Slitherine

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no need to conquer or Vichy just take Paris and isolate last remaining factory.

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ORIGINAL: ashkpa

Put both in the offensive pool and move a 1 pt chit from the defensive pool to the offensive. The JP transports return to base (I would like two transports to Tokyo and the Amph to Fukuoka) and any unneeded CPs in the Japanese Coast currently transporting US resources back to Fukuoka.

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ORIGINAL: ashkpa

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no need to conquer or Vichy just take Paris and isolate last remaining factory.

What would be the advantage of leaving France unconquered or Vichied?

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ORIGINAL: ashkpa

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no need to conquer or Vichy just take Paris and isolate last remaining factory.

What would be the advantage of leaving France unconquered or Vichied?


Well, since the Axis player asked the question, I hope you don't mind if I explore some advantages to leaving France basically paralyzed, and the basic Allied remedy. If the Axis take everything except one isolated factory, France is still a major power but it would effectively have no Primary supply sources. This immobilizes the French Fleet and any units in any colonies. Thought without Option 47 in play they can at least re-organize and possibly trace to French saved oil somewhere too. Without being able to designate a new Home Country, there are other points in the game system that France could no longer utilize.

Doing that is a smart play for the Axis; there would also be no US Entry Effect for conquering France.

But there is a simple decision the Allies can make to get out of such a rules paralysis, and MWiF offers a chance to do so to each Major Power that could do so - Surrender. If the Axis hold more than half the original factory stacks in France, they can surrender and go through the Incomplete Conquest procedure that allows them to designate a new Home Country - which then gives them a new Primary Supply Source and the Fleet can go back into action. As well as all the other rules procedures that happen on Incomplete Conquest.

Though there could be game situations where France would be eligible to surrender but may not wish to. Perhaps the Allies have built a strong Fortress Brittany, or are offering a determined defense of the Pyrenees along with some other coastal French city the Fleet could trace supply to.

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Actually, the most important reason to not Vichy France is that if one wants to invade Spain, Vichy is a major obstacle.

The Axis has several alternatives:

1) Don't invade Spain;

2) Create Vichy, collapse Vichy, and invade Spain;

3) Delay creation of Vichy until after the invasion of Spain.

4) Never creating Vichy, and invading Spain.

I will not discuss alternative 1 in this post. The problem with alternative two is the massive US entry hit. Number three is having one's cake and eating it; if you set up to pull it off, the Allies will probably surrender France first, so number three rarely happens. If one wants to invade Spain, then not creating Vichy is much superior to creating it. The Allied response is a strong defense of the Pyrenees, particularly Bayonne and Toulouse. A strong defense here can force the Axis to declare Vichy. Then, if the Axis has decided on a close the Med strategy, then they can collapse Vichy at the cost of a lot of US entry chits. This is a viable Axis strategy. However, attacking Spain without creating Vichy is a much better one, if the Allies let you do it. A major goal of the Allied defense of France is to force the Axis to declare Vichy to get rid of French hold out units in the south. If the whole French army is quickly killed defending Paris, then don't declare Vichy, charge for the Spanish border and take Gibraltar without getting the US in the war too early.

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ORIGINAL: ashkpa

Axis builds (note Germany will be saving 8 BPs not shown below - save them in Berlin if it comes up while you have the file).