I have a different opinion……You can not prevent Sea Lion from an experienced German player…I have tried to prevent Sea Lion in every imaginable way…it can’t be done

If I am playing the British…I prefer using that money to give units to the UK Pacific and units lurking around the Med amphibiously

Obviously I am paying close attention to the German buys and course correct if need be

Germany would allow you to scramble 6 against a british attack if US took out Denmark and Germany felt the scramble to support the Danish invasion would fail.

Idk. I’d probably just buy dudes instead but could see it’s advantages. Maybe after you whack moscow and are cash heavy and facing heavy allied pressure in the west

I agree with a post that Mashmallow posted earlier, there is no guarantee that you are going to get that NO for a clear med, you should not even rely on that one. The Italians have so many uses, on the ground, with actual IPC earning territory’s that those planes can be used for, you need to weigh out their impact in the med versus potentially taking Egypt, steam rolling Greece, building an actually strong can-opener force in Russia, and even Protecting Rome.

The last few games that I have played, when I am the Axis, I get my Italian partner to seriously evaluate the Taranto raid force. If it is the max force possible, and the UK is totally on point, I say scrap the scramble, focus on more attainable objectives. As a German player, I sure as hell don’t want to burn the Luftwaffe on an air vs naval clean up battle G2, where I can lose guaranteed safe hits against Russian ground troops once Barbarossa commences. On the other hand, If the UK doesn’t bring the max force down, or they don’t make a move to middle east with SA and India navies / units, and Italy looks like they might have some time to maneuver for a few rounds, then scramble all the way. I have seen games were Italy won the Taranto raid, and from then on became unstoppable in the Med, which in turn leads to Germany being able to achieve their full potential, and results in an Axis victory.

Italy unfortunately has to play the game, or at least start the game, being completely on board to support the Germans in whichever direction they plan to strike. A strong Afrika campaign with Italian air power can lead to Italy generating sufficient IPCs to gain a bit more control over their destiny. A successful Italian campaign in the middle East, or as a can-opener can have the same impact. Italy with zero navy, and zero air force, means they might as well stockpile Rome and prepare to defend Europe, there will be no expeditionary force.

I picked up another copy of 2nd edition from Amazons boxing day sale for &30 CDN.
You might keep an eye out for sales on major holidays like Memorial Day/the 4th of July/Thanksgiving/…

Thrift stores are also good places for deals as are local conventions.

@Charles:

4.  If your planes have any movement points left, they must try to land elsewhere.  If the planes have used their full movements and their carriers have been damaged, the planes are destroyed.  Ouch!

That’s in the case USA attacks.

If USA was on the defensive side (Japan attacks USA fleet in sz6) the planes are allowed 1 step to find a safe landing space, not 4. That can be an Allied-controlled territory 1 step away or an undamaged carrier with room to spare 1 step away. In this particular case : Korea or Japan (if Allies control it) or a carrier in sz5/7/16/17/18/19.

US should not go 100% pacific.

At minimum US needs to do a few things to help out uk.

1. Clear German subs from atlantic.
2. Land in Gibraltar / Morocco to knock out italian NOs.
3. Provide an aircraft carrier or something to help control french coast.

Without help uk will really struggle. Effectively giving germany italy an easy job to ward off uk ships and concentrate on blitzing russia.

As Russia, you will invariably be the target of a massive German attack early on in the game. If this attack succeeds, the Axis will almost surely win. If it fails, you can destroy Germany with the other Allies. Therefore, a bit of preparation for the onslaught is required. But how to prepare?

Purchasing for the Defense

In the start of the game, you have four Industrial Complexes: in Moscow, Leningrad, Ukraine, and Stalingrad. You also have 37 IPCs to spend. But on what? I think the best purchase is six tanks, split between Novgorod and Ukraine, with a tactical bomber or artillery every now and then. This provides for lots of power on offense, while also providing lots of units for defense. However, this combination is missing a few notable things:

#1: Strategic bombers. They’re a complete waste of I.P.C.s. For a start, you are going to be defending for the early part of the campaign, so having units that defend on a 1 is useless.

#2: Infantry/Mechanized Infantry. You already have enough infantry, and for the early stages of the defense, you don’t need any more. Use what you have as cannon fodder, and once the German blows have fallen, build some in Moscow or Stalingrad.

