Hey guys! Just a strategy I was thinking about and wanted to know what you guys thought about UK putting an IC on Egypt.
Now, I realize that most G1 strats say that taking Egypt is a must. It’s just that it really doesn’t happen much in my play group. So lets just assume, for the sake of the thread that Egypt is untouched by G1, or that it miraculously held max aggression of what I can tell is 1inf+1arm from Lybia, 1inf+1arm from SE,1 ftr from balkans, and the bomber.
My purchase for UK1 are: 1 IC (15), and 1 aircraft carrier (14)
Combat moves:
-If on G1 Norway is left weak then I like to take the transport from Canada, load that tank, and join the other transport in SZ2, adding a infantry and hitting Norway with 2 inf + 2arm + bombardment roll from the BB + 2 ftr all from SZ3.
-If Norway is somewhat defended then I will redirect the transport and BB to offload+bomb Algeria
-Strategic bombing run on Germany
Non Combat move:
-I would completely evacuate India, taking 1inf and the AA gun and loading them on the transport then dropping them off in Egypt. The single fighter from the Indian aircraft carrier would also land in Egypt for added defense from a G2 attack. The rest of the India infantry would move to Persia.
-The remaining Indian Navy would end in SZ33 to stay out of range from a J1 East Indies Navy.
Mobilization:
The IC would obviously be put in Egypt, and if Norway was attacked then the Aircraft Carrier would be placed in SZ3, allowing the fighters that attacked Norway to land on it. Or put the Aircraft Carrier in SZ2 if you attacked Algeria.
The Point:
-The point would be to establish a foothold for UK other then London. And allowing UK to purchase 2 tanks a turn to help Russia on UK4.
-Once you get the Egypt ‘engine’ pumping out 2 tanks a turn, it gets really hard for Germany to hold Russia back and UK wil always have 2 tanks on Egypt and 2 tanks in Persia, until the ‘engine’ is stopped.
Weakness:
Okay, let’s say GER1 doesn’t involve any expansion in Africa, aside from 1inf1arm to Libya. No transports are built, but fighters are used to attack your battleship and for Russia. This means that you probably only have one transport left, but GER loses quite a lot of airpower (maybe). I simply say that Norway probably won’t be possible that way and might not be the best idea, depending on what Russia did. Let’s assume that after GER1 only 3 Fighters can reach Egypt on GER2.
If your opponent doesn’t attack at least one of your transports in the Atlantic he has messed up. Algeria probably will be abandoned, but you can still ship units there. However, then Norway has no pressure + SZ12 can be attacked really easily, which might cost UK and US 3 transports.
Completely abandoning India means that there will stand a factory at J2 or J3. Reinforcements for Caucasus can be blocked off and Africa is pressured heavily without any big efforts by Japan, which simply leaves Japan far too much room imo.
Let’s look at the defense of your IC: you have one AA, 3 Inf, 1 Arm, 2 Fig. Germany has 3 Inf, 1 Art, 2 Arm in Libya and can ship in 2 Inf or something like that. I said that 3 Figs were to reach Egypt. This way Ger will take Egypt. Even if they don’t load any units to Libya on Ger1 they will, even with 2 figthers they probably will, even when both things happen they have a chance of over 60%. It might cost them a big part of their aircraft and momentum in the Eastern Front, but at the same time Japan got India for free, basically. Your fleet got demolished or Russia took heavy losses. You gave Germany an IC that pressures Caucasus and contests Africa, and which also can be reinforced by Japanese fighters.
So the factory can be turned against you far to easy and it doesn’t really give you much, even if it works or gets ignored. But I need to add that I never actually played a game where a factory in Egpyt has been built.
You might as well build it in S. Africa. No one cares what the hell happens down there (I mean, c’mon, it’s SOUTH AFRICA!).
I find the only acceptable ICs are India (if you do it right with your Russians), and EI/Borneo for the US against a heavily armed Japan (Japan Gone Wild!). Anything is a waste of money and time (and an easy target for others)…
Not a fan of Egypt, Sinkang, East Canada, Norway (the allies are just being dicks at this point, or really stupid).
Egypt is also an easy target for a Japanese pacific fleet that is usually rotating between Sz36 and Sz60/61. If you ever want your guys to move off Egypt then you are splitting your forces and it will become a huge mission to both defend Egypt and actually sending production anywhere of use. To me it really handcuffs you to one spot and strategy. You will need an atlantic navy no matter what, splitting your resources and production might mean you are not strong enough in either place to do much.
Well what I usually like to do on UK1 is to build an IC in India, but it just seems to always fall to Japan at some point or another. Is it really the best strat to just stay in London?
It’s interesting to see that the revised addition comes with a UK IC in India to start with…but I don’t have the revised addition :P.
Games for me usually end up having Russia fall to Germany’s 8+ tanks per turn with UK and US scratching their heads unable to stop it. I just figured giving UK a foot on the ground would help this out a lot…
@Varn:
Now, I realize that most G1 strats say that taking Egypt is a must.
And this.
I’m seeing more and more G1 turns assume that they are going to get Egypt. So they start to chimp out on it and attack with the bare minimum. A hold in Egypt is fairly common against greedy Germans. An IC on Egypt is punishment for their greed.
IF< Egypt holds on G1 I feel that putting an IC not only punishes their greed but focuses future German attacks on it…which relieves some pressure on R3-4. 15 UK IPC to focus Germany off of Russia is worth it IMHO.
Even if it is taken on G2, a US2-3 can take it back over. It works well as bait. And if Germany doesn’t take it, then UK has a nice foot on the ground.
