Malta and North Africa.

[bo]

Some observations on Malta and the North African campaign by the Axis.

You have to make a decision as the Axis, do I really want to conquer North Africa, I know Cairo must be taken as one of the issues for a German victory. Are there any pros and cons? I have read many comments by posters far more astute understanding this game than I do, but I will attempt to clarify my ideas of this battle as best I can.

I have read posts where players have said they can defeat the British in North Africa without taking Malta, I accept that but I have never been able to do that, when my supplies start to read zero as I approach Alexandria I come to a complete standstill.

I have two thoughts on this, one if I use the Africa corp along with all the Italian units I can spare to halt the British at Bardia or Tobruk, it most likely will become a stalemate, a positive out of this is that the British most likely will not invade Italy nor will these units be used in the Allied invasion of France May 1943 which would be a big help defensively against the allies.

The second part of this is I would like to transport the German HQ's, the armored corp, the fighter and the tactical bomber units to the Eastern front for support against the Russians and use what I have left of the Africa Corp to delay the British if possible. Transporting can be a little dangerous [:(]

Eventually the British forces will succeed in defeating what units the Axis have left in North Africa and then invade Tunis and shortly after that invade the Italian mainland.

Pros and cons on that, Pro the more the British AI pours units into Italy the less the Germans have to face in France during the May 1943 invasion, The con do not lose Italy [:(] I use the Italian engineers to build fortications across Italy in front of Rome.

Normally the AI flounders around in Sicily, but one game they landed north of Rome and I panicked, but was able to pull two Panzer units out of Russia to block that unit, needless to say I could not really spare those Panzers from the Russian front.

Finally if you are serious about taking North Africa IMO you must take Malta which I find rather easy to do and if "Bo" can do it anybody can [;)] I prefer that the Italian Navy have Naval Weaponry one. As soon as the battle of France is over I relocate one German HQ and one Para division to Sicily, normally you have to move them to the boot of Italy first then cross into Sicily.

I then send my three tactical bombers and my three medium bombers to Sicily, taking several turns so not to waste MMP's. I bombard with all my Italian warships and then strike with the German airforce, only twice did I fail to capture Malta on the first attack but it fell easily in the second attack.

Sorry for the long story just got the urge to comment on the game, one other thing I noticed but can't prove when I tried to move my German airforce from France to Italy I tried to cross Switzerland but I felt I was denied by the program because Switzerland is neutral, am I dreaming or is that a possibility? [&:]

Bo

[crispy131313]

ORIGINAL: bo

mmm

...Bacon

[OxfordGuy3]

BTW are you using at least 2 HQs in Africa? I send both Italian ones there and the supply situation is much, much better that way

[bo]

ORIGINAL: oxford_guy

BTW are you using at least 2 HQs in Africa? I send both Italian ones there and the supply situation is much, much better that way

Hi Oxford guy, great univeristy.

I use both Italian Hq's and whatever German Hq I happen to get sent to me but I still come to a standstill at Cairo, maybe you know a way to get the supply to at least four or five at Cairo because I sure don't [:(]

Bo

[bo]

ORIGINAL: crispy131313

ORIGINAL: bo

mmm

...Bacon

?????? I do love bacon crispy, that's for sure.[;)]

Bo

[OxfordGuy3]

ORIGINAL: bo

ORIGINAL: oxford_guy

BTW are you using at least 2 HQs in Africa? I send both Italian ones there and the supply situation is much, much better that way

Hi Oxford guy, great univeristy.

I use both Italian Hq's and whatever German Hq I happen to get sent to me but I still come to a standstill at Cairo, maybe you know a way to get the supply to at least four or five at Cairo because I sure don't [:(]

Bo

At the gates of Cairo, supply prediction for next turn, if I move my HQs closer, supply should improve even more:



These are the units I have:

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: bo

One other thing I noticed but can't prove when I tried to move my German airforce from France to Italy I tried to cross Switzerland but I felt I was denied by the program because Switzerland is neutral, am I dreaming or is that a possibility? [&:]

Bo

Hi Bo

You are right, you can't fly over neutral countries, so you have to fly around them.

They'd have tried to shoot you down in real life - as the Swiss did if I remember rightly!

[bo]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

ORIGINAL: bo

One other thing I noticed but can't prove when I tried to move my German airforce from France to Italy I tried to cross Switzerland but I felt I was denied by the program because Switzerland is neutral, am I dreaming or is that a possibility? [&:]

Bo

Hi Bo

You are right, you can't fly over neutral countries, so you have to fly around them.

They'd have tried to shoot you down in real life - as the Swiss did if I remember rightly!

Now that is what I call real smart clever programming, my kudos to you Bill and Hubert

Bo

[OxfordGuy3]

ORIGINAL: oxford_guy

ORIGINAL: bo

ORIGINAL: oxford_guy

BTW are you using at least 2 HQs in Africa? I send both Italian ones there and the supply situation is much, much better that way

Hi Oxford guy, great univeristy.

I use both Italian Hq's and whatever German Hq I happen to get sent to me but I still come to a standstill at Cairo, maybe you know a way to get the supply to at least four or five at Cairo because I sure don't [:(]

Bo

At the gates of Cairo, supply prediction for next turn, if I move my HQs closer, supply should improve even more:



These are the units I have:

BTW I don't normally put HQs on the coast if I can avoid it, but at least the one I do have their is in a city. Daisy-chaining multiple HQs, though, is the only way to get decent supply in North Africa

[James Taylor]

I used two German and two Italian HQs until Egypt falls then I send one of each back to Europe and continue into the Caucasus.

