Slitherine

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(4) Which minor countries to align, when, and any associated conditions concerning same.

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(4) Which minor countries to align, when, and any associated conditions concerning same.

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ORIGINAL: Greyshaft.
(1) Victory cities to be taken and/or defended - Suez + Gibraltar + all points in between. Stay out of Turkey.
(2) Which major powers to declare war on, when, and any associated conditions concerning same. - Britain, after France falls or in Sep/Oct '40 at the latest
(3) Which minor countries to declare war on, when, and any associated conditions concerning same. - Preference is to keep hitting Britain (Malta/Suez etc) but if that gamble doesn't pay off then take Yugoslavia & Greece in 1941.
(4) Which minor countries to align, when, and any associated conditions concerning same. Turkey
(5) Expected areas of conflict: with whom, where, type of combat (land, naval, air, convoys). -
* 39 - neutral - build major naval if desired plus ARM & FTR & NAV
* 40 - maybe France, but definitely in Africa against the British - ARM & FTR & NAV & INF & SUB
* 41 - more against the British but beware of the tide turning. - Build INF & SUB & NAV
* 42 - start preparing defensive positions. Redeploy Fleet to react to enemy AMPH
* 43 - Be prepared to sacrifice your fllet to stop enemy invasions. If you can destroy the first landing you will set their schedule back by six months.
* 44/45 - What? You're still alive? Amazing! Hunker down and make him pay for every footstep. Build INF.

(6) A master production plan by unit type and/or gearing limits. This does not have to be detailed, just a broad outline. - I'll do that in another post
(7) A time line for the strategic plan’s major milestones. -
My idea for Italy is to play like a Jackal. Pounce on the weak and retreat from the strong. Another image is working like one of those 1920's fire engine ladder trucks with Germany steering the main engine while Italy sits out the back at the end of the ladder with a bit of room to steer left and right but generally following in Adolf's footsteps. In practical terms it means:
* avoiding combat with the French Navy. If Germany is going well then maybe don't DOW until France falls and you only have to face the British. Generally the French know they are doomed and are willing to trade two of their battleships for one of Italys. Don't take the trade!
* alternatively, if you a facing a Commonwealth who has HEAVILY committed land forces to defending France (2-3 land units + 3-4 air units on the continent) then take a hard look at Gibraltar, Malta and Suez. He's got to be weak somewhere and if you can seize one of those points then an early DOW could be worth the risk.
* avoid attrition. If the French want to patrol the central med and deny you some PP then let them. Much better to lose a resource than a 12 PP battleship.
* aim for short term strategies and focus EVERYTHING on that goal. While you are on the offensive in 41/42 it is unlikely that the Allies can mount a counterattack (unless you do something really dumb like leave a major port ungarrisoned).
* Lay down carriers and new battleships in '39/early 40 or not at all. Since it takes those units 2 years to get operational then there's no point leaving it any longer. Most of your potential conquests can be taken with the existing Italian Fleet plus airpower. Unless you and Germany have agreed on a plot to lay down lots of naval in '39 and panic the CW into spending so much on his fleet that he has no land or air to hold in France or the Med.
* Keep you eye out for when the game turns. Once the Allies can threaten you then leave the surprises to Adolf and concentrate on making the Med a backwater. If you aren't threatening the Allies in the Med then they'll send most of their forces against Germany. Let Adolf deal with them. A classic Allied mistake is to be so involved in Germany that they can't finish off the conquest of Italy.
* When on the defensive then build maximum ground units with fighter support.
* do a deal with Adolf that if he helps you take Malta then you'll give him ground units to garrison France. He'll want them in Russia, but only promise France.
* once you have taken Malta then persuade Adolf that Suez is the next logical step :)

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ORIGINAL: Rotor
As an alternative, I liked to wait for France to be nearly gone then dow only Cw. I saw no use to fight French ships which may well be Vichy next turn. Also, if Free France wanted to help the UK in Mediterranea later, they had to dow Italy themselves at an Us entry cost...

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Germany's favorite units in Barbarossa are Italian airplanes.

Limited Overseas Supply optional changes Italian tactical naval play considerably.

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ORIGINAL: composer99

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Germany's favorite units in Barbarossa are Italian airplanes.

Limited Overseas Supply optional changes Italian tactical naval play considerably.

