The US as an aggresive Axis power, Japan as a peaceful Allied power.

[knp7765]

Hey wittmann,
That is something I forgot to mention. I would swap the US and Japan in turn order. As for Brazil, I was toying with the idea of making them Pro-Axis. The reason being in every other game, Brazil is already a part of the US. So I’m wondering if Brazil would have been on the US side regardless of their political leanings or if they were specifically pro-Allies.
I could go with losing a couple of US transports. Perhaps one off the east coast and one off the west coast? I got to disagree with giving Japan a second carrier. In this scenario, they just can’t afford it. They don’t have the resources.

CWO Marc,
Interesting bit of information. I was unaware of the fascist party in Canada, although it makes sense since it seems just about every country sprouted some sort of fascist or Nazi party back then. In fact, I was considering making this alternate US president the leader of the US Nazi party, but I couldn’t remember his name.
So Commonwealth joining the Axis? That would be an interesting change, although I doubt the Allies would stand any chance in that case. They already have too much against them.

[CWO Marc]

@knp7765:

In fact, I was considering making this alternate US president the leader of the US Nazi party, but I couldn’t remember his name.

Do you mean Fritz Kuhn, the leader of the German-American Bund?

[Witt]

As for Brazil, I was toying with the idea of making them Pro-Axis. The reason being in every other game, Brazil is already a part of the US. So I’m wondering if Brazil would have been on the US side regardless of their political leanings or if they were specifically pro-Allies.

I,too, have no idea if it was US influenced or “Allied”.

[CWO Marc]

@wittmann:

As for Brazil, I was toying with the idea of making them Pro-Axis. The reason being in every other game, Brazil is already a part of the US. So I’m wondering if Brazil would have been on the US side regardless of their political leanings or if they were specifically pro-Allies. I,too, have no idea if it was US influenced or “Allied”.

Unlike many Latin American states which joined the Allies in the days or weeks right after Pearl Harbor, Brazil stayed neutral (though on sympathetic terms with the Allies) until about the middle of 1942, as I recall, when it declared war on Germany.  I can’t remember what was the cause.  I believe it was the only Latin American country to send troops overseas to fight in WWII.

[Witt]

So, Marc, do you have any idea if it should be Allied or Axis leaning, in this game?
Perhaps it should stay Allied, but Argentina should be made pro Axis.
Might be fun to hot things up in South America.
Have just looked and Argentina is 3 SZ from Gib. and does not border Brazil. Might not be as fun as I thought. Does have 4 Inf. Is still 2 moves  from SW Africa (4 SZs). One from French West Africa.

[CWO Marc]

@wittmann:

So, Marc, do you have any idea if it should be Allied or Axis leaning, in this game?
Perhaps it should stay Allied, but Argentina should be made pro Axis.
Might be fun to hot things up in South America.

When I get home tonight, I’ll check my files for a list I once prepared of the historical pro-Axis / pro-Allied leanings of the various countries on the Global map.  I’ll see what the situation was in Latin America specifically.  From memory, I’d say Brazil should definitely be counted as pro-Allied.  I think there was one country in South America that I categorized in my list as pro-Axis; it may indeed have been Argentina, but I’ll consult my list to make sure.  One country (Bolivia, IIRC) joined the Allies at mid-war, in 1943.  A number of late-comers hopped into the Allied camp in 1945, which I think is the diplomatic equivalent of cheating (wait until victory is guaranteed for one side, then join that side just before the shooting stops), so I still classed them as neutrals in my list.  I’ll post the details here tomorrow.

[Young Grasshopper]

gonna read this on the train to work tomorrow, it looks externally interesting.

[Witt]

Thanks Marc.

YG: I agree. Is always nice to have a different set up.

[toblerone77]

KNP I really applaud this type of customization! This is in a similar vane to something I’ve been working on for ages.

Secondly I finally got my Dad to platy Axis & Allies Revised on Labor Day after literally trying to persuade him for twenty years. I bring this up because he wants to jump straight to Global and asked if players can come up with alternative history/timeline scenarios. I grinned a wide grin and replied "oh yeah, me and a bunch of the guys I talk to on A&A.org come up with stuff all the time.

