Hello all - Long time, first time!

Born and raised in MA - currently living in Fitchburg, MA

I started playing A & A back when Milton Bradley issued the “big box” game about the same time they put out Fortress America & Shogun. Really loved the game and played quite a bit in the early 90’s. Got busy with life and didn’t play for a very long time until last year when I started up a (near) monthly game. Really like the additional rules and versions that have come out and now we’re playing the 1940 Global game.

The player who actually owns the game has painted pieces to identify them and done a nifty job of mounting all of the planes on little stands. Works great! To make it easier he also printed cards with the bonus income each country can earn - super helpful. I printed sheets with victory city grids (to easily keep track of how close the Axis are to winning) and the statistics of each piece (Attack, Defense, Cost). I still own part of my original A & A game, and picked up a later edition. Use the money from these older versions with the newer 1940 version we currently play. No house rules yet - actually looking forward to finally trying the Optional Research & Development Rules with this version.

@barnee You asked for a Game Report Post, so here it is:

Global 1940 with Expansion Rules - sections 1-4 (no optional rules)

Germany - mkgionet
Italy - Cathy M
Japan - Pat H
UK - Mike K
Russia - Alex M
USA - Josh S

Report through Early 1942

Germany succeeded in clearing the Atlantic (except for US coast) of all Allied ships until Late 1941 when the US fleet finally entered the war taking back Gibralter. That emboldened the UK to build back its fleet in Early 1942. With Germany unsure if the USA would enter the Mediterranean a small fleet was hastily built off the coast of Southern France and so the USA turned north.

Italy succeeded (with a bit of help from the German air force) to clear the Mediterranean of Allied ships but took a major defeat in Northern Africa, practically being kicked out of the continent.

Several German armies were formed to start a relentless march towards Moscow. At one point there were two Army groups formed. One still remains intact with 10 infantry, an SS army, and a Panzer army. As soon as Late 1942 begins multiple armies will be on Moscow’s doorstep. Surprisingly Russia chose not to build any mines, and they’ve received very little help from their allies. No units have been given to them yet via Lend Lease. Yes, those are Anzac troops in Bryansk that just arrived by rail from Egypt.

Japan focused on (and succeeded) in eliminating China, winning a significant battle against a sizeable Anzac navy that’s been greatly reduced. Russia and Japan are still at peace, though troops are starting to gather on the China/Russia border.

UK rules the middle east and most of Africa, though only a fairly small amount of ground troops remain. UK is making a stand in India, time will tell if they make a move to try and resurrect China.

The USA has focused more of their attention on the Pacific, but have had a hard time organizing their units and coming up with a definitive plan of action.

See attached pictures - more to come when play resumes on 5/27/24.

@the-captain Gotcha, but in this case we’ve only instituted Sections 1 & 2 of the Expansion rules so I won’t have to worry about Soviet Partisans in this game.

Adding pictures of where our game stands at the end of Early 1942. Resuming tomorrow to decide who will rule the world!

@barnee Thank you, me too!

Over the course of the last few years we’ve been playing the Global 1940 game in-person. In the previous 3 games we’ve added one section of the expansion rules to get where we are now - playing sections with sections 1-4. Mike, Pat, Alex, Josh, and myself have played together for most of those games, with Cathy being a newer addition.

No, those are Italy’s troops in Greece.

@The-Captain Those flags were made by one of our players (Alex) quite some time ago, long before we ever knew about the “army” rules. We never had a great use for them though, except for decoration. We’ll need to make more though as I think they work well at representing army formations.

GAME REPORT #3 (and final) Global 1940 with Expansion Rules - sections 1-4 (no optional rules) that concluded on 6/29/24
(notice the improved expansion counters that Cornelis provided - thank you!)

Germany - mkgionet
Italy - Cathy M
Japan - Pat H
UK - Mike K
Russia - Alex M
USA - Josh S

Report through partial Early 1946 - game called after Germany fell.

Not surprisingly, despite Germany’s best efforts they just kept getting pushed back. Once UK, USA, & Russia finally arranged their forces to all attack Berlin on the same turn Germany was defeated. Interestingly there was never a D Day as Denmark was taken over all and attacks went straight for Berlin. Also interesting that not a single mine was bought by anyone.

