Strategy for the Yugoslav player is dictated by Axis advances. Much of what the Yugoslav player should do is obvious from the discussion above of Axis goals and conduct of operations. However, a few items are worth reiterating, and there are a few other options open for the Yugoslav player.

The Yugoslav player should not forget that in the north, there is room to fall back. A number of lines of defense are possible, and if the Axis have built up a line capable of administering a sharp blow, it is feasible to retreat because of the winter conditions, the Axis might not be able to follow up as quickly, and this will have effectively spoiled that attack, saving units to fight another day.

In the south, there is less room to retreat, because of the need to defend Nis and the Beograd-Sarajevo railway. It is also here that the Yugoslav player will find his long borders very frustrating, since he cannot defend every hex effectively. The Yugoslav player should not lose sight of the possibility of counterattack, especially if Italian mountain units might be destroyed as a result. The loss of these could hurt or cripple the Italian advance in the south.

There are other, more tactical options the Yugoslav player can pursue. The most important of these lies in the use of his many 0-1-5 units. There are so many of these, and they are so spread out, that the Italian player does not have the time and units with which to deal effectively with all of them, especially in the first few turns. Often these units can interfere with Italian supply, or threaten to do so.

Since in Balkan Front, unlike its Russian counterpart, units out of supply are never eliminated, the 0-1-5 units can hang around to annoy the Axis player. They are especially annoying if on the Albanian border or in the mountains north of Ljubljana, where substantial Axis forces would be required to get rid of them. Other low- quality units can also be drafted to perform this role, including the 0-8 antiaircraft units, although these are vulnerable to attack or overrun.

Another "tricky" thing for the Yugoslav player to do occurs near the end of the game, and was alluded to near the beginning of this article. There is another route for the Yugoslav capital to take if Beograd looks threatened, and that is north, where the Tisa and Danube rivers aid even unsupplied defenders substantially. The ability to hold out for an extra turn or two might just win the game.

When the Axis advance in the north reaches the Danube, an alert Axis player can prevent this tactic or lessen its effectiveness by sending Italian units across the Backa to attack this area or at least secure a bridgehead across the Tisa river. However, separated as it is from the Italians by the Hungarians, not all Axis players (unless they read this article) will notice this, and even if they do, they are using Italian units that might otherwise be attacking the Yugoslav army.

The Yugoslav player will find the game very challenging if he has not detected the Italian preparations; he can afford to relax a little if the detection was successful. If he has succeeded in noticing Italy's preparations, then he can mobilize his army quicker and rush units to threatened points.

The most crucial points have been outlined above; here are some other considerations:

1) A successful defense of Maribor might secure the Slovenian reinforcements.

2) Occupation of MIjet or mainland hex across from it (even by a 0-1-5) might save more pain later.

3) Units sent to aid Split would mean that a real attempt must be made by the Axis to capture it, thus diverting units from elsewhere.

Plan Y? Because We Like It Italian Invasion of Yugoslavia 1939

Introduction
The Armies: Axis and Yugoslav
Victory
Axis Strategy
Yugoslav Strategy
Options