Kudos KNP!

[knp7765]

toblerone77,
I’m glad you like it. What did you think about my alternate history? A couple of points may have been pure fantasy, but I think a lot of it could have been plausible if certain figures made different decisions. Particularly in Japan. A little while back, I read the book “Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy” by Eri Hotta. It covered a lot of the events in Japan that lead up to the Pearl Harbor attack. It was amazing to me how many of the government leaders in Japan that were actually wanting more peaceful resolutions to their problems with the US. They would often get together in private meetings and agree with each other that they didn’t want war. By the way, this includes Hideki Tojo. Then when they make more public speeches, they take this hard line, Japan is invincible stance. None of them wanted to seem “weak” in front of the others or the general public. Talk about the ultimate peer pressure.

wittmann,
Do you have first edition or second edition Europe 40 maps? I have the second edition and Argentina does border Brazil, right between Uruguay and Paraguay. They also share sea zone 85.

CWO Marc,
YES! Fritz Kuhn was the one I was thinking about.

[Witt]

I have both, but was using my tired old eyes and AAA.
Thank you for pointing out my error. Bordering each other makes it more fun if one is Allied friendly and the other Axis! Will look again later.

[CWO Marc]

@wittmann:

So, Marc, do you have any idea if it should be Allied or Axis leaning, in this game?
Perhaps it should stay Allied, but Argentina should be made pro Axis.
Might be fun to hot things up in South America.

Here’s my assessment of where the countries of Latin America stood historically (as opposed to what the Global game map says) in relation to the Axis and the Allies, with some ideas on how this might play out in A&A terms.

Central America
This map territory is actually a region consisting mostly of sovereign states: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras (a.k.a. Spanish Honduras), Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.  All of them joined the Allies in December 1941.  The region also includes two foreign-controlled territories – British Honduras (a British possession in the years 1871-1964) and the Panama Canal Zone (controlled by the United States) – which both entered the war when their respective controlling countries did. 
Assessment: they were Allied nations from the moment when the US entered the war.

West Indies
This is a region comprising a  mix of sovereign states and foreign-held territories.  The sovereign states were  Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic; all three joined the Allies in December 1941.  The foreign-held territories consisted of American ones like Puerto Rico; British ones like Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad, Tobago and some of the Lesser Antilles (including Barbados); French ones like Martinique and Guadeloupe; and Dutch ones like St. Martin.  All of these entered the war when their respective controlling countries did. 
Assessment: treated as a group for the sake of simplicity, they were Allied nations from the moment when the US entered the war.

Mexico
Declared war on the Axis powers in May 1942 after a number of U-boat attacks on Mexican ships. 
Assessment: became an Allied nation about half a year after the US entered the war.

Brazil
Declared war on the Axis powers in August 1942 after a number of U-boat attacks on Brazilian ships.  It became the only Latin American nation to send troops overseas when it contributed about two divisions to the European theatre in 1944.
Assessment: became an Allied nation about half a year after the US entered the war.

Bolivia
Joined the Allies in 1943 (the only country in the world to declare war in that year), but shortly thereafter its President was overthrown and was replaced by a new President with fascist sympathies.  The country remained in the war on the Allied side, but made no military contributions.
Assessment: for the sake of simplicity, can be considered a neutral state; it entered the war in mid-stream, on a more or less nominal basis.

Chile
Initially neutral due to its commercial interests with Germany, but gradually distanced itself from the Axis nations, with whom it finally broke relations in 1943.  Declared war on Japan in 1945.
Assessment: neutral until the last year of the war.

Ecuador
Stayed neutral until February 1945, when it joined the Allies.
Assessment: neutral until the last year of the war.

Uruguay
Neutral for much of the war.  Broke off relations with the Axis in early 1942.  Joined the Allies in February 1945.
Assessment: neutral until the last year of the war.

