French Navy

[Gavrok]

Anyone got a decent strategy with the French navy. I initially used these as suicide units to knock the Italians down a bit, thus aiding my Brits in the Med.

However having re-read a bit of the manual in advance of my current game I thought it may be possible to move the navy into British ports and keep it. As you'll be aware this doesn't happen so ended up with the Brit fleet out of position and no French support. Result = one powerful Italian fleet which got experience by continually shorebombarding Malta and knocked the Brits about.

1) French fleet thoughts welcome, eg attack Italians/ Germans/ sell/ let go free french

2) How do you stop the Italian fleet building up experience by attacking Malta

3)What happens if the Allies attack Vichy France? Germany hasn't done it in my game? What benefit does it give Germany to take Vichy

Thanks

[Piumarcobaleno]

Well, attacking Vichy as allies (post usa\urss entry) is useful only if you are ready to land in Europe: Germany will otherwise take 20 mpps from Vichy (Marseilles) and the port, while the 2 cities and the port in africa (that you as allied) will take, would give you 15 mpps. Unless obviously you haven't before opened a land connection with Urss through iraq; in this case mpps would be 24 to allies.

[Konstantin V. Kotelnikov]

When I am playing the AI I found the best use of the French Fleet is to scrap it. That and the airfleet, use the MPP's to build an HQ. Infinately more useful.

I hate the french air fleet. You end up paying MPP to repair it. MPP that are better off spent rebuilding damaged ground units.

Key to remember against the AI that no one has ever seen it lauch a invasion of england. So saving ships to guard england is pointless.

I usually sweep the uboats from the sea. The park all the royal navy around gibraltar. Italy usually joins by the time I get the navy there. Send a cruiser to bait the italian navy. They will come out and go after it. AI loves to do this.

Then jump them!!!!! Beat them bloody, give the new Italian navy a reason to build glass bottom boats. (So they can see the old Italian Navy)

Of course what I outlined above does NOT work against human players. They will thank you for the free gift of england.

Human stategies are as varied as each human player has their own.

[Bill101]

I'm currently playing a game where my Italian fleet has built up good experience attacking a Free French Corps that was placed in Malta.

I think that the Allied player should keep their Air Fleet in Malta for a few turns, gaining experience by attacking Italian strategic targets, and then just operate it out as soon as they get the feeling that the might of the Luftwaffe is about to be turned on Malta.

Losing Malta without a fight isn't as bad as losing a decent air unit with it, or letting the Italian navy gain huge experience battering their heads against it.

Besides, as long as Malta is allied, the 5 MPPs can be lost by Italian submarine attacks, so overall it's no more expensive to give the place up when the time comes.

Bill

[xwormwood]

Bill:

is disagree about granting Malta away. If there is still an italian sub out there it just moves to Gibralta or Cairo. So you lost Malta to the Axis and the 5-10 points are still going to the fishes in the MedSea.

If the Axis comes with overwhelming airpower these planes won't be at the REAL frontlines, so the allied player gets the air superiorty in these regions.

Alone the costs for OP movemtent to bring back the axis air units back north or east can be as worthy as a lost corps or air unit.

[santabear]

I have had variable luck with the French fleet becoming "free French." The first time I tried it all the units stayed alive, so I thought that was normal. The next time all I got was one lousy cruiser.

The unit in the Med is a sacrificial lamb; the Axis can kill it immediately after Italy enters the war, so it's best converted to MPP. The others make handy artillery to beat up any Germans silly enough to wander into coastline hexes; then you can try to sail them to Britain or sell them for scrap MPPs. If nothing else, having them banging away at the Germans in the Low Countries keeps the German air away from the armies for a few turns.

I agree completely about the French air fleet. It's nearly as useless as the battleship in the Med.

[Gavrok]

Thanks for the advice.

Still curious to know;

1) Does anyone do suicide attacks with the French fleet on the Italians/ or it considered best to send it north or to sell it?

2) if the French fleet is not destroyed/ sold does it become free french if the axis attack Vichy

3)Does the fleet become German if the Allies attack Vichy

Thanks

Gavrok

[Edwin P.]

I usually;

1) Scrap the French Fleet or

2) Use it along with the British Fleet to sink/damage the Italian Navy, when German air power arrives I retreat the UK fleets to the Atlantic to guard against a Sea Lion and to the Eastern Med to guard against an invasion of Beruit/Suez/Egypt. If I sank 3 Italian Units, I try to keep 5 or 6 UK fleets in the Med, prepared to sink any Italian transports that venture towards Africa.

[Oak]

Once France falls, a random number of French naval units will become Free French. The average is 15%. Once they become Free French, they are controlled by the UK regardless of what happens with Vichy France.

More often than not, I will send all the French units into the Med to attack the Italian Navy. If the British join in, it is sometimes possible to completely destroy the Italian navy. Against human players there are mixed results. Best I've ever done was to destroy the Italian sub and cruiser. Worst was to lose the French fleet with minimal damage to the Italian navy.

My view is that if the French navy hits the Italians hard, even if no Italian ship is sunk the Italians need to spend MPPs on reinforcing them.

Another option is use the French fleet to hunt German subs.

There isn't much to be gained by disbanding the French fleet, I feel. The damage they could do to the Italian fleet or the damage they could save the English fleet in sub chasing is worth more than the 120-140 MPP from disbanding them.

As for Malta ... I think that the UK needs all the air fleets it can get in the early stages. I keep the air fleet there until I think that the Axis are putting air fleets in place to hit it (causing some headache and hassle to the Axis) and the operate it out will transporting a Corp in. However, it has to be timed just right.

[Edwin P.]

In fact, I think that Italy upon entering the war must retreat their naval forces to the northern reaches of the Adriatic where attacks by the allied navy can by reduced to a 2 front and covered by axis air power.

The big problem of the Italians is that the Allies sometimes mass a huge fleet of French and UK naval units around Malta and then DOW on Italy, attacking and sinking half of the Italian navy in one turn while landing 1 or corps in Italy to sieze the port of Bari. A Pearl Harbor in reverse.

The only con to this strategy is that the UK fleet is concentrated in the Med and if Frane falls quickly the Germans have the option to launch a Sea Lion, before the UK navy can return to the Atlantic and the Germans can operate several air units to Sicily, from where they can attack any Allied Naval units attempting to flee West.

Of course, if the Allies don't sink the Italian fleet then the Axis powers are in position to take Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq.

[ June 21, 2003, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]