7.0 turn 1 pics and report

U.S. Navy sits off Philippines Japan clears the Indian Ocean.

Italy pushes south and raids British convoys.

South Africa. Washington.

Moscow. Novosibirsk KVs.

British Bombers and Soviets in Russian east.

We use HBG dice boxes to marshal our purchases.

Bill, we gave Russia 15 IPC to start and she rolled for income and declaration of war as before. Past that, for the most part, we stuck to the 7.1 rules. We knew 48 IPC per turn from word go would be a killer. The new units are a good idea and are definitely a game changer. 6 IPC German tanks make sense too (I hate to admit it). The game is certainly more balanced now.

We reverted to the old fortification rules after turn 2 as well.

Yes, -2 on naval units would be good as well as air units.

One thing we noticed was that infantry would have no value other than fodder when attacking forts (-2 to infantry means that possibly 10 attacking infantry have no attack value unless supported by artillery). This didn’t make a lot of sense as infantry would more than likely be the best instrument to use against fortifications. Boosting the defending infantry as before made sense as they would be “dug in” with the assumption being there would be machine gun nests, mortar pits etc. supporting the defence.

This being said, maybe it is time to introduce an engineer unit, especially given that I understand there may be rivers and /or other obstacles in '36. Siege guns might be cool too (I’m thinking about the Karl/Thor mortar batteries here).

Past that, most of the changes made were positive. I spoke with SS beforehand and he (and) I believed the whole Russia with 48 from word go would be a killer. Judging by some of the other feedback I’ve read, I think this is so. As it is, with the changes made, the Axis take higher casualties than before. It could have been worse as my partner and I had lucky rolls for the first couple of turns.

I also think the changes gave opponents a false sense of security. It seemed they figured they could fart around more in the beginning. Now they’re in a bit of a panic and struggling to gain the initiative or at least stop the bleeding and stabilize the situation. Thing is, the allies can afford to falter in the early game and still come back. They have the depth in terms of base areas and resources. The gravity of the situation has set in and they are rallying for the long game of defence/delay. Grabbing those 12 cities (especially those in Russia) will not be easy for the Axis.

I have some more pics to edit and post. It’ll take me a bit.

Things aren’t looking too good for the allies but the Axis have not taken 12 VCs and it’s going on turn 10.

Believe it or not, our game is not over. Due to interruptions we have made it only to turn 10. The Axis hold 11 victory cities and are just outside of Moscow and Stalingrad.

It is a race against time as the U.S. player is preparing a landing force off of Washington/New England. The Russian fleet (after escaping pursuing Germans) and remnants of the Commonwealth Atlantic fleet have rallied to them. The U.S. is also making incursions into South America and will link up with ANZAC forces which have (finally) activated Brazil. The U.S. Pacific fleet has vacated the Philippine sea zone and made for the Japanese forces lying off of Dutch New Guinea. These forces have essentially blockaded Australia. The Americans are also beefing up their land based defences on the west coast.

The Japanese have taken the Philippines. They continue to trade Burma with FEC but have completely subdued Red and Nationalist China. A small Japanese force stands on the border with Novosibirsk. The Japanese also occupy Vladivostok and the most eastern Soviet territories. While the Russian still holds Northern Manchuria, this force represents a rear guard as the Soviets are withdrawing in response to growing Japanese forces on the home islands, the Novosibirsk, Stalingrad and Moscow threats.

The Italians continue to scratch their way to South Africa while expanding into the Middle East and supporting Axis advances in the Ukraine. The Italian Navy maintains a small presence in the North Atlantic which will most certainly end voluntarily or not.

The Germans and Minors are battering at the gates of Moscow and Stalingrad while augmenting their Baltic and Atlantic fleets. Spain is now an Axis power. Gibraltar has fallen. The Africa Corps is in Cairo and Axis forces are moving toward India.

The Commonwealth organized an airborne reinforcement effort to Russia. Infantry from Calcutta has landed in Stalingrad to help bolster the defences. More transport planes have appeared in London. It may be too little too late.

Below are some turn 6 pics from this weekend’s game.

We have the Japanese home islands with Yamato and Japanese moves into New Guinea.

Mediterranean, Bosporus Straits, Middle East, Africa, and English Channel.

Eastern Russia, China. FEC/Japan fight on.

Though our game is not over (we’ve made a commitment to put in a couple of hours tonight), here are some general observations.

The rule amendments have shifted the balance making things easier for the Allies in terms of staying power and options. Axis gains in this weekend’s game had more to do with good dice rolls, focused play, and weak Allied coordination than any balance issues.

If we had used the 80 IPC starting cash, or 48 IPC income from word go for Russia, a chimp could’ve played them successfully. As it was, increased Soviet forces caused a slowdown on Japan’s and Germany’s push. If the Russian player had been more aggressive, especially against Japan….

The UK fleet is harder to sink now. It can be done, but luck and a willingness to accept higher German air and naval casualties --with possibly no payoff-- are needed. More UK planes make things rougher for the Germans.

15 IPCs starting cash for Italy is a bit low but “manageable”.

No further reduction to Axis forces should take place.

6 IPC German tanks are a boon to the Russians and made for more diverse purchasing and tactical choices for the German player.

Germany should start with a paratroop unit and an air transport.

We liked the old fortification rules better but it seems the new ones, or some variation thereof, will be the case.

We’d like to see the U.S. start out with a Marine or two somewhere (even if they cannot build more before war breaks out). Japan starts with SNLF. The Americans should have Marines as they existed well before the war started (so went the argument).

We’re not satisfied with Vichy yet. For instance, having a Vichy transport in the Med which can’t even transport Vichy units is frustrating.

Communist China’s reinforcements are a PITA for Japan. The new Chinese placement allowance is too. If you wanted to make things tougher for Japan, pat yourselves on the back; a Japanese player won’t  :wink:.

Japan’s sneak attack is ok but the old two-impulse one from the Xeno days was better (in my opinion :-D).

Tangential stuff:

Engineers would be cool  :mrgreen:.

We recommend Global '39 players try playing with resource markers. They add a new dimension and depth to the game.

The consensus is we cannot wait for '36, the expansions (especially amphibious warfare) and new pieces.

Thanks for reading, considering our/my findings, and following our game this weekend.

I’ll post more pics later,

Koba

That’s right John,

We used the set up and most of the 7.1 rules but hung on to some of the 6.1 such as Russian income and fortifications.