Scramble to defend SZ 7?
L24 PTV: Nikola1975 (Axis +12) vs. Stucifer (Allies)
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Crete is a 6-IPC swing, -3 UK +3 GER. and usually you can grab Cyprus too which cuts another 3 from UK.
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@Stucifer said in L24 PTV: Nikola1975 (Axis +12) vs. Stucifer (Allies):
- Iceland the battle went well for you but gave me breathing room as the UK to put more money into Egypt without worrying about a Sealion. I almost didn’t scramble the fighters because losing those ships doesn’t put me any further behind than I usually am as the UK in the Atlantic with a German naval build on round 1.
The idea of just putting fighters there and not scrambling them is great. I tried this maneuver once in a live game, but scrambled the planes and it went disastrously for UK - but only putting them there, not scrambling and therefore getting German fleet to the North is excellent. You either keep the Battleship, or give some room for Gibraltar move.
This makes German strafe on the battleship questionable move. Maybe it is better to go until the end, risking that German BS if needed?
- Definitely put Italy to the screws and kept my income as UK to the point I was barely putting resources into the Med as the US. I think if you don’t do Sealion you are probably best off with Germany focusing on either supporting Italy getting its NOs in the Med or with Italy focusing on getting some income in Russia that can’t be convoyed and supporting Germany with a strong mechanized can-opener force, going for the Southern Caucasus hard.
I also prefer to push hard to Leningrad early and often build a 2nd transport in the Baltic to shuck 4 infantry in each round. This has the added benefit of making Norway a less tantalizing target to the Allies. It also lets me exert pressure on Moscow early while pivoting mechanized to Stalingrad, ideally forcing the USSR to retreat and only trade it by round 5 or 6. Italy if supporting can rush through to capture Southern Caucasus and at that point I should be around 80+ with Germany.
This is a good plan of course, but I never manage to get to the Caucasus or Stalingrad if I focus north. Italy could be the difference there, you are right, I rarely support that attack with more than one Italian tank - I usually invest into the Meds with them heavily. Which did not work at all in this game.
- Guinea/Solomons is a good NO to suffocate the ANZAC but you have to have really good fleet positioning to keep the flies away. Priority is always the money islands for me, but denying ANZAC or UK is pretty high too. I really like the Wake Island hold as the US if I can get away with it.
The Phillipines/SZ36 seems underrated in a lot of games I see as the primary staging area for your main fleet.
I like SZ37 and use it a lot but it, doesn’t have the reach to SZ55. From 36, you are forcing the Allies to use either 2 blockers or not hold 55. 36 also supports amphib attacks on Wake, Marshall, Gilbert, all of Indonesia, Queensland, and Malaya, while being able to retreat to SZ 6/7 to defend the Home Islands if necessary.
Wake Island harbour was very successful for you, it made life very hard for Japan. Again, this sounds good when you tell it like this, but realising it is probably not easy.
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@Stucifer said in L24 PTV: Nikola1975 (Axis +12) vs. Stucifer (Allies):
@nikola1975 said in L24 PTV: Nikola1975 (Axis +12) vs. Stucifer (Allies):
I was worried about that armour stack coming through Ukraine for a while, but the lack of power up north let me shift everything down to Stalingrad. I think that is one of the clearest strategic errors in hindsight. 2nd was not taking Crete both to give Germans the NO and also to force a reaction from UK. For your bid as Italy if you are going to go Med I think a destroyer in 99 and an infantry in Tobruk is a better spend. Or a mech + armor betweenI will probably try a sub for Italy and infantry for the Germans in Holland in our next game. Mediterranean is hard, good Allied player like you can make a strong position in Egypt and the Middle East, basically stopping Italy very early.
Like you said, Crete and Malta/Cyprus are important, but I usually tend to wait taking them until I build the carrier or German comes down to help. Which did not happen in this game.
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