The Spanish Beachhead: American Strategy

[simon33]

The only turn I allow Sydney to build less than 3 units is the first - 1TT 1inf.

[Tirano]

@simon33:

The only turn I allow Sydney to build less than 3 units is the first - 1TT 1inf.

Even if a full KJF is in effect, or specifically for a Spanish Beachhead?

[simon33]

Any time.

[Bass]

I was wondering whether you decide from the outset to do the Spanish Beach Head or if there are Axis cues that make it a viable strategy?

This is firstly a q posed to YG but would of course greatly appreciate others input as well. :)

[Kreuzfeld]

Even tho I am not YG, I will make a suggestion (with any strategy). You should always reconsider your strategy.

In every turn, you should decide if you will continue with the strategy or do something else.  For example, If germany tries for sealion, but has to stop because he loses too many planes in G1, then you really don’t need that many boats. If germany drops 10 subs on G2, then you need more boats, perhaps, you should bail out and do a KJF instead. What you should not do is to continue with your Spanish beachhead, only to see your fleet get killed by the german navy.

Any strategy worth considering is a strategy that keeps enough options open to react to enemy moves. In the Spanish beachhead, you don’t have to commit until shifting your pacific fleet to the atlantic (US3). until then, you have just bought a little bit extra for the german front early and can still switch to a full KJF. You can even switch your atlantic fleet to the pacific if you like.

[Bass]

@Kreuzfeld:

Even tho I am not YG, I will make a suggestion (with any strategy). You should always reconsider your strategy.

In every turn, you should decide if you will continue with the strategy or do something else.  For example, If germany tries for sealion, but has to stop because he loses too many planes in G1, then you really don’t need that many boats. If germany drops 10 subs on G2, then you need more boats, perhaps, you should bail out and do a KJF instead. What you should not do is to continue with your Spanish beachhead, only to see your fleet get killed by the german navy.

Any strategy worth considering is a strategy that keeps enough options open to react to enemy moves. In the Spanish beachhead, you don’t have to commit until shifting your pacific fleet to the atlantic (US3). until then, you have just bought a little bit extra for the german front early and can still switch to a full KJF. You can even switch your atlantic fleet to the pacific if you like.

Thanks for your reply, Kreuzfeld. I agree wholeheartedly with your opinion that strategies need to be flexible. It asbolutely depends on your opponent and the outcomes of different battles. I haven’t played much G40 but have been playing A&A since the early 90’s and have a hard time seeing Spanish Beachhead as a net positive move for the Allies. (This might change with a bid or Victory objectives of CB)

[Young Grasshopper]

@Bass:

I was wondering whether you decide from the outset to do the Spanish Beach Head or if there are Axis cues that make it a viable strategy?

This is firstly a q posed to YG but would of course greatly appreciate others input as well. :)

All strategies should take a back seat to reactionary play, however, reactionary play alone is a lazy way to approach a game IMO. There’s nothing wrong with having 1 or 2 well thought out plans prepared ahead of time.

[simon33]

I think once you’ve converted the true neutrals to pro Axis you’re pretty committed to this play though. And who would position all those forces and not follow through with something. I guess you can use them to hit Norway as an alternative although that is an enormous back down.

[Young Grasshopper]

@simon33:

I think once you’ve converted the true neutrals to pro Axis you’re pretty committed to this play though. And who would position all those forces and not follow through with something. I guess you can use them to hit Norway as an alternative although that is an enormous back down.

Agreed, if you turn the neutrals with a Spanish beachhead, you’re all in at that point.

[Kreuzfeld]

@Bass:

I was wondering whether you decide from the outset to do the Spanish Beach Head or if there are Axis cues that make it a viable strategy?

This is firstly a q posed to YG but would of course greatly appreciate others input as well. :)

I can see that people might not have answered this question fully :).

I think this is looks like a good strategy that I might want to try out as a main allied battleplan. It sort of gives the allied about 80 IPC of extrra materials (since you will have an extra US turn of production at the front at any time after US4).

I would guess that a J1 would make this a less viable strategy.  A sealion with a J1 would make you try to land on UK at US2 (to prevent the sealion).  I would not do this if I saw a J2, with a central pacific focus (carolines and attack on australia).  A J3/4 with Japanese mICs on the mainland and a barbarossa (germany buys all land on G2 and a maximum italian comittment in the east) is perhaps the ideal scenario for the spanish beachhead.

[Bass]

@Kreuzfeld:

@Bass:

I was wondering whether you decide from the outset to do the Spanish Beach Head or if there are Axis cues that make it a viable strategy?

This is firstly a q posed to YG but would of course greatly appreciate others input as well. :)

I can see that people might not have answered this question fully :).

I think this is looks like a good strategy that I might want to try out as a main allied battleplan. It sort of gives the allied about 80 IPC of extrra materials (since you will have an extra US turn of production at the front at any time after US4).

I would guess that a J1 would make this a less viable strategy.  A sealion with a J1 would make you try to land on UK at US2 (to prevent the sealion).  I would not do this if I saw a J2, with a central pacific focus (carolines and attack on australia).  A J3/4 with Japanese mICs on the mainland and a barbarossa (germany buys all land on G2 and a maximum italian comittment in the east) is perhaps the ideal scenario for the spanish beachhead.

Thanks (again) Kreuzfeld for answering my whole question! ;)

I would be very wary as an Allied player to turn the entire world (minus Mongolians) against me. As an Axis player I would love for my opponent to try this. At least with OOB-rules. Pretty sure I could turn it to my advantage. ;)

Perhaps better balance of power makes it a more viable strategy.