Columbia
Although it does not appear to have ever joined the Allies in a formal sense, Columbia leaned in their direction.  It broke relations with the Axis soon after Pearl Harbor; it supplied the Allies with oil; it signed the United Nations Declaration in July 1943; and it declared a state of “belligency” against Germany in late 1943 following a U-boat attack on a Colombian ship.
Assessment: should at the very least be considered pro-Allies, but probably not an actual Allied nation.

Peru
Peru did not formally declare war on the Axis powers until 1945, but it supported the Allied powers from an early date.  It broke relations with the Axis in January 1942; it allowed an American air base to operate from its territory and supplied it with aviation fuel; and its ships patroled the Panama Canal area.
Assessment: should be considered pro-Allies.

Venezuela
Venezuela did not formally declare war on the Axis powers until late in the war, but it broke relations with the Axis powers soon after Pearl Harbor and it was an important source of oil for the Allies throughout the war.
Assessment: should be considered pro-Allies.

Argentina
Stayed neutral for most of the war, despite being ruled by a succession of authoritarian and/or military regimes.  This was due in part to the fact that neutrality was seen as being economically advatageous (since the country could sell exports to both sides), but also due to conflicts within the Argentine government between fascists and leftist radicals. The US pressured Argentina to join the Allies, but this was offset by Argentina’s traditionally close ties with Germany, with a resulting preference for neutrality.  A small number of Argentine volunteers fought on the Allied side.  Argentina broke relations with the Axis powers in June 1943 following a coup, but only joined the Allies in March 1945.
Assessment: neutral until the last year of the war, but politically volatile and with some potential to have tilted in either direction at an earlier date.

Paraguay

The country’s authoritarian government was openly sympathetic to the Axis, as was the country’s large German population.  The US tried to decrease German influence in Paraguay with financial assistance, but had only limited succes.  Paraguay did not act against German economic and diplomatic interests in the country until it joined the Allies in February 1945. 
Assessment: should be considered pro-Axis.

[Witt]

Wow. A lot of time and effort has gone into that post. Thank you.
Probably best to leave Brazil Allied friendly then. The US probably does not need its 3 Inf in this scenario anyway.

[knp7765]

Hey guys. We started out this game and got through the first round tonight. Before we could start, I realized that I had to rework some of the National Objectives, then I ended up making a pretty big change with China.
United States National Objectives:
10 IPCs = US control of Eastern US, Central US, Western US, Mexico, SW Mexico, Central America, West Indies and Alaska.
  5 IPCs = US Control of Hawaii, Midway, Wake, Guam and Philippines.
  5 IPCs = US control of Borneo, Celebes, Java and Sumatra.
  5 IPCs = US control of Japan (Tokyo)
  5 IPCs = US control of New South Wales (Sydney)
  5 IPCs = US control of Kiangsu (Shanghai)
  5 IPCs = US control of India (Calcutta)
Japan National Objectives:
  5 IPCs = Japanese control of all Japanese Pacific Islands
  5 IPCs = Allied control of Borneo, Celebes, Java and Sumatra
  5 IPCs = Japanese Control of Philippines and Guam
CHINA:
  5 IPCs = (Once at war) Chinese control of all Chinese territories
I made China an industrialized nation, but a little less than others. They start with a Major Factory in Shanghai and can produce any units they wish with the exception of capital ships (Battleships and Aircraft Carriers). All new units purchased by China must be placed at their Major Factory.
With this rule, China is now allowed to purchase ships, including transports, and leave Chinese borders. Chinese air units can fly out over the ocean and attack Axis ships. Chinese units are allowed to enter Allied territories.
If Shanghai is captured, the Major Factory is reduced to a Minor Factory like any other. Now Chinese production is dependent upon the Burma Road and China may only purchase infantry and artillery. China may now place those new units in any Chinese controlled territory.
If the Burma Road is closed by Axis capture of Szechwan, Yunnan, Burma and/or India, then China can ONLY purchase infantry and place them in any Chinese controlled territory.
If Shanghai is liberated, China can resume purchasing any units they like within the limitations of a Minor Factory (no units over 10 IPCs) and they can upgrade the Minor Factory back to a Major Factory for 10 IPCs.
If Shanghai is captured, China will be able to collect the Burma Road National Objective (if all 4 territories of the Burma Road are held by Allies). If Shanghai is liberated, China can continue to collect the Burma Road NO. Once China regains ALL of it’s territories, the Burma Road NO will drop.
Burma Road National Objective:
  6 IPCs = Allied Control of Szechwan, Yunnan, Burma and India. This occurs when Shanghai is captured by Axis forces and will not drop off until China captures all original territories again.
To incorporate this change, I have added the following to China’s setup:
Kiangsu = 1 Major Factory, 1 Air Base, 1 Naval Base, 4 Infantry, 1 Artillery, 1 Tank, 1 Fighter

