Keys to Allied Success

So, there is always the Taranto/Tobruk combo.  You don’t need the airbase on Gibraltar that early necessarily, though its really good to get it there.  Mostly if you do the T/T combo, the air base may be left vulnerable as you are not transitioning fighters over there (they go to malta or Syria usu),  I guess what im saying here is you should gain your early safety and freedom of action simply by killing Italy on UK1 rather than trying something exotic

The only reason I prefer the AB and sz 92 stack has to do with the fact that it all but eliminates the risk of Sealion and the only land unit you have bought for London was 1 inf.  In order to do the Taranto/Tobruk combo you would almost certainly buy 6 inf and 1 fighter, or at least 2 fighters and 2 inf.  With the 6 inf buy those troops are all but wasted until late game where as the AB was most likely going to bought there eventually so with this move you can also save your Royal Navy.

Not to mention even with bids Taranto/Tobruk can go real bad real fast.  In my experience it is not enough for for the allies to just win with Taranto with one unit left.  If the Air Force is not intact that spells trouble.  Plus I know if I am hitting Taranto i like to fly one UK fighter down there as well.  This only leaves London open even more.

Finally keeping the Royal Navy alive will also all but eliminate any effective Dark Skies strategy for the Germans as that much of a fleet that early is too much for a fleet of bombers to hit and come away unscathed.

@simon33:

Tobruk does mean sacrificing a transport. Ethopia crush or Middle East conquest has an advantage here. Not sure which is best on this one.

While Sumatra does commit 13IPC on largely a suicide mission, what is the alternative use for the TT?

What I like to do is use 1 TT with an inf  from India/Alex and strafe Iraq and with the other TT with an inf use it to activate Persia.  The attack on Iraq uses the mech from Egypt and the planes from India.  It lasts one round and then everything  that can retreat does and goes to Trans-Jordan.  The best result from this is 1 inf left in Iraq as well as the mech and planes in Trans-Jordan.

With this you now have 2 transports in sz 80 off of Persia and 4 inf between East Persia and Persia (assuming you activate East Persia w/the inf from West Indai).  These can then go to reinforce the med or be used to strike the African Coast if need be.

This is my go to strategy with a J1 DOW but I still prefer it to the other options as well.

@simon33:

Going back to the OP, doesn’t the airbase on Gibraltar make Sea Lion too easy? It does nothing to deter it, and SBR (assuming it happens) will make unit purchases in London difficult G2 and virtually stop it G3.

The reason the AB on Gib stops Sealion in its tracks is because if need be all of your air force and navy that you had in sz 92 can now be used to defend against Sealion. Germany does not have enough to break through all of that. This means Germany will not be able to hit london r3 and by that time a good German player will have turned their eyes on the real prize which is Russia.

@simon33:

You’ve lost me here. How does an AB defend against Sea Lion? Planes can just fly back to London or Scotland without it, and it wastes 15IPC on something which does nothing to defend London.

I suppose you are correct in that it does nothing to directly defend London since all of the planes that can land on Gib or in sz 92 could get back to London with out one. However one of the reasons I like the buy is that it makes an attack on your navy in 92 a suicide mission, where as without it the Italians could hit it with a comparable force.

The main reason I like the buy though has to do with the options it then opens up in Round 2. With Sea lion now off the table, since Germany would not have committed another buy to it, the AB can be used to fly planes to Egypt/Trans-Jordan that would not be able to reach with one.

So you are correct in that it does not help defend London but I can not think of a better buy R1 in terms of getting the right troops in the right places from R2 onward.

@oysteilo:

It would be nice if AldoRaine could post a Triple A save of how things should look like at end of round 4. Interesting ideas, and also easier to follow if you can look at it with the computer

I will definitely try and do that.  Hopefully I can find some time in the next few days.

@JDOW:

1)The first objective for the allies should be protecting against sea lion. �

Protecting against sea lion is not an essential goal as sea lion is good for the Allies unless it’s ridiculously cheap. However your suggestion is ok as air and AB Gib makes sense in the most cases. but it’s not an essential Allies objective to protect against sea lion. If Germans to it, Allies are good in most cases.

