Posts made by Tirano

while I see your point Wild Bill you ran numbers with 2 additional bombers than I did which does draw the averages WAY up. Also typically at least one destroyer survives the battle of the Atlantic which I could use as Blocker or to stop the amphibious shot.  As for the Italians, the UK fleet is large enough at end of UK2 that if London falls your fleet is large enough to wipe out the Italian fleet or at least strong enough that they cant attack it which would allow me to park it in SZ98. Also as an allied player I will gladly be “kept honest” if it means increasing my chance of winning.

taam and shadow said it perfectly, which is why this game is not a representation of what really happened, but instead a balanced (or at least attempt at balanced) game.  If you go for total Domination I would not play the Axis for a Bid of under 100 IPC.

I think you had some very good points there taam, however the bombings on India and Russia mean nothing to Germany and Japan in the long run, once captured those 2 will be making enough to easily pay off 6 IPC to build there, the NO they gain and the IPC from the territory will pay it off by itself, whereas UK Pac and Russia need every blamed dollar they have.

taam, am very pleased to see your response (was hoping you would have some insight).  So it seems that the concern that most people have here is Sea Lion.  I understand that Sea Lion is a very real concern, but I have also reached the conclusion that Germany performing operation Sea Lion is to the benefit of the Allies.  As the British player you of course are very scared of Sea Lion, but in my games Ive found that if Germany goes Sea Lion, they lose.  It is especially the case in this Strategy, and double so if the Americans go full Europe build in first several rounds.  The Reasons are as such:

• Germany is not building against Russia, now this is obvious but it is oh so ever true.  Every turn and every IPC that is not spent on Russia increases the chance that Moscow stands.

• Not a for sure thing. UK starts with 7 defending land units on its square in addition to the 5 I recommend buying on UK1.  Also you typically have 1 Transport survive in the Atlantic and I suggested having it shuttle the Canadians over. This means that end of UK2 you are looking at 14 Defending Land units plus 3 fighters and 5 AA.  Germany can of course have 10 transports with 20 attacking units and around 10 Aircraft ready but it is no guarantee seeing as the British will surely buy 10 Inf in response to a heavy transport buy from Germany.  That means you are looking at for the British 23 defending @2, 1 defending @3, and 3 defending @4 plus your 5 AA.  Against a German Attack of probably 5 inf @1, 10 art/inf @2, 10 tanks/fighters @3, and 5 bombers @ 4.  Put that on the calculator as a must take territory and its 50.3% for Germany, Hardly worth it (link included). http://goo.gl/H2t3ow

• London simply cant be held even if successful.  The Americans can easily liberate London, whereas Moscow is extremely hard to liberate once captured.

• Some might say that sea lion is worth it even if liberated just to destroy a major IC, but with this strategy 90% of your income all game will be spent in Africa and the Middle East so the fact your major IC was destroyed is of little concern.

  So to me as an allied player I love to see Germany go sea lion.

  As for my interest in G40 over G42, the more I look at G42 setup and board, the more it makes me love G40.

  Cannot wait to meet you at Gencon taam, cheers 8-)

@CWO:

@Private:

Marc - have you ever considered working for a living! Or getting another hobby?

There are other hobbies beside A&A?  :-o

Certainly not anything that I can think of.

???

That is perhaps an idea. And I completely agree the middles east is where the UK is Strongest. That’s why I love this strategy so much. I would love for other people to try it in their groups and see if they have had the success with it that I have had.

Thanks @WildBill I was oblivious to how that worked.  You can also do landings in Yugo or Greece if Italy and/or Germany did not take them.

@ChocolatePancake:

It depends on the enemy. If you’re fighting against Russia, then bombing raids are better. If you’re fighting against Japan, then Convoy disruption works better.

Precisely.  Whereas for UK both are quite effective.

@CWO:

@Tirano:

although a bit scary to ever picture Germany and Japan as ‘protagonists’

Yes, that’s why I said “from their point of view.”  I once a television program in which a famous movie actor (it as a long time ago, and I can’t recall who it was) was answering questions from a class of drama students.  One student asked: “What’s the secret to playing a great villain?”  The actor answered: “The secret to playing a great villain is to remember that in his own mind he’s not the villain, he’s the hero.”

Very deep sir.

Well this is certainly a very interesting observation, although a bit scary to ever picture Germany and Japan as ‘protagonists’

Thanks, for your Feedback Wildbill, but if a man from UK Pac takes Persia wouldn’t the IPCs be awards to Pacific economy meaning Europe Economy couldn’t build an IC there?

