1942: Double ICs for UK

@dictatorcj

Interesting. Yes the ability to put subs in the med probably greatly increases their utility by precluding the uk from placing a destroyer in the english channel to protect a landing in Morocco, which hopefully bus Italy some time to earn some objective money. I know they only have two, but with such a small economy the NOs increase Italy’s capacity to contribute by quite a bit, proportionally speaking.

Same deal with AA42. Unfortunately, my AA50 odds calculator only allows battleships to be taken first.

@Cmdr:

I have to admit, I really enjoy the idea of closed dardenelles.  I like tech, but life is SOOOO much easier for Russia if Italy cannot attack them directly.

Perhaps, I guess, 1 allied player vs 3 axis players would also balance things.

I also like closed Dardenelles, but my group will never agree to it.  Allies have to make up for it by landing in France turn 1.  Yes, Italy retakes it, but it keeps Italy away from Russia, and with NOs, UK trades 3-6 IPCs for 11.

Imo, # of players makes no difference.  At least wit the people I play with, both Axis and Allies work very well together.  I’ve seen Italy do amazing things.  UK lands in Poland, Italy retakes Poland.

the discussion has been 42, but has gone into strategy.

When AA50 first came out, 41 was new and unbroken ground.  Now that some time has passed, I think 42 is still the Axis and Allies setup to play, only with bigger board!  The addition of Italy for a 3 vs 3 game makes it balanced.  Short games still favor Axis and long games still favor Allies.  It’s how it should be.

Can’t wait for G40!!!

Wait a moment, IL, I got confused and thought we were talking about 1941, and this is 1942  :lol: In that case, you could be right, because the setup is different. Not sure there, both z2 and Egypt will be better defended, but I agree in that Egypt is too much risky in 1942

@woodstock said in Can the Allies win in 1942?:

“How long can Russia hold out on it’s own against Germany?”

Quite a while. In fact, Russia can hold out for so long they’ll have taken Berlin. Yup, I’m being serious when I say that, a proper USSR player can hold out against Germany, and Italy, push them back all the way to Rome and Berlin and win the war all together. What I’m saying may seem WAY too overstretched and I dont blame u for thinking that. But I sure as hell did it in the 42’ setup. And after doing it, it made me see the obvious.

The Soviets can’t ‘hold out’ until the allies arrive. By turns 7-9 the Soviets will have needed to shift the tides, and be on the offensive towards Berlin, whether the allies have landed or not.

As much as I’d like to think that America and the British have some huge major important factor in this, they really don’t. The entirety of the war effort all rests on the brains and brawns of the player playing the Soviet Union, granted that’s not to say the U.K and the U.S can’t help a brother out, I’m just saying this so called Soviets hold out until “Round 4, 5 or 6” is pretty baloney. Because the that’s pretty much the time when America and the U.K should be SETTING UP to land in mainland Europe, and they still won’t do it for another good 3-4 turns.

Something that one of my favorite Axis and Allies youtubers said, GeneralHandGrenade, spoke of the fact that as the allies (America specifically) There is no short cheap way to win the war for the allies, landing on turn 3-4 is WAY too early for either, frankly a properly played game as the allies could genuinly go on till’ round 11 or 12.

And if any player can’t seem to hold out against the Germans and Italians in the 1942 setup then they’re playing the Soviet Union wrong, and you should probably hand off the role to somebody else, because the player playing the USSR kinda needs to know how to play the game, and play it well.

(i know this is old, I dont even think you’re gonna see this but I was born in the early 2000’s so I wasn’t around for the forums)

Balance issues… Dardanelles should always be closed… NOs favor the Axis, hands down.

Something not in the rules, but a very simple House rule our group uses for both balance and just plain fun…

90% of the time, Japan nukes the Flying Tigers in China on turn 1 before the Allies get to make a single move with them. They are basically placed in a “please kill me” position.

Our group always allows the Allied player the choice to place the Flying Tigers anywhere they want within China on the initial setup… it’s a very minor concession both for play balance and strategic fun.

As Japan I always build an IC in the East Indies turn 2 regardless of setup. East Indies can reach Egypt, India, Australia, Persia and other parts of Africa while facing little threat from anyone. After turn 3 or 4 you’re ready for an India IC and can start pumping 7 units toward caucasus.

As for the Pacific theatre. A smart US player will send a large fleet off the coast of Alaska with supporting bombers in Alaska as well as 3 or 4 counterattacking subs off San Francisco. If Japan strikes their navy the rest will be destroyed with sneak attacks and bombers. The US can keep this up until there are no boats left and then an invasion force can move in. Part of this allied strategy invloves the UK going all out in the Atlantic because it’ll be awhile before the US can help BUT not letting Japan take over the world will be worth it in the long run. In '42 Japan has to buy at least a sub and destroyer to go with two more transports. The US navy is very strong to start '42 plus you may not attack the carrier, fighter, destroyer in Pearl Harbour.