It is interesting to see China more active. Perhaps it won’t make the Allies as weak as I first thought they would be in making the US this big powerful Axis nation.

[Witt]

All makes a lot of sense. Good  thinking.
Might be you can scrap the 10 for the US, as they will soon have conquered territories, like the Japanese would traditionally. I cannot see the US losing any of its starting 52. Otherwise it will be on a 100 within a few turns and that might prove too much.

[knp7765]

Here’s a quick report of our round 1.
GERMANY = Purchased 1 carrier, 1 destroyer and 1 submarine.
Attacked Normandy, France, Southern France and Yugoslavia. Won France, lost 5 infantry, 1 artillery. Won Southern France, lost 1 mech. Won Yugoslavia, lost 1 infantry. LOST Normandy, lost 2 mechs, retreated 1 tank to Holland.
Sank all Royal Navy ships in Sea Zones 109, 110, and 111. Lost 2 subs in SZ 110, no planes lost. Suffered 1 hit on battleship in SZ 111, no other losses. Both subs in SZ 109 survived.
Took Finland and Bulgaria in NCM. CA and TT SZ 114 moved to SZ 112. All ships placed SZ 112.
SOVIET UNION = Purchased 4 Artillery, 2 Tanks, 3 Infantry.
Massing units on border. New units placed at forward factories.
UNITED STATES = Purchased 2 Carriers, 2 Transports, 1 Submarine.
Took all Canadian/Commonwealth territories. Destroyed small Canadian Navy.
Attacked Japanese Navy in Sea Zones 6, 19 and 20. US sub killed IJN Cruiser and Transport in SZ 20. US FTR and TAC killed IJN Destroyer in SZ 19 but couldn’t touch IJN Sub. Destroyed all Japanese ships plus scramble aircraft in SZ 6, survived with 1 carrier, 2 fighters and 1 damaged battleship. Also used 3 transports to land 4 infantry, 1 artillery and 1 tank on Korea, Won that battle but lost 2 infantry.
Sent 3 transports and took Brazil. Lost 1 infantry.
Moved some units for attack on Japan. Other units in position to attack Commonwealth navy. Placed 1 CV, 1 SS, 2 TT in SZ 10. 1 CV in SZ 101.
JAPAN = Purchased 5 infantry.
Attacked US Navy in SZ 6 with 1 fighter from Formosa, 1 fighter from Carolines, 1 Sub from SZ 19, 1 DD from SZ 33 and 1 Bomber from Japan. Both sides wiped each other out so 3 US transports survive undefended.
Placed 5 infantry in Japan.
CHINA = Purchased 2 DD, 1 Transport.
Attacked Korea with 3 infantry, 1 artillery from Manchuria. Lost battle with no US losses.
Sent fighter to SZ 6 and sank US transports then returned to Shanghai.
Placed 2 DD, 1 TT in SZ 19.
UNITED KINGDOM = Purchased 6 infantry, 1 fighter, 1 transport.
Sent fighter from Scotland to attack German Battleship in SZ 111. UK fighter was killed, German BB survived.
Sent 2 FTR, 1 Bomber from UK, 1 CV, 1 CA, 1 DD, 1 TAC from SZ 98 all to SZ 97. Killed 1 Italian BB, CA, 2 FTRS and 1 German FTR with 1 TAC, 1 Bomber surviving.
Sent 1 FTR from Gibraltar, 1 FTR from Malta to attack Italian DD, TT in SZ 96. Killed Italian ships but lost 1 fighter.
All units from Alexandria, 1 mech from Egypt and 1 infantry,1 artillery via transport to Tobruk. UK won with 1 tank, 1 mech and 1 artillery surviving.
NCM = 1 infantry from Sudan to Kenya. Infantry/artillery via transport to Sumatra. CA DD from SZ 39 to SZ 41. 1 BB from SZ 37 to SZ 54.
Placed 6 infantry, 1 fighter on England. 1 transport SZ 39.
ITALY = Purchased 1 fighter.
CA, DD, SS from SZ 95 to SZ 93. Both French ships sunk, no Italian losses.
1 inf/1 art via transport from N Italy to Greece along with 2 infantry, 1 tank from Albania. Won battle with loss of 2 infantry.
Inf/Art from Libya attack Tunisia. Won battle, lost 1 infantry.
1 infantry from Ethiopia move into Sudan.
1 infantry/1 artillery from Ethiopia and 1 infantry from Italian Somaliland to Kenya. Won battle, lost 1 infantry.
1 tank, 1 bomber from N Italy to Normandy. Won battle, lost bomber.
Placed 1 fighter in Southern Italy.
COMMONWEALTH = Purchased 1 tank, 1 mech, 1 transport, 1 infantry.
Attacked Sudan with 2 infantry in Egypt. Won battle with no losses.
Moved fighter from New Zealand to Queensland. Moved transport from SZ 62 with infantry/artillery from Queensland to Java. Moved DD SZ 63 and CA SZ 62 to SZ 54.
Placed 1 tank 1 mech in South Africa. 1 TT in SZ 71. 1 Infantry in New South Wales.
FRANCE = Capital captured, no purchases.
Moved 1 infantry from Morocco and 1 fighter from England to Algeria. Moved 1 infantry from French West Africa to French Central Africa. Moved 1 Infantry from Syria to Trans-Jordan. Moved 1 DD from SZ 72 to SZ 81.

