Matrix Games Forums

Does the Axis receive MPP income from the capture of Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Persia, etc.?

Yes, you start receiving MPPs as you conquer towns, cities and ports in North Africa and the Mid East. Plus, if you take the capital of one of these territories you get the plunder payout. If Italy drives into Cairo first, there's a 58 MPP check waiting for them at National Bank of Egypt.

Thanks. That makes sense, as Italy receives income from its colonies in NA, but it seems like there should be convoy lanes that the Allies could interdict.

ORIGINAL: bfcj

Thanks. That makes sense, as Italy receives income from its colonies in NA, but it seems like there should be convoy lanes that the Allies could interdict.

Certainly that would have been the case in the actual war. Would have been a source of Axis logistical headaches too.

Thanks to Mussolini's impulsive decision for war in 1940 about half the domestic Italian oil tanker fleet was caught outside of the Mediterranean basin at the time with no way to get back in. What was left to Italy after prior war losses likely would have been inadequate for the job. Shipping Middle Eastern oil back to Europe probably would have involved a lot of inefficiently packing it into drums and then loading that as cargo.

Yeah I was under the impression that Gibraltar was effectively a cork to the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. I was surprised to see the entrance and exit portals next to it. I realize that you can blockade them, but wondered that they were even there. Did the British Navy participate in the guarding the straits?

ORIGINAL: bfcj

Did the British Navy participate in the guarding the straits?

Gibraltar was home to the famous "Force H", a British task force formed to keep a close guard on the strait after the French armistice, and had the duty of maintaining naval superiority in the area and escorting convoys to and from Malta. Of course, the beauty of Gibraltar as a location is that you can quickly be in the Atlantic or Med if need be.

But, if unguarded, Axis naval units can break out of the Mediterranean via those arrows.... or in. It takes answering a decision event and a one turn delay.

I don't think you get MPP from ports. Holding your cursor over the hex should tell you the MPP value.

That's right: ports give 0 MPP per strength point and major ports give 0.5 MPP per strength point.

The Italians were quite effective at getting submarines past Gibraltar during the war. Don't know if any surface units ever tried it.

klschult wrote: Tue Feb 14, 2023 6:45 pm The Italians were quite effective at getting submarines past Gibraltar during the war. Don't know if any surface units ever tried it.

The Italians bombed Gibraltar on more than one occasion. The anchorage there was infiltrated on numerous occasions by Italian frogmen operating from the Italian freighter Olterra docked on the Spanish side of the bay, successfully sinking some 42,000 tons of cargo over two years. The rather light gun batteries placed on the fortress likely would not have posed much of a threat to battleships. However, throughout the war, Britain garrisoned Gibraltar with many of its most important naval assets: The Rodney, Hood, Ark Royal and Renown were variously stationed there, which probably was enough to deter the cautious Regia Marina.

Using surface naval assets to bypass the "Rock" while in British hands was apparently never seriously considered by Italy during the war. The Italians had no strategic reason for deploying their scant battlefleet (short on fuel, and low on endurance) much beyond the Mediterranean as politically it would have been seen as conceding sea control of the Med to the British. And getting back in might have far more difficult than getting out.

Capturing Saudi Arabia gets MPP from the cities but not from the oil. It does deny the oil to the Americans.