UK Greece - Mid-Game Operation

@seancb LoL just give me the state , date, place and time. That sounds amazing.

@Cow:

Optimal sea lion / feign.

Been debating if normandy or southern france or neither is better for round 1.

Purchase Units - Germans
           Germans buy 1 carrier and 2 transports; Remaining resources: 0 PUs;

Combat Move - Germans
           1 submarine moved from 117 Sea Zone to 106 Sea Zone
           1 submarine moved from 103 Sea Zone to 106 Sea Zone
           1 submarine moved from 108 Sea Zone to 110 Sea Zone
           1 submarine moved from 118 Sea Zone to 111 Sea Zone
           1 submarine moved from 124 Sea Zone to 111 Sea Zone
           1 battleship moved from 113 Sea Zone to 110 Sea Zone
           1 fighter moved from Holland Belgium to 110 Sea Zone
           1 fighter moved from Norway to 111 Sea Zone
           1 tactical_bomber moved from Germany to 110 Sea Zone
           2 fighters and 2 tactical_bombers moved from Western Germany to 110 Sea Zone
           1 tactical_bomber moved from Western Germany to 111 Sea Zone
           2 bombers moved from Germany to 111 Sea Zone
           2 artilleries and 6 infantry moved from Greater Southern Germany to Yugoslavia
           3 armour moved from Greater Southern Germany to France
           3 armour, 2 artilleries and 4 infantry moved from Holland Belgium to France
           1 artillery, 3 infantry and 1 mech_infantrys moved from Western Germany to France
            3 mech west moved from West Germany to Southern France.
           1 tactical_bomber moved from Poland to Yugoslavia
            1 fighter moved from Hungary to Southern France

ncm

tactical fighter yugoslavia-> Southern Italy.
fighter southern france -> northern italy.
Rest of the air lands west germany, except the one tactical fighter to sz 112 (it has one movement left only).
cruiser transport-> sz 112
shuffle 2 inf from denmark->norway.
1 inf norway->finland.
2 arty germany->west germany
Rest of germany-> poland.
1 inf romania-> bulgaria
2 inf hungary->poland
~

This is like the basic sea lion but with some minor adjustments. You are doing Southern france. You power slam Yugoslavia.

You can make 71 income potential (if convoys from the french miss) 9 transports and a dd purchase… potential… you can drop 6 units on to scotland in round 2 then pick up 6 more units and drop. Bringing the total drop count to 6+6+18… 30 units. Plus your air. Italy can bomb an airbase if necessary. Italy can land a fighter onto scotland to scramble to defend transports if necessary as well (against the 1 french fighter).

Even if you make 68 only… that is still 28 units + air drop potential. Southern France is nice because if Naval goes to gibraltar you can blast it.

This is an excellent write-up by a seemingly controversial character on these forums. The strategy is sound though.

@diabo:

in my group we play in similar ways, but i think it is not wise to do japan’s turn, BEFORE russia bought units.

another thing is, i have to admit, i had to smile that you regarded france as a block for itself… ;)

If there were a reason to change Japan’s strategy based on what Russia purchases, I’m sure it would be a minor issue. A larger issue is the time it takes for Japan to finish their turn, in my experience, Japan is the biggest culprit when it comes to clock consumption and getting Japan started right away is paramount for quick games.

Note that I play 2nd edition. I don’t know how this compares to alpha+3.

The first thing that I look out for with the UK, is what is Germany doing? IF a serious sea-lion is posed, I move every available ship from the UK med-fleet (and the french if they survive) to Gibraltar, as well as every ratty old plane the UK has in the med. This requires removal of the Italian TRS+DD in SZ96 in the 2nd edition.
With this move and smart builds in London, Sea Lion will fail miserably. Italy on the other hand will be stronger in Africa but you can’t have both London and Cairo. Rest assured that you will take back the latter, if Italy takes it at all. If Germany continues on the Sea Lion Path, all the Gibraltar stuff moves north to fight Germans, who will fail, Russia will roll over Germany and it is game over very quickly for the Axis. EVEN if Lucky dicerolls hands them over London they will not be able to stop the Russians anymore because they will loose too much in the battle of London… Unless they roll SO DAMN Lucky that they manage to keep all their Luftwaffe + take London with their last tank  :roll:
If Germany does NOT continue with Sea Lion (you can tell by their production), move the Gibraltar stuff + STR and FTR from London back into Africa, ending the Italian dreams there with moderate effort.

If Germany never poses/feighns a Sea-Lion threat, do a ‘Taranto’ or ‘Tobruk’ UK1. The specifics vary from the preferences from player to player but in general it comes down to attack as much Italian ships (or its units in Tobruk) with as much of your air/ships.
Personally I prefer to kill all Italian ships in SZ96 and SZ97 with all UK-ships that can get to them plus all aircraft that can get there. Note that the STR in London can get there and land in Malta as well as 2 FTR from London that can land on the CV if necessary. I personally take ships (even the CV) as losses, and land all surviving aircraft (which should very well be all) in Malta, but this may also differ according to your preferences.

If you fear/don’t know how to handle a ‘surprise Sea Lion’ from the Germans, seriously consider to consolidate around Gibraltar UK1, doing ‘Taranto’ (sort of) UK2. Taranto is most effective UK1 but loses not much of its effect if executed UK2.

Good luck and have fun playing!

@ghr2:

I would soo want germany next time :)

Sure thing!

@Gargantua:

There are no cats in America…

Steven Spielberg’s “once upon a time in America” great movie!

We were talking about if it CAN happen, not if it is a good idea or likely to happen