German "factory crush" strategy with little help from Mini-Me ( Italy)

Do we need to land a unit to capture Gibraltar? I am still a bit unfamiliar with it, thanks. :wink:

Yes UK will always be able to sink the med fleet regardless of how many ships are built provided they have a landing zone, UK makes more money even after Japan starts taking territory than Italy and even if they do not hit the fleet they can always use the bombers for bombing runs which is very damaging to Italy.

At the end of UK1 they should collect around 30 IPC, plus 5 for the Gibraltar NO,  plus an additional 11 if they take France.  That is a potential 46+ to spend UK2, or another 2-3 bombers plus other units.

Lastly, depending on what your going for with US and if you going mainly air with UK to start dropping off two inf on Gibraltar (either US or UK) will allow you to land your fighters there to help against the med fleet.

Another possibility is to build 2 AC on UK1, letting the US land a fig and landing your 3 UK figs on it turn 1 (they can all reach SZ 27) along with whatever else you choose to build with 15 IPCs (1 bomb would be my choice, or a trans).  This will allow you to hit SZ 14 on UK2 with 3 figs plus your bombers, or protecting any/all landings on France allowing the US to begin the shuck fun, or simply moving into SZ 13 to deny Italy one of there NOs or SZ 12 allowing you to strike anywhere within the med on your next turn and cover US troops in Africa, or any other number of options.  If you really focus on Italy with US/UK they should fall by the end of turn 3 or 4 without strong German aid.  Use a similar method from revised, UK clears the sea providing escort and US lands the troops.

If I am going to build for broke with bombers I will retreat all UK forces possible to trans-jordan. That is 4 inf, 1 art, 1 arm, 1 fig, you cannot destroy it I1 or G2.

In all honesty though I think I prefer the 2 AC 1 Bomb build, as it gives me flexibility on UK/US turn 2.

IL - nice strategy. I played out a scenario with it last night, and it defintely puts the Allies on the ropes early. However, I think your USSR opponent is using the wrong builds. I’ve started playing with a 10 infantry R1 build. I’m coming to the opinion that an offensive build for USSR doesn’t make much sense because (1) strafing, in general, has to be used with more precision in this edition because of the defense 3 tanks and (2) the way you are structuring your advance doesn’t leave many/any opportunities for a good strafing attack. I’ve seen it work against a poorer German player, but the advance you outline doesn’t seem to leave open the same windows. It seems the better play is to have as much fodder as possible for the allied fighters that will be keeping Moscow standing while the UK/US tackle Berlin.

Also, I agree with HolKann that the way to deal with Karelia is to turn it into a giant deadzone for Germany - or what happened in the game I played out last night - just write it off entirely, and divert a bomber from the US force in the UK to cut its ability to produce. USSR’s only hope is to fall back, create deadzones, hope for a dumb mistake by the Germans, and wait for the US and UK to ride to the rescue. By the time the Germans got to Caucuses (G4), there were approximately 33 Infantry/Artillery and 1 armor in Moscow + 3 UK fighters. The US’s 5 bombers were taking a toll on German production, and the 4 transports full of US troops had just arrived in the UK to support the UK landings, now occuring in Poland to disrupt supply lines. UK had also taken North Africa.

Of course, to accomplish this level of pressure, Japan had been allowed to run rampant, with the UK withdrawing its forces from India since it was obvious that they would be crushed by the massive force your J1 sends that way. By G4, Japan had conquered India, Australia, and even Egypt, opening the way for ending the UK threat to North Africa. Japan would also be ready to start advancing on US assets in the Pacific on J5.

Unfortunately I ran out of time to play it out, but it felt close to me. Rolling out a potential G5 assault on Moscow with the combined remaining German assets was not pretty against the force in Moscow, due to the lack of German infantry to absorb casualties. And with the US/UK beginning to land large amounts of troops in Europe, it was going to come down to how fast Japan could force them to redirect assets to the Pacific theater. The US/UK play definitely needs some tweaking - I made some mistakes with both that delayed a strong landing in Europe by a turn, which is obviously crucial as this strategy plays out.

Would be curious what others are finding… ?

@Imperious:

I can take it on G2.

I will move everything to Egypt and land 2 units from German transport on G1

Italy will attack by sending the tank into jordan and landing another tank and fighter, plus 3 shoreshots on I1

The new rules for invasions allows my fighter and perhaps a tank to retreat to egypt. I will get 3 hits

Then on G2 Germany swings with planes and lands 2 more in Jordan with stuff in Egypt. I think that will do it. Right?

Id rather UK buy a navy and start sending stuff to karelia. this Mediterranean exercise is a sideshow for the real pain in Russia developing. UK needs to focus on the REAL issue in Russia to pull it out.

UK goes after Germany. How are you moving all these units into Egypt on G1? Unless you mean to say you are changing your overall strategy and attacking Egypt on G1?  You have me a bit confused.  Also, where are these two Italian tanks coming from on turn 1? (please note I’m using ABattleMap so perhaps I have the wrong starting layout).  And remember, your German transport will get destroyed on UK1 if they choose (bomber or Egypt fighter depending).

Lastly, Italy only gets 2 shore shots on turn 1, unless the rule goes by ground units attacking and not ground units dropped from transports.

Sorry, but I fail to see how the Italian fleet is THAT much of a threat.

Why would I get 3 bombers with England?  I’d rather get some transports and cruisers and start a pile drive into Scandinavia IMHO

In all honesty I prefer the 2 AC 1 bomb build currently as it still allows you to wipe out the Italian fleet and gives other options.

The reason the Italian fleet is such a threat, is the landings from the black sea.  If Russia does not have to worry about those I think they will hold out for a much greater time against the German tank blitz.

Also, if Italy is only making 10 IPC a turn, plus suffering a bombing run or two a turn, they are effectively out of the game, forcing the Germans to protect France.