I’d love for there to be a G40 Enhanced Edition like the old Revised Enhanced 5.x. I appreciate the possibility of employing many different strategies and even making use of Tech which this game does not. A small set of National advantages to choose from would make for a more varied experience as well as being able to choose which Tech to get. Due to the great disparity in incomes, from Italy, ANZAC to USA there would have to be some sort of weigthing of the dice to account for this. F.E. Italy paying 3-4 IPC per dice and USA paying 10ish IPC. But I digress…

[A Former User]

@YoungGrasshopper:
Yery impressive strategy anyways, thanks to you! Btw, I really like your strategy videos!

[Young Grasshopper]

@hecatomb:

@YoungGrasshopper:
Yery impressive strategy anyways, thanks to you! Btw, I really like your strategy videos!

Thanks a lot hecatomb, I really appreciate that.

[Maxiheimer]

Hey young grasshopper,

I realize that it has been a while since this topic has last been replied to, but I have a game coming up and thought it would be fun to use the Spanish beach head strategy.
I remember watching your video when you posted it at think it is a great way to execute the Spanish beach head. Sadly it seems your video can no longer be accessed on youtube. Could you please re-upload it?

[Young Grasshopper]

@Maxiheimer:

Hey young grasshopper,

I realize that it has been a while since this topic has last been replied to, but I have a game coming up and thought it would be fun to use the Spanish beach head strategy.
I remember watching your video when you posted it at think it is a great way to execute the Spanish beach head. Sadly it seems your video can no longer be accessed on youtube. Could you please re-upload it?

Sorry Maxheimer, I no longer have it… perhaps you can give it a shot by doing some pre-game planning based on what you remember from the video.

[Fiera]

@Maxheimer:
This was how I did it (more or less)

1st  Round

Purchase: 50 IPC
1x Transport, 1x Destroyer (SZ101)
2x Infantry (CUS)
1x Submarine, 1x Carrier, 1x Transport (SZ10)

Move:

SZ35 -> SZ54
to Guam with 1x Fighter
to SZ10 with SZ26
to SZ10 with 2x Fighter (Hawaii)
to WUS with 1x Str. Bomber
to WUS with 1x Fighter (EUS) (because there was no German Submarine at SZ106)

2nd Round

Purchase: 53 IPC
4x Transport, 1x Carrier (SZ101)
3x Infantry (WUS)

Move:

SZ10 (except 1x Submarine and 2x Destroyer) -> SZ89
to Southeast Mexico with 2x Infantry, 1x Artillery (WUS)
to Wake Island with 1x Fighter (Guam)
to SZ101 with 1x Fighter (WUS)
to CUS with 2x Infantry, 1x Mech. Infantry (WUS)

3rd  Round

Purchase: 53 IPC
2x Transport, 1x Carrier, 2x Fighter (SZ101)
1x Infantry (CUS)

Move:

to SZ86 with 3x Transport
to Brazil with 2x Infantry, 1x Artillery (SE Mexico)
to SZ106 with the remaining Atlantic fleet
to Quebec with all ground (except AAA)
to WUS with 1x Fighter (Wake Island)
to CUS with 3x Infantry (WUS)
to SZ101 with 1x Fighter (EUS)

4th  Round

Purchase: 72 IPC
4x Submarine, 3x Destroyer (SZ10)
2x Str. Bomber (WUS)

Attack: on Spain with Quebec, Brazil, EUS, CUS (to SZ91 with SZ86, SZ101, SZ106)

5th  Round

Purchased 20 land units (EUS + CUS) but not yet a Minor IC in Spain, but this depends on the Axis play.

[Cow]

I like the spanish beach strategy from time to time.

[PainState]

@Cow:

I like the spanish beach strategy from time to time.

I agree but I also would state that it depends on the group you play with. If you have a closed group of friends who have played multiply games as Axis or Allies and the group is exploring these tactics it could be you do not want to do Spanish Beach Head because your friends are set up ready as the German/Italy player for this tactic because of previous success.

The Spanish Beach Head is a great tactic by the Allies in G40 against the Euro Axis powers. If they can take Spain, reinforce it and get the minor on it….Germany and Italy have a hard time against it. Also it relieves a lot of stress from Russia.

BUT

The problem with G40 is that is a Global game and Japan can win it for the Axis with good play, from Japan, because the USA and UK are so focused to push the beach head towards Paris and putting a lot of resources to the beach head. USA has gone all in on a KGF tactic and it becomes a race against time.

Which leads into the idea that the victory rules of Global are out of whack. Italy and Germany fall in the same turn that India and ANZAC fall…AXIS WIN!!!

So two colonies of the English Empire are taken out and the UK and USA just call it quits…OMG!!! Australia and India are gone!!!

( I realize it is just a game and there must be very defined rules for victory or defeat. I just think that the rules for that are un balanced and favor the Axis over the Allies in the OOB rules)

[Maxiheimer]

Thank you Fiera for the summary:)

I actually played the strategy last Tuesday from what I could read in this thread and what I could remember for the video - and it failed miserably. Mostly I think because I failed with UK round 1 and tried to not do Taranto. Italy grew into a monster and by the time I did my landing in spain Italy helped defend Germany so effective that I coulden’t rescue Russia in time.

I will definitely try it again soon - and hopefully with success  :-D

[taamvan]

The most dangerous thing about this idea is that if you give Turkey to Germany, or have to fight over it, I don’t see Iraq (then Egypt) holding out once Russia is down.  Turkey is a straight road to the last Allied marshaling area.

Then that’s VC win on the Euro map.

Japan in our last game has 3 original territories, subs all over its money, its still making 56+