Japan was a powerhouse and after capturing India had his sites set for Hawaii as the 6th Pacific Victory City. When setting up for this attack in 1945 (to execute in 1946) there was a miscalculation and 3 transports were left vulnerable off wake island and were sunk by carrier fighters. Without those 6 troops an attack on Honolulu would end in sure defeat. If that mistake wasn’t made and Germany was able to hold out just a tad longer then perhaps this game would’ve ended in a victory for the Axis with the capture of 6 victory cities in the Pacific. Yes, Japan ended the game at 91 on the IPC track!

A hard fought battle by all! Stay tuned, the next game starts on July 4th where each player gets to choose an optional rule to add. I’ll be Russia this time!

7.4.24 Game Report #1
Global 1940 with Expansion Rules & the following optional rules:
Rockets
Heavy Bombers
Seafire fighter planes
Jet Fighters
Japanese Destroyers
King Tiger & SS Heavy Tanks

Agreed a win can happen through Economic Victory or Axis capturing victory cities per the original Global 1940 rules.

Germany - Josh S
Italy - Logan S
Japan - Alex M
UK - Pat H
Russia - mkgionet
USA - Mike K

Report through the end of Early 1942 (round 5)

Germany immediately launched attacks against France and Russia in turn 1. Russia pulled back and arranged troops for a defensive stand. Germany captured Novgorod, but since Russia destroyed the factory Germany built a factory in Finland on that same turn. Germany launched a powerful attack against Ukraine which was defended by a large amount of infantry. Battle started well enough for Germany so Russia destroyed the factory, but then Germany took heavy loses and decided to retreat. Knowing that they wouldn’t be able to capture Russian factories Germany also built a factory in Romania.

Russia built up 3 army units and a tank army and invested significantly in mines near the territories where Germany had their largest amount of forces. To date Germany has crossed a mined border once, with no casualties, and the 2 rockets fired so far at German forces have also missed. A massive counter attack with 3 Russian armies was launched in Early 1942 to reclaim Archangel after Germany took it in Late 1941 eliminating 1 Russian army unit and a large amount of other troops. The 1941 attack on Archangel left Novgorod practically empty so Russia was also able to reclaim it in Early 1942 with the minimal forces you see on the board.

The UK focused on building landing crafts right away to quickly capture Norway & Denmark. Germany counter attacked destroying those forces and all landing crafts, so UK went over to building transports instead and has another foothold in Europe in Denmark & Holland. Germany has built 1 wolf pack so far and it hasn’t been used yet. The UK also focused on eliminating the Italian navy (a success), building a factory (and controlling) the middle east, and pouring a massive amount of infantry into India.

Italy has had a tough go of it launching a disastrous attack on Alexandria on turn 1 with terrible rolling where they were soundly defeated by the UK. That set the tone as Italy has not been able to keep a navy and has posed little threat to Africa. The French navy has not only survived, but has been sitting off the Italian coast for several turns sinking convoys. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that! It’s kind of silly, but with little else to do the lone French troop that started in western Africa walked across the continent to capture the only remaining Italian country south of the Sahara - Italian Somaliland.

Japan attacked the USA on turn 2 by taking control of the Philipines, bringing the USA into the war early. A decent sized USA navy was built on the East coast, with more resources committed to the Pacific, but the US hasn’t had a significant impact on the game as of yet. Japan pushed hard at taking islands and eliminating China, which they succeeded in doing in Early 1942, but China was revived almost immediately by the UK. Japan certainly is a force to be reckoned with and has a lot of options in the upcoming turns.

The Axis clearly were trying for a quick Economic Victory as they were at 145 IPC after Japan’s Early 1942 turn. Since that time they’ve lost several money islands to Anzac & the UK, and Germany continues to be plagued by attacks from both fronts so they are no longer close to reaching that at this time . To be continued in late August!

Re: Global 1940 & 1943 Expansions Game Reports

Global 1940 July 4th 2024 Game (start) report #4
(4th day of play on 11/3)

Global 1940 with Expansion Rules & the following optional rules:
Rockets
Heavy Bombers
Seafire fighter planes
Jet Fighters
Japanese Destroyers
King Tiger & SS Heavy Tanks

Agreed a win can happen through Economic Victory or Axis capturing victory cities per the original Global 1940 rules.

Germany - Josh S
Japan - Alex M
UK - Pat H
Russia - mkgionet
USA - Mike K
Report from Japan’s turn in Late 1947 (round 16) USA turn of Late 1949 (round 20)
Longest game I’ve ever played!

First I need to admit that I’m a bonehead! We were all so excited that the game finally ended that we immediately started cleaning up and I neglected to take any pictures - Ugh!

