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El Duce Supremo considers the plans from Berlin to be sound.

I go to sleep now. If you play, no rebase or anything like that for Germany.

Good hunting!

Germany lend leases Stuka and Ju88 to Italy if you want.

ORIGINAL: Centuur

I see only action in Spain. How are things in the eastern Med? Any chance of putting pressure on the CW there? The more problems for the British, the better it is.

There are a few problems with pursuing an East Med adventure (besides the Italian forces being deployed in France/Spain). The first is most of the Italian navy is in the repair yards. Unescorted CP's would be pretty easy pickings so keeping an army in North Africa in supply would be problematic. The alternative naval air escort is needed to try and empty West Med and Cape St. Vincent of Allied CP's. The second is there is only one Trans left to transport units (other than Inf class Divs on the 2 remaining CA's). The build up of a critical mass of forces would be rather slow (no more than 2 units per turn). Even if the Italians tried, I don't think the CW would feel much pressure.

That said, the recent successes against both the RAF and RN CV's/CVP's might have helped shift the balance. Possibly time to consider an Italian redeployment as it might at least force CW to divert units they are currently sending to northern Spain.

I sort of think you guys need to consider some pressure someplace else if you can. The CW is paying a brutal price to keep the action going in Spain, but it is the only place they are being pushed at the moment and they are producing enough that even with them losing, they are making the Axis pay with a lot of time wasted and it isn't like the Axis casualties are light either.

Not sure if there is any opportunity left for Japan in China, but that hasn't seen much action either and the Allies don't appear to feel pressured there either.

Just observations from the cheap seats. [:D]

For now, I think a NAV in the Eastern Med. would be ok. The interesting thing is once Gibraltar falls: all (or most) of the Axis air good enough for sea boxes should go to Bay of Biscay, put all the Allied units in northern Spain OOS, ground strike and eliminate them.

In China, Japan has to make decisions in early-mid 1941. Campaigning in the south is good through M/A if there is anything worthwhile to do...defend any resources with the fewest units possible after that, and vacate the rest of the units. In the north campaign through S/O and do the same as with the south. Have an invasion plan ready to go to take all the CW possessions you need. And of course have a Philippine (and other US islands) plan ready to go as well. This is something I like to plan way ahead to maximize the invasions, etc. Use the O-chit to do a surprise impulse super-combined vs the CW. Are you playing with unlimited breakdown?[;)]

We don't have unlimited break down.

And we will sink/abort every ship in BoB after Gibraltar falls and push those land units to sea even if I need to use O-chit for that.

Should we take Portugal or leave it neutral so that Allies can attack there?

Lisbon is an excellent naval base, I'd take it as soon as Gibraltar falls.

Attack Portugal. It has a resource and that's needed.
If you don't, the Wallies can invade Portugal on all hexes somewhere in 1943 with automatic victories in the surprise DoW impulse and behold: they've just put 10 corps into Europe in one supercombined...

Does Japan want to try 3:1 attack?

I would say no, I move units forward and next time ground strike them again. Maybe this time with CVP's too.

Why not. Let's see if we can keep the near unbroken sequence of 1's going.

That's the spirit!

I'm going to sleep now. If turn ends now, Germany places both markers to defence.

I think it's almost certain the turn will end (80% basic and 100% if all pass). Just a question of whether any do or die heroics will be tried.

ORIGINAL: Mayhemizer

That's the spirit!

The Spirit is that glass of Islay's finest you were talking about earlier [8D].

If you take a look at CW oil, doesn't it look like lots of problems if Axis manages to cut supply line for one turn?

Perhaps. But since the Axis have won the initiative, look carefully at the defenses of The Rock. It looks like the CW hasn't got enough shore bombardment factors in the area.

I would take a combined action with Germany, try to empty CSV, use two Stuka's to ground strike the Rock and than attack it (and throw everything I have at the defenders). Sure, it's a small chance of success, but it's probably better than waiting for the MAR and PARA to arrive.

I don't think the Axis can wait for the para and marine to arrive to take a whack at the rock. Time is really starting to tick hard against the Axis. The Allies are out producing the Axis by quite a bit already and the US oil embargo just upped the pressure as to when Japan is going to have to act to get some oil.

Another question is do you blow the O-chit on this attempt? Fail and the Allies are likely to get a breather for several turns.

You can't use it in a combined action to double your attack factors. And if you don't attack the Rock this impulse, the CW will put another fleet of BB's adjacent to the Rock again, thus making sure that an abundance of defensive ground support is available for the defense.

Clearing Cape St. Vincent should be attempted now, with so few CW ships in the area. Thus a combined action, followed immediately in this impulse with ground strikes and a land attack on the Rock.