The Rock Falls!

[Braig]

I have played this game going on 30 years now, and I have never done this myself, or been in a game where it happened. Gibraltar falls to invasion before Spain has been declared on. Woohoo! Fun stuff!!!
Yep, i love this game! [;)]

[Ur_Vile_WEdge]

How'd the Italians/Germans get them all flipped? What year is this, and how did the Axis knock the Gibraltar garrison out of supply?

[Braig]

Jul/Aug 1940. The Italians just declared on the CW. 1 bomber with 3 tac rating got extremely lucky. The defenders are not out of supply.

Due to a lack of chits in the Ge/It us entry pool, the CW had to delay declaring on Italy to try and prevent it.

[petracelli]

Hi

Just out of curiosity where were the Axis bombers based, as surely could only have been in N Africa.

Were they not able to put up some resistance and where was the British fleet?

Great achievement as have only seen it work once before and should make the game a walk in the park for the Axis.

Cheers

Phil

[Braig]

The fleet was at sea. The Italian bomber was in Algiers. Range of 9. Italy sailed the impulse earlier. Italy was neutral at that point. Declared war and ground stuck the units. Followed by the invasion.

[Omnius]

Braig,
More importantly how you get tan British units?

Omnius

[Omnius]

Braig,
How did you get an Italian bomber in Algiers so quickly? Can we air rebase into enemy hexes? Was France still at war with Germany, thus North Africa isn't Vichy?

Omnius

[AxelNL]

ORIGINAL: Omnius

Braig,
More importantly how you get tan British units?

Omnius

Look in the. Mod section for KiF (Khaki in Flames)

[Braig]

Italy was at war with France. They had control of Algiers.

[Ur_Vile_WEdge]

When did the French pull the inf out of North Africa?

[Omnius]

Braig,
How did Italy get control of Algiers so quickly? Was Italy at war with France before it declared war on Britain? I would think that Italy would need to get a ground unit into Algiers to take control.

Omnius

[Ur_Vile_WEdge]

Guessing on his behalf, but I'd bet that the TERR didn't start in Algeria or Tunis, the Italians declared war on France but not the CW on the first turn (to get that lovely German aid) and then walked in with a fast unit, possibly their 1-4 Libyan Terr. The French, in turn, evacuated the infantry to have another warm body against the Germans, and the Italians marched into Algiers unopposed.

[Centuur]

ORIGINAL: Ur_Vile_WEdge

Guessing on his behalf, but I'd bet that the TERR didn't start in Algeria or Tunis, the Italians declared war on France but not the CW on the first turn (to get that lovely German aid) and then walked in with a fast unit, possibly their 1-4 Libyan Terr. The French, in turn, evacuated the infantry to have another warm body against the Germans, and the Italians marched into Algiers unopposed.

Which can always happen, especially when the French unit in French North Africa is a good one...

[petracelli]

But if they Dow on the second impulse the British have an impulse notice and they only need 1 chit to Dow Italy and where is the French fleet with the Bearne?

[Omnius]

Ur_Vile_WEdge,
He must have declared war on France earlier as that would be the only way to keep an Italian infantry unit from waltzing into Algiers. Makes one think twice about shipping that one French unit out of Africa to defend France. My big question is where was the French fleet at? They should have been at sea contesting the western Med.

Omnius

[Centuur]

It's J/A 1940. We don't know the exact circumstances. We don't know how the war in France is progressing. Also, this result sure has been a lucky shot. First all the units were flipped (and with a 3 factor land bomber, that's really a good shot) and than there's a +5 invasion with a high die roll...

Mussolini has luck on his side, that's for sure...

At one time, the French has to decide: whether or not to withdraw units for the defense of the home country. If he doesn't, he gets Vichified earlier than if he does, especially when the units in Syria and French North Africa are high factor combat units. Mostly, France hasn't got the time to exchange them for lousy units if that's the case.

And there's something else to consider too.

If Italy has got a DIV on a ship the moment he DOW's France, he can choose to invade either Oran or Algiers. France can't defend both cities. Now, let's suggest that the French INF is in Oran. Algiers get invaded and next turn, an Italian INF and a HQ disembark into the city too, while the fast Lybian TERR runs into Tunesia. One or two turns later, the French INF in Oran is attacked, using Italian shore bombardment. The Lybian TERR is available as loss taker...

That ends the French presence in North Africa...

[paulderynck]

Oran - yes, Algiers - no. Next to Algiers - yes.

[Orm]

Due to a lack of chits in the Ge/It us entry pool, the CW had to delay declaring on Italy to try and prevent it.

What was the reason for so few chits in this pool so far into the game?

[Orm]

ORIGINAL: Braig

I have played this game going on 30 years now, and I have never done this myself, or been in a game where it happened. Gibraltar falls to invasion before Spain has been declared on. Woohoo! Fun stuff!!!
Yep, i love this game! [;)]

[&o]

Thank you for sharing. [:)]

[Braig]

Loving the discussion on this topic! To answer a few questions.....1 chit in the Ger/It pool was due to fluky luck that the axis has had this entire play thru up to now. No reactions from the US to axis aggression and increased tension to allied initiatives. I got 9's or 10's for war declarations. The tension pool has a few. Probably some bad choices on entry actions considering the pool situation, but obviously felt they were necessary risks at the time of choosing. For instance, the questioning of where the French fleet was. Well, some were at the bottom of the Western Med, and the rest were in Marseilles for refueling and re-org after getting thrashed thoroughly by the Italians the previous turn. Questioning the Bearn and the entry situation....US had taken the Bearn option this turn as Italy was next to Marseilles getting ready to overrun it. It was defended by....you guessed it....The poor infantry from Algiers. That option dropped the entry pool to one, which is why I had placed the chit draw previously this turn in the axis pool. Bad choice? Maybe, in hindsight.
It was all a gamble, on both sides. I didn't expect to flip all of the units with the best bomber I could muster, but it happened. I fully expected as the axis to fail at this, but only had this one shot to take it. It worked and now the Allies are in huge trouble.

This is all a great discussion for new players as well as old. Never feel safe. US entry CAN dictate what happens in the game, and it is never the same game to game. My opinion is that this is a big part of what makes WIF what it is. Replay-ability and a variance in strategies can happen at any time.