National Sovereignty 1940: Every Nation for Itself Set Up

So, this is probably the least historical set up for Europe 1940 that’s ever been made. The idea was to make a set up where every nation on the Europe 40 board was roughly equal in military and economic might combined, without changing the starting territories! It kind of sprung out of my idea here: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=35472.0

…But quickly became it’s own thing. So, most rules for 1940 stay the same. The major difference is that there’s no Axis, and no Allies. Every nation is by itself. The national objectives have been completely thrown out, because they don’t really work with these rules. Victory conditions have been changed to 5 Victory cities for Russia and the UK; 4 Victory cities for Germany; and 3 Victory cities for Italy, America, and France. Neutral rules are pretty much the same as OOB, except for Strict Neutrals. Instead of affecting other Strict Neutrals, attacking a Strict Neutral makes all Pro Neutrals considered Strict Neutral to your nation (Example: Germany moves into Bulgaria, gains 4 Infantry and Bulgaria becomes a German territory. Russia attacks Turkey. Russia now cannot move into Persia without attacking it.)

Turn Order: France, Germany, Italy, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States

Set Up:

Soviet Union (28 IPCS):
Russia: 1 Infantry, 1 Mechanized Infantry, 1 Fighter, 1 AAA, Major Factory, Airbase
Novgorod: 6 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Fighter, 1 AAA, Minor Factory, Airbase, Seabase
Volgograd: 1 Tank, Minor Factory
Karelia: 1 Infantry
Baltic States: 2 Infantry
Eastern Poland: 2 Infantry
Western Ukraine: 1 Infantry, 1 Artillery
Ukraine: 3 Infantry
Caucasus: 1 Infantry
Sea Zone 115: 1 Cruiser
Sea Zone 127: 1 Submarine

United States (35 IPCS):
Eastern United States: 1 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 2 Fighters, 2 AAA, Major Factory, Airbase, Naval base
Central United States: 1 Infantry, 3 Mechanized Infantry, 1 Tank, 1 Strategic Bomber, Major Factory
Sea Zone 89: 1 Battleship
Sea Zone 101: 1 Transport, 1 Cruiser

Germany (30 IPCS):
Germany: 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 AAA, Major Factory
Western Germany: 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 3 Mechanized Infantry, 2 Fighters, 1 AAA, Major Factory, Airbase, Seabase
Greater Southern Germany: 6 Infantry, 1 Tank
Poland: 3 Infantry
Slovakia Hungary: 1 Infantry
Romania: 1 Infantry
Holland Belgium: 2 Infantry
Norway: 1 Infantry
Sea Zone 108: 1 Submarine
Sea Zone 118: 1 Submarine

United Kingdom (29 IPCs):
United Kingdom: 2 Infantry, 2 Fighters, 1 AAA
Major Factory, Airbase, Seabase
Scotland: 1 Infantry
Quebec: 1 Infantry, Minor Factory
Gibraltar: 1 Fighter
Malta: 1 Fighter
Egypt: 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Mechanized Infantry, 1 Fighter
Alexandria: 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank
Anglo Egyptian Sudan: 1 Infantry
Union of South Africa: 2 Infantry, Minor Factory
West India: 1 Infantry
Sea Zone 109: 1 Destroyer, 1 Transport

Italy (10 IPCS):
Southern Italy: 6 Infantry, 2 Fighters, 1 AAA, Minor Factory, Airbase, Seabase
Northern Italy: 2 Infantry, 2 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1 Strategic Bomber, 1 AAA, Major Factory
Albania: 2 Infantry
Libya: 1 Infantry, 1 Artillery
Tobruk: 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Mechanized Infantry, 1 Tank
Sea Zone 95: 1 Transport, 1 Submarine, 1 Destroyer
Sea Zone 96: 1 Transport, 1 Destroyer

France (17 IPCS):
France: 6 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1 AAA, 2 Fighters,  Air Base, Major Factory
Normandy Bordeaux: 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, Naval Base, Minor Industrial Complex
Southern France: 2 Infantry, 1 Artillery, Naval Base, Minor Industrial Complex
Morocco: 1 Infantry
Algeria: 1 Infantry
Tunisia: 1 Infantry
French West Africa: 1 Infantry
Syria: 1 Infantry
Sea Zone 72: 1 Destroyer
Sea Zone 93: 1 Destroyer, 1 Cruiser
Sea Zone 105: 1 Cruiser

Neutral Canada Option: Remove 1 Infantry and the Minor IC from Quebec, Remove 1 Infantry and 1 Artillery from Ontario, Set UK IPCs at 23, Add 1 Mechanized Infantry to the United Kingdom, Add 1 Infantry each to Gibraltar, Malta, and Union of South Africa, Add 1 Naval base to Egypt. All Canadian Territories are considered Strict Neutrals with 3 Infantry each. UK Victory condition is changed to 4 Victory cities.