1947
If folks remember, the Allies looked to be in a dire situation at the end of the last report with Germany having pushed most enemy troops out of its territory and poised to make a powerful advance into Russia, while Japan firmly had 5 Victory Cities in hand and was in a position to retake the 6th city. Us Allied players held our breath while Japan took their turn, hoping that the massive US fleet surrounding Japan would focus Japan’s attention more than retaking and holding the 6th Victory City (Shanghai). Tick, tick, tick, tick, pieces move, tick, tick, tick, more pieces move…

YES! Indeed, the fleet around Japan caused him to ignore thinking much about Shanghai and, as we hoped, he committed the majority of his military power to eliminating this fleet. Between games I took a long hard look at the board and realized that if Japan used his 7 strategic bombers on the mainland, with his mainland ground troops, he could not only retake Shanghai, but likely eliminate all of the Chinese infantry to retake Anhwe and place ground troops in Shantung so that USA’s tank army would be blocked from getting to/liberating Shanghai. Thus causing the Axis to hold 6 Victory Cities and win. Thankfully Japan didn’t see this. He did retake Shanghai, but left Anhwe untouched.

The Allies make preparations to retake Hawaii and the Philippines. Japans troops are now primarily concentrated in southeast Asia, India, and Japan.

The US continues to get hammered by German Wolf Packs on the east coast, losing 20+ IPC. However, the Tank Army on the Asia mainland rolls in to retake Shanghai, while China has an income around 20 and continues placing significant amounts of infantry on the board.

UK strengthens Persia & Finland & holds West India.

1948

Taking Barnee’s advice (thank you) the US finally purchases an air base and fighters for Central America. Works like a charm with the wolf packs scattering and being chased down and mostly destroyed by fighters.

Anzac momentarily captures the Philippines before Japan quickly recaptures it. Japan retakes Korea and invades nearby Russian territories. Clearly, the new Axis plan is to focus on attacking Russia on both sides.

Hawaii is easily recaptured and the USA prepares to move troops north to Alaska so they can retaliate against the Japanese invasion of Russia.

UK continues to strengthen Persia and lands paratroopers in various German territories.

Germany makes a massive attack to retake Finland and Leningrad, but then pulls back in order to attack Russia’s Army Group with 2 tank armies and a plethora of ground troops. Russia is able to retake Leningrad and continue reforming armies that are pushed along to the front lines. Russia isn’t able to recapture Finland, but is able to kill off the few remaining troops that had succeeded in taking it back for Germany.

1949 - A Pivotal year!

Germany purchases several transports and a super heavy battleship. It looks like they may be preparing to invade London. They do leave a few territories vulnerable on the front lines with Russia though, allowing a Russian Tank Army to get behind the front lines and on Berlin’s doorstep. Not a real threat to Germany, but it’s a target they’ll need to attack.

USA navy in place in Alaska, ready to come liberate Russian territories from the Japanese invasion.

Japan builds a major industrial complex in Korea and focuses on producing troops there. They pull some troops out of India in order to combat the growing number of Chinese forces, which ends up being a crucial mistake. In a very even battle the UK takes a gamble and goes all in on attacking India. With solid rolling it results in a UK victory! Even better, Anzac takes Burma and Japan has no way to retake India anytime soon. Other territories on the mainland south and west of Shanghai are also taken from the Japanese.

The USA is about to launch their Alaskan fleet over to the Soviet Far East when the Allies see a golden opportunity. Off the coast of Japan are a few transports, (3) Aircraft Carriers, and (6) Carrier Fighters. Even better, all ground troops (even the AA gun) have been moved out of Japan over to Korea and the mainland. The only thing left in Japan are (4) Strategic Bombers. The USA seizes this opportunity and attacks Japan for the 2cd time and scores a victory! At this point the Axis surrender. The Allies have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat!

A very long, but very enjoyable game with lots of twists and turns. The Victory Cities really add an interesting element to the game. I think we’ll be taking a long break before our next game!

@dead-rabbits
Yes, great game, I’d love to find a copy. I did buy the new Shogun game that came out and it seems to be pretty good but seems to take quite a long time to play so I haven’t yet been able to make it through an entire game. Maybe we’ll take a break from A&A at some point to give this “new” version of Shogun a try.

