Scenario 2 is by far the hardest and most difficult challenge for the Allied player among all of the scenarios presented in the game. Simply put, sacrifices will be made, ships will be lost, and backs will be stabbed. If you are playing a full game through either the campaign game or linked scenarios, you will suffer in this one. The Axis will take the lead and at this point and you will begin the long climb back to parity. However, what if you are just playing scenario 2 and have no intention of linking it with other campaigns? Can you do well? Can you win the game? The answers are probably not and maybe, in that order. No, the odds are stacked against you and having a good showing is almost out of the question. If you are doing well, the Axis player has seriously erred or else the dice have melted due to your luck. However, winning is another matter but it will require some sacrifice and determination and some help from luck.

I am writing this article with the assumption that you, as the Allied player, want to win this scenario, not just survive it as part of a longer game. Survival is an entirely different matter and I will discuss that perhaps in a different article. Suffice to say that the advice I am giving here is definitely not the same as I would give for the campaign game. So let’s look at what you want to happen, what the Axis want to happen, and what you can do about it.

First, let’s do some math. The Sea Zones in this scenario, with the increased scoring in the Mediterranean this turn brings, is possibly 128-Axis vs 33-Allied. The contested Sea Zones are 70-Axis vs 33–Allied. Uncontested Sea Zones are 58-Axis. And the Mediterranean is 16-12 in favor of the Axis. What do all those numbers mean?

• If the Allied player ignores all of the 1/0 and 2/0 Sea Zones and piles all of their ships into the contested Sea Zones, even if they win them all, they are still outscored 58-33. That’s a losing strategy.
• The Mediterranean holds more than 1/3 of the Allied scoring potential and there is no way they will score all of those points.

Second, after turn 4 (the first turn of this scenario, France and Norway will fall to the Germans. The Vichy fleet will join the Axis for the remaining 3 turns of the scenario. The trade-off is that the Allied player will score 2 VP for each French ship that survives Turn 4. The bad news is that most of those that survive will be fighting against you for the remainder of the scenario. This is an important nugget, so let’s jot that down and we can return to it soon. Norway on the other hand scores you no points and their surviving ships join the Axis cause.

Armed with this knowledge there are a number of bullet points that we need to cover to play well in this conflict.

• Make the Axis pay to score points.
• Give away nothing.
• Protect Convoys or route them into the less-travelled waters.
• Bait and sacrifice with the Norwegians.
• Spread the French out, mostly covering 1/0 Zones where intense fighting will be less likely.
• Deploy the Dutch in the Pacific.

How can you make these things work for you and persuade the Axis to dance to your tune?

Cover every 1/0 Sea Zone with a ship or a potential land-based air unit. Nothing is given away for free. These spots should have Dutch or French ships in them if possible. Both nations are here for the same consideration, you want them to survive the first turn. The French so you can score their VP per ship before you lose them. The Dutch because you don’t lose them and would like to use them for all 4 turns. If the Axis put multiple ships into any of these places, you are doing your job.

Any Sea Zone that would score the Axis 2 or more points needs to have twice that many units defending them. A Sea Zone that would score the Axis 3 VP needs to have 6 Allied (British) units guarding it. Yes, the Axis can muster overwhelming power in any Sea Zone, but not in every Sea Zone. When the fight comes, and it will, you need to be able to inflict attrition damage and force the commitment of enough ships to keep you from contesting the Zone. In Seas of Thunder, outnumbering is rarely the requirement for complete victory in a Sea Zone. To really guarantee a victory in a Zone, you need to hold a serious numerical advantage.

Your convoys need to be in two places, either sitting under those stacks of 6-10 warships on key zones or floating alone in the zones that score nothing. The loss after a big battle is less disturbing if perhaps you have sent a few German ships down with them. And a 1 VP open ocean loss is no worse than losing a 1/0 Sea Zone. On the other hand, losing a convoy and a 1/0 Sea Zone can feel horrible beyond its real effect. With this in mind, perhaps place all of the Axis convoys you can onto the 1/0 spaces and hope you can down some merchants while patrolling the backwaters.

The Norwegian fleet is not your friend. Sure they seem nice now but after the first turn any of those ships that survive will be manned with German sailors looking to do you harm and cause trouble. I say use them up in the spring of 1940. Put them in the two areas that the Axis would like to capture the most, the Baltic Sea (from Oslo) and the North Sea. They have to fight in the Baltic and if they are destroying the Norwegians they are not sinking British ships. They will also probably not let the Norwegians hold the North Sea for you and will fight them there. Your best results, trade losses and contest both Sea Zones. Your worst result is losing both Sea Zones and the Norwegian fleet. I say good riddance.

The Dutch, however, are your friends. Keep them away from the fighting and in the Pacific operating from Batavia, Morotai and Banda Aceh as much as possible. Overflow should be stationed in Curacao and Amsterdam. Get them out ASAP and headed to low-intensity regions. Every 1/0 Zone they patrol is one the British don’t have to. Dutch ships are not great but for the most part, they will be at least up to the challenge of their opponents. Their nemesis, the Vichy navy, is stationed in Saigon. The French can outclass the Dutch in most categories but with the French moving first they can either avoid or swarm them at their discretion. Personally, I would go with avoiding any force of 2 or more French ships.

For the short amount of time that the French are with you, their deployment is very important and may be the difference between winning and losing. Do not mass a French fleet anywhere that the Axis could maul it. The only safe spaces for them are really the South China Sea, Sea of Zanj and Gulf of Guinea. Any other locations that are worth massing them are within range of the Axis player’s battle fleets. Don’t think for a second that the Axis player will spare you because some of the ships may flip to their side. Each ship they sink on turn 4 is a 3 VP flip (1 VP for sinking a ship + 2 VP you won’t get when they surrender). To equal that point total, each French ship would have to score 1 VP per turn for the remainder of the scenario. No, make no mistake, you French ships are in peril. In conjunction with the Dutch discussion, I would place only non-Vichy ships in Saigon so that when they flip, the Dutch are not worrying about some nasty French subs and battleships.

Looking this article over, I am reminded that I haven’t even worried about what type of ships should be given what duty. Turns out, in this scenario more than any other, types are not the key. Attrition will wear you down quickly. By turn 5 you won’t even be able to keep balanced groups together. The Med will become a magnet sucking in ships from all directions to reconstitute losses. Beggars, at that point, can’t be choosers. If all of these things go right, and attrition does not decimate you, and luck leans your way just a bit, you will be in the game at the end. If any of these things fail, you will be quickly in a big hole clamoring for the Soviets to enter the war… Kind of sounds familiar doesn’t it.

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War on the Raiders: A Strategic Look at Playing the Allies in Seas of Thunder Scenario 1

Seas of Thunder: Raiders – Shadows on the Sea

Man Your Planes – Filling the Combat Mat in Seas of Thunder (Part 1)