#3: Fighters. Although they do defend on a 4, they are too expensive to be worth it. The only time that you should build fighters during this early stage is for a last-ditch defense of a Victory City.

#4: Any naval units whatsoever. You will not see hide nor hair of the German navy during this stage of the war, and probably never! An amphibious assault against Leningrad is unlikely, but in any event, if you follow the strategy given below, Leningrad will be so well-defended that an amphibious assault is unlikely.

#5: AA guns. You start the game with a good number, and what you do have will likely be enough. You have enough in Leningrad, and the AA guns in Moscow (out of reach even of strat bombers for several turns), can reach the Ukraine in 2 turns. Also, the two AA guns in Buryatia can move towards the front, but they’ll not likely reach it in time.

In sum, tanks are the best all-round purchase for your defense. However, there is a strategy that you should employ to help soften the blows…

Retreating

This strategy will not miraculously prevent a German breakthrough, but it will buy you a good bit of time. Here it is:

Move your forces in Karelia and Vyborg into Novgorod, minus one infantry in each. Move one of your Bessarabia infantry into Western Ukraine. Move one of your Eastern Poland infantry into Belarus, and move two of your Baltic States infantry into Belarus. Also, move all of your forces in Volgograd and Rostov into Ukraine. What have you gained by doing this? You’ve created a buffer zone that Germany cannot blitz through, or move its aircraft into. If the Germans attack these territories, you can counter-attack next turn, while still building more tanks in Ukraine and Leningrad. This may not be enough to save Leningrad and Ukraine, but it will buy you a fair amount of time to evacuate or build up in those territories. In spite of this, a G1 attack will upset many of these plans.

Defending Against a G1 Attack

A G1 attack is dangerous, but not fatal. Your biggest advantage is the dice. Germany cannot make up losses as easily as you, as you have two ICs right at the front, and another two safely behind your own lines. Germany, by contrast, cannot reach Bessarabia with land units at all, and reaching Eastern Poland/Baltic States uses up a tank/artillery’s full movement. The only potential IC site- Finland- won’t be ready until G2. However, the Germans will have 49 IPCs on hand on G2, while you’ll only have 35. Still, you can buy 3 tanks in Leningrad and 2 in Ukraine, plus an artillery in Ukraine. This should tie down the Germans for a good while. In the center, retreat wherever possible. Move your Belarus units (assuming an air attack hasn’t killed them) into Smolensk. There, they can link up with your Moscow units and defend effectively, right next to a major IC. The units in Rostov can also support Ukraine. In Western Ukraine, evacuate your infantry and artillery to Bryansk, where they can be supported by the IC in Moscow. This will buy you some time to conduct a defensive campaign, but the Germans may still get to a territory bordering Moscow. How to defend your capital will be the subject of the next installment…

That sounds like the way i understand the rules. Moving to an adjacent sea zone then moving to a land territory in that sea zone is 2 moves. Therefore not allowed.

@Travelman:

… or is there surprise attack capability lost since they are not accompanied by destroyers?

Actually it is the attacker’s destroyer that cancels the defending sub’s surprise strike ability.
A defending destroyer would cancel the attacking sub’s surprise strike ability.

@Herr:

@oysteilo:

@Herr:

Isn’t that a bit slow?

I1: take Bulgaria
I2: units move to Romania
I3: can-opening into Bessarabia and/or Eastern Poland

So in that scenario, the German followup will be as late as G4.

I think the important can-opening happens around (I4), I5, I6 in order to break through into volgograd and caucasus and later to threaten middle east by italy taking NW persia

The idea of can-opening is, to take the territory with Italy in order to allow Germany, and especially the German planes, to reinforce it against a Russian counterstrike. So I don’t think that any Italian drive to the south servers the purpose of can-opening because Russia is unlikely to have sufficient forces to strike back at either Volgograd or the Caucasus anyway in case the Germans would have taken it without Italian assistance. Which doesn’t imply that going that way is bad for Italy because there’s a lot of bonus to be had. But if you’re talking can-opening, then I’d say Bryansk on I5 would be the way to go.

@aequitas:

With Bulgaria, Yugo and Greece given to Italy, what punch will Germany have?
Any Allied player will be happy to harvest Italy…

Agreed. I’d much rather give Bulgaria to Germany to assimilate those troops and add some punch to the German drive into Russia.