Or does it work where anything on Europe side of map goes to Europe economy and vice Vera’s for Pacific?

Thanks in Advance :-D

Also I realize that I’m tying several moves together, I simply thought most would not do this, or consider this as their actual “D-Day” staging point.  Plus as mentioned it is only 2 moves from Calcutta, so if Japan is about to hit 6 cities and Calcutta has fallen you can look to potentially liberate it.  There are simply several options here.  This would stage very well with Young Grasshopper’s Spanish Beachhead and you simply make your initial landing in Turkey while America goes to Spain. After that you can move to take Greece or to go Rome, or build an IC there…. Options galore here.

If I am Forcing German Naval builds in the med and am tieing up part of the Luftwaffe then that is pressure off of Russia which is what an Atlantic landing is all about in my opinion. Therefore I’ll GLADLY wait till UK5 if I accomplish that. Plus If I have an IC in Persia hopefully I can build 3Mech there and that+ the RAF stationed on Carriers should be able to liberate Transjordan.  Also any Luftwaffe Strafe Runs on my fleet are suicide as I Have at least 3 carriers possibly a Battleship that can absorb the Hits, because they will heal at start of UK turn due to Naval Base.

Also another side strategy that works well with this is the Typical minor IC in Persia (only if Europe side takes it).  This allows Mech and Tank to be built there and either directly help out the Russians, Or allows you to Move the Mech and Tanks over to TransJordan and then to Egypt if you like. But even in TransJordan they can effectively be picked up by your fleet in SZ81. I’ll add the Persian idea to my OP once on my PC.

Thanks for Replying oysteilo, however SZ106 really doesn’t matter to this strategy. SZ106 is simply a way to help strengthen London if one of your Transports are left, and Later to fortify a western allies landing(if it happens). The whole point of this strategy is to stage your fleet between zones 71-81 so that the Italians can’t reach you (Suez closed to them).  Plus Egypt should be fine because you an build 3 land units there per turn, plus you can shuttle 2-3inf from South Africa per turn and possibly some from India too. As for Iraq the UK Pac should be in Persia on UK2 so not a problem (added to Original Post).  Also once Sea Lion is off the table you can fly the RAF in London down to Gib and then over to Egypt. Once Italy sees that I’m using nearly all of my force towards Africa they typically give up hope of taking it.  Italy is typically just trying to split my money between Africa and a Canadian Normandy force. The Beauty I have found with this Strategy is that it’s a triple threat if you will, One I Threaten conquering Africa and routing the Italians, While at the same time I Threatening an Invasion in Europe, Plus you have a Strong Enough Fleet that Japan thinks twice about going east much more than the DEI.  I very possibly have missed some things with this Strategy, but Italy Threatening me Is not one of them I think.  Especially if like I said the US has built even a decent size Atlantic navy, which they can use to can open the Italains, and if they have gone full KGF then America opens a front on the west while I strike from the south.

I would like to first make a disclaimer that I am not trying to ‘steal’ any current ideas that others have posted. However I am wanting to post a UK strategy I like to use within my group, but also want to see the flaws and advantages that my group and I have potentially not yet discovered.

The whole purpose of this strategy is being frugal with the UK, the UK Euro and Pac are both quite weak to start the game, however I think that this strategy helps to unify existing UK pieces to make 1 strong force early in the game.

Bidding
Most games of players with equal skill are having bids in the 20 range.  Now Bidding is a house rule (off topic) so if how I describe my bid placements goes against your bidding system rules, just realize you would have to alter them.  But Let us assume that you have received a bid of 28, a high bid by some standards but not exactly over the top.

• Transport ->SZ71

• Carrier ->SZ81

• Art -> Anglo Sudan

Purchasing Europe
UK1 is typically a defensive buy, typically Germany has bought at least 1 boat and has sunk most of your Atlantic fleet.  So since it is best to prepare for the worst we will assume Sea Lion is a concern here. Therefore a purchase should be:

• 5 Inf ->London
  (However if there were no German Naval purchases put 3 in South Africa)

• Minor Ic -> Cairo

Now many will probably be saying that you should grab a fighter over an IC, however I do not think 1 fighter will change Germany’s mind on whether to do Sea Lion or not.  Now to those who say an IC in Egypt is a gift to Italy, I understand your reasoning, but with this strategy it is not.

Europe Combat and Non Combat
We Will Assume that France, S France and Normandy have fallen along with any units you had their, we will also assume SZ 109,110,111 have been defeated and that you or the french did not scramble (keep alive for London defense since no replacement fighter coming UK1).
For Combat we will be skipping Taranto and Tobruk (yes both) and be doing much less.

