Yeah so to follow up. Key arguments as to why balance in global is off.
#1. Income issues
In stand alone Europe, USA makes $60 With normal NO’s.
In stand alone Pacific, USA makes $57 With normal NO’s (add another +$5 if you have PHI)
TOTAL $117
Both games are fairly balanced stand alone, with a tight race to the finish.
-Yet in Global, USA suddenly only gets $72? Out the gate -$45 a turn when USA at war. Brutal. And certainly makes getting a $30+ bid one time, really not seem like much…
And I haven’t even touched on the major balance issues with Axis NO’s vs Allied, which are totally outrageous, Axis has a major advantage in this category
#2 Victory conditions skewed
There are four routes to victory in the game.
-If the Axis win on Europe Map - RESULT = Axis Win
-If the Axis win on Pacific Map - RESULT = Axis Win
-If the Axis win on Both Pacific and Europe Maps - RESULT = Axis win
-If the allies win on BOTH Maps - RESULT = Allies Win
Three of the four routes to victory all result in an Axis win, and I appreciate this formula is very simple, but it holds quite true that without additionally balanced factors that the axis will win 3/4 games
#3 Centralized Power
The Axis have a unique advantage in positioning, which is especially true for cheap and disposable aircraft. Units the Axis build can generally be combat effective immediately on defense and attack, where as the allies have to build far off in the distance, and then move into position, as well as being delayed by Political conditions.
Your references to use of Air power against your fleets is a prime example. I can choose to smash a fleet at Gibraltar, in the channel, or in the med. with whatever portions of my air power I like, nominally, all of it all at once. And its the allies who are stuck with spending on transports and carriers, and other infrastructure to hold multiple key positions at the same time, to have any hope of breaking through.
It’s also much easier for the Axis to bounce back from catastrophe. Again as placements are immediate. Vs when I nuked fleets, I knew it would take USA 2-3 turns to recover.
#4 The Can Opener
The Italian Can Opener, is probably the single most game breaking factor. I didn’t go this route in our game (though I originally planned to) because of the risks I took that let me have a great shot on Egypt I1. I had a few high risk chances on your capital as well (by again just using air) but I opted not to take them.
In terms of strategy - most often, players simply pull whatever Italian forces they can out of Africa, and throw it on the eastern front, and it makes it impossible for Russia to hold back the swarm. The axis get through are are get $7 a territory for places like Caucasus and Stalingrad.
Russia has to choose its capital, OR the middle east, and it just gets overrun whilst the Axis makes bank, and the allies struggle to start and setup.
Many of us called this strategy “the schedule”, because it was run like clockwork, and certainly with no bid, always resulted in a G7/G8 Moscow take.
#5 The France Conundrum
This is also a game breaker. If at any point the Allies manage to liberate france, chances are the Axis can immediately get it back, Collect $$$ for all it’s territories, and the allies lose all forward factories.
This cycle is ridiculous, and often means Germany doesnt even have to leave a single unit in Paris, OR can store units in Paris without fear of it really being attacked, the allied “france” landing is completely blunted by this gamey situation, and again all the advantage are lent to Germany to stutter stall any kind of landing.
CONCLUSION
All these factors considered… is why Balanced Mod, and Path 2 Victory were put together, after a decade of online play, and after seeing with competitive league bids (even championship games) of $45+ for the Allies, where the allies would still lose.
I hope this is helpful…
