Sea zone 11 and Mexico

@barnee thanks heaps!

I saw that pocket square early on, but the problem with it is that you may still need every guy on London to make sure its safe, even 1 mech.  Sometimes I cant even attack Scotland, if they stacked it, because you cant take Scotland and still ensure they can’t destroy London…that’s where SL gets tricky.

To call Ireland Pro-Allied, that’s the historical inaccuracy…

Thanks for the responses guys. Much appreciated.

@oysteilo:

Does this work? and it is worth the spending of a minor, carrier and transport?

yes, it might work somehow.
And No, it is miles away from being worth those 35 IPCs. Against a good Allies player that move brings Axis to the certain road of defeat.

Note that I play 2nd edition. I don’t know how this compares to alpha+3.

The first thing that I look out for with the UK, is what is Germany doing? IF a serious sea-lion is posed, I move every available ship from the UK med-fleet (and the french if they survive) to Gibraltar, as well as every ratty old plane the UK has in the med. This requires removal of the Italian TRS+DD in SZ96 in the 2nd edition.
With this move and smart builds in London, Sea Lion will fail miserably. Italy on the other hand will be stronger in Africa but you can’t have both London and Cairo. Rest assured that you will take back the latter, if Italy takes it at all. If Germany continues on the Sea Lion Path, all the Gibraltar stuff moves north to fight Germans, who will fail, Russia will roll over Germany and it is game over very quickly for the Axis. EVEN if Lucky dicerolls hands them over London they will not be able to stop the Russians anymore because they will loose too much in the battle of London… Unless they roll SO DAMN Lucky that they manage to keep all their Luftwaffe + take London with their last tank  :roll:
If Germany does NOT continue with Sea Lion (you can tell by their production), move the Gibraltar stuff + STR and FTR from London back into Africa, ending the Italian dreams there with moderate effort.

If Germany never poses/feighns a Sea-Lion threat, do a ‘Taranto’ or ‘Tobruk’ UK1. The specifics vary from the preferences from player to player but in general it comes down to attack as much Italian ships (or its units in Tobruk) with as much of your air/ships.
Personally I prefer to kill all Italian ships in SZ96 and SZ97 with all UK-ships that can get to them plus all aircraft that can get there. Note that the STR in London can get there and land in Malta as well as 2 FTR from London that can land on the CV if necessary. I personally take ships (even the CV) as losses, and land all surviving aircraft (which should very well be all) in Malta, but this may also differ according to your preferences.

If you fear/don’t know how to handle a ‘surprise Sea Lion’ from the Germans, seriously consider to consolidate around Gibraltar UK1, doing ‘Taranto’ (sort of) UK2. Taranto is most effective UK1 but loses not much of its effect if executed UK2.

Good luck and have fun playing!

Darn it - someone has correctly pointed out that the bombers in central US could hit z109 but they could not hit z110!

So I recalculated a couple of these and adding 1 carrier with 2 fighters landed on it gets the odds of an Allies win down from 100% to 70.2%; adding 2 carriers with 3 fig and 1 tac gets it down to 7.1%.  So it seems that 2 carriers would probably do the job most of the time, but that’s still an awful lot for Germany to spend.

Apologies for my oversight.

Still taking india round 3 must be rough. defense 2 aa guns roughly 15+ guys. offense 21 air with 6 man drop. If he loses india he should get decent TUV kill and china should still be around for a little bit longer.

Plus it is a dead giveaway if all your warships are figs get put down there, which is why ya need your destroyer for a bit. Depending on how you position before you take the islands for your NO.

Jenn, don’t talk to me, you obviously didn’t read the last part of what I said.

So USA is at war, right? How’s the situation in the DEI?

1. i hope germany won’t snatch those planes. How is the German escort fleet? (the one protecting their transports?)

2. see somewhere below.

3. Has Italy taken Gibraltar already? Take it back ASAP! or block SZ91 immediately if you can’t reach Gibraltar with enough troops.
You can pick SZ91/Gibraltar as your US bridgehead (good reach to basically everywhere)

4. Don’t retreat your Hawaii fleet, keep the pressure on Japan. You have enough money to spawn a fresh one in E-USA, strong enough to withstand Axis fleet/air.

Personally i like the Atlantic sub-approach…
Start with building some subs (about 6 or even more but make sure you don’t loose them, so always watch out for enemy destroyers withing reach) and a destroyer to get those subs around england, you’ll need 1 destroyer to send to SZ91 to block the italians. All these subs will come in very handy later (massacre of the italian fleet and convoy raids in the med (or UK if it falls). If those 2 mid-sea subs are within reach of the US coast, build at least an AC or BB this turn, and always keep at least 1 DD present.
The subs will also make Germany have to worry about their transporter fleet (either bothering their movement or making them have to invest in more ships, which is a good thing). if you have enough money, already buy an AC with 2 fighters (for ex: 6 SUB + 1 DD + AC + 2 FIG = 80IPC), this way the current fleet is completely safe.

Next turn build up your surface fleet:
You don’t need a HUGE fleet, but make sure it is more than strong enough to survive a German (possibly followed by an italian) attack. Ships cost money and bringing them to Europe costs time.
I’d say: at least 1 BB (or 2 if you can afford it), 2 AC’s (filled with 2 fighters and 2 tacs, or 3 fighters and 1 tac), at least 2 destroyers (1 to protect from crazy subs, another one to do some blocking or provoking actions oir suicide runs). never fall shoret of destroyers.

And of course a few transports.  :)