@the-captain
These House Rules look awesome and I can’t wait to start trying out Section 1 on Saturday. Question - Does artillery paired with any type of infantry (including SS Infantry) increase their attack value by 1? I know they’re still infantry, but…

@Pvt_Griff Gotcha, had to ask! We’re quite a drive from the cape, not too far from the NH border in central MA - Fitchburg.

@mkgionet Hey all, I’ve been super busy and don’t really have time to do a full game report, but here’s a quick synopsis of what transpired during Day 2 of continuing this modified Europe game.

Germany kept troops in place along the north and east coasts, fully expecting D-Day to come, but it never happened. Instead, the UK focused mostly om North Africa and USA focused on East Africa, Spain, and to a lesser extent Gibralter. Germany harassed the UK/USA navy in the English Channel to interfere with landing boats and bombardment for any amphibious assault that may take place. Troops marched relentlessly toward Moscow with heavy casualties on both sides. By the end of Day 2 Germany is sitting with a large force 2 territories away from the Russian capital with amassed Finnish troops ready to swoop in behind them. Russia has lost a lot of territory, but has a sizeable air force so it will take constant pressure for the Axis to keep advancing.

The UK & Italy built massive navies in the western med., with the UK and USA briefly taking Greece before Germany recaptured. On the last turn of the day Italy took a gamble and attacked the UK navy, earning a major victory. The UK has significant ground troops in Africa, but thier navy has been wiped out.

Gibralter has gone back and forth between sides, but neither side kept enough troops there to hold it for a full turn. Germany currently holds it, but fully expects to lose it shortly. Spain is divided with one half housing a large amount of Allied troops, and the other a large amount of Axis - big battle coming!

USA has a massive fleet sitting off Africa just waiting to get in the Med. Massive force in Western Africa that keeps advancing. Only thing Axis can do is slow them down. Another massive force on its way from Brazil. An Atom bomb has been built and is sitting in Greenland. Where will the Allies choose to drop it next turn?

France has helped with Africa and Spain as they are able. Romania has pushed Russia back slightly on the southern front, but doesn’t have the firepower to take important territories.

Will the USA & UK be able to put pressure on Germany before Moscow falls? We should find out on Day 3 - 8/30

@Pvt_Griff Hey there, this isn’t Griff Felt is it?

If so, that’s really cool, if not, it’s nice to connect with you. We play some in person A&A games in north central MA. If you’re ever interested in learning more, or joining us, let me know!

1943 Europe Josh Schoorens Custom A&A Game Report - 1 time ever played

Finland, Romania, Vichy France - Cathy M
USA - Pat H
Germany - Mkgionet (me)
USSR - Alex M
UK - Mike K
Italy - Josh S (game’s creator)

I’m thinking I should’ve taken pictures of the empty board before placing any units as there are so many units it’s hard to see where many of them are located as they are covering up the names of several territories. My apologies.

EARLY 1943 took quite some time as there many battles. (Germany initiated somewhere around 15 battles on his turn.)
USA destroyed about half of Germany’s U-boats in the Atlantic , had a sizeable force about to land in Africa, and started making Brazil a staging area.
The remaining German U-boats were able to do some damage to the US Fleet, but not a major impact, though some ground units were lost due to transports being vulnerable in the middle of the Atlantic. Germany and Finland pushed toward Archangel in the North by capturing Novgorod. Moved directly toward Komi by capturing Kaluga, and pushed south capturing Kursk. A minor factory was built in Greece and troops were moved towards the front-lines, or anticipated front lines bordering the English Channel. The German navy took control of the English Channel.
USSR launched a massive counter-attack reclaiming most of the territory Germany had captured, with the notable exception of Novgorod, which still had a strong force. Many casualties on both sides.
Romania pushes into Kostroma.
UK started building up troops. Although Germany clearly was going after USSR hard, he knew it was only a matter of time before the UK initiated D-Day. Controlling the English Channel was going to be key. In the south the UK consolidated their navy in the Med and took Tobruk in Africa. Troops were pushed into USSR for lend-lease conversion.
Italy cleared out most of the Med, except where the UK consolidated, and they prepared to counter-attack in Africa.
Vichy France pushed towards Western Africa with fleet and troops to meet the coming USA force.

