So, what sort of strategic moves can you make?

[Slush]

Hi

Having played the WitE campaign once as the Soviets, I picked up WitW during a Steam sale, and have made my way from Husky to Westwall and the Air Intro scenario. Currently, I'm trying to put all I've learned together in the Torch to Tunesia scenario.

But I'm already thinking about playing the GC as the Allies against the AI, and I'm curious: Are ahistorical and unconventional strategies viable, or does the game force you to more or less follow in the footsteps of history with minor strategic variations?

It's the invasion of Italy that got me thinking. Is it possible to simply bypass Sicily, take Sardinia and Corsica instead, and use those two island as staging areas for a landing in the Livorno area and a immediate drive through Florence to the Adriatic in order to cut the Italian peninsula in half? Think of it as an Italian Inchon landing.

[loki100]

Its sand box in that you can do as you wish - make your opening invasion near Venice if you want.

But there are lots of practical constraints. In the GC, Italy in 43-44 is all about taking Rome for the VP flow. The big issue is the LW is still very potent so landings beyond your easy air cover are going to be costly - may even fail.

You certainly need Sardinia and Corsica for your Rome landings. I don't think that skipping Sicily is feasible.

In part, you need the airbases to move your air cover up, but also its key to pushing Italy out of the war and most of your army can't do very much for those 5-6 turns it takes to clear (there isn'the port capacity on Sardinia to use it to effect).

Big issues after that, where to land, vs the AI you can use most of southern Italy, vs a human opponent be cautious. Where your second invasion, the merits of an Adriatic focus to your ground campaign, post Rome where to stop.

Certainly going high up in Italy for your first invasion is worth exploring, so test out ideas. I suspect it will end horribly due to logistics problems but it could pay off big time [;)]

Same in France, the core move (invade NW/NE France) is obligatory. Where is really interesting to play around with, as is one invasion or two?

[Slush]

Hi loki100,

Thanks. You're probably right, an Italian invasion out of Corsica and Sardinia will probably run into all sorts of problems with air cover and logistics, and from a pure gaming perspective it will most likely cost VPs, because the point system rewards taking the historical path. I will give it a shot, though.

[cfulbright]

I seldom disagree with Loki, but I disagree with his statement that, "Same in France, the core move (invade NW/NE France) is obligatory."

Playing against the AI, I've invaded straight into Holland, and I've also invaded in the Le Havre/Dieppe area with great success.

Cary