UK1 options when still controlling Egypt

[AdamD021]

Germany did not capture Egypt. What are the best options for UK in this situation. I was thinking move the DD and the Fighter to the India fleet.

Discuss

[wilkinson1974]

My preference is to forsake India for the moment by reinforcing Egypt with inf from Syria, Jordan, and India.  And moving the Indian fleet to the DD in the Med.  Germany will effectively be kicked out of Africa at that point.  If Germany bought an AC for the Baltic fleet in G1, and placed 2 planes on the flat top, buy 3 planes and move the brit fleet into striking position in the north by Norway.  The Russians can prevent the Germans from sinking your fleet prematurely by moving their sub in a blocking position west of the Baltic.  In GB2, start buying replacement fleet and attack the Baltic fleet(1tran, 2 subs, 1 dest, 1ac, and 2 fighters…  Germany probably won’t build expensive Navy in G2) with your BB, tranny(maybe 2 if the canadian tranny wasn’t sunk in G1), 5 planes, and the bomber(the chances of victory or mutual destruction are 92% and 5% respectively).  By round 4, you should be able to hit Norway in force if you weren’t able to attack in GB1(or if the US doesn’t barge in by force in US3).  You can also hit other areas valuable to Germany with little(or no) naval intervention by rounds 5 to 6.  Stay focused…  Japan will be threatening Moscow by round 6(Germany’s push will be halted around round 4 or 5--  He’ll have other attacks to stave off with his units) if the Russian player allowed the Japanese player to smash his eastern infantry with tanks.  If he backs the infantry off instead of making a dying stand, he can have a sizeable stack in Moscow by round 6.  Japan really won’t be able to take Moscow until round 8 if the Russian player plays his eastern stacks correctly.  Germany typically falls in round 7-9 in these games that I play.  If Moscow falls in the same round as Germany, the Allies will eventually win.  The games get sticky if Germany falls a round later than Moscow.  Japan has time to get their units in place to possibly liberate Germany in those cases.  Just my thoughts.  Hammer away.

[critmonster]

that’s why there are victory cities, so you can’t just blow off india i always try to stay within the spirit of the game and hold india as long as feasable.  if you still have egypt you can bring the indian fleet into the med for sure, this makes life a bit more complex for germany and you don’t have to sacrifice india.  alternatively, if you want to try a different twist that extra dd might be of use to the indian fleet, even if the japs sink it then at least that means the usa fleet is intact (probably) and japan should have taken some serious losses (ac, 2 fig, 2 dd, 1 tp = 18 pts def = 3 hits avg)

[AdamD021]

Say Germany spent most of its money on a BB in the baltic, then what?

[critmonster]

what is the experience level of your group?

i only have a couple dozen games in but some of these guys have alot more

i did the german bb once and it was fun, i think if my opponents were better i would have been toasted, i have never seen egypt intact except once and it was ugly for the axis, uk became a monster.  i would probably move my fleet into the med to threaten his underbelly, especiall since you have troops you can transport.  try and land in north africa with the usa and get rid of his med fleet.  you are going to need fighters down there too.

then again, if you do that you may see stuka hell on your fleet so it could be a moot point

[wilkinson1974]

Nod

Our group doesn’t play victory cities since it is very easy for the axis to be +2 on the VC count by round 3…   I have never seen the following tactic used in a game…  But I have always wondered how it would play out…   Again…  Germany fails to take Egy in G1…   Take the plane from the Indian fleet…  attack the solomon sub with the fighter and the sub and tranny in Australia…  land the fighter on the ac at pearl.  Take the rest of the Indian fleet and sink the tranny off of kwantung(bring the fighter from egypt and drop it on the ac off of kwangtung).  Bring the DD to the Indian and drop a factory in India.  Bring the bomber from GB and drop it in Sinkiang.  Use it to splash unprotected Japanese trannies in GB2.  Japan has interesting decisions to make now…  The fleet in Kwangtung is a tranny, DD, carrier, and a plane(2 hits in R1, And 1-2 Likely in R2) unless the Japanese decide to bring the fighters from asia(likely allowing the Americans to live in China).  Japan also can’t go heavy into pearl(has been strengthened now by the extra fighter) now unless they want unguarded trannies(can be attacked by sub and tranny in solomons).  Even if the Janese are successful at Pearl, the US counter would drop the remaining fleet…  And the US could be in a position to attack the remaining Japanese fleet in US2.  The US could drop a factory in Sinkiang…  pull an inf and fighter back(get some russian reinforcement…  The Allies can now be building 5 units a round…  Japan can outbuild, but if the trannies are kept to a minimum for a couple of rounds, the Allies would have a sizable presence in Asia by round 3.   Like I said…  I have never tried the following strategy in a game…  Anyone tried this?  with or without success?

[wilkinson1974]

@AdamD021:

Say Germany spent most of its money on a BB in the baltic, then what?

Then the Russians continue making costly(for the Germans) land grabs from the Germans.  If the Russians get into the 30+IPC range by the end of round 2(possibly 35 by round 3), it is nighty night for the Germans.

[wilkinson1974]

@critmonster:

what is the experience level of your group?

I played the “non-revised” game a few times, and have been playing 4th Ed for about 6 months now.  Our group gets together about once a month, but I typically play 3-5 mock games a week and 1-2 live mini games a week during our breaks.  I am not the most experienced player, but I would like to think I’m at least competative.  I usually play my best after I take my worst beatings…  I try not to make the same booboos twice if I can help it.

[AdamD021]

I dont see how the fighter from India fleet can make it to pearl…its 4 spaces just to get to the solomon sub

nevermind I just saw it

[AdamD021]

To try and get this discussion going agian……

The key to having egypt is having that extra fighter, so whats the best move with that fighter?

Is the extra fighter off Kwangtung really going to hinder Japan?

Is pulling the DD and the fighter to the india fleet and moving the aussie fleet west in an atempt to make a sizeable UK pacific fleet on UK 2 worth it?

Is having the India Fleet in the Med with 2 fighters on the carrier a huge headache for Germany? <— my vote

[Sime]

In the game I am playing at the moment (against a fairly inexperienced Gemany), Germany did not attack Egypt.  He used his BB and transport (and some fighters) to attack the UK Med BB and lost his transport in the battle.  He had bought a sub, transport and destroyer and placed them in the S.Eur seazone.

I (as UK) chose to defend Africa.  I picked up an inf from India and one from Persia and transported them to Egypt.  The inf from Trans-Jordan also joined them. The Indian destroyer was sent to destroy the Kwang transport. The Indian carrier was moved to the seazone above Egypt.  The fighter from Indian carrier, the fighter from egypt and the destroyer in the med attacked his little fleet under S.Eur.  I was only going to attack 'til I had sunk the transport, but got lucky and killed them all on the first round.

One fighter landed in Egypt while the other landed on the carrier (which reinforced Egypt on the following round) and the S.African infantry started on his way north to join the imposing army in Egypt.

America landed in Algeria with his forces from E.USA.

On Germany’s next turn, he chose to attack the American forces in Algeria, and although he wiped them out, his forces were also wiped out.

We are now on round 5 and with Japan threatening Africa, I have decided to abandon Egypt and make for Caucus to help with the invasion of Europe (America is focusing on the Pacific war and Japan is not yet knocking on Russia’s back door).  With 5 inf, 1 tank and 2 fighters in the army, Japan is going to have to send a dedicated force if he wants to take me out before I reach Caucus.