Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023

@crockett36 I love dark skies for Germany. Bombers are overpowered as they can simultaneously threaten multiple theaters, making it impossible to defend as the Allies at the key defense areas (Moscow and Middle East), along with protecting the fleet and establishing a Western Europe foothold. Add in Strategic bombing, and it is almost impossible to stop. Also very forgiving for minor blunders as you just need a few cheap units to supplement the attacking power of the Air Force.

Trying out a dark skies for the United States in the Pacific. So far it has been a fun experiment as it forces Japan to simultaneously defend so many fronts. Also takes one less round to get from W USA to the frontlines. That time savings is critical in a close match.

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris can you get a critical mass of bombers? 10 aren´t enough to take on the IJN?
Let me know how it ends.

@Cornwallis up to 16 bombers and it is supplemented by the American Navy so the IJN can’t come too close. The downside is that my Navy can’t stand toe to toe with their fleet.

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris yes and once they have the money islands you can not threaten them. Also do you have landing spots after a raid?

It is hard for me to threaten the Money Islands, but it is also hard for Japan to defend the capitol and Eastern China.

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris defend from what, you have a very limited landing fleet?

@Cornwallis said in Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023:

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris defend from what, you have a very limited landing fleet?

A transport and 3 bombers, or have you not been following the OOB Finals? A green skies invasion of Japan works the exact same way as a dark skies invasion of London; all you need is a transport in range. And an actual landing isn’t really your goal - forcing Japan to spend resources to defend the capital is.

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris said in Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023:

It is hard for me to threaten the Money Islands

Sounds like the Allies could use an Indian Ocean fleet. Let’s say a 13 bid or a BM stops a COW from happening. At the end of R3, the Allies could have sitting in SZ39:

BS x1 (37)
Cr x3 (39, 63, 98)
AC x2 (98, buy IN1)
Fighter x4 (3 from ANZAC, Burma)
Dest x 8 (71, 72, 98, 39, 35, 62, buy x2 IN2)
Sub x2 (35, buy IN2)
Trans x2 (39, 98)
Plus the Russian & 2 more UK planes on land to scramble.

Japan can’t take India by sea anymore. It also has a huge new threat to its income to deal with in the south while Russia & China threaten its land holdings and the US threatens SZ6.

@GovZ one tpt doesn´t do that much . Dark skies is a defensive strategy and you use it in an offensive way. I´m just trying to understand how it can work

@Cornwallis dark skies is a terrifying offensive and defensive plan. Bombers have so much versatility to project power, especially when combined with a few other units such as infantry or subs.

Offensive:
*you can create attack zones where opposing stacks have to retreat or else be wiped off the map. For example Germany can threaten Moscow and the Middle East simultaneously so UK has to abandon one choke point.

*strategic bombing should not be underestimated. 4 bombers going after Moscow will slow down Russian defensive buildup. You lose 8 TUV on an average turn, but prevent purchase of five Russian infantry. Great ROI

Defensive:
*kill zones are so useful. You can make it impossible to move into key territories. For example you can make it easy to counter-strike a Normandy landing.

*unit purchase behavior changes for the opponent changes when you go Dark Skies. For example a stack of 10 bombers combined with a few subs requires a substantial fleet to protect amphibious landings.

Overall Dark Skies is a slow buildup with few major battles. You will eventually overwhelm a theater of focus as the opponent can’t simultaneously reinforce 2 or 3 territories even with superior income. As long as your income isn’t grossly inferior, you will eventually win. Moscow or the Middle East or India don’t have to fall in the early game. It is like a boa constrictor with increasing pressure as the bomber fleet reaches double digit numbers.

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris yes i agree 100% with that. The big difference with the pacific is that germans also have a land push , While the US in the pacific only have the bombers with a very small fleet.
Have you tried a bright skies in europe?

@Cornwallis I rarely play Allies, but did have success with a medium-sized bomber fleet in Europe. Being able to hit the factories made the critical difference in a game where 20 PUs swings a battle so dramatically.

When I eventually got driven out from Western Europe, I could move the large Air Force to the Middle East to prevent the Axis from getting a W. That flexibility was critical.

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris the biggest issue there is that you can´t bomb Berlin from london and return.

@Cornwallis said in Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023:

@GovZ one tpt doesn´t do that much . Dark skies is a defensive strategy and you use it in an offensive way. I´m just trying to understand how it can work

Japan needs transports to win the game, and dark skies is an anti-boat strategy. The target is Japan’s fleet, not Japan itself. Think K-IJN-F, not KJF.

@GovZ

Apologies for my ignorance, but what do “BM” and “COW” stand for? Thank you!

@Arthur-Bomber-Harris

Thanks a lot! I’ll try Dark Skies and the Allied counterpart in the future. Definitely not as intuitive as other ones.

@SuperbattleshipYamato said in Allied Playbook - G40 Collection of Essays - Compiled by jacobgeo24 Nov 18-19 2023:

@GovZ

Apologies for my ignorance, but what do “BM” and “COW” stand for? Thank you!

No worries, it’s my fault for using abbreviations.

COW - Author of the standard J1 opening. His Japanese playbook is pinned for details.

BM - BM3/4 is a popular house rule version that I’m not fond of.

@GovZ

Ah, Cow! Sorry, when I see words in all caps I assume it’s an abbreviation, not a name. Thank you!