• This thread is for those who have played Global war 1936, and have thoughts/opinions on what’s worth it, how games have gone, or any ideas that come to be about the game. I know that a lot of people have played, but it’s just starting to become publicly popular, so I want to expand it’s popularity and get it out there.

    I personally have played about 2/3 of a single 1936 scenario as Germany. I enjoy the game, and have opinions from friends on what they thought of the game based on their perspective. I did have a full 8 players to play the game, just for an idea of how many different angles were brought to my attention.


  • My group prefer the 1939 scenario.

    It takes some time to ‘unlearn’ old A&AG40 habits, but when you do, and the skill level of the group as a whole starts to improve, it is a fantastic game.

  • '17

    We have played 1936 for a year+ now. Played as every nation most more than once.

    Definitely worth it as Japan to completely eliminate the Chinese (both factions).
    Otherwise it becomes a constant drain of resources. Chinese units keep popping up and attacking Japanese controled china. Distracting from the other fights with the British, Anzac, US and possibly USSR. Every time Japan leaves some of china alive it becomes a pest in the background, and Japan tends to lose. Either leave China alone while you eliminate another nation or crush it totally first, depending upon your strategy. If China ever gets its civil war resolved and can leave its borders, Japan is in a bad spot. Japan also gets a tidy bit of cash from all china. This can be used to eliminate the other factions one at a time and grow too large for the US to match economically.


  • @Royal:

    This thread is for those who have played Global war 1936, and have thoughts/opinions on what’s worth it, how games have gone, or any ideas that come to be about the game. I know that a lot of people have played, but it’s just starting to become publicly popular, so I want to expand it’s popularity and get it out there.

    I personally have played about 2/3 of a single 1936 scenario as Germany. I enjoy the game, and have opinions from friends on what they thought of the game based on their perspective. I did have a full 8 players to play the game, just for an idea of how many different angles were brought to my attention.

    Awesome! I’m glad its getting publicly popular. I try to spread its fame as often as I can as well.

    I’ve got about….two dozen games in, a rough ballpark, and I’ve managed to play every nation a few times and try out different strategies.
    I personally prefer the 1936 start, but it does have some disadvantages. By having so much time to prepare before the war, often times the war itself can go ahistorically, and sometimes in a really odd way.
    For instance, once i captured Moscow from Archangel with the German Fleet, another time Japan captured Ethiopia, and in yet another Italy captured India. The 1936 start is generally fun for the aggressors and harder on the defenders, because they can name a time and place to strike.

    Generally though, once a few house rules are hammered home, like; Nations cannot make amphibious assaults outside of Operational Range of a Naval Base, a lot of the weird stuff becomes impossible to do and you find yourself going more historic.
    But that seems to be where the line is, people who like a more historical game enjoy playing from 1939, those that enjoy the preparation, the Spanish Civil War, the Turkey Expansion, the Japan-China War, a potential ahistorical stuff like Sea Lion, or whatever, they enjoy 1936.


  • @Munck:

    My group prefer the 1939 scenario.

    It takes some time to ‘unlearn’ old A&AG40 habits, but when you do, and the skill level of the group as a whole starts to improve, it is a fantastic game.

    I completely agree, its wild.

    After my group developed a core of experienced players, even with a few newbies to the game, we still finished a GW36 in under 9 hours. It boggled my mind. But its tabletop focus, doing turns when it doesn’t hinder others, it got pretty fast with two players doing their turns at once.

    Actually I want to make little flags, like mailbox flags, which players will signal their turn finishing as a visual aid to speed playing


  • @Rank:

    We have played 1936 for a year+ now. Played as every nation most more than once.

    Definitely worth it as Japan to completely eliminate the Chinese (both factions).
    Otherwise it becomes a constant drain of resources. Chinese units keep popping up and attacking Japanese controled china. Distracting from the other fights with the British, Anzac, US and possibly USSR. Every time Japan leaves some of china alive it becomes a pest in the background, and Japan tends to lose. Either leave China alone while you eliminate another nation or crush it totally first, depending upon your strategy. If China ever gets its civil war resolved and can leave its borders, Japan is in a bad spot. Japan also gets a tidy bit of cash from all china. This can be used to eliminate the other factions one at a time and grow too large for the US to match economically.

