Subject: Fw: Axis and Allies (Europe) Attacking England Michael Sandy wrote in message <1egrdod.17z47wv1loji8pN%mehawk@teleport.com>... At long last, I return to the subject of strategies centered on a German decision to invade England. A long time ago I discussed a German attack based on taking a bonus transport in the Danish Sea, and build 2 DDs and 2 transports. Other variants include saving 4 IPCs and building 1 DD and 4 transports, or 1 DD, 1 BB and 1 transport. A Battleship build, especially once the Italian fleet joins the big fleet, makes it hard for the three Allies to whittle the German fleet down. However, just because a fleet can't be effectively attacked doesn't mean that it can't be stopped. Let me introduce everybody to a tactic I call Sub Stalling. Subs have this nifty ability to move into an enemy controlled sea zone, submerge during the attack phase, and be submerged, and therefore untargetable, on the defender's phase. After the income collection phase, the sub(s) resurface. And since the presence of an enemy ship in the sea zone prevents transports from loading, it is possible to stall an amphibious invasion. Suppose England has subs in the Danish Sea, North Sea and English Channel. A German fleet in the Danish Sea will be unable to load troops in the Danish Sea, or to move to the English Channel or North Sea and load troops. After combat, it is possible to load or unload troops, but not both. So the fleet could move to the English Channel, sink or force to submerge the British sub, and then load the transports, but not invade England with them. Nor can the transports stay where they are, wait for the German fleet to sink the sub, and then move in non-combat to the English Channel, load troops and invade England, because that would be a combat move. Also, since they didn't move out of a Sea Zone containing an enemy ship in their Combat Move, they would have to engage in combat with the sub (in the Danish Sea) anyway. I got a chance to test out this Sub Stall tactic against an attempt by Germany to invade England. England took Sub North Sea as a bonus sub, and moved it to the Danish Sea and built two subs to cover the English Channel and North Sea. I recommend the Russians build Sub Baltic Sea, in order to have the highest likelihood of having an Allied sub capable of reaching the Danish Sea on turn 2. By stalling the German invasion, I didn't have to deal with Germany's overwhelming ground troop superiority. I didn't have to face repeated invasions. By delaying the German invasion for a turn, I got an extra turn of British production to defend England with. There are some downsides. Blocking all places where Germany can load troops is expensive, and the Allies could lose a lot of IPCs worth of subs each turn as Germany stomps on them. If Germany effectively knocks out British Convoys then England won't be able to turn out enough subs to stall the German invasion, and won't have enough troops to withstand it either. Also, England has to commit to a Sub Stall defense during the bonus build phase. Which leads me to an important conclusion: If the Allies _know_ Germany is set on invading England it is fairly easy to stop. Therefore, Germany should be more flexible than the Allies. If Germany doesn't build anything on turn 1, he still has very good options for attacking either Russia or England. Germany forgoes the somewhat popular all-out attack on Russia strategy, that has Germany in Belorussia on turn 4. I don't favor that strategy because a Russian artillery buying strategy gives Russia a formidable counterattack on Belorussia. However, a German strategy that revolves around two turns of infantry + artillery production versus Russia is almost completely unaffected by whether the main ground troop pulse comes from a turn 2 build, or split between turn 1 and 2. So, if German saves his turn 1 production, the Allies have to guess whether German's main focus is going to be England or USSR. And Germany can change his mind if he sees an excessive reaction one way or the other. The downside for the Allies is that holding back production, especially for England, has negative consequences. If Germany grabs, say, the southern 3 British convoy zones and the Russian convoy zone, delaying British naval builds means the loss of that income for an extra turn. If Germany spends his bonus on getting a stronger attack against the British fleet, say with Southern Italy Fighter, or Mid-Atlantic Sub, that will help Germany with either an invade England, or a delay the West and go for a turn 6 or turn 7 knockout vs Russia strategy. Some more tips for Germany: If you are saving 40 IPCs to build a fleet, use the Danish Sea transport to soak a hit on the turn 1 attack against the North Sea. You can't reliably protect the transport, but subs are more survivable against the Allied airforce. German subs in the North Sea and/or the English Channel make it expensive for the US to reinforce the UK. The subs can hit the Celtic Sea or the Atlantic along with fighters from France/Belgium or Norway respectively. As Germany, I like playing conservative with my subs on turn 1. If I send 3 subs to US East Coast or Davis Strait, I am not going to see them again. The larger the strike force I have, the more concentrated the Allied forces have to be, and the easier it is to confine them with subs. If Germany saves his money, there is also a psychological component. Germany could ostentasiously count how many ships he could purchase with 80 IPCs, or attack Baltic States and East Poland without much care for his tanks, (tanks being less useful for attacking England or for stalling a Russian advance against Germany), but cheerfully plunk done 16 Inf and 8 artillery if Russia advances his troops too far. Michael Sandy