This is a joke, right? Just like how the Germans were able to put Russian industry to work building T-34s?Where will the food come from? Ammo? Equipment? Unless you capture a port with your small landing force that apparently went totally unnoticed and captured a major US port with no resistance (note the absurdity here), your men will starve.
Again, name me one amphibious invasion (or invasion of any type for that matter) where the initial beachheads had enough farms, industry, workers, and machinery to manufacture equipment, weapons, ammunition, and food to sustain an invasion force. I'll save you some time: there isn't one.
I'd like to chime in here and point out that Germany and Japan and Italy did practice looting in their land campaigns. Hell, Germany got all kinds of resources for taking out Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. And they got some tanks from the Czechs, as we all know.
But...
After the Battle of France, the Wermacht was still in a net deficit in terms of equipment and ammo. The resources looted helped Germany manufacture some new stuff during the lead up to Barbarossa. But that new stuff had to be sent to the units. They weren't sitting in occupied France looting Panzer IVs and StuG IIIs, along with the requisite fuel and ammo, replenishing their stocks.
Hell, let's be even more frank: the looting Germany did didn't even solve their resource and economic problems when they could just ship those resources to factories by train through territory that was not hostile. Assuming you could seize 100% of the USA's Atlantic ports, (something even I've never done in HOI3, and I literally wrote the book on land strategy), there won't be enough resources/manufacturing/food/ammunition/fuel/loot to keep the invading Axis armies at their current strength, let alone recover.
But on top of all that, you have to get replacement manpower. And you aren't looting German soldiers from occupied US territory. Those troops can only come from home; the USN had no problems sinking Japanese troop transports during the war.
So, let's say that solves your food problem. And I'll be generous and say that there is fuel to loot. (It won't last for very long, but I'll be generous and give you a month at full rations and full fuel tanks, which is better than the Germans got at Stalingrad.)
What about ammunition? Manpower replacements? Lost vehicles? Radio batteries? Spare parts for weapons?
None of these things are manufactured to spec in the USA. US ammunition cannot be used in German vehicles and weapons in most cases. You want to replace StuG IIIs? They have to come from home. You can't loot StuGs and Panzers and Stukas from US ports. (I checked; there are no Stuka or Panzer manufacturers on the US East or West coast.)
So, you want factories to make tanks and planes for you? Bad news. Detroit and Chicago aren't on the coast. But even if they were, the civilians living in those areas have fled, leaving you far fewer people to man those factories, assuming they are even willing to do so.
Let's say I give you factories with people in them. And let's say I'm feeling generous and they are able to make complete Shermans and Thompsons. Where are these factories going to get the steel? The iron and coal to fuel the steel mills? The copper, chromium, and all the other little things needed to make those tanks when those mines are not in the occupied zones?
Either you have to move military assets across the ocean to supply and reinforce your forces, or you have to ship resources to the occupied US to run the factories (I'd love to see Germany or Japan do that). And you need replacement manpower. So, yes, I think a convoy interdiction campaign with submarines would be dangerous to the Axis. There is no way to loot enough stuff in the US to sustain even an occupation of coastal cities.
And if you want enough resources to fuel your industry in these coastal cities, you have to occupy enough of the US to get those resources. That's not just going to be the coast.
I should point out that setting your war goals properly as the Axis meant no need to defeat the US by invasion. There are only two Axis war goals (two of many that could be selected) that even involved the US: Axis controls Honolulu, and Axis controls Panama.
So, even though there were official war-winning goals, none of them constituted "Invade the entire US and set up The Man in the High Castle situations." Hell, you could even select war goals that had nothing to do with the UK.
I bring it up, because some folks may forget that anyone invading the USA in HOI3 were doing so on their own, and it had nothing to do with achieving an official "win" condition.
Now, there is a "USA is a member of the Allies" win condition for the Allies, but it's just one. You don't even have to select it.
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