These look good, I’ll definitely give them a try. I love the simplified rules but the feel of A&A is still there. I have a few people in mind who might like these because they are overwhelmed on the full board.

Also read this post about UK Factories, pretty good analysis.

https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=38193.0

I would like to add that I haven’t played without National Objectives so maybe my advice means nothing. The US benefits from NOs a lot, so maybe that will help the Allies?

Just some general thoughts, nothing too specific.

It looks like the Axis left a lot of UK ships alive, so Britain can just plop down a carrier or two and be protected for a long time. Also, it appears the US Battleship in Hawaii is still alive, that’s awesome. Pull the US fleet back to California and consolidate, beef it up a bit (including at least one transport) and make Japan have to worry about that threat. It takes a little steam out of their Asia offensive. On the Atlantic side, use US bombers and transports to harass Germany, using the strong UK fleet to protect your transports in the Atlantic.

It seems to me that the US buying only bombers is a one-dimensional strategy that won’t have a huge impact beyond strategic bombing, but that’s marginally worthwhile anyway unless you get really lucky with the AA guns missing all game. Plus that gives Japan a totally free hand, which will usually sink the allies. Bombers are better when can also support a couple of transports to take France or other European targets, or when they can support your Pacific fleet. By themselves, they aren’t going to win the game for you, in my opinion.

Also, losing Karelia in the 2nd turn isn’t the end for Russia, so don’t defend Karelia unless you are going to win. It’s not worth losing 10-12 infantry just to do some damage to the Germans. Let 'em take it, but leave a large force adjacent to make Germany stack it. That will delay their offensive and possibly allow for breakthroughs elsewhere, and hopefully Britain or US can get a factory going in Norway to help that front a bit.

It’s tough to play Allies in this game, but you just have to be level-headed when it looks like you are losing and continue chipping away at the Axis until they crack. Do not ignore Japan or they will be making 70 per turn and pumping out 6-8 tanks in mainland factories in no time. If Japan has to buy ships to keep the US from attacking them, they can’t threaten Russia as quickly. If Germany has to retake France every turn, they can’t sustain an offensive against the Russians.

In short, the allies are all about making every little thing more difficult for the Axis, and hopefully that adds up in the end.

Lots of good ideas here. I’d like to point out that East Indies is only in range of the one destroyer in Carolines, so you can’t defend that sea zone any heavier than that. No Carriers or Cruisers can make it.

One thing that’s hard to see in the video was how strong Germany and Italy were.  Sure, Russia had all their original territories back, but Germany eventually got about 30 tanks to Moscow because Italy was strong enough to defend Europe on their own.

I was the USA player, and I didn’t do enough to help the European theater.  I was so focused on Japan that I basically left the European allies out to dry.  Good win, Karl.

Wow, that’s beautiful!  I would love to give it a try sometime.

Hey, guys, I just moved here from Reno, and I’m now living in Concord.  I would love to try to get a game going.  I mostly play Global 1940 or 50th Anniversary, but I am open to trying other versions.  I like the idea of playing at the game store; I don’t have a good surface for board games at my apt, just a small round dining table.

Hey, Karl7, I actually just moved to the Bay Area a couple months ago, I’m currently living in Concord.  Maybe we can meet up in the Bay Area?  I love Global 1940 and 50th Anniversary edition, and I have both.  I was just about to start looking for players, so your post was beautifully timed.

Truckee is a beautiful town, though.  Have a good time in the snow!

I agree that BBs and Cruisers (CA or CL?  Which one do you use for Cruisers?) are rarely purchased, but look at how they were in the real war.  Very few countries built battleships during the war, most people just used the ones they already had because they realized that they were way too expensive.  Carriers, DDs and Subs were way more cost effective.  Karl Donitz of the German Navy claimed that with the money spent on Bismarck and Tirpitz, Germany could have bought 1,000 U-Boats!  That would have been a sure German victory since the behemoths did effectively nothing (except sink HMS Hood, of course) and the few subs they had were very successful.  I agree it would be more fun with more battleships, but it’s not something I have a problem with because it’s historically accurate to only have a few on the board.

One thing I love about the fleets in this game is how their presence affects people even if you never use the ships in combat.  It becomes a huge chess match, involving many turns of building up and setting up your fleets, and if both sides are doing it well, it often takes a long time to have a confrontation because they are so even, nobody wants to risk it.  It makes the climactic battle much more exciting!