1st Round action with UK N. Africa naval forces

[Dawkland]

Ok need some opinions concerning Uk’s first move with their Med fleet.  Attacking the lone Italian destroyer and transport is a must.  I like to use my cruiser from the Atlantic side of Gibralter and my fighter from gibralter and land it on malta cause now there’s no more airbase on Gibralter.  Ok the conundrum stems from the three available options from the rest of the British Med fleet.  Option 1: Attack the Italian Battleship and cruiser in the Adriatic plus it’s fighter cover.  Option 2:  Stay put off the coast of Egypt and let the Italians attack so now you have your carrier involved which defends at a 2 and can absorb 2 hits.  Option 3: Retreat the fleet to India to help defend against the Japanese onslaught against Calcutta.  I like option 2.  I know it doesnt seem very aggressive but I think it’s important to slow Italy’s advancement as much as possible.  I dont like attacking because the odds are so stacked up against the UK.  You have 3 fts if Germany landed one in S. Italy a Battleship and Cruiser vs. a destroyer, cruiser, ftr, and Tac.  Uk would be lucky to take out 2 planes and do damage to the battlehip.  If you defend you’re taking on the Italian fleet from both seazones but you have 2 extra hits from the carrier an extra die at 2 plus only two ftrs attacking at a 3 instead of three ftrs defending at a 4.  Neither option is great but 2 seems like the lesser of all evils to me.  I dont like option 3 because it allows Italy to grow too quickly and by the time the US is trying to bust into the Med they have to deal with a huge Italian fleet.  Your thoughts?

[Guest]

How about this:
Cruiser, Malta fighter, and Tac sink the destroyer and transport in z96.
Cruiser from z91 moves to z94.
Destroyer, Carrier and planes from z96 battle go to z92.  (or destroyer goes to z94 if z91 cruiser has been sunk).
Any and all ships from z109 and z110 also go to z92
The z98 transport picks up malta AA and inf on the way and drops them on Gibraltar
Fly the Gibraltar fighter to London.

On France’s turn, you load infantry from Morocco and Algeria onto the transport.
On UK’s next turn you can get the fleet home with 2 french infantry (plus an AA and infantry if the Germans left z109 alone for some reason).  If you have the destroyer you can kill any German subs in z109 and not have to spend $8 on a new one.

[BombsAway]

Sz 97 is a good option but requires you to use air power from London/Scotland, making sealion that much easier.  This will put Italy down 2trn making it difficult for them to build their economy to replace losses.  I also like the option of retreating to sz 81.  If Italy’s not careful they could give UK plenty of attacking opportunities in the med rnd 2, and by this time you will know if Germany is committed to sealion.  It also has more flexibility as you could eventually merge that
fleet with the Pacific fleet to threaten Italy or try and defend India.

[WILD BILL]

Most of the UK options are reactive to what Germany did/built G1.

If Germany built a carrier and 1-2 tpts (Sea lion?) then as the UK you take out the Italian dd/tpt in sz96 w/air power (hope they miss). NCM all fleet to sz 92 (Med & anything left in the Atlantic), leaving the UK dd from sz98 in sz94 to block out the Italians (French in sz93 completes the block out). You could also bring ground or AA to Gib to attempt to get them to London when your facing Sea lion, and use your fleet as best you can on UK2. The Italians can take Algeria giving the Luftwaffe a landing place after an air assault on your navy in sz92, but they will be out of position for Sea lion, and down a few planes. If they don’t attempt to kill your fleet maybe place it in sz110 to force the Germans to hit it as they Sea lion (changing the odds of the amphib), or force them to amphib from sz109 (or abort). If they go around to sz 109, then you have lost London, but the German fleet is more vulnerable to a counter attack. Hopefully your US ally was paying attention, and may have some air power to weaken the German fleet, and you can play clean up if they go through sz109.

If the Germans buy ground units (art etc…), then you have more options. Neutering the Italians early by taking out the their navy is a top priority. Hitting either sz95 or sz97 can be devastating to both, but the UK can recover much easier, or replace losses w/Indian ships. You can also use the S African IC, or build an IC in Egypt to rebound. I personally have had some bad experiences as UK attacking the Italian navy UK1 (who hasn’t), so sometimes I’ll just set-up defensively, and let them take themselves out. If the Germans G1 buys point to Barbarossa, then you have to control Italy, protect the Middle East (oil), be ready to def US landings, and have units ready to aid Russia from India/Egypt (Mid East).

[Jeff28]

The new proposed Alpha 4 set up changes might mean bringing more fleet back to the UK is a viable option.

[Guest]

Simply put:

If germany is going sealion you need every single ship/plane possibly home to england. This is best done by killing zone 96 with 1fig and 1tac and stacking zone 92. (beware of a nasty 1-2 fleet kill though, italy can take algeria and axis can sink the british fleet with luftwaffe)

If germany goes barbarossa your more free to play your own way, you might want hit z97, but keep in mind to play safe. You should at least have 80% win chance!

If you expect Japan to invade India you can use the tranny with one inf to take persia and tranny in two inf to india round 2.

Your top priority is to keep London and Calcutta from falling, africa can always be reinforced when the immediate treath is gone.

[Jennifer]

The problem is, you don’t always know if Germany is going after London or Moscow on England’s first turn.  You might have some suspicions as to what you think they are going to do, but that does not mean you are right.  I tend to make the same attacks and builds regardless of my plan and wait to see what Russia does.  If they pull some boneheaded move like buying warships for SZ 127, then I’ll definitely make a push on Moscow and push hard.  If London pulls some boneheaded move like NCMing all their planes to Algeria, then I’ll almost definitely hit London.  Thing is, you cannot know which way I’ll go on UK 1 - since I don’t even know which way I’ll go on Germany 1!

[Jeff28]

Is there any way to save the french ships in sz 93?

[Spendo02]

@Jeff28:

Is there any way to save the french ships in sz 93?

Sort of.

NCM your ship from SZ91 to SZ93

NCM your carrier and cruiser from SZ98 and land the Ftr from Malta and your TacB from SZ98 on it.

This assumes you send your DD from SZ98 and flew all 3 of your aircraft in the Med against the DD and Trn in SZ96 as a combat move and you’d have to land your Ftr from Gib on Malta.

Its not a terrible move by any means, but you still can’t get the UK fleet from the Med home in time to deal with stopping the Sealion.  And if Italy sends the kitchen sink on I1 against your fleet, its a rough fight for you.

[Jennifer]

@Jeff28:

Is there any way to save the french ships in sz 93?

No.  Italy goes before France, therefore, unless Italy decides to ignore the ships, they are dead.