@ErwinRommel:
Ill keep it simple this time!
- Bid middeleast units
- Dont bid London, no need
- Dont scramble if you dont get tradevalue 1.5 german planes(not ships) per 1 british fgt. You want to use that genius brain of yours to win, no need to gamble.
- Sink z97 always
- Be offencive with UK buys if you can, dont always fall back on 9men turn one.
- Buy many fighters r2-4 and land them on american carriers when possible, they get 7 moves (3+4).)
I almost never ever scramble since I need to save the planes for SZ97. Assuming a flawless victory there, you have DD, CA, CV, + 2 Fighters to defend against 3x Fighter, 3x Tac, 2x Bomber from a typical German player. If they planned their landings well they can attack with even more, this setup as it is gives 99% odds with a loss of 3-4 planes. If the German player is planning on the I2/G3 Barbarossa then these planes have nothing else to do round 2. The German player can then land as many as they like in Alexandria if it was taken I1 (the assumption being that the UK had to retreat out to cover Cairo). If the Italian player was left with 2 TTs in I1, then the UK definitely has to pull out from Alexandria. The German planes then provide cover for a growing Italian stack. They can then make a suicide hit on Cairo if needed, or be used to kill any fleets hiding in the Red Sea (which might have guard ships that are covering a Cape Town shuck). None of your points 1-5 solve this option.
The Fighter shuck is an interesting option. You can skip the Cairo IC and try to shuck Infantry from Cape Town. Then the Fighter shuck goes London -> French West Africa -> Cairo. This might work and discourage the German hit to soften up Cairo. The downside of this is that it is a very defensive plan. In this situation I foresee the Italians still getting rich off the 3 NOs they can get without taking Cairo. It will also be very hard for Britain to maintain fighter production if any German subs survived the first turn since you have to make DDs to hunt them down. The US is not going to be available to do it for them (see below).
I think you (and most of the people who are replying) also are giving too much weight to the ability of the US player to affect events (the idea that the US can just make a bunch of Carriers solely to hold UK planes seems a bit much). A smart Japanese player will never issue the DoW J1 - J3. This degrades their ability to get the Pacific win, but who cares, when you will win in Europe in round 6-7. So in most scenarios the US can do nothing at all in the time available, except maybe keep spitting out Fighters that could possibly land in Cairo US5 if the Allies still hold it.
I’ve been toying with the idea of a naval buy for India round 1 to help get some extra ships over to the Red Sea, or even using the starting TT to help reinforce the attack on Ethiopia. I’m not convinced either plan is wise since India starts out on such thin ice already.
Gibraltar is a coin toss. If Germany went heavy against the UK navy G1, then in UK1 you might only have the SZ109 DD & TT. Is it worth the risk to lighten the defense of London and risk the loss of these ships to a G2 counterattack in order to reinforce Gibraltar? If Germany did the AC/DD/SS buy, then you will likely lose the ships but hold Gibraltar for quite some time if Italy is trying to keep up with a Cairo arms race. This is one of the reasons I think Germany should always do the 22 TT buy over the DD/SS buy. By taking Normandy you clear a place for the Italian bomber to land to clean out any place the UK can leave a blocker if they have the DD left and want to use it. If they don’t block, or you don’t want to use Italy on the blocker, then just move up the fleet to be in a position to sack it G3. If the UK defended Cairo with everything they had, the German fleet will be untouchable. If they didn’t defend Cairo with everything, then perhaps Italy won’t have a problem getting it. I’ve held Gibraltar in numerous games and it didn’t solve any of my problems in the Med.
@Whackamatt: SZ97 is 5 spaces from London, so your Fighters there can attack it and land on the Carrier. This means every other air unit in the battle (including the one that started on the Carrier) has to land in Malta.