Try to avoid cute acronyms and abbreviations. It makes it harder for casual players to understand. All this stuff about Operation Torch, whatever. Just say Allies land in Africa, damn!
Not that I’m not guilty of the same, but “G1” refers to Germany’s first turn, “J2” refers to Japan’s first turn . . . I think that’s not TOO awful. KGF is Kill Germany First. Pretty common terminology I think. But . . . well . . . best not fling stones at ya while standing in a glass house eh?
Well, just as you said, it’s a matter of balance. Neither Axis NOR Allies can grab Africa at the expense of Berlin, Moscow, or Japan’s navy and control of the Pacific islands and Asian coast.
If you’re going KGF, probably on G1, Germany will have gone to Anglo-Egypt. Buncha cute ways to counter.
1. UK1 fighter/bomber hits German battleship, Trans-Jordan infantry plus cruiser shot plus 2 India infantry to hit Anglo-Egypt. Probably only feasible if Germany has 1 unit on Anglo. If UK fighter/bomber and German battleship mutually wipe, Russian fighter on Caucasus can finish the job.
2. UK1 counters Anglo-Egypt with fighter and up to three infantry as listed above. Fighter lands on carrier east of Africa, where only 2 Japanese fighters can hit. UK flies bomber east, and fighter(s) to West Russia. (If needed, US fighters can land on a UK carrier for protection). Germany gets its second drop, then UK fighters hit the German battleship, along with the UK bomber.
3. UK1 builds carrier, US1 flies 2 fighters to land on it, and flies US bomber to Archangel or London. R2 reinforces Archangel with infantry to prevent Germany from whacking the US bomber for cheap with German air, and takes Karelia to prevent Germany from using infantry/tanks on Archangel. UK2 moves carrier to sea zone west of Algeria. US2 uses 2 US fighters from carrier and US bomber to whack out German fleet, plus moves US1 build to Algeria to support UK navy.
4. R1 build 1-2 subs and/or 1-2 fighters; if Germany goes to Anglo-Egypt, Russia whacks it on R2. But this is pretty expensive for Russia, and Germany can exploit Russia’s lack of ground units.
In all of these scenarios, UK leaves 2 infantry and 1 AA gun on Persia. Along with UK air power in Europe, this stops the Axis from controlling both sides of the Suez Canal (particularly Trans-Jordan) which allows passage from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean. If UK does NOT prevent control of the Suez on UK2, then Japan can move in at least 1 battleship and 1 carrier to the Mediterranean, and it becomes much harder to kill the German battleship/transport.
5. If all the above fail, US can just land a fat stack at Algeria and start pushing into Libya then Anglo-Egypt. US can get 6+ units to Africa quickly. Germany can only get 2. If Germany buys transports &c, it needs to drain Europe a LOT to fuel the attack on Africa. If the Allies pressure Germany enough, Germany may not be able to afford the luxury of drops to Africa.
Even if Germany can afford to invest in control of Africa, US can move transports from Algeria to the south of Africa and drop to Africa’s interior. Doing so breaks US’s transport chain and really lessens its speed towards helping out in Europe. The Allies may not be able to afford the luxury of south Africa drops.
As far as later Japanese control of Africa - that always happens. But UK can compensate for that with control of Norway and sometimes trading control of Western Europe. If Germany stacked Western Europe and Berlin, Germany will be on the defensive, and the Allies should either be setting up for a triple attack on Berlin, or something equivalently nasty. Allies may or may not be able to trade Africa at that point, but that’s always how it goes - Africa’s important, but it doesn’t stack up to the importance of Berlin or Moscow.
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The Allies need to do things differently if they’re planning KJF (Kill Japan First). Germany could invest in a G1 carrier at Southern Europe, even a G1 carrier and transport to lock up control of the Suez on G2. There’s a lot of things that can switch up the Allied plans in Africa.
Control of Africa is NOT vital. As I mentioned in another post, if Russia screws up a Norway/West Russia/Ukraine attack, and Germany does a hard counter, Germany may just abandon Africa and its Mediterranean fleet in favor of locking up Caucasus and pressuring Moscow immediately. Of course this is pretty unusual - usually both Axis and Allies should keep an eye on Africa. Certainly a Kill Germany First plan should restrict Germany’s income in Africa if at all possible.
