Poll: German First Turn Build

IMO the German Med fleet is one of the most overrated pieces on the board b/c in reality Germany cannot afford to send any troops from Europe anyway.  The game is won or lost in Europe and Africa is merely a sidebar so to that end no great lengths should be taken to protect the German BB.  A few exceptions are to send it to the WMed to threaten the Uk1 naval build so as to make them not build or waste a ftr to destroy a bb.  However this assumes you have enough air to be able to attack all other units of the Royal Navy which is iffy at best.  Another reason to spare the bb is by going to Syria on G1 along with a take of AES f/Libya this helps protect Africa and gives Germany a huge ipc boom going on into the game.  However, its very difficult to say if Germany will be able to afford this in Europe without risking EEuro so in general I’d say that the best move is to simply kack the bb against the Med bb and concentrate air in the UkSz while using the transport to landgrab Cauc or whatever.

Those who asked WHERE you are talking have it right.

In Africa, Germany can spread thin.  If the UK and US decide to take Africa back, there is littler Germany can do about it (without leaving Russia too strong for it to matter in the long run).  So spread thin, grab IPC’s while you can, and be happy for it.

In the Siberian Russian territories, Japan can spread thin as needed to take IPC’s from Russia.  Every territory Japan can take from Russia is that much less infantry for Germany to blast through.  And if Japan keeps supplying cannon fodder for the slash and burn assaults on Russian territories, being spread thin just means that Russia has to attack small clusters of Jap infantry using their own infantry in less effective attacks.

In Europe, spreading thin can be fatal, unless you spread very far very fast.  As an example of that, the radical German strategy of simultaneous attacks on Karelia, Eastern and Caucuses is an example of spreading thin that MIGHT be worth it.  You make Russia build in Russia (even if they re-take Karelia), and prevent them from massing there again by the threat in the Caucuses; and open up some “enclosed” territories that you can hold with no forces (so long as Russia never holds Karlelia at the start of their turn).

Lastly there is the “apparent” spread thin that is really massed troops.  This would include a strategy I posted elsewhere of Two Japan fleets, one in Japan, the other in Australia, that can both converge to hammer any US assault in the central pacific.  You may look spread thin, but the reality is that you have forces massed for attack.

But when it comes to Karelia and Eastern Europe, there is ONLY one answer:  The more, the better… ALWAYS!

fair enough. Let’s say you pull the armor back, and toss fighters in? Or one arm, one ftr?
Also it’s not just the german ftr but also it’s armor(s). Plus stalling it for 2 turns (by forcing it to pull back instead of allowing it to build up).

I’m not sure I follow, how does hitting EEuro hurt Germany more than attacking Ukr. It has 1 more armor anyway, and you have more guys to throw in. Further against a good PE bid you’d likely be creating a deadzone in Karelia even with armor there, or I could stack Cauc to force you from Karelia on R2. Either way I don’t see why attacking EEuro is going to hurt Germany more than hitting Ukr would.

Depending on the bid of course, but interesting is

sub vs sub in AZO

2 ftr vs trn, sub in BAL
8/3 vs Ukr

and maybe 5/1 vs Man (only w/1 inf Kwa bid or less)
ncm the trn to NOR and Germany has a tough task.

Yes very much depending on the bid if you ask me. IMO no Africa bid should ever happen unless you are prepared to bid 2 guys into Manch. I assume an Africa bid as against a PE bid this would be extremely risky, and create a potential deadzone out of Karelia. So yes I’d say this would work against only the very worst of bids.

That’s the only reason I’d risk all my tanks in E Euro. At least I know I’ll have another round to build before an invasion. I don’t like it, but in an unRR, no bid game (ie playing by the printed rules) I could see the tactical advantage to taking Manch, E. Euro, Baltic Sea and the sea zone to the west of France with Russia followed by a Kwang attack by the UK.

But herein lies the problem in a no bid no RR game why would Russia need to ever worry about Karelia. I would also question why Russia would need to attack Manchuria as in a no bid game the Allies start with such an impressive advantage they don’t need to do much to win.

5. Always keep the BB and TRN inside of the Mediterranean.

6. Land all ftrs in W. Europe at the end of T1

He was refing to above. Save the IPCs to spend during G2 on inf to go with the trans for the Invasion of the UK. :o :roll: :lol:

Expert advice? Probably not, but here it goes anyway. I think you are right about not wanting to be in the atlantic. Too easy for US aircraft to just sink you on the way to England, WE, or FN.

T1 - One Transport, 8 Inf
I would use one fighter to get rid of the sub. You can leave the 1 inf in algeria and blitz the tank west to take the two territories south of Algeria and Libya, don’t remember the names. On non-combat you can ferry over two mor inf and now you have 3 in Libya, 1 in Algeria, and an armor in French West Africa. Be sure to put 4 inf in SE.
You may lose Algeria to the allies, but you can attack it on T2 with 3 inf and the tank can go north or east. If England still has one inf and 1 armor in egypt you can dump 4 inf a BB on it, assuming the sub is dead. If the sub isn’t dead I would go for it anyway and lose the BS if it hits. Send a fighter to the sub too, because you want to make sure it dies. Pain in the a** if the BS misses and it submerges.

Of course any strategy changes depending on what your oppenent does. One thing though. If you think your fleet is going to die before you get to use it again. I would use it as cannon fodder with the airforce to take out some of the now very scary allied fleet.

To the real experts, any thoughts?

I would think this would be the other way around. First, the Japanese high command was not averse to continuing their war with America. In order to understand this, you have to know high factor national honor is to the Japanese and their Code of the Bushido. Even after the first atomic bomb was dropped, the military leaders still believed with the right combination of AA guns that such bombers and bombs could be hit while still in the sky. The Japanese even experimented with sound vibrations in which to knock down enemy craft! However, with the Russians, the Japanese were caught in a totally different situation. The Japanese knew that if they capitulated, the time would come where the Americans would eventually leave. If the Russians had occupied Japan, the Japanese knew that they might never leave. This largely mirrors real life as Russian and Japan are still disputing over some of the Northern Islands of Japan since the end of WWII.

Ahhhhh….
Thanx