LATE 1943
Finland consolidated troops and pushed eastward with troops and westward with ships. Made the mistake of leaving several territories unguarded.
USA landed a massive force in Africa, with an equally massive navy. Brazil became a massive staging ground. Many ships, planes, and troops moved into position closer to Europe. A decent sized fleet is moved into the western part of the British Channel.
Germany sees an opportunity for attack with more ships and plans and sinks the US fleet that just moved into the western part of the English Channel, reclaims the Channel, and eliminates Allied ships off the Eastern coast of the UK. A massive battle takes place in Archangel (70+ German units) for a decisive victory. This lend-lease location wasn’t used and now is in control of Germany with little USSR resistance in the north. Not much progress in the southern part of USSR however. German forces in Africa move west towards the massive US force. A bold move utilizing (2) heavy bombers takes Gibralter. Likely a temporary move, but it will at least delay the Allies. Navy moved to meet the US when they are able to come through.
USSR effectively pushes back in the southern half of the country but is unable to retake Kostroma, and they sneakily move their northern navy out and capture Oulu.
Romania navy decisively takes out the southern Russian navy.
UK continues to feed troops to USSR in the south through lend-lease. and continues to amass troops in England. The massive UK navy consolidates and wipes out most of the German navy regaining control of the western part of The Channel.
Italy makes a bold attack to recapture Tobruk and succeeds rather easily.
Vichy France makes a risky attack with most of their fleet and air force against the massive US navy sitting off the coast of Africa. It doesn’t go well and they limp away after taking many losses and inflicting only minor damage. Vichy reinforces Gibralter as best as they can.

Turn 3 continuing on 7/5!

Hello all, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted because I haven’t played Axis & Allies since last year. During our hiatus, one of our dedicated players (Josh Schoorens) was hard at work constructing his own 1943 Europe version of Axis & Allies, taking The Captain’s House Rules Expansion and modifying many of those rules, eliminating some, and adding a whole lot of new units (mostly for Germany). Don’t worry, other countries (especially the US) got some really neat “toys” (can you say…Atom Bomb)! In addition, he spent hours and hours creating a custom board (complete with elevated mountain ranges), hand painting/creating/finding pieces for the new units (no cardboard/paper units here), and play testing against himself. The amount of IPCs per country were greatly increased, as were the amount of troops on the board, and territories. Needless to say there are a lot of massive battles! New minor Axis countries were introduced - Vichy France (blue), Finland (white), and Romania (yellow) as well. We also introduced new chip colors, white for 2 units and blue for 8 units. I’m attaching Josh’s rule book to this post. Even though there are a lot of new units most special units are limited in number and Josh has only created that many of each unit so it’s not too hard to stick to the limit that’s been set. I think folks will at the very least find the new units interesting. Axis and Allies 1943 Final Copy (custom rules).pdf

This board is so big it barely fits on a ping pong table. Attached are pictures of the initial setup.

For the first time we are playing this as a group 3 on 3. You’ll have to jump over to Game Reports to find out how things have gone the first two rounds (which took about 12 hours).

@barnee

The yanks had approximately 5 infantry and artillary. Too bad for Japan but they activated Home Defense the first time the US invaded them - and it was probably the only reason they survived the first attack!

@The-Captain Yes, we could play with less people but having so many involved really makes for an interesting game with the different strategies people want to employ. We also are busy with so many other things that a game 1/month works out well. I really like A&A (especially with your Expansion Rules), but Squad Leader is hard to beat as a 1 on 1 military game.

Global 1940 July 4th 2024 Game (start) report #4
(4th day of play on 11/3)

Global 1940 with Expansion Rules & the following optional rules:
Rockets
Heavy Bombers
Seafire fighter planes
Jet Fighters
Japanese Destroyers
King Tiger & SS Heavy Tanks

Agreed a win can happen through Economic Victory or Axis capturing victory cities per the original Global 1940 rules.

Germany - Josh S
Japan - Alex M
UK - Pat H
Russia - mkgionet
USA - Mike K
Report from Japan’s turn in Late 1947 (round 16) USA turn of Late 1949 (round 20)
Longest game I’ve ever played!

First I need to admit that I’m a bonehead! We were all so excited that the game finally ended that we immediately started cleaning up and I neglected to take any pictures - Ugh!

