French Strategies for 1936

@Shadowdoom286

This is for Global 1940 but I’m sure at least half of the details here apply to Europe 1940 (lots of options):

https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/assets/uploads/files/1700408602301-allied-playbook-g40-collection-of-essays.pdf

@misck Another option is for UK to build a railway to Aby. Then you can use the British major port.

“The Polar Express”
A complementary strategy from the USA.

Many of those who see the above strategy may well wonder what it does against the famous atalinc wall in northern Europe. the Med is great for attacking Italy, but there is few ways to hurt Germany is the south. This strategy is an American solution to that problem.
Disclaimer: This is a later game plan, so I don’t know what your game will be like, so I can only give some guidelines. This assumes a Germany who has not gone heavy on Navy, and has mostly focus on the continent and the USSR.

The common US plan, from what I have seen, is a relic of GHGs “famous” Middle Earth strategy for G40. The Americans look south, heading to Spain or Portugal, then move on to the Med to punish Italy. Some have remarked that the Atlantic is longer in GW36 than G40, and thus you can no longer reach Gibraltar in one turn. This has completely invalidated the strategy on the Med. The prime goal of any American strategy is to spend the least money on Transports, and to maximise your drop potential. This usually means the shorter your route the better, as there as less empty transports laying about. The best route is the 2 part out and back, but this is impractical in most games as Germany will just allow you to just pound you way slowly through the mountains of Spain and stop you far short of anything important. The next best route is what is used in Middle Earth, the 3 transport shuck. In this, 2 sets of transports take units to a staging point, (Gibraltar) and then a 3rd set goes back and forth form the landing zone to the other side of the staging ground and back to the landing zone (it was southern France) This is the system we will apply.

If one looks at the GW36 board, it is quick apparent there is few good spots for this. In the Med, Gibraltar is too far away. In the center, there is no convenient staging ground. But the north, an oft forgotten route is there. In G40, the map was bably inaccurate in its sea distances. It was faster in go south then north, as the northern sea zones were “smaller” than the ones in the south, due to the projection of the map. This mean an route north took 2 times a long. In GW36, we have an accurate map. (at least as far a sea zones in the Atlantic) Thus the shortest route along the great circle is also the shortest route to Europe. Starting in NYC, one can move your fleet to Halifax, then the Labrador coast, then to Scotland in the magnificent large sea zone of the GIUK gap. Scotland then is our staging ground. While 2 sets of transports go back and forth taking units to Scotland, out last set will be in the North sea. Form there, they will move for any adjacent sea zones to SZ 11, pick up the next load, and drop it off on Europe. They can hit anywhere from Normandy to Narvik in this way, a total of 9 territories. (That does not include the UK) In those territories is Western Germany, the gateway to Berlin. If you can take and hold this land, the Germany must worry about a factory on Berlin’s doorstep, and a shipyard as well. This forces Germany to put large forces to hold this. Another possibility is that of a final decapitation strike into the Baltic after a UK assault on Denmark of W Germany. This can hit anywhere from Archangel to Spain, or even East Prussia, so is a good option at the end of the game. However, it ruins the shuck, so make sure is works and Berlin will fall quickly.

Another huge bonus in this is easy air cover. From London, Fighters can hit anywhere on the channel, and even run a carrier swap to hit farther afield in places like Germany or Norway. Add in Long Range Aircraft and that instantly extend you range farther. Bombers can also help out, as well as pound Germany to a pulp in SBRs. Also, this is only one turn away from NY, either to the Midlands or Scotland.
you can also bring in Airbones to drop from strategic bombers or Air transports, giving more striking ability.

A very important thing in this is to guard your transports. This is best done by destroying any German planes on the coast, but can also be done by a large fleet. And guess what the US has? Another large fleet with plenty of things that bombard! If parked of the German coastline, the Germans will be hard pressed to take out your transports, having to fight a large fleet as well as any scramble depending on the location.

Overall, The Polar express is a powerful strategy to hit where the UK hasn’t - Western Europe. If combined with a lockdown of Italy, then the European axis might be in big trouble. Even alone, it gives the fastest route to Europe, as well as nearby support from your Allies .

Again, feel free to critique anything you see here, as I have actually not tested this.
-Trig

Edit: Here is a map displaying the main moves of the Polar Express- https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1LAQrgB0GLbBh-bW-8QqAa948RKHqQGUE&usp=sharing

@doomer1940 I agree with you I’m working on fixing it

Interesting takes from you both. This could lose focus, but I do like historical discussion :)

I think you both have valid points on the historical aspects vs. game play realities.

Britain’s and France’s alliance, at least in the form we know it as it concerns WWII, stemmed in 1938-1939 after the Munich Conference. The alliance was really geared towards stemming German/Italian expansions in Europe. I don’t think Japan/Asia was really much of a thought or concern. That probably stems from a number of things, a couple being a contemporary belief in Japanese/Asian inferiority (even with Japanese military success in the recent past), as well as being largely unaware that Japan would eventually harbor the ill will to fight the Allies. They didn’t join the Axis until 1940, remember.

That’s all to say that I agree with GHG, in a historical context, that Britain and France were more concerned about issues closer to home.

All that said, from a gaming perspective, I do agree with Dran here. In a hypothetical reality where Japan preemptively assaulted the British Empire in Hong Kong, Malay, Burma, India, etc., I think it’s very obvious France would have gone on high alert, fully realizing their Indochinese colonies might all of a sudden be in jeopardy. We of course cannot know this, since Indochina was occupied after a Vichy government took control. But I think reason dictates there would have been a heightening of fears in the French Empire.

In that regard, it would have been nicer to have seen a bit more of a peacetime income increase for a situation like this, I agree. But at least there is that +1 IPP for Japan attacking a Neutral UK.

@turndown4rip Interesting. I believe in your scenario combat would have to happen.

You say above that the UK would wait to declare war until that moment. I find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t already be at war though. The moment Germany attacked France, the UK would have gone to full wartime income. While true, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the UK has to actually declare war on the Axis at that moment in time. And per the rules, as you’ve surmised, they can declare war at any moment during any portion of anyone’s turn.

All that said, I’d have to imagine a German player will have already hit the UK fleet in the Atlantic somewhere, making war already a thing. But I may be getting off topic a bit, as your scenario is technically plausible!

I guess with your situation above, the UK has declared war after Germany’s combat movement phase. So no combat would happen on Germany’s turn. But when the UK’s turn came around, the UK could choose to move it’s ships out of the shared seazone and away from combat. If they left the ships in that zone though, combat would occur. You couldn’t just decide to leave your ships in a contested territory while at war and not have combat occur.

To your Dutch query, I’d have to agree with @ArtilleryAficianado. While you’re correct that those are valuable resources the Commonwealth as a whole losses out on, the Japanese would also be hurt as well by never having all that income, or the bonus income that comes with it. I think that would balance itself out that way. Plus, I think a smart Axis player would effectively negate the Allies from gaining much of that income. A smart move would be to wait to attack the Netherlands itself as Germany until Japan is simultaneously ready to take the DEI, to stop the very issue you bring up of the Commonwealth gaining that income!

It looks highly unlikely that you’re going to post spam :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: so please share!

Note v1.4 of reference sheets has been released changing a few minor setups. But mainly changing the monroe doctrine regarding South America.