@dazedwit said in Ideas on a counter?:
@surfer
And trapped UK fleet was knocked down to damaged battleship and damaged AC UK2 after wiping out entire Italian fleet.
German subs finished them off
I’m usually fine with losing the UK fleet early in the game. Many games have G1 turns take both UK fleets out and the Med fleet is in a precarious position. But to eliminate it (assuming appropriate UK1 moves) requires a chunk of the Luftwaffe to die.
I don’t see how the German subs finished off the fleet. Sounds like they collected at SZ91 or 110. If so, the Brits have 3 DDs in the Atlantic. For Gibastion, the DD in 109 typically goes into the Med. But the other 2 are unaccounted for. Often G1 takes 1-2 subs to kill SZ106, but you said you didn’t attack any UK fleet so the SZ111 fleet is still around. If it moves to SZ109 UK1, then UK2 can kill several of them. You can G2 attack that group (probably your best option), but if you don’t send any subs, that can be expensive for the luftwaffe, especially considering your are losing the money war due to neutral crush + loss of NO and tougher Russia.
Can you kill the fleet and Sealion? Yes. is it a game winning solution, I don’t think so. You put a large fraction of your units in immediate harms way for the US who can buy and attack in 1 turn. That is usually a recipe for disaster.
To go forward, I think we need to agree upon some parameters of the game to make any real decisions about this gambit:
Is this OOB? (which I think it is)
Is there a reasonable bid 45-55 IPCs for the Allies?
Assuming it is (I’ll go with minimum 45), my typical bid units would be
UK sub in SZ98
UK sub in SZ106
ftr in Scotland
inf Yunnan
ftr Moscow
ftr Volgograd
Last 3 allow Yunnan stack to ensure the Japanese are not having fun either.
Buy for the UK1 buy, I would chose an airbase + ftr + inf (continuing with the gambit)
If I had my entire UK fleet (ie. no attack on SZ110), I would move the fleet to SZ92, and may or may not block the Italian fleet in SZ94 with DD.
But doesn’t matter because I1, the Italians are going to SZ93 to invade and can’t waste any time on the UK fleet.
UK2 kills the Italian fleet and now I don’t see what the plan is. Sure, you can Sealion. But the Med fleet is strong, and only aircraft can kill it. The US will be coming and you haven’t started in Russia. You gave me 26 inf from Neutrals (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Afghanistan, and all of Mongolia = 78IPCs) that also adds 7 IPCs/turn–although it will take 2 turns to acquire all of these assets, and you lose a NO for 5 IPCs/turn.
Without the Italians, Egypt is not falling any time soon even with no money coming.
Spain is a target for the US that will require extensive W Europe buys to counter further reducing the forces in the East.