    Yeah I agree.

    I personally think Blitzing China with all Japan has got is the way to go. Do you play with the Manchukuo Expansion?


  • I’ve played (with no expansions) and like the greater flexibility that it offers - at least for the non-pacific areas at the start of the game. I find there is greater freedom of moves and purchases over the first 6 turns then in other variants, where Europe starts at war and you HAVE to purchase XXX and you HAVE to make XXX moves otherwise the game is over.

    We are about 8 turns into our current game and the one thing we are finding…difficult is some of the wordage used in the rules. I have a small shopping list of rules we want clarification on. Some players take the wording to be literal while others think some things are implied. I tend to lean back onto some A&A rules or wordage for certain things but the general consensus in my group is that there are quite a few errors in the rulebook and certain things that need to be clarified.

    For instance, Japanese vs Russia Border Clashes. Only the Country Charts describe this event and leave out details. Do all attacking units have to originate from the border territory? We allow the Japanese player to fly Aircraft into the battles as long as they have the movement required to do so. We can’t find any instances in the rulebook or Country Charts that state this cannot happen and our debate is split on it as well (border clashes implying only units on the actual border being able to take part vs if it can reach it, it can take part in it).

    I may create a thread here with all the other ‘issues’ we have come up with, or situations that we can’t find answers to!


  • I am not sure about everyone else, but I find that the Axis are winning games more often than not. Maybe it is the way my friends and I are playing, but the Allies typically do not do well and the Comintern doesn’t fare much better because Japan’s navy is almost unstoppable in the Pacific by July 1941 and the Germans are having their way with the Soviets in Russia after France has been pushed aside. With that being said, I usually start from 1936 because I enjoy the build up to war and the ability to purchase what you want, especially as the Axis. I play with the Oil Wars and Spanish Civil War expansion.

    Quick question, are you guys as the Allies and/or Comintern ever able to actually capture either Rome, Berlin or both? For example, I would take great joy in being the Soviet Union and driving it home all the way to Berlin, but it just hasn’t happened yet due to the fact that an ungodly amount of infantry is thrown in the capital by the time I get to one of those two capitals. This usually happens as soon as either Germany or Italy sense that the game is over for them.

  • '17

    @KingKuba:

    Quick question, are you guys as the Allies and/or Comintern ever able to actually capture either Rome, Berlin or both? For example, I would take great joy in being the Soviet Union and driving it home all the way to Berlin, but it just hasn’t happened yet due to the fact that an ungodly amount of infantry is thrown in the capital by the time I get to one of those two capitals. This usually happens as soon as either Germany or Italy sense that the game is over for them.

    Our games are 50/50 allies or axis

    Yes. Rome has fallen to russian amphibious assault, US twice and British. Free French almost lol 1bad roll away.

    Yes. Berlin has fallen by airborne 1 and only 1 time. Oops. But a few times otherwise to the allies.  If Germany goes after Russia I find its the best time for allies to attack Atlantic coast. Spam the whole coast. Until you can hit it hard and reinforce fast. Especially if london is allies. This tends to lead to the classic race for Berlin. Russia if able can use a combination of amphibious and land assault from poland to hit Germany. Germany has a hard time fighting in russia if new units are too far behind. Another way is through spain or medd. The more fronts the better. If Germany is forced to react you have the initiative now.

    Jinx dont have manchukuo expansion. Is it worth it?


  • This is my all time favorite game!!! I have played several games and the Axis usually win, but my opponents are still new to the game.  We’ll see how it goes next game, I am supposed to be one of the Allies or Russia.  Personally, I believe that the game is amazing, a step up from A&A, and definitely worth it!

