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I was just wondering what experienced players feel about bringing Wavell into France to increase the size of the BEF.

Do people do this more often than not?

Do they start him with a transport and get him into France on the second impulse near Brest?

Do they start all 4 transports in the UK and move the units from there?

We play with all optional units/rules except cruisers in flames.

It sometimes is a good strategy. Some people even advance build Alexander to get an even bigger BEF. Although that gets pretty pricey!

It depends a little on what you expect that Italy will do. If the Italians set up quite a force at the Egyptian border (with Balbo there too), I wouldn't move Wavell out of Egypt...

But it isn't a bad strategy at all to get Wavell to France if the Italians don't seem to be interested in Egypt. Personally, I believe that Italy shouldn't allow Wavell to leave Egypt for France, because it makes things far more difficult for Germany there...

If the Italians let you get away with it, sending Wavell to France to expand the BEF is definitely a great move.

Heck, even if you decide Wavell will be the only HQ going to France, it's strictly better than Gort what with being an ARM unit.

However, you either need a passive Italy, or an Italian that didn't set up aggressively against Egypt and removing Italy's TRS from the map to make it work, since taking Wavell out of Egypt and sending a bigger BEF (which consists, in part, of units that would have gone to Egypt) will leave you pretty bare. Especially if you're not playing with territorials (not that they'll help much against a dedicated invasion).

Advance building Alexander brings him in MJ40 instead of JA40 (one turns early). This turn can mean a lot in a France First. It is rather cheap to advance build in RAW7 and this only costs +3bp, like one less FTR3 for the Med or not finishing the BB/CV from the construction pool immediately. Can be a good deal.