Well, that’s how it sits so far. The US did a lot right off the bat, but definitely had a set back against Japan. Allowing China more options looks pretty interesting so far. Looking forward to see how this works out.
So far Europe seems to be going as a typical game of G40. Germany had pretty good luck for the most part, Normandy notwithstanding. UK had a lot of good action against Italy, but lost a lot of RAF and Royal Navy in the process. I think Italy is still in fairly good shape. It will depend on what the Commonwealth does from S. Africa.

[Witt]

Does not seem to hopeful for the Allies. Can you see a chink of light?
What is the income differential end of the turn?
Did the Axis also start with more TUV? If so, surely it will win.

[knp7765]

Well, we are through round 3 and here is the way things look:
Germany took London. Lost 3 aircraft to AA fire so now has 1 fighter, 4 Stukas and 2 Bombers in the Luftwaffe. Won London with 6 tanks left, so fairly costly. One really weird difference is USA sent over 2 bombers and ran an SBR on London’s IC. They are in Paris and plan to help Germany attack Russia. USA has little presence in Europe/Atlantic as they are pretty busy with ANZAC, Japan and China.
Russia launched attacks on Finland, Poland, Hungary and Romania. I think our Russian player misjudged the strength of his attacking forces and Germany had a little good luck on defensive dice. Russians won overwhelmingly in Finland, but still lost 4 infantry. Russian won in Poland but only with 2 artillery, 2 tanks left. Russia LOST in Hungary, retreated 2 tanks, 1 artillery to E Poland. Russia LOST in Romania, lost all land units, retreated 1 fighter and 1 tactical bomber. So while Russia has a fair amount of money now, they are not in a good strategic position.
USA is poised to attack Japan. USA attacked China by taking Manchuria and Shanghai. Only survived with 1 tank, 1 artillery in both places. China had enough to take both territories back, but they are pretty weak right now. USA also took New Zealand and killed ANZAC navy plus British BB, but lost 2 cruisers and 4 destroyers in the process.
Japan is in poor shape. Will probably be taken by US next round.
United Kingdom has lost London, but they still have a few units around. UK took Philippines from US and also took out Iraq.
Italians are having real trouble in the Med. Commonwealth forces wiped out Italians in Africa. Italians tried to launch amphibious assault on Egypt with 3 transports, 1 cruiser and 1 destroyer against 1 French Destroyer. The French Destroyer sank BOTH Italian warships causing Italian transports to retreat to SZ 96 with all their stuff still on them and no protection. On France’s turn, French fighter based in Gibraltar flew out and sank those transports. Cost Italy a LOT of money. It may take them a while to bounce back from this.
Commonwealth is doing fairly well for losing all of Canada. They have cleared Africa of Axis units and getting ready to emerge into the Med and possibly cause more problems for Italy. However, they have to worry about the US force in New Zealand which threatens Sydney. At present, they have more protection on Sydney than the US forces in the area can overcome, but once US finishes Japan, perhaps ANZAC will be the next victim to Yankee Imperialism.
So far, it is looking like it will be an Axis victory, but the Allies are fighting like hell to stop it. So it’s not just a total blowout at least.

