In all actuality it was almost pure luck that Russia did survive the war. If Hitler had not split his massive Barbarossa force to attack South, Moscow would have surely fallen. I think the best way to make the game a little more fair is have it start in 1940 or 39 like the new AAE40 will do. Starting at the beginning of 41 like AAE does highlights the ineptitude that Stalin had by not strengthening his front lines and purging his army in the 30’s by killing I believe 70% of his officers. If we are given control in 1939 the German force would be smaller than the Soviets (had the largest army in the world: equaled all other armies tanks put together and had more planes than all others combined), but the Germans have a stronger economy. So the Russian player is given time to move his forces (albeit outclassed forces) into position for a massive offensive by Germany. We could right Stalin’s mistakes and Hitler’s as well (he attacked Yugoslavia right before Barbarossa, killing 6 precious weeks of good weather that would be needed for the Russian offensive). But at the current state the game is pretty accurate, if there is a determined German player and a non-cohesive allied force then Germany will win 90% of the time. But if the allies work together (UK helping out Russia while the US does its thing to invade Europe) then the game swings to a very balanced game where dice rolls and a little luck is what usually wins the day, or a little mistake by either side, which is how the game should be IMO.
Simplified house rules for newbie players?
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Me and my friends just discovered AA Europe. Great game, but we have discovered that it’s terribly unbalanced, as most of you seem to know already.
We looked up a few house rules and most of the ones we found are very long winded and complicated for guys like us who are just starting out.
Does anyone have some house rules to balance the game that are a little more basic? Not looking for anything crazy.
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AAE is a great game. If you don’t read any of the online articles of how to break the game then it can be quite enjoyable. It is my experience that very new gamers find Germany wins, and then with some experience it shifts to the Allies. Then with some of the game breaking techniques it flips back to Germany. Which stage is you group at?
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I would download the pdf rules available for the earlier editions of Axis and Allies and incorporate some of them - the rules have gradually gotten more complex since the '80s.