Posts made by mkgionet

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.

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

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 Early 1945 (round 11) through Russian turn of Late 1947 (round 16)
Longest game I’ve ever played!

General observation that over the course of these turns the game went from Allies having an advantage to Axis having the Allies on the ropes. Throughout all of these turns no side has been anywhere close to an economic victory. It was a wild day of play!

Germany
As expected, multiple tank armies and a plethora of other troops descended upon Russia’s Army Group wiping it out, but losses Germany chose to take disbanded both tank armies. Focused on reclaiming/owning all territory west of the Russian front, expanding northward, and creating a steady supply of wolf packs. When the UK and US lost (or retreated to the Pacific) what little navy they had left wolf packs rule the sea and have been sitting off of the US coast for several turns depleting US income 15-20 IPC every turn. A very effective strategy. Have now stabilized all fronts with the expectation of a new surge into Russia.

UK
Took over the Finland factory that Germany built to boost the Allied presence in Europe. Paratroopers liberated Paris causing the creation of Vichy troops that walked into nearby territories that were left open by Germany, boosting the France economy to 22 IPC. Paris was quickly retaken however putting that income into the pockets of Germany. Tanks from the middle east and Africa travelled to the Allied front lines in China to help liberate it from the Japanese. India was a focal point of Japanese aggression so many resources were put into its defense, but it finally fell (without the possibility of immediately being reclaimed) in 1947. No D Day has yet taken place, and it doesn’t look like it will be happening anytime soon. Africa has been pretty much a non-factor for most of the game. Anzac has held its own.

Russia
Spent almost every turn creating armies to send to the front lines, as well as a sprinkling of rockets and other units. After their Army Group was soundly defeated another army quickly took over Poland. Germany would soundly defeat them the following turn but leave Romania or Hungry vulnerable for Russia to walk in with another army into one or both of those territories. Several turns saw these territories changing hands back and forth between Germany and Russia. A steady stream of tanks and other troops were sent into China, finally reaching the Pacific in 1947 (more on this later). With the help of the UK and USA the Japanese invasion into the Eastern Soviet Union was squashed. A new Army Group was recently formed and is sitting on the front lines prepared to defend or attack Germany depending on what they do next.
Fun fact - Original Russian sub still alive and has been sitting off the coast of Normandy disrupting convoy operations for several turns.

United States
Since the opportunity presented itself Rome was successfully invaded with minimal troops, and all surface German ships were destroyed. They were able to maintain this foothold for a couple of turns before Germany mounted enough troops to recapture it. Most of the US attention was on the Pacific, with only minimal forces on the east coast to try and keep the wolf pack population in check.

The US built a factory in Alaska to filter troops into Russia that could push back the Japanese, including the formation of a Tank Army. A large fleet was built up waiting to see the best opportunity for attack. Although the US controlled the seas of the north Pacific, it left Japan to run wild in the south Pacific, and left India to fend for itself.

Japan
Certainly the strongest country for most of the game. Took over and held Hawaii, kept pumping tanks into China, and focused on taking India. Wasn’t able to keep up with the three pronged attack from UK, US, and Russia in China and has been pushed back to the coast. The last turn+ was incredibly exciting. In early 1947 Japan took India with the Allies having no chance of reclaiming it. This got them to 6 victory cities. The Allies had to recapture 1 victory city or the game was over. Japan sent most of their fleet south or east around Midway, “only” leaving a couple of super-heavy battleships and transports around Tokyo.

The US had a massive fleet sitting off the coast of Alaska, with a sizeable number of troops. The allies could see that India was going to fall so it was clear that the fleet and troops in Alaska would attack and reclaim Hawaii since the US troops significantly outnumbered the Japanese forces. However, once the allies saw that Tokyo had such a small navy protecting it, and had less than 10 infantry (1 elite) & an AAA gun for ground troops, that was simply too good of an opportunity to pass up. The Alaska force was sent to Japan to flip the game so that the Axis would be in a desperate situation. Japan used all their kamikaze attacks but the US soundly won the naval battle. However, the Home Defense combined with great/poor rolling gave Japan the victory with only 2 infantry and an elite remaining. The allies took the bait, but it was a seriously risky move.

Even though the US clearly had the edge in Tokyo the allies had backup plans in place. The US also invaded Hawaii with a small amount of forces in the hopes it could weaken the Japanese there so that Anzac could win the day. That didn’t work out. The only hope left was Shanghai, where Japan had a sizeable force. The US attacked and weakened it, the UK attacked and weakened it some more, leaving it up to one last shot by Russia. Russia’s 4 tanks were easily able to overcome the remaining tank and elite infantry to (at least for the moment) save the day for the Allies.

