The Rock falls. We invested quite some units in the attack and took heavy losses with the hope that we have bottled up a large portion of the RN bombarding the N. African shore. War has been declared also on Portugal and axis units are marching towards Lisbon and Porto. Are we over-extending? The Italians in Africa are an endangered species and should get protection. None is in sight. Tobruk is under heavy pressure form british units while others have bypassed and driven further West.
(Sorry for the bad picture resolution. I don't start out with high end tools and the quality seems to suffer further when I use non standard sizes)
We were too curious and needed to check if the British Fleet is really in the Med. We found out..... The Italian Navy is now half its original size from early 1940.
On land Porto is invested while in Yugoslavia axis forces make steady progress. We expect soon to meet serious resistance in the mountains around and in between Sarajevo and Belgrade.
All the minor theaters get all the attention now. Reasonable progress is made in Portugal which was abandoned by the British to their fate. The bad news come as usual from the desert. Here the Brits are unstoppable.
It is the anniversary of the campaign in the west. After Spies across the channel in the Bretagne indicated that Plymouth is only weakly defended, we overwhelmed it in a joined operation of Navy, Airforce and Paratroopers. The Kriegsmarine left earlier this year into the North Atlantic under the cover of night and did so far not run into any resistance. It bombarded the harbor of Plymouth that was later taken by Paratroopers after additional air bombardment. Let's see how long we can stay on the British isles since we expect a very vicious welcome. After all, the British point out at every occasion that nobody achieved a conquest of their home isle for the last 1000 years.
We commit a few more troops to the UK via sea transport. This is now safe to do in regard to naval interception. Although we suspect the majority of the RN to be trapped in the Mediterraneum, we feel not safe at all on British soil without having a firm supply line back to Berlin. We try to make the most of the short months until the inevitable entry of USA and USSR and we suspect we will reach the high water mark of the Axis advance soon.
Bravo! I have never seen so many paratroops in one place. The capture of Gibraltar should be mandatory for the Axis, as it opens up so many options.
Your opponent will surely resist you in the British Isles, but can rebase the government to Cairo and resist from there. The soft underbelly will surely be tested.
Great fun to watch you guys.
Chuck
I have never seen so many paratroops in one place.
Yes, three paratroopers turned out to be generous. But I was afraid to be very embarrassed in case the air attacks turn out unlucky and the airborne landings see losses. If I don't get Plymouth I have to camp outside in the countryside until some minor British police force picks me up or have to eat "Mulberries". ("Klotzen, nicht Kleckern" is Guderian's most famous quote, in english it roughly means "don't take half measures")
We continue to take in the british countryside while we still can. So far the British resistance is very weak. Is there a trap setup north if we rush straight for London? We decide that we need more troops to cover our flanks and protect our supply lines. As Chuck pointed out already: Even if we were to conquer the British home isle itself, remaining VPs exist in the Med that we have to take too in order to finish the whole empire. (And we have seen how well we are doing there.) Speaking of the desert. I show very few pictures nowadays. That is not because I want to hide the for me embarassing news. It is simply that I have so few units there that the british moving west are not directly visible. Once they reach my towns, they take them immediately. At this point only a very few are left before Tripolis is reached.
We continue our efforts in Yugoslavia and have conquered Portugal.
Are all British emigrated? We understand that they don't want to socialize with us and don't really object all that much that they are absent so far. In the back of our head however, dangerous scenarios form with an entire German Army group cut off supply near London by a determined counterattack driven home by hidden British units in the Manchaster/Birmingham area. We will try to be cautious. But perhaps the Allied commander concentrates his forces where he is already strongest and rules supremely, in the North African theater.
The joined Italo-German force in Yugoslavia continues to advance. And there are of course the usually depressing news from the desert.
Time is flying by and we understand very well that our days are numbered even though we may look strong now. As long as the British are all alone, Germany seems unstoppable. But it is a mirage and can lead into a dangerous euphoria before the fall. We also don't have a recipe for North Africa yet. Some voices in the German general staff think that we will regret that we have not done enough there so far. But others were afraid of trying too many things at once and nothing of it well.
Our attack on the UK continues. We are still suspicious as to the enemies intentions. Even though he has many forces in the Med., he can muster many more units for the defense of the British Isles than are visible now if he so desires. What is the British master plan? Less suspicion exists in Yugoslavia were we have to fight our way into every hex near Belgrade.
Mussolini complains bitterly to the German political leadership that Chocolino has completely abandoned his substantial forces in North Africa. Until now he harvested secret hopes that at least around Tripolis a defense would be mounted. But his illusions have been shattered completely and the fact that he was helped by Germany in the conquest of Yugoslavia cannot really placate him. Poor Italian hostages will have to slave under the British boot now.
Firstly I am still not sure if the British isles are not a poisoned pawn - although a substantial one - in the long run. We have to see.
I will try to answer your question but have many questions myself. I am just trying things out to explore the options: A naval superiority certainly helps in this particular way of entering England. But I think it is not strictly required which is the reason I like it. The Kriegsmarine was only used for the initial shore bombardment. Then the troop transport from LeHavre to Plymouth or Southampton is free from naval interference in this game (we discussed this earlier). You may be able to take the initial port without shore bombardment and navy at all. Using sea transport to ferry troops over makes also the purchase of expensive AIP unnecessary. Instead you have to purchase paratroopers which are expensive, too of course.
Where you do need to have a naval presence is for the protection of the supply convoys. But if you are economically strong enough, you may overcome this even without having the stronger navy - at least for the initial turns. Once the UK is sufficiently weakened economically by conquest, the problem of the RN solves itself.
I think the requirements are:
- clear superiority in land forces to make the conquest itself work.
- USA is not in the game yet and cannot take over the attack on convoys once the RN is out of action.
- you feel confident that you don't need the troops used in England elsewhere since it will take a few turns to get them back
Again, I am not the expert here at all and I would welcome the insight of more experienced players.
hmm - I've got a tactical question - why did you think 3 paratroopers would help? Can they land directly on an opposing unit and fight it? Or were you going to surround the port on the landing turn then assault it the next turn? If your plan was to destroy the defending unit in port by shore/air bombardment then only one para would work?
Unless I misunderstand it completely, I think you can land airborne troops only on a free hex in this game. So I took three paratroopers and landed them in the nearby hexes and then do a regular land attack. The airborne meet ground with full action points and can be used in the same turn you land them. I use three since I wanted to have a decent attack chance on the port since I have only one single try to do so. In the next turn, the airborne are out of supply and waste away. (You could create a mulberry nearby in that case - but that is not a very appealing idea to me since it is almost the same cost as an extra paratrooper).
Tripolis is besieged by British units with air support. So far, Tripolis is holding out. The Italians get ready for the conquest of the Aegean. German units enter Scotland.