    I currently play with the Spanish Civil War, Croatia, Netherlands, Ordnance I, II, & III, Gruppe Monsun, Turkey at War, DAK, Sea Lion, River Monitors, Elite Fighter Squadron, Manchoukou, American Minorities, Alaskan Warriors, and I just added Oil Wars (can’t wait to try it out).
      Yes, I think Manchoukou is worth it. It gives Japan some teeth in the mainland, but gives the Chinese the opportunity to create partisans and create havoc for an ill prepared Japan. I also use a few 3D expansions.IfMy games take about a weekend (if they get finished). But that is not caused by how many expansions I use. It is caused BH players studying the board, developing strategies,  and making every move count.  Our last game, I was the Axis and was crushing them. Then, towards the end of the second day, they finally realized that they could work together to achieve a common goal.  They helped the US (the newest guy) develop a purchasing plan for the next several turns, started conduction specific operations with exact goals, and even passing written messages between each other so I wouldn’t know their strategy!  Moscow went from a sitting duck to the fight of the game.  I barely won thanks to cbemical weapons.  If they had played like that the whole game, Idoubt victory would have been so easy or certain.  So as far as is the game balanced between the powers, I think that it depends on the skill and strategic quality of the players present.  A good player playing Germany can seem unstoppable, but the collective might of the Allies can turn the tide

    Jinx:  in my games, Japan usually tries to sack China to allow them a land path to India.  I really want to try your Refusing the Dragon strategy. How has its results held up in gameplay?

    For you fans…HBG will be releasing a 3rd edition in the future sometime.  Right now they are working on other stuff, but worn on expansions always remains steady. I have been told that there is stuff in the works for South America at war and introducing the Axis Minors in a more prominent role in the game!


  • Oh, I forgot to mention that the piece sets are great too. I have actually incorporated them into the “base” unit offerings.


  • @Rank:

    @KingKuba:

    Quick question, are you guys as the Allies and/or Comintern ever able to actually capture either Rome, Berlin or both? For example, I would take great joy in being the Soviet Union and driving it home all the way to Berlin, but it just hasn’t happened yet due to the fact that an ungodly amount of infantry is thrown in the capital by the time I get to one of those two capitals. This usually happens as soon as either Germany or Italy sense that the game is over for them.

    Our games are 50/50 allies or axis

    Yes. Rome has fallen to russian amphibious assault, US twice and British. Free French almost lol 1bad roll away.

    Yes. Berlin has fallen by airborne 1 and only 1 time. Oops. But a few times otherwise to the allies.  If Germany goes after Russia I find its the best time for allies to attack Atlantic coast. Spam the whole coast. Until you can hit it hard and reinforce fast. Especially if london is allies. This tends to lead to the classic race for Berlin. Russia if able can use a combination of amphibious and land assault from poland to hit Germany. Germany has a hard time fighting in russia if new units are too far behind. Another way is through spain or medd. The more fronts the better. If Germany is forced to react you have the initiative now.

    Jinx dont have manchukuo expansion. Is it worth it?

    See now this is interesting, because I’m playing Germany, and I don’t have nearly enough troops to get through Russia. It’s 1942, and I’m basically trying to hold onto the, what I call, “Leningrad line.” I built a lot of infantry, which in the end caused tons of problems because They simply can’t get to the front line fast enough. Don’t get me wrong, I make about 80 IPP’s, but I don’t have the mechanized power to keep the Russians at bay. What they have done is basically let me have everything, and stacked artillery and Militia in Moscow and Stalingrad, making them unreasonable to even try to attack. I don’t know what to do! America is just about to enter the war and throw roughly 10 transports at my door. Italy is doing well owning all of Africa, but Japan never did well and China and is basically 3 years behind the ballpark. I could start buying strategic bombers, but it seems like carpet bombing is a waste, even with heavy bombers.

    That brings me to a question that I would like to have input on for everyone who is reading this Forum (Thanks by the way, I really needed some feedback like this!) Carpet bombing only hits on a 2 or less, which is like hitting on a 1 for a D6, but worse because there’s more sides. (I know statistics are the same but they still never seem to hit!) I was thinking about increasing carpet bombing to a 3 or less, to give them the real firepower they had. I know that they were really good at simply destroying cities, but the only concept that can show that is by destroying factories. What do you guys think? Would it be too strong, or do you think it would be okay?


