Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023

@Cornwallis said in Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023:

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris defend from what, you have a very limited landing fleet?

A transport and 3 bombers, or have you not been following the OOB Finals? A green skies invasion of Japan works the exact same way as a dark skies invasion of London; all you need is a transport in range. And an actual landing isn’t really your goal - forcing Japan to spend resources to defend the capital is.

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris said in Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023:

It is hard for me to threaten the Money Islands

Sounds like the Allies could use an Indian Ocean fleet. Let’s say a 13 bid or a BM stops a COW from happening. At the end of R3, the Allies could have sitting in SZ39:

BS x1 (37)
Cr x3 (39, 63, 98)
AC x2 (98, buy IN1)
Fighter x4 (3 from ANZAC, Burma)
Dest x 8 (71, 72, 98, 39, 35, 62, buy x2 IN2)
Sub x2 (35, buy IN2)
Trans x2 (39, 98)
Plus the Russian & 2 more UK planes on land to scramble.

Japan can’t take India by sea anymore. It also has a huge new threat to its income to deal with in the south while Russia & China threaten its land holdings and the US threatens SZ6.

@GovZ one tpt doesn´t do that much . Dark skies is a defensive strategy and you use it in an offensive way. I´m just trying to understand how it can work

@Cornwallis dark skies is a terrifying offensive and defensive plan. Bombers have so much versatility to project power, especially when combined with a few other units such as infantry or subs.

Offensive:
*you can create attack zones where opposing stacks have to retreat or else be wiped off the map. For example Germany can threaten Moscow and the Middle East simultaneously so UK has to abandon one choke point.

*strategic bombing should not be underestimated. 4 bombers going after Moscow will slow down Russian defensive buildup. You lose 8 TUV on an average turn, but prevent purchase of five Russian infantry. Great ROI

Defensive:
*kill zones are so useful. You can make it impossible to move into key territories. For example you can make it easy to counter-strike a Normandy landing.

*unit purchase behavior changes for the opponent changes when you go Dark Skies. For example a stack of 10 bombers combined with a few subs requires a substantial fleet to protect amphibious landings.

Overall Dark Skies is a slow buildup with few major battles. You will eventually overwhelm a theater of focus as the opponent can’t simultaneously reinforce 2 or 3 territories even with superior income. As long as your income isn’t grossly inferior, you will eventually win. Moscow or the Middle East or India don’t have to fall in the early game. It is like a boa constrictor with increasing pressure as the bomber fleet reaches double digit numbers.

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris yes i agree 100% with that. The big difference with the pacific is that germans also have a land push , While the US in the pacific only have the bombers with a very small fleet.
Have you tried a bright skies in europe?

@Cornwallis I rarely play Allies, but did have success with a medium-sized bomber fleet in Europe. Being able to hit the factories made the critical difference in a game where 20 PUs swings a battle so dramatically.

When I eventually got driven out from Western Europe, I could move the large Air Force to the Middle East to prevent the Axis from getting a W. That flexibility was critical.

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris the biggest issue there is that you can´t bomb Berlin from london and return.

@Cornwallis said in Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023:

@GovZ one tpt doesn´t do that much . Dark skies is a defensive strategy and you use it in an offensive way. I´m just trying to understand how it can work

Japan needs transports to win the game, and dark skies is an anti-boat strategy. The target is Japan’s fleet, not Japan itself. Think K-IJN-F, not KJF.

@GovZ

Apologies for my ignorance, but what do “BM” and “COW” stand for? Thank you!

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris

Thanks a lot! I’ll try Dark Skies and the Allied counterpart in the future. Definitely not as intuitive as other ones.

@SuperbattleshipYamato said in Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023:

@GovZ

Apologies for my ignorance, but what do “BM” and “COW” stand for? Thank you!

No worries, it’s my fault for using abbreviations.

COW - Author of the standard J1 opening. His Japanese playbook is pinned for details.

