Changes to help Allies in 2nd Edition


  • I am thinking of the next changes:

    • remove 1 Fighter and 1 TB on homeland Japan (Japan is much too strong!);
    • remove MIC on Ukraine (only helps Germany when they invade, and they almost always do);
    • place one extra artillery on Leningrad;
    • remove 3 Russian infantry in the East and replace them with artillery;
    • Lend Lease for England: bonus of 10 IPC in 2nd, 3rd and 4th round, until US comes into the war (won’t affect Sea Lion that much, because you can only place 10 units on UK);
    • put two UK-infantry units on Gibraltar.

    How does this sound? It’s a lot of changes perhaps, but I think the allies will still be in a disadvantage. If Japan holds the East Indies and Germany defeats Russia, the Axis are almost unbeatable… .

    Your insights please!

  • '15

    0: This belongs in the houserule thread.

    1: -
    2: (You’ve never seen a Sea Lion game, then, I take it?)
    3: -
    4: This is a rather significant increase in the offensive power of the far east Russians.
    5: You may fundamentally misunderstand the subtlety of the game. “Only ten units”, except now one of the infantry is a fighter, or now the U.K. can repair London after a G2 SBR and produce 10 units.
    6: This screws over Italy more than they are already screwed over.

    How does this sound? This sounds bad.

  • '14 Customizer

    I agree with Teslas, well said.  I was just about to post the exact same thing for #5.

  • Sponsor

    Here would be my solution…

    1. Remove 1 Japanese fighter and 1 tactical bomber from Manchuria
    2. Add 1 American destroyer off Washington
    3. Add 1 British submarine off Calcutta
    4. Add 1 Russian strategic bomber in Moscow

    That’s a 47 IPC swing in favor of the Allies without tampering with opening strategies.

  • '15

    Your suggestions do tamper with opening strategies.

    1: That’s two less planes to hit Hunan. Without them, the J1 has been weakened a bit.

    2: Now the Germans may be less willing to jam their submarine into the British DD/TT off of the coast of canada for that 50/50 chance. Part of the draw of this is knowing that it will be able to convoy U.K. if it wins, and knowing that the US can’t retaliate prevent it, even if there is a J1 DoW.
    edit- Well, it’s a 40/20/40, so 40% chance to convoy, not 50%. Still.

    3: This extra Indian sub affects something for sure. The 1/3 chance the Japanese cruiser has of surviving after killing the UK BB in SZ 37 can now be killed very cheaply, which also removes its ability to potentially convoy UK Pac. For the 2/3 chance that the cruiser does die, now the submarine can hit SZ 36, causing at least one boat less to be on the Philippines after a J1 to dissuade it from doing so, reducing your overall fleet mobility. And whatever happens with the cruiser, the sub can always hit 43, maybe further causing you to need to pull a boat off of the Philippines.

    4: This only really affects a G1 Barbarossa, which isn’t super common, but still.

    This is to say nothing for the long-term consequences of these additions. You only made the claim that these units don’t affect opening strategies_*_, and it seems to me that they clearly do affect them.

    *I interpreted this to mean the combat moves on the first round of play.

    So yeah, J1 is knocked two pegs down.

    The G1 strategy, while already not the best, is reduced in its effectiveness as well, so you’re limiting Germany’s options of variety–something I don’t care to do since far too many games are G2/G3 Barbarossa in my opinion. Variety is the spice of life.

  • Sponsor

    Exellent post, and many great points… I guess what I meant was the idea of leaving the oob Med setup the way it is (which seems to be where most bid units end up).

    As for the American destroyer, I’m still sending my German sub to try and take out the UK units, even if the sub survives and convoys once before the US purchases their first destroyer, it still can’t escape… so the Germans will lose one attempt to convoy (if the German sub survives the 50/50 battle).

    The J1 attack is not completely lost, Yes there are 2 less planes for Hunan, but I always felt that battle was over kill to begin with, and I always consider the cruiser dead anyways because I use it as a casualty against the UK battleship. If that cruiser is still around for the added sub to attack… then it’s not a slam dunk that the sub will roll a 2 for the surprise strike.

    I guess what I meant was that my changes wouldn’t effect opening strategies as much as placing bid units wherever.

    Â


  • Thanks all for your insight!

    1. When we played First Edition Sea Lion was a good option. But in the Second Edition, we only played Sea Lion once and it didn’t work out well for the Axis. Does anyone have an insight on that?

    2. And when we play the Axis Japans always attacks UK/US in the 3rd round. Is that a good idea in your opinion? Or should Japan attack earlier?

    3. And when should Germany attack Russia? We attack in the second round… .


  • Hi Tolstoj,

    I’ve never played 1st Ed., so I have no insight upon the differences between the two editions. But in one of our games ‘Seelöwe’ was successful on G2 due to the errors of the British player in UK1.

    There are several players who opt for a attack by Japan on J1. The sinking of the British BB is one argument. Personally I like to attack on J2 or J3 after my invasion forces are in position, so I’m able to capture the ‘treasure islands’ and Malaya in one single turn. (And in most cases one or two British and/or ANZAC transports can be sunk in addition.)

    As Germany I prefer to launch ‘Barbarossa’ on my second turn. On G1 capture France, sink as many British ships as possible and weaken Yugoslavia by attacking it for one round of combat and then retreat to Romania (so Italy can finish her off).

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