  • I our last 1939 game, Comintern actually stood to win (using the Victory Point system).
    A key element was conquering all of Scandinavia early on, which gave them the economic power to hold Germanys advance.

    The Winter War expansion will counter this strategy somewhat, and we will play with that from next time onwards. It has taken my group a lot of time to learn how to play Russia well. We have been influenced too much by old A&AG40 habits.

    It is truly a 3-person fight.  :wink:

  • '17

    @Royal:

    Ive found the best way to attack Russia as Germany over land routes is with mechanized,  tanks and tac bombers. Add fighters if Russians have some to match their fighters. These can move rather quickly, so the supply distance is minimized. Strategic rail 4 slower units to the Russian border.

    If you have leningrad. Or do same with Italy if you own turkey to reinforce the south in the black sea. Use naval transports to move slower/cheaper units directly from German factories, just like the US needs to do in combination with the tank, mech builds. These transports also keep UK builds a bit more defensive since they could reach there.

    To defend from Normandy type attacks at the same time. Cluster your defense on Paris and western germany and Munich. Use a stack that has a bunch of tanks, mech include AA to discourage carpet bombing and a pile of inf. These can reach any landings. Counter attack landings rather than speading your forces along the coast, I only use a few militia for this. Unless they attack with more than 10 transports you will easily remove each invasion before it is reinforced. I will build this up before moving on USSR so the German  back door is closed. If the Allies start moving large amounts of transports you will have time to build up these stacks and get them to consider making more, buying you time to beat Russia down. And only have 1 front fully engaged.

    For your ideas on strategic bombers I like it as it is, Infrastructure killers. They are good for preventing enemy to build units or at least waste money so they build weaker/less units. The medium and tac bombers fill the role of ground attack better already.

    Munck
    I like to play as Comintern. Especially if it is free to attack allies. Often gets underestimated and can get up there on victory points. Fun to be the guy both sides are worried about and hopefull about, Its all diplomacy till you start to attack.


  • @Royal:

    See now this is interesting, because I’m playing Germany, and I don’t have nearly enough troops to get through Russia. It’s 1942, and I’m basically trying to hold onto the, what I call, “Leningrad line.” I built a lot of infantry, which in the end caused tons of problems because They simply can’t get to the front line fast enough. Don’t get me wrong, I make about 80 IPP’s, but I don’t have the mechanized power to keep the Russians at bay. What they have done is basically let me have everything, and stacked artillery and Militia in Moscow and Stalingrad, making them unreasonable to even try to attack. I don’t know what to do! America is just about to enter the war and throw roughly 10 transports at my door. Italy is doing well owning all of Africa, but Japan never did well and China and is basically 3 years behind the ballpark. I could start buying strategic bombers, but it seems like carpet bombing is a waste, even with heavy bombers.

    That brings me to a question that I would like to have input on for everyone who is reading this Forum (Thanks by the way, I really needed some feedback like this!) Carpet bombing only hits on a 2 or less, which is like hitting on a 1 for a D6, but worse because there’s more sides. (I know statistics are the same but they still never seem to hit!) I was thinking about increasing carpet bombing to a 3 or less, to give them the real firepower they had. I know that they were really good at simply destroying cities, but the only concept that can show that is by destroying factories. What do you guys think? Would it be too strong, or do you think it would be okay?

    I don’t think Germany should be able to “go through Russia”. Historically, it wasn’t the case. It is one of many of A&A legacies / fallacies. The Victory Points gives you a hint as to what territories are important to win the game. Germany wins nothing except a few IPPs by conquering Moscow. If the Russian player in your game has stacked Moscow & Stalingrad with slow units, he has lost the game.

    Re Carpet bombing, I like the rules as they are (and so does everyone else in my group). Strategic bombers are meant for infrastructure. Historically, ‘carbet bombing’ armies were not effectively used in WW2.

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