1947
If folks remember, the Allies looked to be in a dire situation at the end of the last report with Germany having pushed most enemy troops out of its territory and poised to make a powerful advance into Russia, while Japan firmly had 5 Victory Cities in hand and was in a position to retake the 6th city. Us Allied players held our breath while Japan took their turn, hoping that the massive US fleet surrounding Japan would focus Japan’s attention more than retaking and holding the 6th Victory City (Shanghai). Tick, tick, tick, tick, pieces move, tick, tick, tick, more pieces move…

YES! Indeed, the fleet around Japan caused him to ignore thinking much about Shanghai and, as we hoped, he committed the majority of his military power to eliminating this fleet. Between games I took a long hard look at the board and realized that if Japan used his 7 strategic bombers on the mainland, with his mainland ground troops, he could not only retake Shanghai, but likely eliminate all of the Chinese infantry to retake Anhwe and place ground troops in Shantung so that USA’s tank army would be blocked from getting to/liberating Shanghai. Thus causing the Axis to hold 6 Victory Cities and win. Thankfully Japan didn’t see this. He did retake Shanghai, but left Anhwe untouched.

The Allies make preparations to retake Hawaii and the Philippines. Japans troops are now primarily concentrated in southeast Asia, India, and Japan.

The US continues to get hammered by German Wolf Packs on the east coast, losing 20+ IPC. However, the Tank Army on the Asia mainland rolls in to retake Shanghai, while China has an income around 20 and continues placing significant amounts of infantry on the board.

UK strengthens Persia & Finland & holds West India.

1948

Taking Barnee’s advice (thank you) the US finally purchases an air base and fighters for Central America. Works like a charm with the wolf packs scattering and being chased down and mostly destroyed by fighters.

Anzac momentarily captures the Philippines before Japan quickly recaptures it. Japan retakes Korea and invades nearby Russian territories. Clearly, the new Axis plan is to focus on attacking Russia on both sides.

Hawaii is easily recaptured and the USA prepares to move troops north to Alaska so they can retaliate against the Japanese invasion of Russia.

UK continues to strengthen Persia and lands paratroopers in various German territories.

Germany makes a massive attack to retake Finland and Leningrad, but then pulls back in order to attack Russia’s Army Group with 2 tank armies and a plethora of ground troops. Russia is able to retake Leningrad and continue reforming armies that are pushed along to the front lines. Russia isn’t able to recapture Finland, but is able to kill off the few remaining troops that had succeeded in taking it back for Germany.

1949 - A Pivotal year!

Germany purchases several transports and a super heavy battleship. It looks like they may be preparing to invade London. They do leave a few territories vulnerable on the front lines with Russia though, allowing a Russian Tank Army to get behind the front lines and on Berlin’s doorstep. Not a real threat to Germany, but it’s a target they’ll need to attack.

USA navy in place in Alaska, ready to come liberate Russian territories from the Japanese invasion.

Japan builds a major industrial complex in Korea and focuses on producing troops there. They pull some troops out of India in order to combat the growing number of Chinese forces, which ends up being a crucial mistake. In a very even battle the UK takes a gamble and goes all in on attacking India. With solid rolling it results in a UK victory! Even better, Anzac takes Burma and Japan has no way to retake India anytime soon. Other territories on the mainland south and west of Shanghai are also taken from the Japanese.

The USA is about to launch their Alaskan fleet over to the Soviet Far East when the Allies see a golden opportunity. Off the coast of Japan are a few transports, (3) Aircraft Carriers, and (6) Carrier Fighters. Even better, all ground troops (even the AA gun) have been moved out of Japan over to Korea and the mainland. The only thing left in Japan are (4) Strategic Bombers. The USA seizes this opportunity and attacks Japan for the 2cd time and scores a victory! At this point the Axis surrender. The Allies have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat!

A very long, but very enjoyable game with lots of twists and turns. The Victory Cities really add an interesting element to the game. I think we’ll be taking a long break before our next game!

Re: Global 1940 & 1943 Expansions Game Reports

Global 1940 July 4th 2024 Game (start) report #4
(4th day of play on 11/3)

Global 1940 with Expansion Rules & the following optional rules:
Rockets
Heavy Bombers
Seafire fighter planes
Jet Fighters
Japanese Destroyers
King Tiger & SS Heavy Tanks

Agreed a win can happen through Economic Victory or Axis capturing victory cities per the original Global 1940 rules.

Germany - Josh S
Japan - Alex M
UK - Pat H
Russia - mkgionet
USA - Mike K
Report from Japan’s turn in Late 1947 (round 16) USA turn of Late 1949 (round 20)
Longest game I’ve ever played!

First I need to admit that I’m a bonehead! We were all so excited that the game finally ended that we immediately started cleaning up and I neglected to take any pictures - Ugh!

