I'm tinkering around with a new German opener - ignoring SZ 110

“Never” is a strong word, and you even went so far as to hold down shift as you typed it and then went back to underline it afterwards.

If the airbase lets you hold Gibraltar for one extra turn, maybe even two, then is that 15 IPCs worth it for you?
Very possibly, sure. Delaying a US entry into the Med for one turn probably saves Italy at least 5 IPCs right off the bat, not to mention delaying its eventual economic implosion by an entire turn more of income.

Is it still worth it if the Americans can fly straight to Egypt or Norway from Gibraltar now?
Maybe they can’t do that yet, and won’t for another turn or two. Very possibly, yes, it’s still worth it. Maybe because you had that airbase, however, your Axis units were able to abandon Gibraltar and get into a better position on their way out. Lot’s of “if”'s. A lot of combinations of them add up to it being worth it.

Is it still worth it if the Americans can scramble planes off of it to defend their navy?
If you weren’t planning on attacking their navy (maybe because you simply don’t have the resources to do so), yes, absolutely, then there’s no difference at all.

So, yeah, sometimes it’s alright to give your opponent a facility if you got your money’s worth out of it first, even if it is only for a turn or two. Plenty of US and JP plays depend on building a naval base that’s only ever really used once in the game. There are some cases where the same is true for air bases all over the place.

Regarding SZ 110, I got hosed one time on a UK scramble. Usually as Germany, I send 3 fighters, 3 Stukas, 1 bombers and sometimes 1 sub to SZ 110. Our UK player had gotten in the habit of not scrambling in order to save the RAF for future action.
Well, this one game I made the mistake of just assuming UK would not scramble. I sent 2 fighters, 2 Stukas and 1 bomber to SZ 110. The other fighter and Stuka I sent to kill the French fleet in SZ 93. Well, UK taught me a lesson. They scrambled and wiped out my planes. I didn’t even kill all the ships in the channel.
Never made that mistake again.

A question for research, thanks for your participation.

@Cow:

Tell you what if 5 inf central, 1 armor egypt, 1 sub sz 98, 1 inf new guinea, 1 bomber archangel is not to your liking…

Then you can have allies at 18 ipc 1 unit per territory.

So you can choose either one of the above two conditions  8-). By ‘central’ Cow means Central USA.

@Cow:
Looks like you’ve got enough challenges now ;-).

No neither is gamey in my book, it’s part of the game that can lead to a victory (should be a 1 or 2 trick pony). Once your group see’s these moves, it’s up to your opponent to do something about it. Our group see’s a couple Italians at the Russian front often, which can help the Germans to push deeper into Russia. So if this is happening the Russians might need to picket with 2-3 inf in key territories, so you have a chance to kill off the Italian ground unit(s). A few Italians can allow you to sack some Russians, or simply bring your German air to the front so the Russians can’t strafe your German stack w/o air cover. Can also get you to Stalingrad or Caucasus faster, but often times it risks your German mech/tanks if the Russians see it and set up a counter. Sometimes Russia has to deal with a 3 ring circus if both Italy and Japan are knocking on the door w/Germany, it is up to the other Allies to even up the score. Even if Moscow falls, it’s all about what they can take with them, and if the western allies are in position to put the hurt on. Besides, if those Italian bombers are picking off Russians, they aren’t helping much in the Med (although the range allows them to threaten both theaters through the Black Sea).

That’s what I thought.  My buddy kept telling me it’s only for the USSR NO.  Of course he always plays Germany.  :-P

thanks!  :-D

@13thguardsriflediv:

In Global, if Japan invades FIC, is it at war with France?

It must declare war on France before doing so.

@The:

really. I have always played where you can just take it from them.

Yes, really.