Movement through sea zones that are controlled by noncombatants

[Yoper]

Can the UK move (strategically and/or tactically) through the Med?

How is the situation of the French navy in the Gulf of Lyon different/dealt with in relation to this topic?

If the UK cannot move through the Med, can the French move through? 

Is the French fleet only allowed to move into/out of the Gulf of Lyon?  Or can it move to other sea zones within the Med? 

Is the UK allowed to go to the Gulf of Lyon as long as France is still around and then not allowed to go there once France falls?


Things seem to lean towards no movement by the UK through the Med similar to what is going on in other places on the map (Pacific blue line US/Japan, USSR staying behind blue line in Leningrad sea zone, US behind line on the Atlantic, etc.), but the movement of the French fleet across the blue line in the Med seems to be an exception that needs to be clarified.

 

[thenorthman]

As far as I knew the French fleet wasn't able to move at all.  Can't remember if I saw it in the rules or it was mentioned by either John or Mark at Gencon.

Sean

[Mark]

shoot - had this "unwritten" rule down, but did not put it in the latest update.  The way we have settled on playing this is that both the French and the British can move strategically and tactically through the Med.  British and French naval units may not enter the Ionian Sea, Adriatic Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea while Italy is neutral.  Italian naval units may not cross the blue lines in the Med. 

If Allied and Italian naval units occupy the same sea zone when Italy declares war, they must engage in a battle.

Does this leave anything open to interpretation?  Essentially, we think that the Brits moved warships through the Med and to Malta before they were at war with Italy - likewise the French moved warships beack and forth to their colonies in the Middle East - so it is allowed.

Mark

[Yoper]

Q: Can UK naval units occupy either of these sea zones- Carribbean Sea, US East Coast (west of the blue line in the Atlantic)- before the US is in the war?

Craig
 

[Mark]

Yes - actually it is the only way they can move Canadians into the ETO.  If the Axis attack or move across the line though - the US goes to war.

Actually, in the event the UK fell to the Axis (. . ahem. . . )  Churchill planned on relocating the fleet to Canada.

Mark

[Yoper]

You can see though that I didn't include the Halifax Sea as one of the sea zones in my question.  Especially since the UK starts with a naval unit in that sea zone.

If the rule had been that you couldn't be in those sea zones it would have made sense to have the blue line turn west and go across the top of the East Coast sea zone.  That would have then made the Halifax Sea fair game for the u-boats.

I just wanted to make sure so that I wasn't doing something wrong in moving my fleet behind the line.  I couldn't strategically move my fleet from the Red Sea all the way to the Halifax Sea.  If I couldn't put it in the East Coast sea zone, then it would have been hanging out for the u-boats to jump.

Craig