I might be using it idfferent than you. The other idea of canopening is to force a russian retreat.
let say you stand in rostov with a german and italian stack, with at least 40 german tank+mech and 5-7 italian units., and 7+ italians. Then ussr has to retreat to moscow. if he stacks byransk, you can take tambov with the italians, and moscow falls on the german turn. Since ussr has to retreat, you get to take cauc, stalingrad and begin taking the middle east immediately.

Italian canopening is even more effective when combined with the Germany “Dark Skies” option with lots of bombers.  The tanks+mechs+bomber attack options means that the Allies cannot place moderate-sized stacks within two spaces of the German/Italian main stack.  Russia ends up cowering in Moscow with a few minor exchanges each round.  UK ends up with a strong stack near Iraq, never daring to move it too close to the Germans.

Meanwhile the huge range of the German bombers give that power flexibility to find opportunistic attacks:
*Allied ground forces in W. Europe
*Allied ships in the Atlantic
*Allied ships in the Med
*Push into Siberia
*Mid-game Sealion or Egypt attack

I am not saying that this plan guarantees victory, but it allows League players to aim towards eventual victory in G13-17.  Most face-to-face games end up with a Moscow attack on G5-8 when the Axis players just decide that the numbers look close enough.  With the battlecaculator and more time on PBEM/PBF games, Germany can comb through the options every turn and patiently wait for the right opening with a big TUV swing.

good point.  There are reasons why you might want to fight–-say the Germans attack the Russian Cruiser and Sub with 1-2 ships, you might have the sub stay to prolong the battle or have it flee its all situational.  I’ve seen situations where people rush Novogrod Harbor ignoring the sub there and then getting scrambled against so its like 1-3 ships vs 1 sub and 2-3 planes…

But once the a sub decides to submerge, they’re out and they can’t come back into the fight that battle, and you can decide for some to flee and some to stay…

Yes, sure.  Its just usually not a good idea (since tacs are poor defenders and are usually being lost without replacement, they need another source of fighters to shine).

Little more clarification on #4–when you liberate a capital (lets use Paris), all of the territory that the allies recaptured from the Axis immediately become French again, blowing off the other Allied markers and all going “blue” except for land that the Axis was holding.  So if we say that the Axis owned Southern France and Syria upon liberation, France’s new income at the end of that turn would be 15, but there would be no building or placement of units until the next round (if they live that long).

As you probably read, the Allies can only “liberate” other Allied land if it has been taken by the Axis first.  The only exception to this is the Dutch territory, and if you read the rules carefully, only ANZAC and UK can activate these, USA cannot.  However, in another twist, all Allied planes can land on these whether they are activated or not.

In practice what this means is that taking Moscow or Paris back just tosses a ton of money back into Axis hands, while taking away the income from USA and UK (primarily) that they fought so hard to liberate.  This creates a problem, because the Allies will actively avoid liberating capitals and handing so much cash to the Axis since in most cases, the Axis can easily recapture the key capital zones and control of it would just trade back and forth.

As a result, one sort of universally accepted house rule is to destroy the money rather than give it to the capturing player, after the first capture.

The Allies rarely benefit from capturing a capital, because the Italy economy is usually decimated before the Allies invade, and if you were able to capture Berlin or Tokyo, that’s usually endgame for the Axis if they don’t want to fight on.

Ozteas 1941 is well reviewed. If you’re comfortable with some players being at peace at the start, that is also worth a look. Starts like round 3 of 1940.

Although if you prefer the simplicity of everyone fighting right away, go to g42!

It’s also worth remembering that one sub on one cruiser is a coin flip, because the cruiser only rolls its attack if the sub misses.

Final word?

Only if you’re sure Japan can’t take it- that’s disaster! If Japan controls Alaska/ WCanada, it can strat bomb WUS, and if it controls New Heb., it can strat bomb ANZAC.The naval base can be useful for moving equipment to help ANZAC, though.

It’s not easy, you’ll probably lose most of China to the FEC, and you’ll have to start from scratch in South East Asia. You’re also giving the Americans free rein in the Pacific. It’s easier to take advantage of ANZAC’s low income to keep a small fleet in sz63, maybe conquer NZ and Solomons/NB, and keep them bottled up, while attacking Calcutta and US fleet.

