Putting pressure on Cairo and the Suez

[John D.]

If you can force the Brits to commit a large portion of their resources to defending Africa and the Middle East, it weakens them against the Japanese in the Pacific. This strategy seems to take a lot of patience and an overcommitment of German forces to help aid the Italians but with all of the triggers in the region and the potential of taking PPs away directly from the Brits, I think it can payoff.

John

[John D.]

After a few Axis victories with the Cairo and Suez Strategy, I think the counter to this would be to make sure that France does not fall early in the game. Keeping France in the war - at least up until the Spring of 40' (or maybe even summer) ties up Germany (and Italy) so they do not get a head start in Africa if they choose that route. This seems to be critical, as there is a lot at stake in Africa. If the Allies lose control of Africa, the war will be more of an uphill battle for them.

[John D.]

OK- So how do you defend France you ask? Tailor your defensive builds with France and UK towards forcing the Germans to attack a fortified territory or go around it and subject themselves to at least a modest counterattack. This is obviously easier said than done. Do not be afraid to purchase tanks and fighters from the onset - afterall, you will need something for your counterattack. Again details are based on what the Germans build and how they approach France. There is no one way to do this from what I have found - it is mostly reacting to what Germany (and the Italians) do. If you can inflict some heavy casualties on German units and delay the Fall of France by a turn or 2 (Summer of 40'), you should be in decent shape for the long haul. Of course, you never know...

John

[Mark]

Coupling a focused German/Italian drive on the Suez with maximum U-boat builds can be a tough strategy.  Especially if it is in concert with a Japanese drive toward Samoa and the Fiji islands.  Taken all together it can cripple the UK economy and isolate all of the Middle East, India and Australia - making all those victory points easy pickings.  I think there are a few things the Allies can do to make it unhealthy for the axis though:
1) Commit enough Brits in France to have France hang on until the Summer of  Â
  Â  Â 1940 - this puts a real time crunch on the German execution strategy.
2) Get as much US Lend Lease to the UK as possible in 1940.
3) Defend forward in Egypt.  By delaying the Axis advance a turn or two in taking
  Â  Â a fortified Mersa Matruh it really slows down the Axis advance into Egypt.
4) Preserve the Royal Air Force and don't squander it in battles where the odds
  Â  Â are too far against you.
5) If the Russians can hold Kiev and mount their own general offensive in 1942,
  Â  Â even losing the Middle East won't win the Germans the game.

My take on it right for right now.
Mark

[RandR]

This area is one of the more important aspects of this particular game. Ye who controls the Med can cause a lot of severe heartburn. If the Axis control it then certain triggers will occur which will sway the game and allow the Axis access to some real easy victory points. If the Allies control it, then that potential attack area becomes more easily available and  resources designated for the Soviets are now sitting here. Also, taking Africa away from Italy causes a repetitious die roll to see if Italy is really unhappy about the war. Which they usually are.

[John D.]

The axis can usually take Cairo if they really want to. It ususally requires an overcommitment of forces to the Med and therefore the Eastern Front offensive usually suffers because of this - and many times this is where the game is won or lost...

John

[RandR]

It looks like the old 1, 2 punch. Control the Med then whack at Russia hard. If the Med is controlled by the Allies then it's NOT going to be a strong 2nd punch at the Russians. Anyway, I did enjoy the Italian side for my Thursday game and having the British for the Saturday game. One of the next sessions will be to do Japan. I liked the idea of taking the Chinese out of the picture. That leaves more options. I'll still have to do the invasion of Japan just to keep you 2 guys happy. I heard it has been done!!!

[Yoper]

.....I'll still have to do the invasion of Japan just to keep you 2 guys happy. I heard it has been done!!!

Here is the photographic evidence:

http://www.ww2wargame.com/forum/index.php?topic=212.msg2213#msg2213

Craig

[John D.]

Keep in mind - I blame Mark for this. 

BTW - When are you folks coming to New England?

John

[RandR]

Blame Mark for WHAT?  A New England visit in 2008 is totally dependent upon my vacation schedule which won't be submitted until late November or early December. Then it will only cover the 1st 4 months of the year. So the sooner I have details about a convention where you guys are playing, the sooner I'll be told NO, those days are not available. I have 2 items to work with: A vacation schedule and the alternate work schedule. The alternate work schedule means I can get Friday off hopefully which allows getting the additional Thursday off to a whole lot easier. I really can't plan much until the end of the year which probably means paying a higher price as the special prices have past their deads line.

[Yoper]

Keep in mind - I blame Mark for this. 

BTW - When are you folks coming to New England?

John

I think that he was talking to me and the rest of the Detroit Group.

We have stepped away from the game for a while so I don't see anything on the horizon for us.

Maybe after things settle down for our group we can think about a trip out for more fun.

As for what actually happened in that game, I would blame Mark too!  His u-boats were so poor in the Atlantic that the USA could prosecute its "Japan First" strategy without worrying about helping the UK.

Craig

[John D.]

Rob - of course you are invited as well! 

[Mark]

my u-boat captains let me down - but by Eastern Front army group commanders truly failed me. . . some day I will have my revenge. . .