Is the end still near for the Allies? We’ll see when we enter 1948 and beyond! (sorry for being longwinded)

@The-Captain Thank you! If the Axis factory wasn’t captured in original Soviet territory would they still gain the benefit of being able to destroy it for free at any time, or would they have to pay 4 IPC like other countries?

@The-Captain Question about moving Russian factories. Can you move German factories that Russia takes over and now belong to Russia? Same with all other special factory rules that apply to Russia.

@The-Captain Awesome, thank you!

@The-Captain You’re absolutely right, but as the Russian player I’ve been glad to see those factories bombed out. Germany has moved the Southern Italy, Berlin, and Paris factories underground as they consider those the main factories they’ll be producing from. The Allies learned this the hard way too the India Industrial Complex took a lot of bombing damage. It’s kind of late but UK may finally put that factory underground.

@The-Captain Question - Can you use Strategic Rail Movement for Paratroopers?

@The-Captain @barnee Sorry about that, looks like I had to upload each picture one at a time and not all as one upload. Pictures now added!

Re: Global 1940 & 1943 Expansions Game Reports

7.4.24 Game (start) Report #2
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 from Late 1942 (round 6) through Late 1944 (round 10)

Round 6 begins with Germany’s navy bottled up east of Denmark, Italy consolidating troops in its capital, the UK sending troops to German shores every turn, Russia halting German advancement into its territory, Japan having complete control over China and running wild in the Pacific gearing up for a major attack on India, and the US contributing a modest amount of support on the European front and struggling to contain/keep up with Japan in the Pacific.

Europe

After the Red Army Conscription in round 5 Russia goes on the offensive, continually pushing German troops back until all Russian territory is reclaimed and attacks are made into Germany to try and gain a permanent foothold on German soil. It seems Russia may have finally accomplished this in round 10, but more likely this is a German plan to lure the Russian Army Group within reach of (3) panzer armies and other troops in order to quickly wipe them out with minimal casualties. I expect to be soundly defeated in round 11. While Japan’s troops in the immediate area were weak, and in order to divert Japan resources away from India Russia attacked Japan on two Chinese fronts in Late 1944.

Germany amassed a massive naval force off the coast of Denmark, make capturing/keeping Denmark a priority, and was finally able to break free into the Atlantic ocean after a massive naval battle against a group of UK, US, and France ships. The original Russian sub from the beginning of the game left this group to sit off the coast of Norway and still survives (at least for now)! Germany’s navy was almost completely wiped out in the attack (and US counterattack) with only a badly damaged super-battleship surviving. D Day has not yet happened.

Germany took over Italy as soon as it had the chance moving almost all troops north, giving up on the Middle East and Africa. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Africa so bare!

Pacific

Japan marched forward and was on the verge of a massive invasion into India. In preparation of this almost all UK forces retreated to West India and a large c ounter-attack force was gathered there, as well as constructing mines for the attacking tanks to drive through. The plan worked well as the counter-attack force soundly defeated Japan and reclaimed India. Japan then diverted it’s attention to the money islands and the Russian advance into China.

Japan & the US had massive naval battles near Midway & Hawaii resulting in heavy casualties to both sides. Both navies have retreated to their homelands to form new plans of attack for 1945.

Overall I think the Allies have the edge, but both Axis countries remain strong. No countries have tried to create any additional technical advances. To date, Russia has created 10 rockets, with only 2 hitting, while Germany hasn’t created any rockets yet. To be continued in October…!

@The-Captain For some reason I didn’t see that, thank you Captain!
We were hoping to finish our game Saturday but it didn’t happen- exciting game report coming soon, most evenly matched game I think I’ve played.

@bamaackbar Welcome Barnaackbar! What area/state/city do you play in? There’s a group of us who play in central MA

@The-Captain Rail Movement Question - Can UK use it’s Asia rail movement to move UK or Anzac troops into Russia, or is Russia considered a territory unto itself?

@barnee You’re quite welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!

@The-Captain Good point Captain, I’ll try to remember to position my camera lower next time. There were 3 mines on the border that the German troops crossed. Currently all mines are dug in as follows:

Belarus/Poland - 4
Berlarus/Baltic States - 5
Belarus/Novgorod - 6
Novgorod/Archangel - 3