Malta [capture]

[sPzAbt653]

Playing the 653H Mod, human Axis vs. Computer Allies. Although 653H uses
a Coastal Gun unit on Malta, the below will still apply to the stock
campaign which uses an Anti-Aircraft Unit.

Units conducting an Amphibious Assault cannot move onto Malta unless it is vacant. Paratroops cannot land on the hex unless it is vacant. In order to capture Malta, the Allied unit located there must be eliminated.

To eliminate the Allied Unit, first understand the mechanics of Malta:
1] Malta itself has a Supply Level of 5 [gold highlight].
2] The two ports at Malta can provide a Supply Level of 5 [blue highlight].
3] You need to reduce both ports and Malta itself in order to affect the unit there [green highlight].
4] With reduced supply, the unit will not be able to reinforce.

In this screenshot, Malta and the ports have already been reduced to 0.
Therefore, the unit itself is now at 0 supply.

[sPzAbt653]

To reduce Malta's Supply Level, move Italian Battleships next to Malta and attack it. Each attack usually causes the Supply Level to drop 1-2 points. You can view Malta's Supply Level at the lower right of your screen when you mouse over Malta.

You could also use Strategic or Medium Bombers to attack Malta instead of Battleships.

[sPzAbt653]

To reduce Malta's Ports Supply Levels, move Axis Subs next to them. No attack is necessary. You need two Subs [or any other Naval Units] next to a port to reduce it by 1 each turn. Because the ports are next to each other, you only need three subs to have two next to each one.

You could also use Strategic or Medium Bombers to make direct attacks on the ports.

[sPzAbt653]

With Malta and its Port's Supply Levels reduced, bomb the unit with Tactical Bombers [black highlights]. Its nice to have some fighter cover [purple highlights] in case there are Allied Carriers or land based Air Units nearby. Note the Italian HQ at Messina, which improves the Italian bomber's effectiveness. The Malta unit should only be able to last 1-3 turns, and once it evaporates you can drop an Airborne [red highlight] or Amphibious Assault a Land Unit [green highlight] onto the vacant island.

[sPzAbt653]

With the Malta Unit bombed out of existence, the Para's are free to take the island.

[sPzAbt653]

Voila !



EDIT: Note that concerning Malta's ports, they don't actually need to be reduced, you can get the same results by 'blocking' the ports. Blocking only requires one Naval Unit be adjacent, and if this is the case the port will not be able to provide supply to the Malta Garrison Unit. So to recap - one naval unit adjacent to a port will block supply, two naval units adjacent to a port will reduce supply [possibly to 0].

[crispy131313]

Unless....

Turn 1 Decision from Fall Weiss II mod [:)] which decides whether the Anti-air batteries are 10 strength or 13 strength [X(]

[sPzAbt653]

Well, I had the bright idea of giving Malta the Coast Gun unit, with enhanced AA and Inf abilities to represent the entire garrison, plus the ability to upgrade the same attributes, because I thought that a Coast Gun unit would fire at enemy Naval Units. But that doesn't happen [:(]

Historically, Malta was a real kick. It was indefensible until 1942 when Allied air units were stationed in N. Afrika, but wacky Hitler said that he would not spill German blood for it, and the Italians were scared to tackle it on their own.

Your DE looks like a no-brainer - is there any downside to it besides the 15 MPP's [which isn't much at all considering that an AA unit costs 80] ?

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653

Well, I had the bright idea of giving Malta the Coast Gun unit, with enhanced AA and Inf abilities to represent the entire garrison, plus the ability to upgrade the same attributes, because I thought that a Coast Gun unit would fire at enemy Naval Units. But that doesn't happen [:(]

What if you modeled an artillery unit with enhanced AA/infantry capabilities? Would this have the desired effect? I'm not sure if artillery fires back at naval units or not.

