this point. Given the Highly aggressive Russian stance that the counter strategy indicates and a full on KGF which is developing, some hard choices have to be made. More fighters gives more options and a wide choice of theaters. Each option at this junction will spin the game in a different direction.
6. All in vs Soviets
Germany will take E. Europe decisively, but the tanks will get slaughtered in the counter attack. Karalia gets reinforced by the Allies quickly and you are likely not going to be around long enough for Japan to make its march.
This is generally a bad idea at this juncture unless as a modification to a particularly successful strafing attack which is always a possibility due to the number of high powered units involved. (8 tanks + 8 aircraft on a good roll can create a lopsided situation sometimes, of course this works both ways).
WHICH TO CHOOSE
This is very much a situational decision. The big X factors are in Africa, the N. Sea, and Asia.
The Japanese will be knocking on Russia’s door very quickly and in sizeable numbers without resistance in the Asian theater.
If the Germans keep their airforce in reserve, the allies get a better grip on protecting Russia, but will take a while to chew through the strong defenses in each potential landing zone. As soon as German infantry starts producing those fighters become stronger anchors on defense and can adjust to danger zones. The fighters can also be activated at any given point to disrupt the convoys and create a supply gap. If held back they can also be organized to launch a six unit swing in Russia to assist the Japanese attack. Any weakness in the Soviet line that develops due to reacting to Japan can also be exploited in many cases. Until committed they make defenses very formidable.
If the Germans take out the British fleet, the Soviets will have to provide for thier own defense or Brittain has to make the tough choice of continuing naval agression or switching to fighter production to assist the Russians. If the Japanese can move quickly, the US may also have to make a similar decision potentially creating vulnerabilities in the transport fleet or affecting replacement speeds in the pipeline.
Bomber or fighter. This is a tough choice and will have to be decided in the middle of a battle. The Bomber has no defense capabilities but does provide at least a one shot counter on American production and serves as a deterrent to reinforcing Africa. If the US ship gets cut off before crossing Panama the US will have to spend money on a capital ship or buy transports in bulk (slowing down infantry replacements). The fighter of course can strengthen lines defensively and may be necessary if intervention in Africa becomes a requirement.
ROUND BUYS
Since the full KGF strategy was the response, the buy is probably 10 infantry in R2, a ninth airplane is probably going to leave Germany too weak against the russian counter. Given that all three Allies are throwing 100% of their IPCs at the Germans means they will have to dig in. However, a chance at a decisive blow increases more for Germany on R3 once the infantry buffer is in place.
Had the Soviets chosen to put any kind of effort into the Asian theater a mixed buy of ground units would be feasible, but facing the full might of the Soviet army leaves no choice but to start piling up infantry as fast as possible. Germany goes into survival mode here at least until the Japanese force the slowdown of Soviet IPCs or create mandatory troop withdrawls.
The upside of this is that the Allied advance is slowed somewhat, and the Soviets are going to be facing reinforcement issues either by replacing troops for a while, or more likely because the British fleet is the likely primary target.
UPSHOT
Regardless of the German stance, the allies are slowed down. They have drawn the bulk of the Soviet army in, and can disrupt Allied shipping at will for one round (unless they get an opening at Russia). One turn can make a big difference, particularly when Japan is in a position to maraud at will. Allied fleet mobility is constricted, as Germans can choose to trade off fighters for fleet whenever an advantage presents itself, an option which Germany really can’t afford using the classic infantry build.
There are a lot of risky propositions involved, but strategically I think its more flexible and interesting, and often more effective than an initial infantry build. Just having a legitimate and flexible counter-threat forces the Allies into a position where they can afford fewer mistakes. If a full on KGF develops, it will still take longer to implement, which plays into the Axis position in ways that a static buy just doesnt’ allow them to do. If forced into a complete defensive position, they can continue to buy infantry and shore up the most vulnerable areas easily.
The allies will have to move slower in general and keep their guard up. Strafes which once left the Allies with a fairly low risk proposition now work a bit differently as the Germans will be much more able to exploit a bad opening round, undoing significant amounts of allied preperation. Without aircraft, the Germans had limited counter attack ability, now a strafe which goes bad can quickly turn into a situation where the Axis can deliver a crushing counter blow that forces the target to completely restructure.
Overall, I’m not sure if its a better strategy, and certainly has potential for getting destroyed if poorly executed, but I feel it makes a livelier game that presents a lot more strategic options to the German player. Every game is going to develop a bit differently as the dice color the events. I think that this approach at least presents an interesting set of options and gives the Axis a reasonable opportunity to turn the tables and exploit opportunities which appear, which the classic mostly static infantry defense rarely does.
If the Soviets decide to press into S. Europe the Allies need a way to stop the Japanese and the Soviet army is fractured. Haven’t really tried this, but I suspect it gets pretty brutal in Europe pretty fast, with Russia and Germany both becoming very lean very quickly.
The Germans really have to weigh their counter attack options, but they now have them. If Eastern Europe can be secured in the later rounds and W. Europe is held, then its worth considering a shift in the anti-aircraft guns if a battle line shift is justified.
Has anyone else experimented with this, and how did it work out?
