Invade Spain as Italy?

It should be pretty easy to sink the RN using a carrier force. As long as you got 4+ CVs and a few CVLs the RN is a pushover in SP. The key is to put all your CVs in one fleet and put just enough screens to get a 1:1 ratio. Just ignore the hull penalty, in my experience nothing in the game will catch a CV fleet as long as you have up to date escorts. You can sink the entire RN using just this one fleet cuz the UK AI never concentrates its carriers or airpower.

Not much is going to save an Axis Italy if Germany fails in Russian. If you go Axis, you need to make it a priority to help the Germans win in Russia. Instead of Spain, take Turkey. Then once Germany launches Barbarossa, open a second front in the Caucuses and try to beat them to Stalingrad.

Or ignore Turkey completely with their mountain wars, and just land in the Crimea with your two armies after the war begins. If units are motorised they can overrun a lot of territory and encircle a lot of Russian troops in Romania.

Personally as Italy I take Spain before Germany ever goes to war. Then i can reinforce it and take Gibralter. I dont go the Balkans route first, thats always easy to get, Turkey is even easier. I load up Libya to make a push at the Suez, but first i take Spain.

For a future game....have your Gibralter/Malta/Suez invasion forces ready prior to Germany DOWing Poland. Send the Gibralter taskforce out of the med into the Atlantic (it has to be attacked from that side, once they close you in your screwed. Just give it a move order like the last week in Aug and let it sit there, when the Germans DOW Poland, you strike.

Ive been working on a strategy as Germany whereby i get the UK to fall in a month. I simultaneously;

1) invade Britain
2) take Gibralter
3) take Malta
4) take the Suez (all 3VPs at once)
5) take Singapore
6) take Bombay

While my forces are in Britain, my SIngapore forces finish off the Peninsula (3 VPs) and I bounce my Bombay forces to Calcutta, Rangoon and if need be Hong Kong and thats usually enough. I also from the beginning of the game have spies lowere UKs National Unity. they begin at 100 i usually have them around 71 when i launch, makes it easier for them to fall.

If i were you next game i would use that strategy for the Med. Send your taskforce out of the med, turn it to attack Gibralter. Bomb Malta from Sicily and then Amphib it. IF you take Greece first (easy just amphib the 2 VPs), you can set up bombers in crete to help the Suez invasion.

IF you can take Spain first grab it. Last game that was my plan, but the Civil War launched so late i went into the Balkans first.

Let Germany do the Heavy Lifting in Russia. If you want take Turkey and Persia and Afghanistan and puppet them, who cares if the Soviets overrun them, it stretches them out and keep less potential reinforcements from the Western Front. Take Romania too and do the same. Of course if you want a piece of Russia then you have to go in.

gimpli said:

One last point - amphibious assault of Gibraltar - you mean by going al the way around the Cape? It seems like a big risk with Transports, but otherwise it does not seem to allow it.

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In 3.06 you can invade from the Med as the port has changed to, um, whatever the sea zone to the east is called.

Going round the cape is usually fine if you can send them out into the oceans a bit (rebasing to a German port if need be - although it's a bit gamey since they should be out of fuel). You'll need to send your CTF as well to cover the landing anyway.

If I'm playing Italy I usually leave Spain alone (besides sometimes helping Nat Spain win the civil war), but once war starts if you're quick you can take Oran (iirc) and do an airborne assault - there's usually only 1 garrison brigade defending. Needs to be before Vichy fires and takes all the territory back though...

Are there downsides to being at war as Italy while in the axis during the event chains of 38 and 39? Ie - when should I conclude my phony war?

Italy has basically a free hand, its Germany's threat that is looked at. Last night i tried something for some reason i thought i looked into and was unable to do. I was in the Axis. I didnt get into the Spanish Civil War. I DOW'd Rep Spain while the CIvil War was going on. I gained a nice hunk of Spain, finished them off. Transported more troops in, then DOW'd National Spain and finished them off. I did this with plain Infx3...piece of cake.

The key to much of this game, especially if your not Germany, is to act as early as possible. Before Germany attacks Poland, i usually (as Italy) have Spain, the Balkans (Hungary, Romainia, Yugoslavia, Greece) and often Turkey and Persia. Then i set up my units to get ready to attack the British (Gibralter/Suez/Malta/Iraq).

Italy has no phony war. As soon as you can go to war, do so (not against the allies).

Its all trial and error, once you get down a successful plan you just improve on it.

Does Italy get to keep any gains in USSR when they surrender? Or does it all go to Germany?

Set a war goal if you want any gains. Otherwise it likely will default to the Bitter Peace option (though it seems the AI doesn't fire that war goal all that much). If no goal is selected then the default option is "Conquer", which means everyone gets to keep their gains.

If Bitter Peace fires Germany gets everything (well, the Japanese may get Vladivostok if they weren't stuck in China).

Personally I don't mind - Germany can do the partisan hunting, and if Italy grabbed the Balkans they don't really need it anyway.

gimpli said:

However, I don't control the seas, GB has large fleets still in the med, coming through from Gibraltar.

So - I DOW'd Spain, to get Gibraltar. But USA, Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Aus, NZ etc landed an enormous force in Spain, and are quickly pushing me back. Germany helped, and now gettting pushed back in Spain, and in the East.

I spent a lot of IC on Carriers and CL and CAG, perhaps too much?

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Contrary to what some posters have said, the RN CAN be a PITA. A royal PITA, so to say. They've got old stuff but they've got a lot, and those BB's aren't to be underestimated. They - the RN, not necessarily the BB's - CAN catch CV's/CVL's, especially old slow ones which Italy will have if she starts building them asap, and she must do just that to have enough of them to matter. Having said this, it's still the best route to take, and with some caution should pay off.

DOW'ing Spain is a good idea to help take Gibraltar. With its forts and terrain, an amphibious operation alone will take ages. Those supposedly old and useless RN ships will enjoy shooting up your stationary transports, even if they all get sunk in the process. I'm not up on the latest developments but I highly doubt that you can reach Gibraltar with bombers from Sicily or Sardinia. However, I would DOW Rep Spain, defeat them and then take on the NAT's, as 21oliver has pointed out before the world starts fighting about this Danzig place.

Spending too much? Hmm, you do need some ground troops of course. I would also start building convoys from the get-go. Fighters never hurt either, and transports must sometimes be replaced. With Italy's puny industrial base, it's a real balancing act.

edit: it's probable I'm not using my carriers effectively, any links to a good guide on this?

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Make sure not to lose too many ships and let your CAG's rest when - not if - they're shot up. Don't slow this fleet down by attaching older ships, capital surface combatants or transports. Help them out with land-based NAV's and fighters when you encounter British CV's. Keep an eye on the stacking penalty numbers for your planes.

gimpli said:

I now have 5 CVs and 1CL, and the best 3 CV are LVL 5, 1940 tech, and the CAGs are fairly up to date in 1942.

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1 CL or 1 CVL?

You can always split this into two forces, one with the older and one with the newer (faster) units. 5 CV = 10 planes in one combat sounds like a lot.

Secret Master said:

Actually, in the big scheme of things, I'm not sure there's any reason to help Germany attack the Soviets. Even victory looks like it just distracts Italy from other things she might do, like take Britain's stuff.

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Well, if Germany manage to lose it's not good for Italy .

A bunch of amphibious attacks around the Black Sea can help distract a lot of Soviet troops from the Moscow push, even if you're not planning on trying to hold the area. Pushing for Stalingrad does require commiting most of your (probable) forces though.