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Should we send Italians for this one? CW might rebase good fighters from north and then we need Bf109.

Just what I was thinking.

Shall we go first and try to empty both sea areas by fighters and naval bombers, unless storm strikes?

I also need to fix my defence line in northern Spain.

If weather allows, Germany can fly FW Condor to St. Vincent box 4, FTR to St. Vincent box 2 and FTR to West Med box 2. Other German NAV's will intercept to box 2 in both sea areas. Germany chooses land and saves last air move for ground strike. Malta is OOS so that fighter can't intercep at all. If you port strike Malta CVP can intercept.

No port strike. I think it can react to West Med 2 box. If not, could fly it there in Naval Air.

Wondering whether trying the Italian subs in St Vincent while most of the escort is in port.

Better plan. Will rebase the Nav so it threatens East Med and also the Ftr to in range of Malta to provide escort for port strike. That Trans looks a juicy target. I'll hold back the subs to see where they are needed later in the turn.

Yes, keep subs in reserve. Planes can go this impulse.

Not enough air moves. Will just rebase the fighter to keep the escorted port strike on.

Move German planes as planned above and intercept some Italian NAV's to box 2

Right, Italian planes are needed to initiate combat.

Just checking. 2 Art and Stuka to ground strike Gibraltar? Or did you want the Stuka to try the HQ's? Me-110 could react to the defence if necessary.

Stuka and 2 ART hit Gibraltar. If intercepted use 6 point Bf109

Germany rails from southern Spain ARM and 8 point MOT to Warsaw and MOT from Malaga to Memel.

Only CVP. Send 5 point fighter.

Word of caution: You have to get rid of all Allied forces from the mainland by the time the US DOW's Germany/Italy. If not, the US will pile into there and you will never get the Allies out. Liberation of Western Europe will begin there late '41/early '42. I had this happen to me just because of a partisan I didn't get rid of in Bayonne.

I know, but Gibraltar must fall first. Attacking Spain is about to feel like a mistake...

Of course Gibraltar is your #1 priority.

The problems I see:
1. Playing with very pro defense 1d10 versus 2d10 which favors offense. This makes Gib more difficult. Imagine being in USSR trying to take Leningrad, Sevastopol, or Rostov. If I HAD to play 1d10 for some reason, I would never do Barbarossa...I would Sitz all the way and focus on the Med. and have an Axis naval strategy.

2. Where are the German and Italian PARA's? And MAR's? Corps and div.'s. You could have a MAR attack Gib from the ARTY hex (switching out a new one from behind every time you make a follow up attack). I'm not sure what bonus you get for dropping PARA's in 1d10, but in 2d10 these are used to crack open tough defenses. I know one PARA was lost on the worthy gamble on Madrid, but I hope it was immediately re-built.

3. I don't know what you have in your force pools unbuilt as far as air is concerned, but I would have every FTR2 and FTR3, and NAV's, and LND2's built out (German and Italian)...which of course requires a ton of pilots. By the end of '40 I'm working on some LND3's keeping gearing up for the 1941 FTR's.

I know it feels like a mistake, but this is your first attempt at going through Spain, and Orm is a good and scrappy player. Going through Spain is a valid strategy. Don't disregard it in the future because of a (possibly) negative experience in this one. Players who want to take Gib through invasion normally cant do it until M/A'41 at the earliest (more often M/J or even J/A). So, be patient and get the tools you need.

Axis have no PARA or MAR. Germany have 3 NAV's, few FTR2, 1 Stuka and 1 FTR3. Italy has 4 NAV's and few FTR2.

I will build more air forces now. I'm very worried USSR can break the pact...

So long as you contain the northern Spain bridge head, send your ARM and SS units east. USSR is in no position to do much yet anyway. Don't forget the US entry...and I think they still have not taken Baltic States?

A common build strategy for Germany in '39 is building a bunch of pilots...and then continuing the pilot/air construction program. In my game vs Brian I built a bit fewer than normal in S/O'39 only because Germany had the production boost and opportunity to build HQ-Guderian in case I need his help in the Summer. I'm not sure that was a smart move on my part, but we'll see...I've never gotten the chance to do that. Pilots, air power, special units.

Even 3pt FTR2's you have in the reserve pool are useful if you can get spare pilots into them...notice you are fighting 2pt Nimrods.

The build strategy does not reflect a close the Med. In such a strategy, all PARA's and MAR available to the Axis should be build ASAP (that means the Italian air lift should be build too). If you lose one of those units, rebuild them immediately. It's no use to build a lot of ARM or MECH, since the terrain in Spain is mostly mountains, in which you can better use good INF instead. Also, Italy should try to start building another TRS.

Sure, the USSR is lurking on the border. But with a close the Med, you always go for a Sitzkrieg, at least until 1942 comes around, at what moment Germany should decide what the possibities are, regarding the Soviets and to take into account the fact if they could close the Med or not by that time (and probably decide to a Sitzkrieg for as long as you can, except when you can enter Iraq in force).

The build strategy somehow looks if the German player doesn't want to decide what it wants to do first. That's giving the CW the possibility to make a good defense of Gibraltar. Consider: you can attack Gibraltar with a PARA, MAR, two ART, the 1st INF, the Berlin MIL and a 2 factor division, supported by all Stuka's and three HQ's in reorganisation range if you have a good building strategy. If you use an offensive with those units present, that will give you far better possibilities of taking the hex, as compared to the units you've got now. Even with 1D10 (which really favours the defender), things are better if you've got the right units.

And there's another thing to consider. I believe that the Axis are using far to many combined actions. It's far better to use an air action in the first impulse (ground strike Gibraltar with all you've got) and reorganise all planes and in the next impulse attack the rock, with all planes again available for ground support.

How to proceed in the current situation? That's difficult, with no PARA or MAR. Those units could have given you about 20 extra attack factors in an attack using an offensive chit. That's where the problem really lies. In the current situation, there is only one thing you must do. And that is to attack the Rock each impulse with good weather and hope for the die to produce the best result possible. That will cost you units, but you haven't got a choice. If you wait for better odds, you won't get them, since the CW will always put the big BB's at sea for defensive shore bombardment. And if they lose one, who cares at the admiralty in London. They've got enough of those to lose.

Ark Royal Bro...get rid of that 4 range Gladiator.

Oh, you already shot him down...very good! I would still go after the Ark Royal.