Briefing

The United Kingdom starts off with very few land forces, which renders them ineffective against the Axis’ massive power. They will continue to be ineffective until they are able to land forces in Asia, Africa, or mainland Europe. The quicker you get the forces on land, the better.

There is not much Britain will be able to do for their first turn, but what they can do is valuable to the game. The following is base off the set-up that you do not have much sea power.

Combat and Non-Combat Movement with Your Units

YOUR TRANSPORT: Moving the tank
The transport in Eastern Canada is often ignored and goes untouched. In this case, have it pick up the tank and drop it off in Finland/Norway (if it is under Russian rule,) or land it in Britain. By having it in the North Sea, it will help defend a fleet you can try to re-build. It is suicide for a lone transport to be in the North Sea. So if you do not want to build another fleet for at least a turn, you could pick up the tank and turn south to drop off the tank in Africa. It is wise to move to the Caribbean Sea in the first turn, then drop off the tank in a southern African territory. This way the transport cannot be shot down.

YOUR SUBMARINE: Use it, before it gets wasted.
If your submarine in the Mediterranean is still alive, have it attack any German forces in the Mediterranean Sea. It is worthless and might as well be used for an offensive blow. You could bring in the bomber and too. The bomber can fly back to Britain, or you could land in an African territory. You will need to land it in Africa if you attack the Central Mediterranean Sea zone. The fighters can be used too, but only in a battle in Eastern Mediterranean. They will have to land in Gibraltar. If you bring the fighters, they cannot land in Karelia until the third turn. If you do land a fighter or two in Gibraltar, have at least one go to Egypt-Sudan. (This is explained in other British strategy pages.)

YOUR BOMBER: A very useful unit.
Your first priority with your bomber is to attack any poorly defended German sea units. After you attack the sea units (if there are any,) the bomber could land in Russia, the United Kingdom, or Africa. Your options will vary depending on where the battle is.

YOUR FIGHTERS:Helping Russia out.
You may want to exclude your fighters from any battles the first turn. Those fighters can change the outcome of an attack against Karelia dramatically. Most players just have them land in Karelia to help repel German forces.

Africa and India

AFRICA: Keep it in your hands.
Don’t forget to check Africa. If you have your tank or infantry in Anglo-Egypt, use them to take back some lost territories. You should consider sliding the infantry in Syria-Iraq to slow down German aggression. One common battle is to abandon India by bringing the infantry to Anglo-Egypt by transport, and have the fighter attack (if it had been taken over) or land (use it for defense and future attacks.) I do not recommend this. Those units could be at more use preventing Japan from gaining power.

INDIA: Use against Japan.
Your forces in India can do four other things against Japan.
#1 Have the infantry attack Kwangtung via transport, with the fighter. This will lead to another territory Japan has lost. The more you take over, the longer it will be before Japan can do damage to Russia.
#2 Move an infantry unit and the fighter to Sinkiang so that America can have enough defense to place a plex there.
#3 Play defense. Make Japan come to you. You can bring the infantry in Syria-Iraq into India by using a transport.
#4 Do #2 or #3, but have the transport move toward Australia to drop them off in India, or use them to attack Java Island. This is not always worth it. By abandoning Australia, Japan can will take it over. #5 For use on defending Africa (as mentioned before,) have the transport move the infantry to Africa to attack any German units within range. Have the fighter join up to provide offensive power.

Buying Complexes

1 INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: Get your troops on the ground quicker.
Another option is to buy a complex and save the remainder of your IPC’s. There are three good places you could place a plex.

1) Southern Africa: By placing a complex here, you can pump two units on Africa’s ground. This will slow down and even stop German aggression in Africa. You have to prevent Germany from taking over Africa some how. This strategy allows America to concentrate on other things-like Japan or Europe. Be sure to move the infantry in South Africa up a territory. This will cut off the attack route Germany could use to take your complex.

2) India: If you have a complex here, you can place up to three units a turn to slow down Japan. This will slow down Japan’s operations by a couple of turns. If you use this strategy, have the transport pick up the infantry unit in Syria-Iraq and drop him off in India. You could move the transport west one sea zone to block off the route of Philippine’s transport.

If you use this strategy, make sure you cut off the attack routes Japan can use to take over India. This means, having Indo-Burma China in your hands and having your transport in the East Indies to cut off the route of Japan’s transport in the Philippines. This strategy usually does not work, but if you catch Japan off guard, you can push Japan out of the Allies’ territory.

3) Australia: This strategy calls for the United Kingdom to have transports take over Japan’s islands in the Pacific. If successful, you will have some of Japan’s islands, and you will force Japan to spend their money and units on stopping you. Their sea force will usually go to the Atlantic to attack America’s sea units. But if you are a threat in Australia you will force Japan to:
a)Have their fleet come back and destroy your fleet. This will allow America two or three more turns to work before Japan’s force goes into the Atlantic Ocean.
Spend their money on a force to attack yours.
b)Ignore you and lose income.
c)These may be considered losses to you because it takes a lot of investment to pursue this option. But if you think it is worth it, give it a shot. You may just prevent Japan from conquering Asia. If you decide to buy a complex, I suggest placing it on South Africa.

