So what would you do if your opponent had just pulled off a successful Sea Lion? Just had German turn 4 and he’s aitting pretty in London with a stack of Panzers. What can the Allies do from here to pull things back?
You can A) liberate london B) go pacific hard with everyone including Russia’s mech (you would generally buy all mech when you see Germany get transports and roll it to Asia).
Full pacific from all allied powers is generally a stronger response. UK Pacific making 21+ ipcs is another Russia to deal with and a broke back Japan is one less country to worry over.
Wouldn’t going hard Pacific give an easier win on the European side?
You have 9-10 rounds of pacific before you have to worry about a VC Europe win.
Are you really going to lose USA/Canada? No. Realistically after that you lose egypt/volgograd if anything.
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Make sure you shift your AA guns from West to East (I usually keep them all in central and shift them when a threat comes near). After London his boats will not be able to fully load. If he positions west germany and can load all his boats up and then head to gibraltar… you can slap some naval down East USA.
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Rounds 1-5 is when Russia is sending mech to Asia. That is when you make your dent on Japan. Typically sea lions feature delayed Japan DOW and if that is the case, your Pacific campaign should be easy. UK and ANZAC should always take 2 islands round 1, if no DOW comes round 2 then you take the other 2 islands (anzac NO and celebes for UK pac).
If Japan does not delay war… you can liberate london in a timely fashion, simply bring all your ships to the atlantic and build transports with inf/arty (carriers here n there to pack fighter/tacticals).
Generally speaking Japan delays war till round 3 or 4. So you can bring the entire allies to the Pacific. Remember Japan can only win 1 major battle in a round so if he has to decide between China, Russia, UK Pac, or Naval attack… He gives up on the other 3 for that round.
China should focus on the burma road. Russian mech should be on top of China’s stack. So if Japan sends air to attack it, he gets punished hard.
The first choke point you want to hold is Yunnan, typically after Japan DOWS or after you DOW on Japan (typically you DOW on Japan only if Japan has not DOW on round 3). After yunnan, you want to advance. If Japan has walled off with his planes/men… well the next wave(s) of Russian mech is typically going toward Manchuria.
Japan has to fend off the allies from every territory it possesses against every allied power.
Things to note: 1) whatever mech Japan cannot kill goes back to Russia. 2) Dutch islands for UK pacific is worth more than USA. 3) Dutch islands for USA is worth more than ANZAC. These are minor priorities, your main objective is to shut Japan out ASAP so you can respond in time for Europe.
Losing London basically forces you to race the Pacific.
There is one exception: A low survivor count from the German sea lion success (if he only had 1 armor survive and a few aircraft… liberating UK is super easy when coupled with Russia’s pressure). If this happens then yes you should just liberate London since it is easy.
If you try to liberate London three scenarios occur A) if you do not do it quick enough then you lose the game to a VC win in the Pacific B) Success, but Japan makes USA income and Germany still expands on Russia… eventually you fade out of the game losing from an income advantage C) Success, Europe collapsed and you can stop the VC win in the Pacific eventually causing Japan to lose ground to secure an allied victory.
Generally speaking A happens more often than not.
In fact I have seen more games in which liberating london A) fails B) happens but the allies lose in the Pacific than C) success and allies win.
Where as Russia going Pacific generally has a higher success rate for an allied victory.
For sure Russia is pretty powerful by the time Germany gets in gear to attack it after successful sealion. You’re right that it would not be before turn 9-10 that they would get Egypt and one other Russian VC.
Still fail to see how with Sealion you would go all Pacific though.
Thanks for the advice, Cow - Guess the next stop is Tokyo!
atease you should just try it. I have won several games going pacific after sea lion.
@Cow:
atease you should just try it. I have won several games going pacific after sea lion.
With Russia sending so many mechs to bother Japan, what are they doing for defense? I take it that even though London has fallen, Russia doesn’t attack Germany in eastern Europe?
You do, but you back off when germany gets his stuff back in position. Germany still has to move his army up one space at a time starting round 4-5. Does not threaten Russia till about 8-10 and even then you have the superior force.
I am only talking about sending rounds 1 2 3 and or 4 worth of Russian mech (any combination depending on the game and your initial opener).
I do not see why this is so complicated. I always thought going Pacific was the standard response to a sea lion.
Haven’t had anyone go Sealion on me yet. Even if I don’t even defend properly against it and build a minor IC in Egypt. But I’ll keep your advice in mind.
