Hey, historical "what if" it's a very good diversion. I want to play, too.
In september 1940, General Von Thoma was send to North Africa to avaliate the military options to Germany. He says that believe that four
panzerdivisionen could be sent and supplied in North Africa. Hitler say to him that could spare only one division. Von Thoma replied that, in this case, were better to send none.
If in some moment, before December 1940, four or even three full
Panzerdivisionen (and not weak outfits like the 5th
Leichtdivision) were in North Africa to support Marshall Grazianni's Egytian invasion, the British would have been thrown away from Suez and the Nile. And in few months, Jerusalem could have fallen to the Germans, maybe that were to be the true Operation BARBAROSSA: the unfinished work of Emperor Frederick I, The Redbeard, since 1190...
Of course that the Germans will have to fight the stupidity of Mussolini and make him to delay the first Italian invasion of Egypt until the
Panzerdivisionen arrived...
When the first German soldier put your feet in Egypt, one insurrection could have arise. In October 1942, the Muslim Brothers (forbears of Al-Qaida) were prepared to attack the British, if Rommel had win in El Alamein. The same could occur in Irak (in 1941, Hashid Ali uprising here have to be smashed by the British).
Of course, the Germans will have to fight the stupity of Mussolini and make him to not try annex Egypt and another Arab lands.
If around june 1941, the Axis Power take Suez; Irak and Persian Gulf with support of the Muslim (remember that until 1943, Arab volunteers were serving with the Germans in Tunisia and Greece), how can be possible that the United Kingdom could to feed your war machine? Without petrol? Without access to Eastern Mediterranean?
None British expeditionary forces could be send to Greece; the Germans could to capture Crete and Malta with few hardships. All the Mediterranean was to be closed to the Royal Navy.
With this success, the Germans could to wait one more year to launch your obscene Invasion of Russia (with another name, remember, Barbarossa were to be the capture of Jerusalem
). That operation could be more easy. Maybe with one simultaneous offensive into the Caucasus, with Turkish and Arab support.
By the way, if the Germans take control of the Persian Gulf, until June 1941, the US petrol blocade against Japan could be irrelevant. And, maybe the Japanese could be convinced to change your mind and to invade Mongolia and Vladivostok in 1942, and not to attack the Americans in 1941.
Thus, in June 1942, the Russians could to confront Germans in the European frontier; Germans, Italians, Turks, Arabs, in the Caucasus (with Chechens uprisings, don't forget) and Japanese in Mongolia.
But, one more simple alternative to a (God forbade!) German victory were to raise the Ukrainian national flag in Kiev, in September 1941. And to make the same in the Baltic states and Belarus. And to proclaim the end of Bolchevism.
It's so good to fight big wars from our chair. Nobody shoot us...