@madscientist:
What do you guys do about a Power Africa bid? You know, if the German player bids 21 (no RR) and places 7 inf on Libya?
While I have never played with bids, based on the strategies and moves I have seen here as well as my own strategies, I would handle it this way:
US would use initial transport to move 2 INF to French West Africa. Buy would be 3 trans plus troops.
Round 2 US move would be 4 INF and a tank landing in Africa by US. Also possibility of a fighter flying in to land in French West if initial US landing was successful and if UK naval situation allows for it.
Continued US forces into Africa on round 3, and perhaps 4. German navy blown away by UK airforces flying out of Caucuses in UK2. UK counter-attack out of India into Syria (Germany probably took it with amphib in G1 using extra Africa INF to take Egypt).
Germany has at most 13 INF and 1 tank in Africa by end of G2, plus any airforce they want to divert from UK naval supression.
UK has 5 INF avail (South Africa, Egypt, Syria, India), 1 tank, and at least 1 fighter.
US can land 6 INF, 1 tank, and potentially up to 2 fighters and a bomber (not likely but possible) by end of US2.
So by my count, Allies and Germany are even (or nearly so) in piece count in Africa by end of Round 2 (losses to both sides being about even during round 1 battles).
But Germany has no reinforcements coming, while the US can land another 8 units in US3, and UK can start landing forces in either UK2 or 3 depending on builds and Germany air-power counter.
Germany can hold 1 or 2 territories through round 4, if they concentrate their forces. But concentrated forces defeats the IPC grab in short order.
So Germany can get more IPC’s faster using a “power Africa” move, and they could hold them a round or so longer. BUT, losing ALL of those extra forces in an isolated arena, with no ability to support it, while the Allies can pour forces in PER ROUND at the same level Germany started out with… I think those same 7 INF would be better used in Eastern Europe to take and secure Karelia, or in Ukraine to take Caucuses and threaten Russia directly. Russia is the bigger threat to Germany in early rounds, and every effort should be made to reduce the strength of that threat.
And the Allies don;t really lose anything on their European assault since UK airpower is still used for Russian defense, and Russia still has their INF to pound Germany in the east, and once UK’s navy is re-built in 2 or 3, they can quickly transition from Africa to Europe without pause or loss of movement, if they even divert to support the US at all. And of course the US can move those African forces to Western Europe in the same move that Eastern US forces leave and also land in Western Europe, perhaps catching Germany off guard with twice as many forces in the invasion as they expected…
So, I guess I answered my own question elsewhere about an ‘extra’ transport in the Med for Germany to support Africa… even with 7 aditional INF avail in round 1, Africa is still quickly lost by Germany.