Sure helps to have mobility for all troops transgressing the Middle East as supply is few and far between.

[bo]

ORIGINAL: James Taylor

I used two German and two Italian HQs until Egypt falls then I send one of each back to Europe and continue into the Caucasus.

Sure helps to have mobility for all troops transgressing the Middle East as supply is few and far between.

Hi James, go Aggies, the problem with that is the British Navy I have lost several HQ's and Panzer units, do you have a sure way to get them to Europe?

Bo

[James Taylor]

The Brits pretty much vacate the premises with the fall of Egypt and if they don't ....well airpower trumps naval vessels.

Oh and by the way, just because all my money went to A&M for my daughters engineering degree doesn't mean I'm an Aggie.

Actually I'm a U of Houston alumni, go Cougars! Fricken T-Sips and Aggies keep stealing our coaches, no love lost for either school.

[bo]

ORIGINAL: James Taylor

The Brits pretty much vacate the premises with the fall of Egypt and if they don't ....well airpower trumps naval vessels.

Oh and by the way, just because all my money went to A&M for my daughters engineering degree doesn't mean I'm an Aggie.

Actually I'm a U of Houston alumni, go Cougars! Fricken T-Sips and Aggies keep stealing our coaches, no love lost for either school.

Ouch my bad, good job on the daughter James, not easy I know my son just paid off St. Josephs in Philly, 42,000 a year, phew. He went to Villanova when it was $5,000 a year but he did not live on campus. Maybe your daughter can help build that new pipeline with her engineering degree. [;)]

Bo

[James Taylor]

She's an Aerospace Egr, no pipelines, but she can write some awesome code.[:D] After a 100 grand and five years she only worked for NASA for two years and then became a computer geek, go figure.[&:]

Luckily, I had saved up so the impact wasn't so bad, that was a couple of decades ago. Your son get a decent degree? If so, the money is well worth it, it's just those political science and psychology sheep skins that are a waste of money.

It's really not about the degrees anyway, its what the person does with them. I had hopes of going to Space.[:'(]

[bo]

ORIGINAL: James Taylor

She's an Aerospace Egr, no pipelines, but she can write some awesome code.[:D] After a 100 grand and five years she only worked for NASA for two years and then became a computer geek, go figure.[&:]

Luckily, I had saved up so the impact wasn't so bad, that was a couple of decades ago. Your son get a decent degree? If so, the money is well worth it, it's just those political science and psychology sheep skins that are a waste of money.

It's really not about the degrees anyway, its what the person does with them. I had hopes of going to Space.[:'(]

Truthfully James I am not sure of his degree, I do know this, Four Villanova young men got together to form a company to do weddings parties, he joined 20 years ago as the manager, so the owner can run around and do his thing whatever that is but a wonderful boss to my son, His salary is $145,000 a year
not bad as I never went over $60,000 but salaries were a lot less 30 years ago.

My wife is my heart but he is my right arm James.

Bo

[marquac]

As the Axis, should the Italians wait for the Germans to show up before pushing forward or is it best to wait for Rommel before trying to take Cairo?

[Yogol]

ORIGINAL: marquac

As the Axis, should the Italians wait for the Germans to show up before pushing forward or is it best to wait for Rommel before trying to take Cairo?

I wait.

What I do is...
- move all Italian armies to Africa (but not the 2nd HQ like some suggest).
- move the Italian fighter & bomber to Africa.
- invade Egypt.
- take out the British engineer.
- wait till the Germans get there.
- move an extra German tank, an extra German army, one German and one German fighter to Africa.
- retreat the German anti-tank and German artillery from Africa.
- retreat Italy entirely from Africa and let the Germans go all the way to Persia.

FYI (important)... I focus my German research on Command (so ALL units are under Rommel's command), Infantry, Advanced Airpower and Tanks.

I do not put a second HQ in Africa. Instead, I keep the HQ one hex south of the city.
That way, they give 8 supply (which should be enough to give the front-lines 5 supply) and the never get attacked by the navy (which would be costly).

[xwormwood]

I usually send one or two intalian units to stall the UK attacks long enough until Rommel arrives.
With the Afrika Korps and the african Italian units I have no trouble at all to kick the Allies out of Egypt. Just don't lose your units, and destroy one AI after the next one.

[Bylandt11]

ORIGINAL: marquac

As the Axis, should the Italians wait for the Germans to show up before pushing forward or is it best to wait for Rommel before trying to take Cairo?

I don't think stalling until Rommel comes is the right tactic.

Best thing is to send an extra HQ, the tank, the airforce and all armies to Tobruk asap. Advance immediatly after Italy DOWs on France. You can take out the engineers without too much trouble. Continue advancing and attacking. After France, German bombers can take out Malta. With some luck the Italians can take Alexandria and Cairo even before Rommel arrives. If not, it should be easy enough with him.

[xwormwood]

You don't need Malta right now to win in North Africa. Send the bombers toward Africa. Malta won't be able to stop you if you have the German Afrikakorps down there. At least not if you're playing against the AI.