Anniversary: The Siberian Manchurian Pact

So for me in A&A 50, I typically don’t play with any special house rules of that nature, I dont do anything to change the properties of the units and what they can do, or any of that nature except for one factor that tends to play out in most games of A&A 50, which is the infamous war between Japan and the Soviet Union that can happen.

So just to give a run down, the way this house rule operates is that neither Japan or the Soviet Union can fight each other and effectively go to war with each other through Manchuria/Siberia. Obviously making landings in the Soviet Far East by Japan is included in this pact as well since it’s the same concept as just attacking them straight on, though either nation can fight each other on the Soviet/Chinese border if/when Japan has reached it.

Now, the reason I came up with this house rule was because of the typical trend I found in playing against an Axis Japan or an Allied Soviet Union and its that it just typically isn’t worth it to go to war with either nation through this border.

To start with Japan invading the Soviet Union, I’ve done this before, and the only thing I can conclude it to be is a genuine waste of time. Merely 1 IPC territories for miles, you’ll be devoting more troops then you’d like to take out the Russian infantry positioned in Siberia, and like I said before you won’t really be getting much done as Japan when it comes to economically boosting yourself. Granted, this does take away units that could potentially be sent our West, but these infantry really aren’t anything the Soviet Union are gonna lose the game over if they aren’t sent back West to help fight Germany.

Now with the Soviets invading Japan, yes it is possible if the Japanese player leaves Manchuria a little too open with the capability of potentially sending some aircraft out East to help support the attack, but the only thing this will be is again, a waste of time and a waste of valuable units. Like what actually happened, the Soviets attacking Japan just wasn’t their fight, it wasn’t in real life and it isn’t in this game either. I mean, you’re devoting 5 infantry and likely a whole aircraft or tank(s) just to take a territory worth 3 IPC’s that you won’t even keep since they’ll just take it right back, and at that point you’re devoting too many Soviet infantry that could better be used against Germany.

To sum it all up, my point is that either of these nations attacking each other through this way is just a waste of time for both and can be incredibly frustrating and annoying for either nation to have to deal with when it comes to one invading the other since it’s not gonna get anything done and they’re just doing it to do it. That being said, I do still think that this war between the 2 nations should still happen if it was to come to a late game fight in either scenario but not initially.