Too many options - no porcheman

[celebrindal]

Well poor old Germany is stuck with too many options.

The original intent was to crush the communists as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Things were looking great when on impulse 5 of M/A 40 we were on the steps of Paris.. but then nooooo.. everyone went on vacation?? Dang turn ended on a 1.

So ended the 40 assault on Moscow.

With the french in complete disarray, forgetting that Vichy is the new homeland, they charged north during the defense of the homeland and were summarily dismissed. I being the polite German did point out to the french player that if he didn't keep anything south he would be conquered instead of vichied... that made him run a few things back.

So the start of the J/A 40 turn saw the immediate fall of Paris, shortly followed by Lille and a few other places. Unfortunately the french had run back and fortified Vichy, Toulouse, (and the factory city in the mountains east of Vichy.)

While the turn did go on forever I was unable to blast these two holdouts, but managed to bring the Italians in and capture the southern ports and pretty much eliminate the french fleet. (Currently consists of 2bb and 2 cruisers).

So with 40 obviously out I figured the next thing to do was go for 41 and instead wipe out the Spanish and take Gibraltar. This of course was dashed with the first impulse of the S/O turn being rain!

So the situation is as follows:

France has not been conquered nor vichied.. I'm sitting on the Spanish border with a handful of units, the French have 4 stacks that have not been eliminated. (1 stack of 3 in Vichy, 1 stack of 3 with a mountain unit in the city east, and 1 stack of two weakish units in Toulouse, oh and 1 stack of two garrisons in Metz)

So the million Deutschmark question is as follows?

1. Mop up the French and then proceed to Spain.. taking losses i'm sure as the best I'm seeing for odds (other than Toulouse haven't tried it yet) is +4ish (2d10).
2. Ignore the french for the most part, perhaps hit Vichy and maybe Toulouse since I should be able to get decent odds on it and drive for Spain then do Vichy.
3. Ignore the whole thing and Vichy France, then collapse it?
4. Vichy and don't bother with Spain at all and see if I can setup for the 41 Barbarossa?

Note Options 1 and 2 I'm expecting it will delay Barb to 42.
Option 3 I'm dreading that much USE.

Thoughts?

I'll post a pic of France when I'm home tonight.

Thanks.

[celebrindal]

Here is the pic.. now the start of the second impulse #5 S/O

[Empire101]

Hmmmmm....

It all depends on your long term production strategy. If you are going all out for the CW and Gibraltar in particular, you need a greater emphasis on the Kriegsmarine and Nav Air units,....a dangerous strategy, that entails high risk but potential high gains.

Personally, I would hunker down, Vichy the French, and go for an all out Barbarossa in 41, but that is my preferred strategy.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: celebrindal

Here is the pic.. now the start of the second impulse #5 S/O

warspite1

Why are the units different looking to usual?

[Centuur]

There are two settings of the way units are shown on the map. A detailed one and this one...

[Centuur]

If you've build a lot of Italian planes for use in Russia, go for a '41 Barbarossa.

If not, I would suggest to kill Toulouse and the rest of the French over winter and proceed into Spain.

[celebrindal]

No, Italians have pretty much built naval units, got both carriers on the spiral, built the nav's for the Germans.. but haven't really dumped much into Africa.

Have been keeping them as much out of things until now.. The only issue I foresee going Barb in 41 is that the Brits are going to have free reign in the med... I don't know if it's worth the extra year on Russia to leave it open..

As a side point when I was testing some stuff out on the Spanish if both IT and GER declare war it was two USE rolls.. I figured if they both DoW same impulse it would only be one?

[markb50k]

Both DOW should be rolls. One way to prevent this is to just declare war with one country. Once its aligned both can attack if they're at war with the owning major power but the one that didn't declare will not have surprise. If that's acceptable try that

[WarHunter]

One of the great advantages of MWif is the save feature.
Go for "4. Vichy and don't bother with Spain at all and see if I can setup for the 41 Barbarossa?"

No matter how it turns out, you can grab the save and try a different option in the future. Saves alot of time getting back to that point instead of starting over.

[celebrindal]

Well I could, but I doubt my opponent would be so accommodating

ORIGINAL: WarHunter

One of the great advantages of MWif is the save feature.
Go for "4. Vichy and don't bother with Spain at all and see if I can setup for the 41 Barbarossa?"

No matter how it turns out, you can grab the save and try a different option in the future. Saves alot of time getting back to that point instead of starting over.

[Orm]

I would declare Vichy and go for a '41 attack on USSR. And I would begin gearing for this at once. During the winter I would attempt to resolve the Yugoslavian question.

[celebrindal]

ORIGINAL: Orm

I would declare Vichy and go for a '41 attack on USSR. And I would begin gearing for this at once. During the winter I would attempt to resolve the Yugoslavian question.

And why would you suggest that?

As for yugo I killed them off a couple of months ago. I was able to prevent Russia from demanding Bess.

[celebrindal]

So I did a bit of a play test last night..

With Toulouse fully garrisoned i'm looking at a 22 defense..

I dow'd spain, ignored Toul and used an o-chit.

The best I could come up with was a +8 or so on the east coast and a +4 or 6 on the west coast.. that was during a snow impulse.

So it's not looking that great, that or i'm waiting til spring and then going to town.. on the plus side I do have 4 or 5 HQ and 6 nasty and 4 so so tacs availble to hit spain.. I'm still just wondering if leaving the med wide open and hitting russia early 41 is better vs close the med and hit them in 42..

I can see now there will be no way I can punch Spain effectively in N/D 40..

Oh and for Toul, the best I was seeing was a -2 or so...

[Empire101]

ORIGINAL: Orm

I would declare Vichy and go for a '41 attack on USSR. And I would begin gearing for this at once. During the winter I would attempt to resolve the Yugoslavian question.

+1
A man after my own heart [:)]

[celebrindal]

I've decided to go for Spain.. and hit Russia in 42, the only big bonus is it's J/F 41 and the Americans still haven't been able to do their first gearing..though as soon as clear weather hits that will change drastically.