On the Victory Cities idea, I’ve come up with this suggestion. I’ve probably overlooked something, but the basic idea is to spread the action out more evenly, and give the Axis a reasonable chance.
The Axis starts with 4 capitals, including Shanghai (which should really be Nanking*). The Allies must capture 3 of these to win.
The Allies have 18 VCs, split into three regions:
Western Region/Atlantic: Washington, London, Paris, Tunis, Cairo, Cape Town
Soviet Region: Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Kiev (WUkr), Chelyabinsk (Novos), Vladivostok (Amur)
Eastern/Pacific Region: Chungking (Szech), New Delhi, Singapore (Malaya), Manilla, Sydney, LA or Honolulu
The Axis have to capture 3 VCs in each region and hold 3 of their own caps simultaneously to win; you may consider NO bonuses for holding 3-in-a-group at any other time.
*Former Chinese capital. Q: should China be considered to have liberated it’s original capital if it takes this tt, and gain/regain the abilities of a major power thereby?