Take the amphibious units as your casualties in the first round.  The amphibious units can’t retreat–they have to fight to the end.

@simon33:

Interesting. I can duplicate the problem if I do the CM in three steps. If you ctrl-click to go from SZ36 to SZ43 via SZ35 in one go, Triple-A allows it.

… and my recreated scenario allowed the moves in two steps, too (see attached file) …

… and I can confirm simon33’s observation that Snigg’s scenario would work in two steps, too, by moving from 36 to 44 via 35 as step 1 - then load - then move from 44 to 35 as step 2.

test1.tsvg

@Patchman123:

@knp7765:

Yeah, I’ve gone kind of piece crazy myself. I have a specific set of pieces for each nation in Global 40 I call my gaming sets. Here is what comprises each nation set:
100 Infantry
50 Artillery
50 Mechanized Infantry
50 Tanks
40 Anti-Aircraft Artillery
40 Fighters
30 Tactical Bombers
30 Strategic Bombers
40 Transports
40 Submarines
40 Destroyers
30 Cruisers
20 Battleships
20 Aircraft Carriers
100 Control Markers
And that is just OOB units! The only exception is China, but they still have 100 OOB Infantry units. I also have some HBG units for China for artillery, tanks and fighters (some house rules allow China to have tanks).
To get these totals, I actually got several copies of the game when they came out and cannibalized them for pieces. I was able to sell off extras which helped me make back some of the money I spent, but it was still pretty pricy. 
On top of this, I have huge collections of HBG’s sets in just about every color available. This part is really silly on my part because I pretty much use the Olive Drab for US, Dark Grey for Germany, Burnt Orange for Japan, Maroon for Russia. Basically the OOB colors. So all of those other colors, like the Axis Minors, Neutral sets, US Supplement for Allies and alternate colors for the Japanese Supplement and Expansion sets just basically sit there in their containers. I keep thinking I will use them in trying out the HBG 1939 Global variant because it has all these little countries and you can use all the variant colors to represent them, but I never get around to doing so. My group simply prefers Global 40.
When I think back on how much I have invested in all these game pieces, it almost makes me sick. I enjoy my games and it’s a fun little hobby, but there is such a thing as too much.
Obviously having such large sets is not necessary. You can always use chips which in some cases you simply have to because of space limitations on the board. I hope you are able to find your balance. However, I must agree with YG, the pieces in a single game are simply not enough.

How many PER game, NOT total. What I mean by total is counting Europe 1940 Sec. Ed. and Pacific 1940 Sec. Ed separately, instead of as one game.

You can calm down - that posting is 3 and 1/2 years old and was just showing off how much money he’d wasted on extra pieces how many extra units he had for playing A&A.

There’s a Patchman123 on BGG who asked similar questions earlier this week - I answered the main questions he asked there. Assuming Patchman123 on A&A.org is the same person, I answered your question there and to help out the forum I’ll answer the same question here:

@midnight_reaper:

@Patchman123:

Could I please have an inventory on how many pieces there are with Europe 1940 First Edition and Europe 1940 Second Edition for all the countries involved in the game, such as France, United Kingdom, Italy, United States,Germany, and the Soviet Union?

I noticed that when I was selling Axis & Allies 1942 First Edition from 2009, that some Axis & Allies pieces from other games have been mixed in.

Could please have an EXACT count on how many pieces there are supposed to be in these games?

Exactly how many pieces are in all the editions of Axis & Allies from 1981-2017?

I am trying to sort my game out.

Let me point you at some online resources to sort things out. First, do note that some pieces are only in the First Edition, some only in the Second Edition. This post from axisandallies.org discuss which pieces changed between editions: www.axisandallies.org/p/whats-new-in-axis-allies-pacific-1940-and-europe-1940-second-editions/

That said, here is a listing from the Harris Game Design forums that lists what comes in a copy of Europe 1940, First Edition (well, both Europe and Pacific, but that will get you to Europe…): http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=18469

And here is a forum post from axisandallies.org that lists what comes in a copy of Europe 1940, Second Edition (well, both Europe and Pacific, but that will get you to Europe…): https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=30066.0

-Midnight_Reaper

Source: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1943468/number-pieces-europe-1940-first-edition-and-europe

What are your further questions?

-Midnight_Reaper