Will Anyone Play Europe 1940 Separately?

[squirrelfox]

So we're all (I'm sure) eagerly anticipating the release of E40 so we can combine it with P40 and make our (TOO HUGE FOR ORDINARY TABLES!!!) super-awesome Global game.  Which begs the question: how many of you are going to play Europe 1940 as a stand-alone game (at least some of the time), and how many will only play the combined game?

Heck, I'm still locked in a debate with my friends at college as to whether we want to play E40 separately first, or combine it with P40 and play the global game first.  On the one hand, playing it alone can be useful for getting a feel for what strategies work on this game, as well as figuring out the political rules (which we may end up waiting for an FAQ on, anyway, if P40 taught us anything about the quality control department at WotC).  On the other hand... the combined game is going to be HUGE, and what boy DOESN'T want to play with his shiny new toy right out of the box?

My initial instinct is to play it separately first, just to try out the new political rules, and afterwards... I may still play Europe 1940 separately more often than combined with Pacific 1940, simply due to the fact that I don't have a table large enough to put it on (nor will I likely have the free time to play it often (and victims friends to play it with.  )).

(I apologize if there's already a thread about this -- I didn't see one, and can't search the forum, apparently.  If it's a duplicate, feel free to delete it!)

[GrizzlyMan]

I plan on carrying out a similar strategy to you: play E40 first to figure out how all of the new units and political rules fit into the game, then combine in with P40 and play the global game. I probably won't play E40 much on its own after the first time unless it turns out to be really good or if G40 has lots of problems (i.e. Japan always invades Russia, UK can't defend Africa, etc.) and we need to come up with house rules to alleviate them

[calvinhobbesliker]

I plan on playing E40 because I'm curious as to how to play the game stand-alone.

[Imperious Leader]

I wont play them together because AAP40 has a busted setup.

Then again it may be the case that AAE40 has a bogus setup, but we will have to see.

Indications are that if the setup for global 40 uses the AAp40 setup, then the game will have problems.

[calvinhobbesliker]

I wont play them together because AAP40 has a busted setup.

Then again it may be the case that AAE40 has a bogus setup, but we will have to see.

Indications are that if the setup for global 40 uses the AAp40 setup, then the game will have problems.

Can's E40 balance it since the UK can send units from Africa to stall India's fall?

[Imperious Leader]

No because japans setup controls that game. They grow too large too fast because they have too many pieces. It's a roving wave of orange plastic bits that can just clear the board in the pacific.

If UK attempts to shift its forces from Europe to 'save' the Pacific, then you just imbalanced that game instead.

[calvinhobbesliker]

No because japans setup controls that game. They grow too large too fast because they have too many pieces. It's a roving wave of orange plastic bits that can just clear the board in the pacific.

If UK attempts to shift its forces from Europe to 'save' the Pacific, then you just imbalanced that game instead.

But then Japan will have to divert resources from attacking US/Russia, which means those units are freed up to deal with Germany

[Imperious Leader]

We will just have to see how it plays out.

[calvinhobbesliker]

We will just have to see how it plays out.

Very true

[calvinhobbesliker]

Also, keep in mind that the allies get an extra 54 ipc's of units in global that aren't in either half-game: the 18 russian infantry in Siberia

[McMan]

I would argue that Japan will have it much tougher in Global. Russia's infantry will make all the difference, because Japan will have to guard Manchuria and the other lucrative Chinese territories in the north instead of sending every single unit towards China and India. After China falls, Japan will still have to be on guard, seeing as Russia will have a factory probably fairly close to the Chinese border. A couple Russian tanks blitzing through China could screw Japan's hold on mainland Asia, so they will certainly have to keep some kind of force back there to protect against Russian incursions. This will keep at least some of the pressure off India. I've also heard that the game is imbalanced because, just as the US gets into position to actually start doing something in the DEI, Japan finishes up on the mainland, and is then free to swing all its planes over to help out in the DEI area. I don't know how much of an issue this is, seeing as I don't have as much experience as the rest of you guys, but if it is a large factor in Japan's strength, then I imagine the Russian presence on the continent will help deter this event as well. So, Russian troops = less units to attack China and India = India doesn't fall as quickly = no massive surge of units into the DEA just as the US gets into the game. Also, Russian troops = liberators of Chinese territories.

[Make_It_Round]

I'll try to play E40 at least 3-5 times before playing Global, just to get used to the new map and theatre-specific strategies.

I doubt that I'll ever play P40 on its own again after E40 comes out though... it'll only ever see use as a G40 board.

[Marauder]

Our group will definitely play E40 right away - the scope of the theatre specific games (and space and time wise) fit our collective availability much better than the G40.  But we will have to forge time out of nothingness to have a game of G40 before too long!

[LHoffman]

I probably won't even get Europe until Christmas. My usual group consists of me and my two brothers and my two cousins (who are brothers). My brothers and I got Pacific as a birthday gift in April. My cousins plan on getting Europe as soon as it comes out. They might play Europe before we combine them to play Global, but I will not be... We are all itching to put them together and have our massive game. I wouldn't be surprised if the first thing we do that weekend is play our first Global game. It is unfortunate that school starts the day before Europe comes out though.

[allboxcars]

I'll probably play E40 separately at first and every once in awhile after "Globalizing" just for the heck of it.

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