BM - BM3/4 is a popular house rule version that I’m not fond of.

@GovZ

Ah, Cow! Sorry, when I see words in all caps I assume it’s an abbreviation, not a name. Thank you!

@GovZ by the time you get your mass of bombers, Japan already has the islands so isn´t in that a big need of transports.
One central hub like the Philippines with its carriers etc and one tpt is enough to defend.

@jacobgeo24

I’m really happy that this thread has worked out for you.

Your plans sounds good. I look forward to results!

Though maybe you shouldn’t post your entire game plan publicly, where your opponents can see it and develop a counter to it?

@jacobgeo24 said in Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023:

I agree 100% that you have to let the final decision lie with the person running the Power. A partner can make suggestions but arguing about strategy is a good way to remove the fun from the game. However, I will say the strategy as laid out has some major flaws.

I trying to convince my friend to do the Russian infantry builds which were suggested by @AndrewAAGamer in his post earlier, given that Germany behaves and doesn’t do any Navy/Airforce only builds gearing up for a sealion, but he is adamant that creating an armored core early on for Russia is the way to go. I think my convincing helped him, but I’m not going to stop him, otherwise we won’t have a good time!

Whenever I see my Russian opponent build armor early on it makes me do the happy dance. Armor is only useful if Germany is not going all out for Russia. So until you see that your opponent is not going after Moscow you have to assume they are. 2 infantry defend significantly better than 1 tank. Now, I do not know how competent your opponents are. A competent German player is going to move against Moscow as a single large stack, north or south, which makes Russian armor useless. If they come in piecemeal or two smaller armies it could prove useful. I always provide advice assuming my opponent is going to play correctly.

For UK Europe, we are going to take out Italy early and render them useless. His strategy for this is evacuating the Med Sea and preserving resources instead of attacking Taranto and Malta sea zone, where once united with boats from England and Pacific, will reenter and blow the Italians away. Not sure if this will work, but we shall see. I’ve tried to convince him to do a Taranto or some sort of rendition of Gibastion, but he will try out his strategy and we shall see! The US will also aid the UK in the Atlantic, but it may not be it’s main focus.

I fail to see how “take out Italy early and render them useless” goes hand in hand with “evacuating the Med Sea and preserving resources instead of attacking Taranto and Malta sea zone”. The easiest way to lose is for Italy to get big moneywise and abandoning the Med to the Italians is a sure fire way to lose. Since you say he is planning on not attacking ANY UK fleets then the only way to preserve his SZ98 fleet is to exit the Med via the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. If he does that Italy will take Trans-Jordon and the UK fleet will never be able to renter. With a full Italian fleet remaining with 3 transports and collecting close to $20 a Turn Egypt will be in peril and UK will be doing all they can to hold Egypt and will not be able to threaten the Italian fleet at all.

With our joint fleet to be positioned in 91 with attempts to reach Italy, Norway, and Normandy once we build up enough. US will send some resources to Europe, but I plan on doing a Pacific Operation since I am basically commanding the Pacific.

What joint forces? Half the remaining UK fleet will be in the Indian Ocean. Half will be off 91, at least that portion that survives the G1 attack, and unable to enter the Med as the Italian fleet will be bigger.

Goal will be to get to the Carolines with a join US-ANZAC fleet and troops, there we will threaten basically anywhere in the Japanese Empire. Not sure if our opponents that we will be doing a J1 though. China will be engaging in a tactical defensive war, while the UK Pacific will be mostly defensive as well unless an opportunity springs up.

Sounds reasonable.

Good luck and have fun!

@jacobgeo24

With not only an opponent and dice to manage but also a partner keen for kickstarting Italy and Russian armor it may be both fun and advisable if you suggest to bring them against Japan and have USA take more effort to support UK and Russia? Consider something fancy that can win once as general strategies discussed here mostly apply on 1v1-matches when you can make all Powers fit in? Play it bold, have fun - don’t rely on dice