I can see why you believe that defending against Sealion is not a critical goal but I must disagree with you on this one. �Losing London, even if costly to the Germans, is still a severe blow to the allies. The most likely result is that Italy is now in control of Africa and the Middle East. �This is offset by the fact that Russia is most likely now pushing into German territory but it is unlikely that Germany will fall to Russia with out help from the US. �This will greatly increase the ability for Japan to win the game in the pacific. �
I just feel that not securing London early is a mistake as it is far to much of a risk. As soon as London is captured the production advantage the Allies need to keep is now gone. �

3)The UK needs to hold Egypt. �This can be done by spending mos if not all of your bid on land units in Africa. �Only 2 inf are needed but obviously more should be placed. I like to spend 12 on land units with 2 inf and 1 tank.

Egypt is overrated and spending the entire bid in Africa is a bad idea. Allies need to squeeze the Germans with Russia and by Dday. Liberating africa is not a major objective. Supply lines are too long from Africa to hurt the Axis, that’s why dday is perferable as UK can reinforce every turn.

I agree completely with your assessment that the Allies need to squeeze the Germans with Russia and US/UK. �I just disagree wholeheartedly with you in your stance that Africa is not worth the bid or that the supply lines are to long from Africa. �The UK can have factories in Egypt and Persia before the attack on the True Neutrals takes place and Saudi Arabia and Turkey after.

This is more than enough production capability for a formidable third front. �I am a firm believer in the idea that the area stretching from Egypt through the Middle East all the way to India is where UK needs to project its power. �

Now the not so obvious ones. �
4)Russia should try to get 25+ art by round 5.

�
The goal is not to get a certain amount of Arty but look for an opportunity to stop the German army to progress for one turn by having enough fire power. However this also heavily depends on what the Germans have. In some cases there is no way to put attack power on Russia because surviving is everything Russia can do. In other cases buying 6 tanks Round 1 or 2 can be the best buy if this keeps the Germans from progressing.

The only thing I will add to this is that the main reason I like getting the artillery early has to do with the fact that once the other two fronts are opened up by the US and UK, Russia should now have the ability to strafe whatever stack the Germans have in Russia. �Since the Germans now have two other fronts to worry about Russia can now focus on just replacing the infantry it is now loosing in the strafing / skirmishing. �

Here are a couple of shots of how the Middle east/ Africa should look like for UK after round  2 and 3.  In this game I declared war on the true neutrals round 5 and I was able to go on the offensive with Russia by round 7.

I have been playing on Triple A lately and I will say that my strategy has been having a lot of success.  I realize that the level of competition varies a lot on when playing over their servers but I have not lost with this strategy in the last 4 games.

Most of my bids ranged from 9-12.  (It seems the bids are lower when playing over their servers.

I am not sure the best way to post the images so I just attached them.

@simon33:

My G1 opening is to hit SZ111, 110 and 91. That doesn’t leave much room for an SZ92 stack - would be 2DD, 1CV, 1 Cruiser. Easily taken down I1. Even with the Gibraltar airbase, a 1-2 punch is possible before the Naval Base can repair the CV.

Lets say you as UK buy the AB and stack SZ92 with 2DD, 1CV and 1 Cruiser.  At this point I would welcome a 1-2 punch from Italy and Germany.  As a defender UK can bring the 2DD, 1CV, 1 Cruiser and 5 fighters against Italy’s 1 sub, 1 DD, 2 Cruisers, 1 BB 2 fighters and 1 Bomber.  This gives the UK and 81% chance of victory (with no bid towards a navy).

This has higher chance of victory than Taranto attack even with a bid of a sub. Not to mention the added bonus of almost certainly closing off sealion and forcing Italy to commit its entire navy to a decisive battle that is unfavorable to them in R1.

Also most games i play i don’t see an attack on sz 91 due to the fact most people seem to feel the subs are better used in sz110 and sz106.

That being said.  If I were playing as Italy and I saw the UK stack sz 92 like that I would be very tempted attack it R1.  It should be recognized that if the axis let the UK navies in the pacific and the Med meet up in R2 then the Italian navy will never be able to move from sz97.  The attack on sz 92 is the best chance Italy would have of establishing dominance in the Med.  Although i feel Italy should more concerned with establishing the can opener and defense.