@oztea:
The following straights are added to the game board, unlike canals, a player needs only to control one territory to control naval access to the adjacent sea zones. Submarines and air units may move normally.
Gibraltar – No units may cross the border dividing sea zones 12 and 13 without control of Gibraltar
Denmark – No units may enter or exit sea zone 5 without control of Northwest Europe
Dardanelles – No sea units, not even subs, may enter or exit sea zone 16 without control of Turkey
I play with this in all my games, alot more fair
1. I find the Coastal Guns rules (Surface Ships ONLY – subs can pass freely. You NEED DDs to restrict the passage of subs.) from AARHE much more useful for Gibraltar and the Channel passage issues.
To pass Gibraltar, Sz 1 to Sz 2 or vice versa, all Axis Surface Ships ONLY are subject to fire from the Fortress Guns at Gibraltar - Hit on a 1 or 2.
To Pass through the narrowest point in the Channel, between Dover and Pas de Calais, all surface ships - either side - are subject to gun emplacements of the other side (that also spent the war firing on each other - yes, they were quite long ranged) - Hit on a 1.
[Note: With Historical Setup you can even re-enact the ‘Channel Dash’ of the BB’s Scharhorst/Gneisenau [http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/battleships/index.html ] and their accompanying Destroyer escorts.
Set up 1 BB and 1 DD in Sz 7 {1941 Scenario} to re-enact the Dash. For {1942 Scenario} both set up in the Baltic and the BB has a Damage Marker underneath.
To reflect the surprise of the British, the guns only get to fire at the BB’s, not the DDs. 😉
2. Agreed, although Norway must also be controlled to enter Baltic.
Although, while I always play it that way, Allied subs are free to pass through the Kattegat if they survive a Mine Roll [1-3 Sink, 4-6 Pass]. 8-)
See also [http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=15710.msg517854#msg517854 ]
This works really well when you add the following NO that was curiously omitted from AA50 - and honestly, anyone who believes the NO objectives are biased towards the Axis should look at Italy’s NO. [The UK & USA just suck up the IPCs with their generous NOs.]
Germany:
• Gain 5 IPCs if Axis control Baltic [Sz5] - with no Allied naval units present, plus control the following adjacent territories: NW Europe, Germany, Poland, Baltic States, Finland, and Norway.
Allied subs, even Russian, can be real thorns in the Axis side - although at least the German Navy does not just roll over and die so easy anymore, especially with AA Cruisers / Old BBs (incl. captured BB’s/Cruisers fitted out for AA role). 😄
You could also go further, if anyone plays with the Soviet Baltic Fleet accurately represented as the Eastern Baltic entrance (S of Finland) was also heavily mined by Germany/Finland during the 1st week of the attack from June 41.
[But thats a topic for a future thread. wink
3. Agreed. To do otherwise is just inaccurate as even the Main UK fleet in WW1 lost BBs just entering the Southern end of the Dardanelles. The turks have the length of the Dardanelles heavily fortified with Forts and Mines. Certain Suicide for any attempt to pass. :roll:
PS: Don’t forget to check out the following Improved China Mod:
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=15626.0 ]
