Since we all know that France will fall early in a conventional game - which no one expected in 1939:
- use the few strong British units to reinforce the Mediterranean (Gibraltar/Malta/Egypt) instead of risking them in France or the Low Countries: even if, as some players contend, the Mediterranean will eventually be lost, it'll certainly enable a longer defence. However, keep an eye on the reinforcement chart and don't leave the UK itself vunerable to a sudden 'Sealion' by shipping everything out of the country
- if you feel it's a fair tactic, send even regimental sized British units to 'assist' in garrisoning the principal French Mediteranean towns to prevent them going over to Vichy when France surrenders (I'm never 100% happy with this, but it is alternative history)
- as the French, concentrate on defending Paris and causing the Axis - especially the German armour and motorised units - as many casualties as possible: don't tiddle around in the Low Countries or Northern Italy, even if Mussolini enters the war before the country's ready
- ditto the Poles: you've had it anyway - dig in, on ignore losses, in and on the approaches to Warsaw and cause the Germans as much pain as possible
- just as your capitals are about to fall, try to cause some damage, even if it's only sticking a few enemy units out of supply for one more turn
- kill the small paratroop and airlanding units in preference to the larger infantry corps: they're more dangerous in some ways, and lose their airborne capability if destroyed
- Norway's probably doomed against a competent Axis attack, and there's no point losing vast numbers of troops, or especially your air and naval assets, in a futile attempt to save it. Having said that, if the initial German landings fail or get held up, it is possible to fight on in the north, using the difficult terrain and small sea landed units to delay the Germans and cause casualties. It's certainly worth trying to deny them Narvik for as long as possible
- In the Mediterranean, don't make Churchill's mistake of try to defend everywhere. IF - and it's a biggie - you can defend the core British territory of Egypt until the German have to move against the Soviet Union you're doing well: leave the French colonies and Greece to their sad fate. If you absolutely can't hold Egypt, try to get to Malta and Gibraltar and cling on there: they will serve as springboards for a counter-attack when the time comes
- Iraq isn't as important as it should be: I'll introduce some sort of supply bonus/penalty for the oilfields one day
- If the Germans do try a 'Sealion' THROW EVERYTHING YOU HAVE AT THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO DENY THE INVADERS PORTS AND SUPPLY SOURCES. There's little point in forming nice defensive lines if the Germans are shipping over a corps every week, supplied from a captured port: you have to push them back into the sea, or at least out of supply/reinforcement. Remember, this will get Uncle Joe worried: depending upon how it goes, you may wish to creep forward with the Red Army
- Assuming you can hold on in the West until the Russo-German war starts, don't be too eager to invade the Continent. A failed invasion in 1942-3 can leave you crippled. I find the historical strategy of picking off the smaller Mediterranean ports and Italy is best
- the USSR: this is the critical campaign of the whole war - I know that many games are abandoned early at the point when the Axis player realises that the Soviet Union isn't going to collapse. By all means enter the Baltic States, Eastern Poland and Bessarabia to create a security zone and activate the extra border guard units, but don't repeat Stalin's mistake of moving virtually everything to the new western frontier to be chewed to pieces by 'Barbarossa': unless, as it's suggested Stalin had in mind, you fancy trying your own offensive if the Germans get bogged down in Turkey or 'Sealion' is a disaster. A more conventional defence would see a line of infantry entrenched to the east along some natural or man-made obstacle(s), mobile units well in reserve, air force operating at the very limit of its range or even hiding in the Urals. Maybe leave the NKVD border guards and interior troops well to the west of the main defensive line to blow bridges and block key junctions for as long as possible? The whole German Army is very good, of course, but it's the panzer and motorised corps that will really cut you up. The more you can isolate and damage them, the more the Eastern Front will become like World War I. Are you going for a knock-out blow against Finland early on? You need a border war at a minimum to improve the Red Army, but might you get lost in Pelle's forests and swamps if you venture too far - or alarm the Swedes into sending help to the Finns? Probably very difficult to repeat the miracle of holding Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad against a good German player in the initial offensive, and they'll have the initiative as to which areas they're going for. You must cling on to Moscow and/or Stalingrad to prevent the collapse of the Communist state, so if the sticky stuff really hits the fan you may have to take a very deep breath and abandon one or the other. Keep an eye on the Middle East. If the decadent Western democracies can't halt the Axis juggernaut there, the Red Army may have to enter Iran to create a southern defensive line.
If I'm so damn clever how come I usually lose?