• SZ91 Cruiser, Gib Fighter, Malta Fighter -> SZ96 (Gib Fighter land on SZ98 Carrier in NonCombat, Maltese Fighter land in Cairo)

• Alexandria units ->Cairo.

• South African Inf ->Transport (From Bid), SZ71 fleet ->SZ81

• SZ98 Fleet -> SZ81

• Quebec Inf+Tank -> Transport, SZ106 Fleet ->SZ119 (Do this during whichever phase you need depending on if a German sub is there)

  Place your units.

  Purchasing Pacific
  This Depends a lot on when Japan does DoW so I will give buys for both.

  • If Japan does NOT do J1 DoW: 1 Transport 3 Inf

  • If Japan does a J1 DoW: 5 Inf (defense time)

  With this strategy UK Pac helps UK Europe as much as possible when not pressured so the Transport and Inf are to send towards your fleet in SZ81 if Japan did not do DoW, if they did you are turtling up.

  Pacific Combat and NonCombat
  A lot of this depends on what Japan did but a few things here do not change regardless(I will list only those), but you are 100% defense so do not move units into china, retreat retreat retreat. Defend Calcutta.

  • Inf+Art load on SZ39 transport, SZ39 Fleet ->SZ76 amphibious assault Ethiopa (Plus Anglo Sudan Forces)

  • SZ37 Battleship (if alive) ->SZ39

  • West India ->Eastern Persia

  • Fighter+Tac ->SZ81 land on carrier (from bid)

  • Burma -> India

  Place your units

  UK2 On…
  At the start of UK2 it should all be self explanatory, you are building a Rome Invasion Force right outside of Cairo, You should be building Transports in South Africa and land units+warships in Cairo (build a carrier for round 2) this is your new Normandy, sure its obvious what you are doing after round 1 but you are already a true threat.  You should have a fleet that looks like this in SZ 81 at end of UK2.
  4 Trans
  3 Destroyer
  2 Cruiser
  3 Carriers loaded (last one gets loaded from UK2 purchase of carrier in Cairo with the Egypt and India fighter landing on it)
  1 Battleship (possibly)

  You should also have 2 more transports new coming out of South Africa and Possibly more from India if Japan still has not done DoW at this point. If Possible you should use a UK transport in South Africa to take Persia as well that way you can pump out Tanks/Mech to beef up Africa or go directly into Russia.  Or just have the man from UK Pac that’s in Eastern Persia take it for the free units and IPCS (Although if Transport takes it then Europe economy can place IC there).
  This Strategy really works well if America at least lightly spends in Atlantic, at least enough to weaken the Italian navy that you did not take out.  This also works really well if America is going KGF because you can focus Rome while they either liberate Leningrad and Scandinavia or open a front in France.

  I apologize if I was unclear or if this is indeed a common strategy, as stated earlier just wanted to share and get others thoughts and ideas.

  Thanks :mrgreen: :-D

True, I wasn’t trying to derail by mentioning Spanish Beachhead, so apologies.  If U.S. Is indeed going with a KJF then perhaps a British bomber is justified, but even then you could just move your London Strat bomber that way opposed to spending India money on it. And if you need your bomber in London consider a UK Euro turn 1 buy of 5 inf for London and 1 Strat bomber for South Africa. The Strat Bomber could then be moved to India on UK2 or help a Eygpt Counterattack first before going on to Calcutta. In my games India simply can’t afford any type of offensive unit until R6+ where US has relieved pressure from Calcutta or if Japan goes with a ballsy Sydney first move.

I think that is a good thought YG, but it’s flawed. At this point your looking at probably a US4 turn which means India is worried about defending itself, not wiping out an occasional Jap destroyer.  Also war plan orange kind of plays into your Spanish Beachhead strategy, right? So if that’s the case the Russians shouldn’t be wasting 12 IPCS for a bomber used against Jap ships, that bomber IF bought would be used to SBR Stalingrad/Ukraine/Leningrad.  And if the American beachhead has gone well, then those 12 IPCS should be used for a couple tanks to
Be pushing torward the German front for an offensive strike. But that’s only how I’d play it.

While I understand your not wanting to read the whole rule book, I recommend that you do SEVERAL time before playing .

Well I have not played on Triple A but I have spoke to people who are frequent players and played a few Face to Faces and an average bid is 12+ for Axis from what I’ve seen.

Well I will have to be playing a game like that, thanks YG.