@Dylan:
Just wondering did Germany or Italy ever invaded Gibraltar or Malta?
If you are interested in more information, Wikipedia has good articles on the German plans to attack these targets. These operations were not undertaken, but there is some fascinating history there.
The plans for Gibraltar were called Operation Herkules
Malta plans: Operation Felix
@Jake:
If the US liberates Paris,
then France collects income…
and then Germany may conquer again Paris and get the french money.
:-D
Considering the IPC gain, it looks like there will be a good incentive for Germany to launch a desparate Bulge-style counterattack in that situation. Should force the Allies to only take Paris when they have sufficient strength to hold it, as trading the territory would only benefit the Germans.
It is a legal move to amphib Cauc on G1 with the SZ 13 trans.
Looking at the board, it would be 1 inf, 1 arm, 1 bomb vs. 4 inf and the AA gun.
You have noted that this attack will leave the “back door” open… I think the bigger problem with this attack is that you are basically ceding Africa to the Allies. In my group, we non-combat the SZ 13 trans to the Libya SZ, where it is safe from the RAF in Egypt, landing the inf and arm in Libya.
With the G1 Cauc attack, the German transport is nearly guaranteed to die to the RAF fighter in Egypt. Without this transport, and if you re-amphib Cauc with the Italians, the Axis could find themselves out-of-Africa within 3-4 turns. (Our groups standard UK2 move is to land in Morocco with a few transports, followed by the Americans)
Due to the importance of the transport, I personally would only make 2 moves in the Med. Both are designed to avoid getting killed by the RAF fighter. Either- amphib Egypt with everything, and hope to kill the fighter. Or do the non-combat drop off in Libya, using the Italian Navy as a screen.
Ah, I realized one problem with my advice for a cheap Anniversary is that AA:1942 doesn’t have the Italians as a separate player, therefore there would be no Italian pieces. You could use the old-style German troops from Revised to represent the Italians, although that would still leave you without distinctive Italian cruisers.
Well, on one hand, I think Anniversary is the best of the non-theatre games. (Our group has played Classic, Revised, AA: Europe, AA: Pacific, and AA: Pacific 1940). In particular, I enjoy the national objectives, as I feel they have led to our play group constantly coming up with new strategies, even after 50+ games.
On the other hand: there is a new global game that will be finished when AA: Europe 1940 comes out in a few months (when added to Pacific 1940). Might cost $200 to buy both games from a hobby shop, but only $140-150 online, as I purchased the new Pacific for $65. This is probably cheaper than what Anniversary would cost at this point.
On the third hand (what? :?) there are ways to get the Anniversary experience for cheaper. It is possible (I think) to print out the AA50 map, and use AA: Spring 1942 ($15 at target) for the pieces.
So, being a starving student myself, I’d probably make my own Anniversary and save my money for Global 1940.
EDIT: (Link to AA1942 @ Target)
www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/509616/target-axis-allies-spring-1942-for-s15
It is possible to succeed in those attacks, however it will be up to the dice.
The Egypt battle is the simplest… just bring eveything you can, including the bomber. It’s not an easy battle though, especially with the tank bid.
The SZ 6 destroyer is the easiest. Send the SZ 5 u-boat and either the ftr from Poland, the cruiser, or all 3.
The trickiest battles will be SZ 2 and 12. One ftr (Norway) definitley goes to the BB, and the 2 remaining ftrs go to SZ 12. The decision will be to send either one or two subs to SZ2. It is a tough call, as leaving the transport alive in SZ2 is bad, but a combo of poor rolls in SZ 12 and Egypt can kill the Italian Navy (via RAF) before it gets a chance to move.
If you had to pick 3 of the 4, I’d say concentrate on SZ 2, 12, and 6. Reinforce Libya, keep your Med transport safe, and wait till G2/I2 for Egypt.