Historically, Malta was a real kick. It was indefensible until 1942 when Allied air units were stationed in N. Afrika, but wacky Hitler said that he would not spill German blood for it, and the Italians were scared to tackle it on their own.

Your DE looks like a no-brainer - is there any downside to it besides the 15 MPP's [which isn't much at all considering that an AA unit costs 80] ?

Actually the cost is 45 MPPs (15 MPP x 3 turns) and I feel this is a fair cost given A) Malta may not even be a target of you opponent so it is wasted MPP and 2) I put a premium on very early game MPP as this is where your strategy really can take hold. There are also some other competing decisions for MPP that I created early game, so as always you have to spend your MPP wisely.

[crispy131313]

Is there a version of 653H Mod which is ready to download?

[sPzAbt653]

I'm not sure if artillery fires back at naval units or not.

I don't know either, I'll try to keep an eye out for it.

... I put a premium on very early game MPP ...

I figured and was just wondering what it was. When I think of Malta I think of how strapped for resources the UK was in 1940-41, and as important as Malta was, it's importance was offset by the difficulty in reinforcing it when it was so close to Sicily and Libya [risking convoys to Axis air units].

Is there a version of 653H Mod which is ready to download?

Yes, it's in the Mod thread, but it's already quite outdated and I will soon upload a newer version. Currently working on text visibility.

[Malor]

Thank you for posting this. It will be helpful in my next game when I try playing as the Axis.

Malor

[Steves762]

Thanks for this info, this helps answer some questions I had about amphibious assaults.

[JohnGibbon]

Thank you, 653. Very useful thread and very clearly written.

[OxfordGuy3]

Apart from the Coastal Gun instead of AA are there any other changes that affect the capture of Malta with the Mod? I managed to capture it with using only one sub in the vanilla game, sitting next to both ports, which prevents any port supply reaching the unit there, you don't need actually reduce the port supply, it just stops instantly if there is a naval blockade, no?

[sPzAbt653]

There are other changes involved in 653H, but none that make it harder or easier to take Malta.

There was an 'edit' added under the picture in post #6 concerning blocking supply.

[demyansk]

Thanks for the strategy on this.

[The Land]

So to explore this topic further:

What's the cost/benefit for the Axis of doing this?

So far as I can see the main costs are:
- the entire Luftwaffe pretty much needs to be operated to Sicily
-- this means reducing the air force available for other operations (so the Allies can be a bit more active elsewhere, but they don't really have many opportunities)
-- Operate costs MPP (can you avoid the Operate cost? possibly but then you end up with the whole thing taking so long it might affect your Barbarossa attack)
-- the air units will take damage and the paratroop might

In total the cost of doing it without significant Allied opposition might be ... what, 250-300 MPP? A couple of Corps that are not available for Barbarossa.

What's the benefit?

Of course the Allies lose the Malta Anti-Air, which is technically worth 125MPP or so. In practice though it's a unit that does very little else as you can't move it until there is no remaining risk in the Mediterranean, probably after the point the Allies are landing in Italy, and at that point the Western Allies typically have limited use for an AA unit.

Then there's the impact of taking Malta on supply in the Med - how important is that, given that the Axis typically end up with 2 HQs in the area?

What's the Allied counter-strategy?

I'm currently seeing an attack on Malta in a PBEM game I'm playing, so don't want to go into too much detail about my thinking yet. But... the Allies have many naval assets, how much can they increase the costs of taking Malta?

[Taxman66]

Not much. If the Allies send ships to defend Malta, the Axis will switch targets and ships (even CVs) vs. Land Based Air is a big time loosing proposition.

[The Land]

ORIGINAL: Taxman66

Not much. If the Allies send ships to defend Malta, the Axis will switch targets and ships (even CVs) vs. Land Based Air is a big time loosing proposition.

Well, yes, if the Allied ships can be found, and are within strike range of the Axis aircraft.... of course if British battleships just sit North of Malta waiting, they will be sunk for no benefit, but there are other options.