What's the counter?

[boldairade]

In my most recent game(i was allies), i was able to deploy England's african armor plus manufacture an armored corps and have it arrive in France just as Germany attacked.

I had arrayed the French in depth with retreat lanes. My opponent was diligently plowing through, and deployed his panzers. He did not see my armor.

I was then able to counter attack at an opportune time, cutting off and eventually destroying multiple armored units.

It occurs to me, had i made it a priority, i likely could have added another French armored unit to the mix(though it would have meant a lot less infantry)

My question is, how does Germany counter this? I'm not deluding myself that noone has tried this, though I haven't seen it in any AARs.

For the record, my opponent did ultimately destroy one of my armor units, but it has delayed his operation to the point where the game may be lost for him.

[battlevonwar]

This strategy won't work if your opponent would have left retreat paths. Been more cautious about how many attacks he left open to his units. It probably would have spelled an earlier doom to France. It is not a new strategy and I have worked it well and so have others. It requires the Axis Player is more clever is all.

Allies can be aggressive and if the Axis run themselves out of effectiveness in the middle of France they should pay. But the Allied Infantry defense has worked quite well against me ... I think better

[boldairade]

i believe he left retreat paths.

but he likely had run his panzers completely out of APs.

is that possible?

[malkarma]

Then maybe he exhausted their panzers to the point that you was able to destroy them. Every attack is 6% less effectiveness if I don't remember bad.

[battlevonwar]

No my friend, simply do not leave Panzers out to be counter-attacked or use purely Infantry and Air. With so few extra UK and French Units they will take less time to defeat France and the same gains will be gotten. You may face a few massive counter attacks... but they will not be so bad, just inch your way through.

This strat works well against amateur Allied opponents who never faced it. After several experiences you will learn to deal. Also if you are Axis it may be advisable if you face this to prepare a Sea Lion or Mega-Egypt Smash. There should be less defenders in both locations.

[kennonlightfoot]

I think under changes in ver 8, Sealion and Mega-Egypt smash will be dangerous choices for the Axis player. It can still be done but it may doom the Axis in Russia. Until we see how 8 plays for the UK, it will be hard to predict if they have enough production to field an army large enough to stop Sealion and hold the Middle East. But in Ver 8, the UK isn't going to be stretched so thin trying to hold both the Middle East, Iraq and Persia at the same time. But losing the Middle East (and I assume Iraq as well) still means the UK is out of the war until the US can help it. I believe those losses still shut down all oil production for the UK which means their navy is also shut down.

[baloo7777]

ORIGINAL: kennonlightfoot

But losing the Middle East (and I assume Iraq as well) still means the UK is out of the war until the US can help it. I believe those losses still shut down all oil production for the UK which means their navy is also shut down.

Until Dec 41 why wouldn't the Dutch East Indies oil route the long way around to England? Go through the massive Indian Ocean, Pacific, Panama Canal, Atlantic. Production would be much less, but not so much as to shut down their Navy.

[battlevonwar]

baloo7777,

I am sure the UK would come up with some reserves from Canada, USA, Venezuela and other countries. Why go all the way to the Dutch East Indies?

[kennonlightfoot]

If (at least in version 7) the UK loses control of the Middle East and the ports on the Persian Gulf (Kuwait, Iraq, and Persian) their oil production goes to 0 and they have to operate their ships on their reserves which don't last long. As I found out when it happened to me.[:)]

Which quickly leads to the UK's air, armor and ships going to useless. Which then leads to the German ships and U-boats wiping out the UK's merchant fleet. Which cuts off the UK supply to Russia. Which loses the game for the Allies.

I don't remember if it had any effect on UK production other than oil.

All of which means for the Allies, the UK must hold England and the Middle East.
I am not sure what the long term effects of losing England are since it brings in the US early. Although that can be gamed by not taking all the VP cities.
Losing the Middle East though is definitely a major blow to the Allies unless they can extract an enormous price from the Axis for attacking.

[battlevonwar]

The MidEast is very easy to defend, you just need corps and blocking forces. I rarely see anyone get through cause it's too narrow a front via North Africa and amphibious landings are so risky if the Brits strategically place ships, planes, subs and Corps on Key Ports.

I have lost the MidEast and won the game. The cost was too expensive for the Germans and they were beaten by the Soviets and USA/UK