[Witt]

Thanks again for reporting.
I am sure it has been fun and a nice change, but if you want to play again, I think you need to take the Home NOs off the US. Did you reduce the number of Transports too?
Did you count up the starting Incomes and ensure that the Axis  started with less?
Perhaps the only hope is a stronger USSR: give them 10 more ground units.
The way I see it, if the US is not going to cross the Atlantic to save Russia, by opening up a Second Front, why would Germany not DOW it on G2? Germany can usually capture Moscow or neutralise its income very quickly and there will not be a rescue effort coming from anywhere. Japan cannot help.
Thanks again, Knp, for devising this evil little plan.

[knp7765]

Hey Wittmann,
To answer some of your questions:
No, I did not reduce the # of US Transports. That was actually an oversight on my part. Just forgot.
I will take into consideration further change of the US NOs. You are probably right that the Home Territory NO could be scrapped.
No, I didn’t do any figuring on incomes, but I just did now and in territory income the Allies have 149 and the Axis have 92. Not as big a swing as the traditional game. After all, in the traditional G 40 game, Axis power Japan starts with 26. Now Axis power USA starts with 52, twice as much. I didn’t figure in any NOs either. I suppose if I wanted to make this a more serious setup possibility, I should probably rework not only the setup but the map itself. Since this is very ahistorical, I could probably push it a little further. What do you think about these ideas that come to mind:
Alaska and Aleutian Islands belong to the Soviet Union. Say the US never bought Alaska from Russia, or Russia never sold it. That’s a 2 IPC deduction from US and addition to Russia.
Philippines, Guam, Wake, Midway, Hawaii all belong to Japan. Perhaps the US lost the Spanish American War and Japan ended up making a deal with Spain for Philippines and Guam. Maybe the native Hawaiian people voted for Japanese rule rather than US rule and Japan helped them with some sort of uprising. Maybe Wake and Midway went along with Hawaii. OR, Wake and Midway could still be US forward bases with the US intention of taking back Hawaii from Japan. That would be a 3 IPC loss from US and a 3 IPC addition to Japan.
Another idea for Mexico, SE Mexico, Central America and West Indies. Suggesting that the US lost the Spanish American War, these territories could all be considered Spanish colonies and thus STRICT Neutrals. That would be another 5 IPCs deducted from the US income.
So with these ideas, that would cut down the US income to 42 IPCs per turn. Unfortunately, that is the value of EUS, CUS and WUS so you can’t cut it down any more. The US would be left with their home territories and a few small islands in the pacific.
You mentioned adding units to Russia. I am wondering if this setup might require an overall Allied bid of extra units to the starting setup, some for Russia and some for UK. I already added a few new units to Commonwealth, but perhaps they would need a few more as well.
I will have to give this some more thought.
Thanks for your input wittmann. Let me know what you think about the above ahistorical ideas.