Italy Strategy

I’m not as experienced as many players on this forum, that being said here is my two cents.

Italy’s economy is very NO based.  Achieve your national objectives and you can quickly make a comparable income to that of the UKE.  German support is required for a strong Italy.  This would include;
1.  Sea Lion Feign,  buying some variant of fleet or transports.
2.  Protecting SZ 97 with a German fighter for scrambling purposes.  If the allies press this attack with the extra fighter the loses can be so severe that sea lion odds are greatly improved
3.  Give Germany southern France so it can produce a Navy in the Mediterranean
4.  A strafe attack which is an attack then retreat on Yugoslavia, allowing Italy to conquer easier.

Use your subs for the sz 110 and 111 attacks, they will have a greater influence.  Without taking out these fleets your sea lion threat is diminished, and it was just a ruse the fleet will rotate to the med and become a headache.  I don’t know when I would attack the sz91 cruiser, I think only If I wasn’t attacking sz 110, which may be a g1 russian attack.  I do not have an adequate answer, I’ve never played a game through under such an attack.

I just believe as the axis you must attack as much, as efficiently, and as quickly as you can.  I do not feel that a sz 91 cruiser kill is worth it.  It generally is used to kill sz 96, which always falls one way or another and is an easy Italian I1 kill anyways.

How would you get out of the med?  Especially if they build a mIC in Cairo.  I find with a German assistance in the Mediterranean (some form of naval support, though most likely just air), Italy can just land in Cairo after some time.  This however is likely implausible depending on the US support.

Taking out the UK fleet in the Mediterranean is the highest priority on turn one. By turn two it’s best to finish off they French fleet. This alone will win you a bonus of 5 IPC’s per
Turn. Your #1 objective should always be Cairo, since that’s about the only way Italy can really contribute. So landing units in North Africa should be done as fast as possible.

I’ve had success in the past by building a minor industrial complex in Cairo after I take it and then pushing south with whatever available units I can. This prevents freshly built UK units from moving untouched from South Africa to attack Cairo.

Other things to consider for bonus IPC’s; take Persia, northern Persia, and Iraq ASAP and that will get you about 10 IPC’s all together as well as 2 or 3 infantry. Also, if the axis control Egypt, Greece, and southern France Italy receives a bonus if 5 IPC’s.

Once America enters the fray in the Mediterranean (maybe around turn 7), Italy is going to be SOL…Even with wise purchasing and brilliant tactics.

The trouble with Italy is an experienced player will usually push hard and crush Italy……they are the weak underbelly of the Aixs in Europe…that being said…Germany can support Italy maybe build some ships in the Med and send some air power that way…if not Italy doesn’t last very long

italy could also try to take as many territories as much in africa…they will get some major IPCs and can be a real thorn in the side of the allies in the Med.

If your Japanese player can wait, allowing America in the war no sooner than turn 4, Italy gets a nice headstart.

Italy Turn 1: Capture Southern France, Tunisia and Syria and/or Trans-Jordan. (Make as many drops as you can into the Middle East)
Build - (1) Fighter

Italy Turn 2: Take Cairo and/or activate Irac.
Build - (1) Transport for Rommel, whatever is left save for next round.
Germany uses air to protect Alex on Turn 2. This the turn Italy needs to take Cairo. After they take Cairo then you fly the Luftwaffe into Egypt to protect it.

Italy Turn 3: Move Transport with German Tank/Inf to Egypt. (This nets Germany 5 IPCs. The tank and inf don’t depart until Germany’s turn 4)
Build - IC in Egypt

taking cairo would be tricky if uk protects it

Capturing Cairo could be easier if the UK player is dumb enough to allow the German player to Sealion him by not protecting his capital enough.

Also, the Luftwaffe could protect the italian army at Alexandria G2 and soften Cairo (if realistic) G3 to help Italy. Or Italy could soften Cairo for à G3 landing!!! :evil:

You are totally at the mercy of what the UK does the first couple of rounds.
Always good to have goals, but even better to be flexible and not try to do too much.

I like the idea of Germany taking S. France to assist Italy.  I tried this in a recent game and had better than normal results.

The trend I’ve seen when playing as Germany and Italy is that, unless you Sealion and barring any crazy rolls, the Allies always gain strong control of the Mediterranean and Africa.

If the UK goes Taranto and America is positioned at Gibraltar by turn 3 I fail to see how Italy can maintain a strong enough presence to control the Med short of Germany investing heavy resources there at the expense of moving on Russia.  Not saying it’s not doable; I simply don’t see how it happens.

Some have mentioned that you should aim to take Cairo early.  While I think that’s a great idea I cannot see it working against a UK player who puts any kind of time and effort into that campaign.

@Nippon-koku:

I like the idea of Germany taking S. France to assist Italy.

My advice is: Keep in mind what the REAL job of the Germans is: Kicking Russian butts.

Many players lose their axis games because they neglect that nr1 central goal Axis have in G40 and do to assist Italy or do other stuff instead:)

Well put

It’s the only front that really matters, same as in all previous A&A games, and rightfully so

@JDOW:

@Nippon-koku:

I like the idea of Germany taking S. France to assist Italy.

My advice is: Keep in mind what the REAL job of the Germans is: Kicking Russian butts.

Many players lose their axis games because they neglect that nr1 central goal Axis have in G40 and do to assist Italy or do other stuff instead:)

And that exact reasoning almost cost me the game.  Were it not for a sneaky Germany/Italy move the Axis would’ve lost that game easily.

It seems the best you can do with Italy is just try to build up a large ground force to stall any landing invasion from UK or US.

@Nippon-koku:

It seems the best you can do with Italy is just try to build up a large ground force to stall any landing invasion from UK or US.

Assuming the Allies aren’t neglecting putting any pressure on Italy/Europe I would say often this is the best the Italians can do. Every invader kicked out by Italians is a German unit saved that could go East.

However Italians should definitely send at least 2 tanks, 2 inf + art East in the first 2 rounds to always keep a certain can opener threat. This is very annoying for Russia. On the other hand nothing makes Russian play easier than Axis haven not can opener threats! :)