The flank is completely open to the West but the only thing of real value that way is Sault Ste. The Blue lines are the shortest line I can make and where I'll want to really make my stand. Here we can see my initial defensive line forming around Montreal. There really are good choke points on good defensive terrain here that I don’t want to lose. One thing that looks to be changing is I might go for the defense against the invasion of Quebec a little more strongly then the other areas initially. Mostly aim to slow him down with blown bridges initially.īy turns end the rough outlines of my defense plans are emerging. The attack on Quebec in interesting as there are natural bottlenecks here that I will start trying to occupy. I’ll screen the south more then really try and defend it. In the South I want to focus on defending the route north. My initial thoughts are that I will gather my forces in the West, try and mostly pull back and look for opportunities to counter attack. He takes the Axis (because I insist) and goes with an expansive assault with 3 invasion points roughly equally spaced across the continent including Quebec City, Charleston and Galveston.Īmbitious ass these are widely spread out but with a player of Ben’s Caliber I don’t believe I can pull off a defeat in detail, at least not early on. Well after a fair number of years Ben has agreed to play this scenario with me again. Blue arrows represent secondary offensives for local objectives, stars show the three industrial cities which will be cut off if the linkup is successful. Outline Axis plan for the first phase of the scenario. This means that Axis strength will continue to climb well past turn 30, at which point I intend to be firmly established over the Ohio and engaged in a heavy fight in the open field with my opponent. As such, I'll be taking zero theatre options and keeping my supply and replacements high.

I like this last choice: while it's tough to push south from here, it does rapidly expose a long front for the Allies to cover, and when the Axis are inevitably pushed away to the west, that option has prizes of its own.īecause this plan doesn't bring a huge number of industrial cities under my sway immediately, I have to consider it a longer term one, in keeping with Jeremy's stated preference for a long match. That leaves Boston (which I feel can be too easily locked in early by the Allied player), Portland (which feels irrelevant) and Quebec City. In the release version of the scenario, a few of these cities are out of bounds altogether without sacrificing a significant airborne force to knock out coastal guns: New York and Baltimore are totally unapproachable and Norfolk can only be approached with difficulty. I think it's more or less essential to dip a toe into the northeast, to keep the Allied player focused on the existential threat this poses. That's two landings of the maximum permitted three. It's better protected with costal guns, but these only cover a direct assault on the port which I'm forgoing anyway. I don't like the available anchorages at Savannah (4 hexes from the port) so I opt for Charleston. The southwest can only be Galveston but the southeast could either be Savannah, GA or Charleston, SC. Memphis, New Orleans and Mobile fall into the player's lap (provided Montgomery, AL with its limited supply point, is already secured). This approach comes with an added bonus: a linkup cuts off a significant chunk of the southeast. Looking at the map, however, I think I see a way in: two prongs from the southwest and southeast could meet in southern Illinois, enabling the Axis player to mount a concentric attack on this exposed corner, opening the door into the American heartlands. However, it's bounded by super rivers from every direction except for the northwest (where the Axis are unlikely to approach) and by mountains to the east and southeast. This area contains six industrial cities, two of them doubles, and crucially it contains no good defensive terrain whatsoever. Typically, this means putting an Axis army in the space between the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Great Lakes. I chewed over a couple of things in my head but really what the Axis needs is a way to get into a position in which the Allies are screwed. Against some newbie I would be inclined either to rehash old ground or do something crazy (and stupid) but for Jeremy I need something both novel and effective- not easy when we've been playing versions of this scenario for 20 years. I was vaguely thinking he had some Axis plan up his sleeve but it turns out he wants to take the Allies, which puts the onus of coming up with a strategy onto me.

I've beaten him the last few times but he's beaten me in the past. So Jeremy asked me to take him on one more time in this scenario.

Necesse est multos timeat