@Grigoriy:
Not bad. To the not losing original armor I would add fighters as well, as they are even harder to replace.
That’s true, but it can be hard to do with the need to suppress allied shipping. I do, however, routinely avoid any chance of an AA shot against German aircraft. There plenty of other useful things for German airplanes to attack, so I believe its a good strategy for preserving the Luftwaffe.
Regards,
Here are my Do’s and Don’ts for Germany:
DO: Buy at least 24 inf in the first 3 turns.
DON’T: Buy any capital ships!
DO: Capture any territory you can hold on to for at least one turn.
DON’T: Capture any territory you can not hold until next turn unless it blocks an Allied player from doing something you must prevent. (e.g. cut off planes from landing, or block ships from passing).
DO: Pick an Axis strategy for winning (take Russia or Economic) and stick with it unless the Allied player makes the other option more appealing. Both Germany and Japan must be going for the same type of win.
DON’T: Lose more than a couple of your original armor.
DO: Allow the allies to take Western Europe if it means no support for Russia defenses.
DON’T: Allow the allies to take Eastern Europe.
DO: Protect and build a fleet in the Mediterranian Sea. The added mobility to German forces will keep Russian and UK defensive forces stretched thin.
DON’T: Allow any allied transports to survive for the first 4 turns.
Bah! Historical accuracy is not what we are going for here. “Is it entertaining?”, is the only question I am interested in. 
This house rule replaces Russia restricted. All IC are limited to a maximum number of units produced per turn equal to the IPC production of the area they occupy. So the maximum production for the Karelia is 3 units per turn. 8 units per turn for germany, 6 for southern Europe, 8 units for UK, etc.
SBR has an additional effect for every bomber that successfully completes an SBR (i.e. not shot down by AA) place a chip under the IC bombed. The max unit production of that area is reduced by 1 unit for each chip under the IC. All chips are removed at the end of the placement phase for the owner of the IC. This SBR effect is in addition to the normal IPC bombing damage. Heavy bombers place 3 chips under an IC for each successful SBR.
While I agree that the US position is improved. The UK Asian position and the Russian position overall is worsened. The US can spare its fighter in China, but what about the UK fighter in India, it looks like an easy kill for Japan without US aid?
The Japanese could take Yakut and SFE on turn 1. Germany could take Karelia on turn 1. That leaves Russia at 17 IPCs if she takes nothing back. The Allies need to send resources to help Russia immediately, or Moscow will fall (not completely historically inaccurate). This fact I believe tempers the advantages gained by the U.S. going first.
Also UK attacks on the German fleet will not be overly productive as they will force the UK fleets away from the UK seazone, this means any naval units built by the UK turn 1 (AC?) will have no protection from the Luftwaffe. If German subs escape, they could move into the UK seazone blocking US transports on US2 from reaching Finland. Also a UK AC on turn 1 can not receive US fighters for defense before a German airstrike can be made.
Just some thoughts. If I ever get enough free time I would love to playtest this scenario with a PBEM game.
Cheers!
Bill, Your suggestion is sound. However, if Germany took Syria as well and there is a German transport at Egypt, then the IC should not be build, because Germany can reach it by transport.
Also be prepared to send USAF planes to the IC to help defend it.
Cheers!
Here’s an idea. How about playing the turns in reverse order, US first/Russia last. It would certainly change things around. It might even be a good alternative to RR.
Cheers!
The individual strategy of your country is not as important as the combined strategy of you and your allies. Which ever team coordinates together the best will win the game. Your own actions will flow naturally to the best end of the group strategy. So get together with your fellow players at the start of the game and at regular intervals throughout to remain as well coordinated as possible.
well, if the usa screws up the transport thing, and has an open transport (I usually mess it up)
you can always move the aa gun to finland, then later karelia, and free the other 2 up.
That’s a good point. The US AA guns tend to gather dust anyway, so shipping them to Europe might make them useful.
It could be argued that the Russain player might chose to build 8 inf and move the AA to Nov. This would leave the German player with a choice to either SBR Moscow, or use the BMB in sinking the UK fleet as usual.
If the German player goes for SBR, then the Allied fleet has a higher chance of survival/causing Luftwaffe casualties.
The main goal I see in moving an AA gun to the East front (besides possibly downing planes) is to make the Japanese player hesitate. Since strafing with a few inf and some planes would become too risky. The Japanese player would most likely wait until it was certain that the territory could be taken.