@JDOW Achtung! Constructive Non-Rebuttal Incoming!
If you’ll recall, I was previously in the camp of “there cannot be any non-conditional Allied Strategy that does not react to what the Axis do” and therefore, any attempt to lay out a strategy would be, as your response shows, hopelessly conditional, situational, narrative, anecdotal, and complex. If you read what I posted more carefully, I did not call this a “Strategy Guide”, and explained that these are “stratagems”–TRICKS, not full-game strategies. Upon contemplating the word playbook, I thought of an American football playbook, which contains a huge variety of different “plays” that can be used whenever the situation and opponent warrant that.
Overall, I agree that many of these are bad ideas–I would never violate neutrality with the allies, move key soviet pieces out of Russia…but I also didnt come up with many of these ideas and wanted to compile all the novel plans that the group came up with. The reason is that the Allies are at a major disadvantage in the core game and can’t take elemental risks, in many cases they have to play exceptionally conservatively and in the very rote way you lay out (protect UK, protect Russia), which is effective, but boring.
If I were making an Axis Playbook/Strategy Guide, I could offer up at least 5 versions of Sea Lion; best G1 prep for it as a firm plan, best way to surprise your enemy with it on turns 2 and 3, best way to keep your options open and force UK to keep reacting, best way to accomplish it when you do it with Italy’s help, best way to do it later in the game…none produce great odds as long as UK buys 6 infantry and 1 fighter and protects UK all game. If I wrote the playbook that way, I could save alot of text by just saying “Don’t bother with Sea Lion unless your opponent fails to protect the UK”
Your opinions are worthy of more than a response, but deference, as you are one of the best players and have laid out great plans, which I have imitated. I am accustomed to criticism both in life and on social media, and in many cases, my arguments and approach are simply off base and I concede when I’m wrong. If these ideas are genuinely “useless”, then I can edit the post to state “Allied Strategy Guide 101; Watch what the Axis do and respond to that,” though we’ve already said that for years and it isn’t inspiring. This only took me part of one morning to write up, i’m not that married to it, and if the best thing that comes from it is that it prompted you to spill out 10-20 pages of detailed ideas of what to do in every situation and based on whether 1,2,3, or 4 men survive in Yugoslavia, then it was worth my time, because I’ll read it. post edited to conform the sloppy use of the word strategy vs plan
