My review copy of Axis & Allies Europe 1940 has arrived

@Midnight_Reaper

I don’t. I’ve never tried it against another player yet.

I do agree though that as the Axis you should look for opportunities in tough/actual games (as in, not against yourself).

@Soviet-Steamroller I’ve always found the Stalingrad strategy to be a difficult one, as it’s just too far from Germany’s industrial base. Couple that with the fact that the Soviets can reach both Ukraine and Stalingrad in one turn with mechs and tanks, and it seems like Germany just runs out of steam. They’re not able to effectively crush the Soviets before the US is knocking on their door. If Italy assists, that gives it a much better chance of success, but my Italian strategy is usually focused on Africa and the Middle East.

By contrast, Leningrad is much closer to Germany’s power base, and with transports in the Baltic, it’s generally a simple matter to capture and hold it, using it as an industrial base for the assault on Moscow. Because it takes the Soviets two turns minimum to reach it, it is nearly impossible for them to mount a counter-attack and take it back. Furthermore, the air base allows Germany to keep their air force in play to defend the homeland, while still menacing the majority of Soviet territory.

I also like to wait until G2 to declare war against the Soviets, just to keep Britain guessing. I can see why you’d go with a G1 attack on the Soviets, though, since as you say, it definitely puts them back on their heels. For my tastes, I just find it allows Britain much more freedom and clarity. Without any pressure against Britain’s capital, they can usually build enough navy/air force to make your life miserable.

Again, just my two cents.

Italy can’t go first. The axis are already too powerful. I have never won a Europe game playing against myself on the europe board with allies. Italy going before UK would mean Italy is a juggernaut! Also keep the french units. They don’t do much, but making them UK wouldn’t be historical at all.

@mastermind93:

I currently have a copy of Europe 1940, and I just recently saw how much they are going for on ebay. If I sold mine, that would make enough money to buy a reprint, but all I hear about a reprint is hearsay. I don’t want to sell mine unless I’m ABSOLUTELY sure there will be a reprint. Thoughts?

If I had it I would probably sell it if I could get something like $200 for it.  Selling out this soon appears to be a good sign to me in terms of a reprint.  I figure there will be a reprint with substantial corrections made, and if I’m really lucky perhaps actual Italian and French figures rather than German and Russian in other colors.

I would say that france would benefit the axis because of their first turn fall and their additional income to germany and Italy, this would make the game a 3v2 like all axis and allies games.

and with mech-infantry it is quite comfortable even from germany. therefrom you can help out even in southern italy, if there is no allied obstacle in the way. ;)
this way you can cover mostly the whole of continental europe (except russian territories).

@Dylan:

Do you mean beginner’s game or “beginner’s game” ?

I meant what I wrote, the game is meant for newcomers to the Axis & Allies universe, or for vets like us that want a short, quick game.

@LHoffman:

Interesting, yes… but I don’t think the similarity between the A&A game and Axis pact you reference is intentional. By that I mean it was a total coincidence. Taking into account all of the other errors in Pacific and previous versions, there is no way that the designers paid that much attention to detail. I bet it just looked like a logical place to split the board for them.

Yeah. I think they just split it where China ended, and that happened to be there.

Besides, 10 degrees is a large error.