Kuniworth Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 escape the med and give up Egypt? Please share your opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_j_rambo Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Punny, try to invent your own strategies. If you're looking for what is "par for the course", ask CodenameClone. Clone who copies everything Terif does, yet can't win sends his UK-Med-Fleet home to England. Then goes after Air tecnology. There "would be" some fun stuff to do with the UK-Med-Fleet (or any fleet for that matter) if there was more water, better naval movement, better naval combat rules, & SOME SUPPLY in the Med. Rambo-Hollywood-Vegas >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> OUT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuniworth Posted July 16, 2003 Author Share Posted July 16, 2003 Ah youre startin to get scared Rambo, you know that soon I will get ya´ sucka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 I'm still very new to the game, but here is my observation about the UK Med fleet: - the UK Med fleet is out gunned by the Axis who have better supply, better position and can more readily bring air fleets (with HQ support) to bear against the UK navy in the Med. - my view is that the Med carrier should definitely be moved to the Atlantic. If you need air in the Med, operate it in from England or Malta. - you can take one of 3 approaches with the battleships and cruiser: 1) use them together with the French fleet to hit the Italian navy hard before France goes out. If you are lucky (and the Axis is careless), then you can take out 2-3 Italian ships and even things out a little. 2) abandon the Med and move everything out, relying on air to defend Egypt. 3) leave a token force in Egypt (1-2 ships) knowing that they will probably be wiped out by the Italian navy but in the hope that they can slow the Axis down. Oak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzgndr Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 The best defense is often a good offense. The Axis is hard-pressed to reinforce Libya in the first several turns after Italy enters, other than op moving a German Luftflotte to Tobruk. The UK can position itself for an early offensive, take Tobruk, and establish air superiority in the eastern Med. An HQ, 1-2 Air Fleets, and your Strategic Bomber (with great naval attack value) around Tobruk is a tough nut to crack in this game. (A historical Axis counter-offensive to retake Tobruk with Rommel and DAK is very difficult.) If both sides recognize the value of early air support in North Africa, it can be a very exciting theater for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 But ... how can the UK (with only a couple of corps in Egypt/Syria take out the army in Tobruk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuniworth Posted July 16, 2003 Author Share Posted July 16, 2003 Yep I wonders about that too. And the operational move of 1 air and the strategic bomber is 100 MMP. And lets say that axis move their forces down there you gotta retreat quickly and move again which cost you another 100 MMP. I for one should not give any strategic advices but Africa seem like a waste of ammo to fight over. Maybe the thing for allies to do is to calculate how many moves axis must be held up to fit in his strategy and just divert enough forces to achieve that. This however brings me to another issue. What about Malta. Better to give it up than letting it be a training ground for the italian navy??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzgndr Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 UK has a Corps and Army in Canada that can be transported to Libya for landings west of Tobruk. The British Corps in Alexandria and French Corps in Syria are available for landings east of Tobruk. Surround and pound. If you move the Med garrisons, you may activate Italy too soon and lose surprise. Alternatively, you can transport Corps from England and/or France to hit Tobruk. You can either declare war on Italy and use surprise to isolate and defeat Tobruk, or risk Axis reaction and a naval encounter. Position British and French fleets to surprise intercepting Italian fleets if he chooses to do that. If you wait for Italy to enter and you've got your invasion transports ready to unload, there's only a couple things the Axis can do. Op move the Army from Tripoli and op move German air to help Tobruk. Having another transport ready to unload into Tripoli will discourage relocation of that garrison, or else provide you an easy victory. The key is that Italy is initially very vulnerable in North Africa and can be beaten there. The Med battle then becomes much more difficult for the Axis to win if the Allies have Tobruk and air superiority. It may be worth declaring war on Italy to gain this advantage, even if USA entry is delayed a few turns. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuniworth Posted July 16, 2003 Author Share Posted July 16, 2003 Interesting Bill but I have a few questions. What is the purpose of taking Tobruk? The city is definately not worth it counting MMP. If the purpose is to disrupt Italy it may work. But the Germans will soon be sending 2-3 airfleets to Tripoli to hit you so I´m not sure that this will turn out the same. But maybe you can delay the axis a bit in africa by doing this. However sending canadians will weaken France. that will mean that Britain have to risk seelöwe earlier. And who can afford to send a HQ to the med then and in time? I think one interesting thing could be to march on tobruk with Alexandria corps stationing outside the city. Thus preventing in short terms that axis moves up more than 1 airfleet operationally to Tobruk and delaying the assault on Egypt. But not sure it would work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzgndr Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 I didn't say it would be easy, or that it would work every time. But it is an option to consider. The defense of France and risk of Sealion are also important. If you keep playing the exact same strategy every time, this game starts to get a little dull, eh? Try something different now and then. You really think Germany would fight to retake Tobruk from Tripoli, with supply problems due to the range between them? Fine. If they're fighting for sand, they're not fighting for something else. If you time things well and take Tobruk quickly, it's possible to redeploy some British units back to England to defend against a possible Sealion attempt. But you should have enough MPPs to build enough units in England unless you're spending on research and more air. Remember, Sealion won't happen until several turns after the fall of France, so you have time to build. It's a choice. How much is Egypt worth to the UK? Should you defend it and risk losing it and part of your fleet, or fight to hold and improve your position in the Med for strategic advantage later? I do not have an approved answer for you. You need to decide. [ July 16, 2003, 12:21 PM: Message edited by: Bill Macon ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Dave Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 As originally posted by Bill Macon: It's a choice. How much is Egypt worth to the UK? Ah... those CHOICES... it's what makes a good game... a great game, every time! It should be noted that... this Med strategy can be best implemented when you play one of the seriously considered scenarios (... Mr Bill's '39 campaign is one of the best!) that include a desert-rat bolstered 8th Army down in ancient old Egypt. Many games I have happily played! where the Med Theatre was truly an exciting spectacle, with many outcomes determined by a few particular rolls of the dice. Is Egypt even worth it? O yea, because oil-rich Iraq is right around the corner and CONTROL of the Med severely limits the assistance, such that it is, Italy can provide to their howling-wolf partners, yes? Go for it... but, don't be shy about TRYING OUT the several campaigns that... surely make this Theatre MUCH more compelling & competitive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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