There was some discussion on the WiF mailing list about the 1942 Barbarossa campaign, and how a properly sized (large) Italian air force can be crucial in determining the success of the campaign (one writer shared an anecdote about how the Russian player decided that the most critical enemy unit he faced was Balbo, and if he couldn't flip Balbo he would run away from him). Presumably, a solid contribution by the Italians can make a difference in a 41 Barb as well.

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ORIGINAL: Graf Zeppelin

The Italian AIO sould also be able to pressure the German AIO for resources and oil. Without the help the Italians are doomed, so a "I help you for your help" or "I cant help you becource of you lack of support" thinking is maybe an idea. Historically hitler did not like the Italian invation of Greece.

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ORIGINAL: trees

Lately I've been thinking that a prime directive for Italy is to try and take Algeria. If it ends up Vichy that is nearly as good for the Allies as Free French. But if Italy conquers it is theirs to keep and use for their perimeter defense in the midgame. Plus it comes with a resource. So it remains true that one doesn't want the Italian navy to take pointless exchanges with the French navy but I think some risk is worthwhile if there is a good chance of taking it.

Plus I've really grown to like the Italian 'Stuka' the LND-2 they start with but without a Pilot in. It's as good as an extra INF corps if trying to break into the French Alps on the surprise impulse. Later it is good to help protect the Italian CPs from CW SUB raids.

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ORIGINAL: trees
Lately I've been thinking that a prime directive for Italy is to try and take Algeria. If it ends up Vichy that is nearly as good for the Allies as Free French. But if Italy conquers it is theirs to keep and use for their perimeter defense in the midgame. Plus it comes with a resource. So it remains true that one doesn't want the Italian navy to take pointless exchanges with the French navy but I think some risk is worthwhile if there is a good chance of taking it.

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ORIGINAL: lomyrin

IF the CW sends out a large naval force with carriers into the Med then Italy would have to make a choice of accepting the surprise port strike likely to follow or DoW the CW to preempt this surprise. Whether to also DoW France at the same time or not depends on the situation.

This scenario is pretty likely ifthe CW sets up most of their fleet in Gibraltar.
Lars  

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ORIGINAL: Froonp

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ORIGINAL: trees
Lately I've been thinking that a prime directive for Italy is to try and take Algeria. If it ends up Vichy that is nearly as good for the Allies as Free French. But if Italy conquers it is theirs to keep and use for their perimeter defense in the midgame. Plus it comes with a resource. So it remains true that one doesn't want the Italian navy to take pointless exchanges with the French navy but I think some risk is worthwhile if there is a good chance of taking it.

Same for me.

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ORIGINAL: hakon
If Germany is not going for a Med campain, I dont think Italy should, either.

My strat with italy, usually goes like this:
39 : neutral, build 2 pilots
40 : dow france only (unless you can get malta) and help help germany with your air force, build mostly pilots and fighter, 1 atr, lnd2 (!) and nothing else. Bring all land forces home to italy.
41 : Send ALL aircraft to the eastern front, except perhaps 1-2 navs, help germany maintain total air superiority in the USSR. Take air impulses almost every impulse. Bring Balbo to the east, and station Graziani in france (to be able to call blitz, if the UK lands there.). Let germany provide stationary air cover over western europe, so he can use most of his air missions to fly those stukas. Build all fighters and atr(ATR are extremely versatile units on the easter front, being able to paradrop, rebase PARA/MTN into the caucasus or reorg the best fighters), then begin to build navs and some garrison type units in the autumn. Bombers are not really necessary, except of course the stuka. Have italy liberate estonia, latvia or lithuania, if possible.
42-43 : Continue to support germany as much as possible in the east, while building an invasion defense in italy, concentrating on both naval air and ground units. Have germany garrison northern italy with his garrs and mil, so that even after italy falls, but dont let this happen easily. Garrison italy A LOT more heavily than france, to make it less tempting to invade there. Continue to build out your fighter and atr force pools, and pump out navs, mil, gar and possibly some bombers.
44-45 : I have no experience of this period, since this strategy has resulted in total russian collapse (conquest of russia, linking up with japan, etc) every time i tried it, followed by allied surrender. Should the USSR survive in good shape, the end game might be tough. The most important part, is to lure the allies into invading France before Italy. If they do, you can possibly survive the war by building land units, otherwise you may want to evacuate, and let germany hold northern Italy.