On-line play

Good discussion. In my playgroup, NO’s off/Dardanelles closed/escort & interceptor allowed/tech allowed (but rarely used)/6-12 bid to allies (typically +2inf on eastern front, +1inf in Egypt, +1 inf in Yunan) seems to provide a fairly balanced game.

When we played with NOs on, the ability of the axis to couple their starting hardware advantage with near economic parity by round 2 or 3 (before the US is even “in the game”) always resulted in axis win. We didn’t take the time to figure out what the bid for the allies needs to be to have a balanced game with NOs on but I suspect it might be between 25-30 IPCs. Of course, our predictable play might be the actual issue!

Glad I could help.

Does the 1941 scenario even work without the NOs? I solitaired it for a bit once and the board seemed almost empty of units after about three turns. Germany collapsed because its lost income from the rather easy NOs really makes a difference. Japan seemed rather irrelevant since it takes longer to gain momentum without the NOs, and Germany falls sooner to a KGF.
The 1942 scenario seems better suited for a non-NO game because it´s got more starting units and the theaters are better balanced. Germany is stronger so a KGF will take longer and Asia has got more options since India won´t fall as easily, China is tougher and the US Pacific fleet is stronger.

I play without national objectives regularly.  IMHO, the key for the Axis is killing Russia. I have found that the best way to kill Russia is to do a combined Germany/Japan land assault.  However, this cannot be done if USA and GB are offloading on France/NWE-  Germany cannot guard the Atlantic borders and keep pressure on Russia.  My solution was simple.  Establish a chain supply of Japanese fighters to France for defense (2 per turn as of turn 3)  This accomplishes two things: one, defends France effectively and,two, forces the Allies to build navy to avoid losing their transports.  This allows Germany to send roughly half of their land forces to the Russia front. ( build only infantry and artillery since IPC’s are scarce from turn 3 forward)  This slows Japan down but is well worth it to keep pressure on Russia from Germany.  Also,  move the Japanese fleet to protect Italy from invasion.  Allies can’t amphibious assault Italy with a massive combined Italian/Japanese fleet in sea zone 14.

I build a German bomber on turns 1 & 2 to keep Britain off shores till turn 3, then the bombers become useful in swapping territories with Russia.

Yep, only planes can’t land on a territory you just conquered. Inf / art / tanks are fair game :)

It’s really what you could call a Blitzkrieg:

Attack the frontline territory with inf/art only, keeping tanks in reserve Take the next territory with amphibious assault or paratroopers if you use techs Move in all armor in NCM deep into ennemy territory

If well executed, it can be a game ender or at least enable you to bypass a deadzone.

I have played both the 41 and 42 set-ups and found that the 42 is a little more balanced and the Allies usually win, but the Axis can win if well played.
The 41 set-up does favor the Axis but we have won as the Allies in a long and hard battle that takes a long time but eventually turned around. In that game UK bought a factory on India T1 and diverted resources that way to slow down Japan, and USA and Russia (a little) went after Japan right away aiding UK as best they can. Germany, Italy and Japan were making way too much money by T3, but smart decisions allowed the Allies to slowly climb back and turn things around by T7, so it can be done. China was no help at all so they are week. Victory cities is the key. Do not worry about crushing the Axis completely just getting the VC you need.
I agree that China does not start with enough and/or is not getting enough men per turn. That part alone would slow Japan down enough to make it that much more balanced. :-)
We play with the rules as is. :-D

Front:

I think by the middle of a typical game, Russia should have 3 fighters going because they’ll need to trade three territories pretty routinely.

I am always amazed when I see people say they built an Industrial Complex in India and don’t follow up with saying worst idea ever.  Who are these Japanese players NOT taking the complex on round 2, again on round 3, again on round 4, etc until the Allies give up or are unable to liberate it again?

You have the firepower!  Round 2 you should have no less than 5 ground units and 5 fighters in range of India (compare to 4 or 5 ground units and an AA Gun and you can see how you have a significant advantage!).  Round 3, KNOWING that England HAS a complex there, and forcing Russia to send tanks to India instead of against Germany, you should definitely have half a dozen ground units and the cruiser/battleship for a follow up (plus any fighters you have remaining.)  From there it’s a matter of shuttling 4 to 6 ground units a round into FIC and then over to India to keep it from building units.

This shuttling should be a simple matter.  You only need enough units in SZ 37 and SZ 62 to prevent America from killing your transports (assuming you don’t just put ICs in Burma and FIC like I do) so you can bring troops down.  So what if America goes Pacific?  Russia’s throwing away tanks keeping you from building in India!  By the time America builds up, with Russia diverting 33-67% or more of it’s new builds to India, Germany should be just about into Moscow and looking to start a Sea Lion invasion fleet!

Yea, ok, I have a tendency to summarize the next 10-20 rounds, but I hope you guys can see where I am going.  Normally, Japan has to worry about an American flotilla in the Pacific for financial sake.  Normally Japan can’t even get into Moscow before round 5 and that’s assuming there’s nothing in the way!  But in this case, Russia’s sending so much down into India to keep it from building Japanese units that Germany is virtually unopposed.  (I’d also advocate, for the first time in my life, that Germany go for a tank dash if Russia’s sending so much down to India.  May as well!)

I’d probably go for a surge into china while holding the line against Germany.  Never seen this before though so I don’t know for sure, usually Russia just gets beat on while US/UK try to get something going.  My usual Russian strat is kill as many German and Japanese units as possible.