the great white buffalo….

my understanding is that the attacker can choose to ignore the sub (as in most scenarios). however, in this case the scramble initiates a combat which means that the subs contoller can decide whether to defend or submerge

i’ve been trying to come up with a realistic way for the nazis to help the italians without being locked into sealion gambits OR strict barbarossa

turn 1 build AC and 2 trannies into sz112

hit 91 with 2 subs, hit 110 with 3 fig, 3 tacs, and 2 bombers

hit 106 w/ 1 sub, NCM last sup to 112

hit france with all ground, send in two nazi fighters to s. italy

strafe yugo to setup for potential G2 barbarossa

only real poroblem i see is the all air attack on 110
if UK doesn’t scramble, sealion odds get hurt from air losses and taranto is still achievable.  if he does scramble, air losses increase, but taranto is removed from the table

guess i could move 1 sub from the 91 fight to 110

hi, guys (and gals, all 4 of you  :-D)

so i’m kinda trying out hobbes’ fortress europe ideas for '42, and i’m pondering something

bunnies seemed to have a notion that jap/german fighters in w eur didn’t amount to much threat to allied naval chains in the atlantic, defending neither africa nor northern europe. i’d have to agree, though the figs presence does cause delays

so could the axis turn w eur AND karelia into fighter bases to cut off the northern route as well? supplement w eur with bombers as well. karelia is an objective at some point right? but is it too exposed to allied landing? will splitting the airforce and defending w eur/germ/e eur/karelia be too exhaustive of axis resources?

a UK1 taranto raid is the only real way that italy can get REALLY screwed up, so…

try hitting 110 with just enough to **trick **him into a scramble.  without those extra air units off UK taranto gets riskier and riskier…

maybe 1 sub and like 3 fig, 3 tacs

yes you will lose air, but italy messing up the med is worth it****

rationality just doesn’t jive with some folks

this might be a lil off topic, but since german openings are vaguely relevant….

@robbie, if you opt to use your air primarily for the destruction of france AND you attempt to disable all UK destroyers in the atlantic:

1)how is the second part accomplished? (what do you send where?)
and
2)how could any self-respecting allied player allow you to hit the fleet on g2?

if it were me, even if i had to run all the way to canada, that’s what i’d do.  the brits start with a healthy amount of core ships.  you let them go and you won’t see them til an allied landing party plops down in europe.  either that or italy gets slapped around like rihanna.

i’m not opposed to the idea of freeing up those mechs/tanks for russia, but seems like the axis will miss a big opportunity to clear the atlantic a bit

@robbie

feel like i need to clarify some things…

my point was that if germany concentrates its entire land force on france (hell, even in alpha2) then the situation you presented in the pic wouldn’t happen, barring better than average dice for the allies.  if germany hadn’t split resources to try and hit normandy AND france AND some combination of UK ships, then you as the allies wouldn’t have even had the option to counter france.

its a fact then when you start splitting a few strong combined attacks into multiple splinter attacks, that your odds of each attack being successful goes down.

the remaining allied forces in normandy pose no lasting threat, so why risk a situation like this unfolding when you can just blow paris to bits and lose only some inf and art?

paris is an extremely crucial fight.  if the axis are already slipping up on G1 then things are only gonna get worse…

but i suppose maybe you COULD have tried a counter, didn’t look like he had much to sack paris with (except air), tho i didn’t look at the italian position

italy’s buys are ALWAYS situational. you never really know what ur gonna have to work with until its your turn.

so basically if taranto happened UK1, i’d say start pumping cheap ground immediately and maybe a fighter turn 1. once it looks like italy is gonna get thrashed, use what naval forces you have left to try and snag a few NOs (might need german help too) for a few turns so you can produce upwards of 20 inf plus some art and air support.  italians defending from western invasion is sometimes all you can do, but its better than throwing valuable IPCs to the bottom of the med, and it really helps the germans keep up the pressure in russia

on the other hand, if you’ve got a good fleet intact, spend ur resources cracking into the mid east quickly. do NOT squander italian naval assets clearing the med unless you HAVE to (use german air for this if possible), and don’t leave your valuable shipping exposed. i find that buying navy for the italians is bad, as they don’t have enough ground units to defend with once the western allies kick in the door.  i’m thinking like a DD and a carrier max for the entirety of the game. maybe another TT if things go well

if you anticipate a j2 DOW in pacific then go all bombers US1 and place them in e/c usa.  us2 they fly to UK, and us3 they sink the trannies.  not a horrible idea.  and if j3 is the DOW just move everything back a turn and you’ve gained some ground/time in pacific

also, regarding russian counters…

it’s my experience that russia can’t really try to start countering or strafing until their forces combine in bryansk.  there you can martial the entire might of your army and utilize it while still providing defense for the south.  so don’t worry about losing leningrad and the 3 front territories without counters or even counter threats.  with that many art he’s gonna want to attack you, and that’s how the russians win on the eastern front.  that or an underdeveloped axis stack parks next to them and gets mauled by the bear