Have any of you tried buying 5 transports on G1?
Before you write it off as crazy, consider the powerful punch it can bring to London on G2. Building 5 transports in the Baltic Sea (plus the existing one there) and making sure that at the end of G1 you leave at least 6 infantry, 6 tanks, and your whole air force within reach, forces your allied opponent to make some crucial decisions. It can be countered, but an unprepared player might not know how to handle it. Granted, this strategy is not foolproof and it leaves Germany initially weak against Russia, but if you capture London, the game is pretty much over because you can make sure that the Allies never recapture it.
G1 objectives: Strategic bomb London. Be careful that your forces that will be transported, can’t be destroyed by Russia on R2. Send your Mediterranean Fleet west to kill the UK Battleship (and take Gibraltar)-then you are also in position for that transport to go to Britain unless the Allies put a boat in your way (SZ 12). Sub from SZ8 sinks UK transport in SZ1 to prevent both the aforementioned roadblock AND transporting the E. Canada tank to UK. You could also arrange things to leave Norway and Algeria empty or weak in order to bait the Allies-every unit that isn’t in the UK is a unit you don’t have to kill when taking the capital. (Plus if they earn extra income, you’ll take it from them the next turn!)
Best Possible Allied Counters:
US drop all 4 land units in Britain but send DD to SZ12 to block German Med. Fleet from attacking London on G2. US land bomber and fighter in UK.
If in range, land Russian Fighters in UK.
Four good options for UK:
1. build as many infantry as possible for defense of the inevitable attack (this allows best use of AA).
2. Buy an AC + sub or DD in SZ 5 (moving the BB and TRN there too) to try to prevent the landing from even occurring.
3. Buy 3 subs plus as many infantry as possible. The subs will join the BB, transport, and Russian sub in SZ 5. The advantage of subs in this situation is that when you’re attacked by the German navy, your subs all fire at their boats and can’t hit the planes—hopefully this takes out some precious transports.
4. Possibly sending both fighters and bomber at Baltic fleet, knowing you’ll lose your valuable air force but possibly taking out a transport or two.
Options 2, 3, and 4 force Germany to decide how many planes to allocate to the sea battle and how many to the amphibious landing. If you try option 4, you’ll want to combine it with option 2 or 3.
Any thoughts on this?
