Intermission: UK, an island fortress.
Let’s take a look at the leader of the Allies and find out who they are and what their strengths are…and their weaknesses.
Their cabinet is a mix of excellence and frailty.
On one hand, they have Sir John Simon who provides a bonus to counterespionage, and Chamberlain, who reduces the nation’s CG needs.
On the other hand, there is sir Baldwin, who reduces their available IC.
Like any democracy, their peacetime laws are, like France’s, a joke. The main difference between the two nations lies in their National Unity. Provided they can hold on to that 80% for the next 3 years, they will be able to institute the best wartime laws in the game.
They have an amount of Leadership comparable to our own and their techs are mostly equal to or better than Germany’s. with some concerted effort, keeping Uk ahead of the curve is fairly easy.
This, in many ways, is their first line of defense: a huge, powerful and versatile navy with awesome and experienced commanders. Fortunately for us, most of their ships are getting old: their battleships, for instance, are mostly WWI era and from the 20s. With time and dedication, we could field a smaller, but more advanced navy. Nibbling at their fleets, one or two ships at a time, could mean they have to spend more IC on replacements, meaning they have less IC to spend on ground forces. The main problem for us lies in their carriers. By 1940, they typically have 4 to 6 of them. Allowing those almost invincible ships to gang up on us would mean certain doom. Hence the need to ally ourselves with other large and powerful navies, such as Italy and Japan.
If the Royal Navy is a shield, then the Royal Air Force could become a finely crafted sword. Their fighters will be our equal, while they have long-range bombers capable of reaching Germany’s industrial regions and wreak havok with our NU, IC and resources.
On top of that, they have a couple of skill 4 and skill 5 generals, though not as many as Germany.
So what can we do against such an array of forces?
First, their laws reduce their starting IC by 50%, and that is without taking ministers into consideration.
Their huge empire, with colonies all over the world, implies the need to spread themselves thin:
They have 18 divisions at home, 15 in Asia and 7 in Africa. All of them infantry, garrisons and militia. No tanks of any kind anywhere.
Forcing them to fight on all fronts at once will prevent them from concentrating their forces enough to threaten us, especially with their small Manpower pool.
And, of course, they are completely dependent on their convoys to keep the Empire together.
Where does that leave us?
The best way to deal with the UK is to keep them on the defensive, fighting Italy in the med, while also having to deal with Japan in Asia and Germany in continental Europe will prevent them from becoming much of a real threat.
Until we are ready to deal with them once and for all. Take their island, and the empire crumbles like a house of cards.