@newpaintbrush:
Naw, once you start trying to push Allies into the Med, you have to deal with nasty logistic problems. Takes two transports per transport load to get to Western Europe or Southern Europe, and there’s the whole German infantry counter thing, and the German air/naval attack on Allied navy thing, and the ew and the ah, and the I’m going to run away before those guys steal my boots.
Wups, gotta go. Work work.
I dunno. I’ve never been able to pull it off, oddly, but I’ve always wanted to get a US fleet into the Med. And it’s not some whacked-out idea. US units take four turns to march from Lib > AE > TJ > Per (if they can even get through) > Cau. A US fleet can pick up units from Lib and drop them in Cau, which is huge.
The problem is pulling it off, but if you can, the German player should pretty much be crying. Seriously, like tears and stuff. It takes some nifty Allied transport fleet movement, but that’s half of what good US/UK play is all about anyway, right?
A US Med fleet hinges on two things: holding or trading WEu and Kar. The UK can be very very safe in sz3 if WEu and Kar are clear of G ftrs, and sz12 is only susceptible to G bmbs once WEu is ftr-free. Luckily, those two territories fall pretty quickly. Germany might might might be throwing its weight around in Kar for a few turns, but Russia can make this very temporary (or non-existent). And once Kar is taken even once, ftrs won’t be landing there–the UK fleet would be safe to keep landing in Nor and any US des or other cover can go to sz12. Once Germany starts shifting east to march on Russia, the UK will be able to start trading WEu, which is around UK4-5–sometimes later, sometimes even earlier.
Right then the US should have its 1bb 2des 1ac 2ftr 4-5 trn fleet lurch into the Med. Heck, that might even be the landing that takes SEu for good or sets it up to be taken a few turns later.
Not only is the Med fleet powerful because it can drop troops right into Cau, but also because it threatens SEu/WEu/Bal/Ukr constantly without mucking up the US’s supply line. With a little preparation and an ac, the US can put ridiculous amounts of pressure on German territory while still having the option of quickly reinforcing Russia.
Frankly, marching the US through Africa just doesn’t cut it. Unless you can pull off some funky combination of Nor/Ukr ICs with a 2x2 or 3x3 fleet chain (and/or get lucky and secure WEu/SEu early on), you’re gonna have to have like 8-10 transports. So why not invest in one ac and instead of landing in WEu, take your pick of WEu/SEu/Bal/Ukr/Cau/TJ.
If Germany’s airforce is depleted, for instance from a G2 UnBaltic attack that destroys the UK fleet but leaves Germany with something like 3ftr 2bmb, the US can move into the Med with just 1bb 2des as cover. You just gotta sink the G Med fleet first, and then you rule the seas.
All that being said, I see three problems–each involving my beloved, but in this case just plain annoying, Axis air: two German bombers, Germany building more ftrs, and Japan’s airforce.
2bmb vs 4trn in sz12 means G can gamble its bmbs against those trns, with each side having a 50/50 chance of being wiped out. But if the Russian sub is still alive or the Aus trn, a US trn, or any other naval piece can sit in sz12, that fleet becomes much more secure. Sink 12ipcs into a US des and you’re golden.
If Germany keeps building ftrs, both US and UK fleets have to respond. It’s the classic fork, like WRu threatening Cau and Rus or Sol threatening both Bor and EInd. And I don’t really have an answer for it :x.
The problem with Japan’s airforce is that Germany could throw its air at the US Med fleet, probably wiping out transport cover, and then Japan could follow up and wipe out the capitals. Japan would have to have its air in place, but that wouldn’t take much effort. The Allied upside is that this would leave either G’s or J’s airforce almost assuredly dead and the other one darn close to it. And really it would just stop the US for one turn. You just do nothing, builds 4-5 trns, and next turn it’s back to business as usual, except you land in WEu/Nor. Meanwhile Axis air is virtually gone.
I dunno, I forgot about the Germany ftr build strategy until like the end of this post. I think that might be the one out of the three that could really deter a US Med fleet. Anyone have success with separate US and UK fleets against a cuh-razy Luftwaffe?