Germany bought: 1 AC for the Baltic Sea, Rest men.
IMO it´s no problem to stop this move with the british first turn purchase placed in SZ 6.
Scenario: As germany I may throw in 2 subs and the tran (Not the Des- it´s needed for SZ 7) plus all airforce available. That would be 3fighters ( one I always loose in the Ukraine Russian T1 , 2 attacked Egypt to close Suez), a bomber, 2 subs and a tranny vs. 1 tr, BB, 2 fig, AC and a destroyer, the latter ones soaked 28 of british first turn purchase. That’s 2-3 hits for germany, 3 for the brits R1. Given the higher result R2: 3 fighters and the bomber score 2 hits, the fleet ( lost tr and des) 3. R3 won´t happen, by then Germany retreats to save the bomber. This way it´s nearly impossible to knock the british fleet out.
So you really want your fleet linked on G2? (At least the Med BB, tran, and the atlantic sub that killed the Gib BB on G1 + the baltic AC and des, if you have to fight the british Block) Your first turn buy should be the AC and an additional sub in the Baltic, 1art and 4 inf in germany. That is very little for the eastern front.
You also have to skip Egypt, due to the fighters needed to discourage the block in SZ 6. This results in a british med fleet, brr. 2 fig and the tnk don´t need the mini landing t1 by the U.S… Africa should be hold. Bye,bye african ipcs. This is going to be a hard time for germany.
Even with an additional sub and 2 more fig a G2 SZ 6 fight will be tough and result in some Luftwaffe shot down.
The united fleet in SZ 7 may be attacked by the U.S. on T2.
That´s 2 trs, a des, 1 fighter and 3 bombers ( 2 of them bought turn 1) doing 3 damage. That kicks out the sub and tran. R2 Germany still does enough damage to perhaps end this attack, but will loose more fighters if it wishes to keep AC and BB.
They are going to be victims of the british med fleet in some turns. So you have to run to the Baltic Sea. Not that bad to have 2 capital ships there and build some more subs/trans. You now may counterattack landings in Norway or attack the british fleet that participated in it, o.k. granted! But the negative in it is:
- you lost all options in Africa, and your underbelly is now under threat of invasion. Be sure that the U.S. will be back and attack you there soon, the U.K. from the atlantic and maybe from the med.
- you lost about half of your fighters and have to rebuild some airforce for trading with Russia. It should be economically well off by now. The little land forces build G1 may motivate it to occupy Ukraine with all forces available T2. To me this is scary.
My advice is: don´t do it if you don´t trust your dice. The strategy is countered by forcing you to do 2 battles, one attacking (sz6), one defending (sz7), but none really in your favour. You have to be lucky or you will loose many fighters.
After these battles there is no dangerous german navy any more. Just two capital ships begging for reinforcement. After all it´s just a 2 turn delay till british and american landings begin. Paid with high cost. Meanwhile Germany has to switch to a very limited Fortress Europe Strat.
I strongly recommend this strategy if the U.K. places an IC in India as a NA or Russia attacked Manchuria T1. In this case you should do it. I smell a KJF. Forcing the british player to divert resources is hell of fun. If he uses the block tactic in SZ6 anyway he is enwrapping the IC as an early gift. If not you will have an impressive German fleet. Personally I find this very appealing and would use it in the med where it´s a looong way for both western allies but a short one to the african ipcs I´m so keen on. ;)
