@Adlertag:
@timerover51:
@shermantank:
It would be more realistic if nations were allowed to violate neutrals, at least I think.
I view it the other way. If an nation stayed neutral in WW2 despite the enormous pressure applied by both sides to join one side or the other, and was not invaded by either side during the war, then allowing them to be invaded in the game is more unrealistic. There were generally highly compelling reasons why neutrals stayed neutral in WW2.
Turkey wasn’t neutral in WWII, in 1945 it joint the allied side and attacked Germany. And both axis and allies had plans to attack Sweden, Turkey and Spain. But they choose to attack someone else instead, by coinsidence. Shermantank has a valid point, it should be allowed to attack any neutrals and other active powers. Now it is a scripted game, how fun is that ?
There is a constant tension that any game designer faces when dealing with an historical game of balancing historical accuracy, playability, and game balance. Some players, like me, desire a lot of historical accuracy at the expense of playability and game balance, some would put playability first, i.e. having very slight limits on what a player might do, and behind both extremes lies the issue of game balance. If you are striving for an accurate simulation of history, then the game becomes scripted to a greater or lessor degree. If you focus on playability, normally the farther the game strays from history. For the sake of game balance, you often find yourself determining trade offs, balancing something for historical accuracy with something for playability. And then, after all that, you have to have a game that will sell. It is not easy.
A designer does the best he can in designing the game and convincing a company to produce it, the company that is going to produce the game makes any changes that it feels is needed to improve the marketability of the game, and once it is released, the players decide what, if anything, is needed to make the game fit how they think that it should be played. A properly designed game has the flexibility to allow for house rules, and Axis and Allies is a properly designed game.
You will treat neutrals the way that you think they should be treated, and I will treat neutrals the way that I think they should be treated. Obviously, the treatment will not be the same.