Alternate UK Option: Remove 1 Fighter each from Gibraltar and Malta. Add 1 Destroyer and 1 Cruiser to Sea Zone 98.

Both Options can be used together or separately.

Need your thoughts on how balanced it is. I expect that this set up and rules will be particularly brutal on Germany, since it is surrounded by enemies and Russia will probably only attack Germany. Russia and the US will probably do well, having large incomes and few enemies. Britain will probably have a hard time keeping its empire. Italy and France will probably be okay.

Alright, I did some simulations and…
The Neutral Canada Option should probably be the default. There’s just no way the UK can hold Quebec more than 1 turn, even if they throw everything they can to defending it. The US can easily outspend the UK in North America, and win.

I’ll post more I do further playtesting.

Alright, I finally got around to completing a full game with these rules. The results:
Soviet Union Victory! The game was close, with the last few turns being a race to see whether Russia could hold Berlin for a full turn before the US could capture and hold a capital. In the end, Russia was able to hold Berlin the turn before the US would have won for holding Rome. The game was 11 turns long, I think. I kind of lost count.

France was definitely the big loser of this game, never capturing a single victory city, and being almost completely wiped from the board by the end. Though France started fairly strong, its navy (the most expensive at the start) was too spread out to accomplish anything, and it slowly lost its African territories due to an inability to reinforce them. The final blow was when France, seeing a weak Northern Italy, send out too many forces on the offensive and lost its Capital to Germany.

Italy also did poorly. Though it easily dominated the Mediterranean, it lacked the economy to support its efforts against a UK that was going almost full Egypt. When France invaded Northern Italy, Italy withdrew as many of its forces from North Africa as possible to defend its Capital. After that, Italy managed to stave off a German assault and even counter attack back into a then dying Germany, but the US came in and crushed Rome just before the end.

Germany did quite well, before it fell apart. Early on, Germany held the line with France and Italy, while still throwing most of its forces at Russia. It managed to gain some good ground, and was greatly helped initially by the Finnish and Bulgarian troops. However, after France made it’s move on Italy, Germany was forced to march into Paris to prevent France from gaining control of Southern Europe and fighting Germany with all its might. This unfortunately destabilized the Western front, and Germany began losing ground in Russia while fighting with France and Italy. A rush to try and take Paris and Rome before the Russians took Poland failed, and Germany was eventually completely wiped from the board.

The United Kingdom struggled initially, as Italian forces opposed it in Africa. However, the UK put a Minor IC in Egypt and was able outproduce Italy over time. Eventually it took complete control of Africa as Italy pulled out to defend its European territory. The UK managed to defend against a US invasion, and at the end game launched an invasion of Belgium and took Normandy and West Germany. It was maybe one turn away from a victory at the end, but Russia and the US had just barely beaten it to meeting their objectives.

The United States was the “clock” of the game: with no opponents at the start, the US had a few turns to build up an invasion force to conquer Europe. It was a race for the other nations to win before the American behemoth arrived to crush them. Unfortunately, this made America really boring to play, as they had no action until the end of the game.

The Soviet Union had a great game. They struggled against the mighty German war machine at first, but in the end, their single-minded assault on Berlin won out. They were able to reached a staggering 50 IPCs a turn as they captured Berlin, and managed to hold it a full turn just ahead of the capitalist Americans.

So, what needs changing? Not much. The Major powers all seem pretty balanced, as any of them could have won if they had used an ideal strategy. Additionally, most of the game they were all at about 30 IPCs, with the US having slightly more and the UK having slightly less.

The Minor Powers need help though. Their starting advantage of having the most units quickly wears off, and then Italy is left neutered with IPCs hovering at about 14, and France loses IPCs over the course of the game as its colonies are taken.

Unfortunately, I can’t find a good way to balance it well. I believe a National Objective system might help, giving France and Italy NOs that are relatively easy to accomplish while giving the Major Powers NOs that require a lot of work.