Hmm. Good point, knp. I’m beginning to see why Larry chose the start point he did :-P
Gargantua, I’m beginning to like your idea of a double impulse for Germany. It would probably be simpler. I have a copy of the old Xeno rules, with the regular sized map and the giant blown-up version. But I hadn’t looked at the rule book in years.
Actually, the more I think about it, there probably wouldn’t be much to gain (in the way of game-play fun) with a Sept. '39 start. I was originally thinking it would give the Axis a couple of extra turns to shape the battlefield before the US and USSR got into it, in exchange for having to do some extra conquest. It might also give the French player more options than just getting punched in the groin and being taken out before he can make a single decision.
I think Summer of '42 would be the simplest start point, but it seems so late in the war somehow. At that point all the decisions that might have made a difference have already been made, and fate has locked everyone in to repeating the historical outcome. I know the games don’t actually go that way. It’s just a mental hang-up for me :-)
Maybe I’ll rethink an idea I had for a Summer of '41 scenario starting with Germany massed on the Soviet border for Barbarossa. Since a single turn could represent 6 months, Barbarossa could be early on turn 1, and Pearl Harbor could happen right at the end. That would the need for US entry rules, and most of the neutrals who were historically dragged in would already be in play.