2 INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES: Get your troops on the ground much quicker.
If you do this strategy, you will not be able to maintain a sea force in the North Sea. Your money will be devoted to units placed on the complexes. Assuming you place the plexes on South Africa or India, you probably want some where from five 15-25IPC’s worth of units placed on these territories a turn. You will not find much money left over for the North Sea.

ANALYSIS: My suggestions
The complex in Austalia rarely works. Sure Britain can take over some Paciic islands and build an air/sea force to destroy Japan’s sea force, but it will cost and take a long time to do all this. Meanwhilw, Germany will not be pressured that much because Britain will not be able to build a large sea force to get the units onto land. I never do this strategy.

The complex in South Africa will provide the units needed to keep Africa. But an easier and cheaper way to keep Africa is to prevent Germany from building transports in the Mediterranean. If you have a bomber and/or fighters in Africa, Germany will have to buy an aircraft carrier or battleship to protect the transports. This, transports, and units to drop in Africa will cost over a turn’s worth of income for Germany. If they do this, feel lucky, because Germany’s forces in Europe will be weakened.

Placing the complex in India is risky. Assuming Russia took over Manchuria, Japan’s largest force possible to take India is four infantry, one fighter, and one bomber. This force against three infantry (one from Syria-Iraq) and a fighter will win the battle in India 56% of the time. But America can liberate it using the fighter in China(Japan cannot take India and China on the first turn) and the infantry in Sinkiang. If you have two Russian infantry in Sinkiang, and a fighter with in range, Russia can liberate India (Japan should only haveno more than one infantry defending it.) Then Britain can place units in India and Japan’s land forces will be very weak. Whenever Britain buys a complex for me, it will usually go on India.

Two complexes is just too expensive. Britain can give up on building a fleet in the North Sea and soending all the money on land units for the complexes, but Germany will not feel as threatened and may have the oppurtunity to take Karelia and Russia in a few turns. Then, Russia is in big trouble. But if get America to become a major threat three turns, Germany may not be able to take Karelia. This strategy is risky, but it can be worth while.

Buying Units with No Complex

1 AIRCRAFT CARRIER and 1 TRANSPORT: Re-build your fleet
This commonly used strategy is used to get Britain’s sea force back on the first turn. Have America land her two fighters (from Eastern and Western America) on your aircraft carrier to provide more defense. That way, if you get attacked, you will destroy most or even all of Germany’s air force.

1 BOMBER: Building an airforce
Having two bombers allows you to do more options that having one bomber. One bomber can patrol Africa, preventing Germany from buying sea units in the Mediterranean, and providing offensive firepower against German troops. If needed, you can do bombing runs on Southern Europe. Another bomber can go to Russia where it can do bombing raids on Germany and any Japanese complexes located in Asia. It could fly eastward to destroy any poorly-defended transports off the eastern coast of Asia. If you place a complex in India, both bombers can fly to Southeast Asia to assist in any combat. If you re-build your sea force, you can have the bombers aid any combat in Europe. Having two bombers can be devastating toward the Axis’ plans. Having three bombers can be great, but it is just too expensive.

1 or 2 FIGHTERS: Building a defensive air force
Building fighters can be a big help for the Allies. Fighters can be used for offensive purposes like bomber, but they are not as effective. What is a big help is that they play great defense. Sure, infantry are a better bargain for flat out defense, but you have to buy transports in order for British infantry to be effective. This will take time. Plus infantry cannot move four territories to help defend a territory on the spur of the moment, or provide offensive firepower in battles. Buying fighters is a quick way to help defend Karelia, Russia, Sinkiang, India, or any other territory that needs to be defended.

NOTHING: Save up for the future
If you try the aircraft carrier strategy, but Germany shoots your forces down each game, try this plan. You will have 50-60 IPC’s to spend on a force next turn. This is enough for an aircraft carrier and four or five transports. Germany will not be able to destroy a force that big.

ANALYSIS: My suggestions
The fighter and bomber ideas can be quite useful. I find two United Kingdom bombers a big help. The fighters are also quite useful, but I find that one bomber is more effective buy than a fighter.

The first buying idea is great if Germany’s air and sea forces are weak. This strategy can get you the defense you need to build up a fleet. The next turn can be spent buying transports. But, watch out! If Germany attacks your fleet with four fighters and one bomber, there is an 83% chance that they will win. If they only have three fighters and a bomber, the odds drastically decrease to 51%. So if you want a large sea force, but you fear Germany will attack your fleet, buy nothing. You will have about 55IPC’s in which can get you an aircraft carrier and four transports. The American fighters can join this force, providing a fleet that Germany will need to have six fighters and a bomber in order to have a 73% chance of winning.

Overall Analysis

There are many different options that Britain can do. Britain can do the traditional strategy of re-building a sea force as quickly as possible, or Britain can decide to go for complexes to slow Japan’s aggression and keep Africa. Either strategy can be played to effectively relieve the pressure the Axis place on Russia. If you do buy complexes, then be sure to put at least some pressure on Germany. If you have transports near Britain, they can attack five European territories. This forces Germany to have to reinforce all these territories, or give them up. Either way, Germany will not be able to go all out on Russia. Remember-always be sure that your transports are protected.