1947
If folks remember, the Allies looked to be in a dire situation at the end of the last report with Germany having pushed most enemy troops out of its territory and poised to make a powerful advance into Russia, while Japan firmly had 5 Victory Cities in hand and was in a position to retake the 6th city. Us Allied players held our breath while Japan took their turn, hoping that the massive US fleet surrounding Japan would focus Japan’s attention more than retaking and holding the 6th Victory City (Shanghai). Tick, tick, tick, tick, pieces move, tick, tick, tick, more pieces move…

YES! Indeed, the fleet around Japan caused him to ignore thinking much about Shanghai and, as we hoped, he committed the majority of his military power to eliminating this fleet. Between games I took a long hard look at the board and realized that if Japan used his 7 strategic bombers on the mainland, with his mainland ground troops, he could not only retake Shanghai, but likely eliminate all of the Chinese infantry to retake Anhwe and place ground troops in Shantung so that USA’s tank army would be blocked from getting to/liberating Shanghai. Thus causing the Axis to hold 6 Victory Cities and win. Thankfully Japan didn’t see this. He did retake Shanghai, but left Anhwe untouched.

The Allies make preparations to retake Hawaii and the Philippines. Japans troops are now primarily concentrated in southeast Asia, India, and Japan.

The US continues to get hammered by German Wolf Packs on the east coast, losing 20+ IPC. However, the Tank Army on the Asia mainland rolls in to retake Shanghai, while China has an income around 20 and continues placing significant amounts of infantry on the board.

UK strengthens Persia & Finland & holds West India.

1948

Taking Barnee’s advice (thank you) the US finally purchases an air base and fighters for Central America. Works like a charm with the wolf packs scattering and being chased down and mostly destroyed by fighters.

Anzac momentarily captures the Philippines before Japan quickly recaptures it. Japan retakes Korea and invades nearby Russian territories. Clearly, the new Axis plan is to focus on attacking Russia on both sides.

Hawaii is easily recaptured and the USA prepares to move troops north to Alaska so they can retaliate against the Japanese invasion of Russia.

UK continues to strengthen Persia and lands paratroopers in various German territories.

Germany makes a massive attack to retake Finland and Leningrad, but then pulls back in order to attack Russia’s Army Group with 2 tank armies and a plethora of ground troops. Russia is able to retake Leningrad and continue reforming armies that are pushed along to the front lines. Russia isn’t able to recapture Finland, but is able to kill off the few remaining troops that had succeeded in taking it back for Germany.

1949 - A Pivotal year!

Germany purchases several transports and a super heavy battleship. It looks like they may be preparing to invade London. They do leave a few territories vulnerable on the front lines with Russia though, allowing a Russian Tank Army to get behind the front lines and on Berlin’s doorstep. Not a real threat to Germany, but it’s a target they’ll need to attack.

USA navy in place in Alaska, ready to come liberate Russian territories from the Japanese invasion.

Japan builds a major industrial complex in Korea and focuses on producing troops there. They pull some troops out of India in order to combat the growing number of Chinese forces, which ends up being a crucial mistake. In a very even battle the UK takes a gamble and goes all in on attacking India. With solid rolling it results in a UK victory! Even better, Anzac takes Burma and Japan has no way to retake India anytime soon. Other territories on the mainland south and west of Shanghai are also taken from the Japanese.

The USA is about to launch their Alaskan fleet over to the Soviet Far East when the Allies see a golden opportunity. Off the coast of Japan are a few transports, (3) Aircraft Carriers, and (6) Carrier Fighters. Even better, all ground troops (even the AA gun) have been moved out of Japan over to Korea and the mainland. The only thing left in Japan are (4) Strategic Bombers. The USA seizes this opportunity and attacks Japan for the 2cd time and scores a victory! At this point the Axis surrender. The Allies have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat!

A very long, but very enjoyable game with lots of twists and turns. The Victory Cities really add an interesting element to the game. I think we’ll be taking a long break before our next game!

@Trout Love this game report and the effort that went into it!

@barnee Thanks Barnee! For VC’s the Axis have to hold 6 in the Pacific (or 8 in Europe) for a FULL turn. So since they achieved 6 on Japan’s turn it has to get all the way back to Japan’s next turn to be considered a victory. That’s why if Russia didn’t succeed in taking Shanghai it would’ve been game over.

Great idea about building an air base in Central, need to seriously consider that.

Score is currently: Axis 125 Allies 154

Scheduling is tough so we probably won’t play again until early November.