Re-release of board game "Crude" includes MANY derricks, barrels, and oil wells!

@TitusJames haha yeah, funny how that happens :)

Global 1940, No. 20 Game Report:

This is the only post in the No. 20 Game Report.

Players:
Axis: The Captain
Allies: Keld R.

Germany:
From Early 1940 to Early 1941, Germany captured Western Europe and prepared for an attack on the Soviets in Late 1941.

A German defense of Western Europe mostly included Mines & Infantry.

Soviet Union:
The Soviets prepared for an agressive defense with a combination of Fighter units, Tank Armies, Army Corps and Soviet Guards.

When Germany in Late 1941 launched the attack against Russia, the Soviets agressively counter attacked the Germans with heavy casualties on both sides.

The Soviet Strategic Plan was skillfully coordinated with both United States and United Kingdom.

Japan:
The Japanese Strategic Plan was to capture most islands in the South Pacific while the Chinese Front was secondary.
From Late 1940 UK units from India supported the Chinese defense - and by Early 1943 China was still defending against the Japanese invaders.

United States:
The US Navies in the Atlantic and the Pacific were gradually reinforced massively.
The US Strategic Plan in the Pacific was to support Russia - with US troops landing in Soviet Far East - and moving towards Japanese occupied China.

United Kingdom:
UK Lend-Lease Air & Tank units were shipped to Russia from Late 1941.
UK units were contiuously attacking Western Europe with Paratrooper units and Naval Assaults.
UK declared War on Japan in Early 1940 and units from India immediately supported the Chinese defenders.

As the War went on, Axis forces were gradually eliminated by agressive Allied counter attacks on land, sea and air.

By Late 1942, the combined US and UK Naval forces in the Atlantic - and the US Navy in the Pacific - were superior to the Axis Naval forces.

The End:
In Late 1942 the UK Navy in the Atlantic moved from sz 91 to sz 92 - and thereby leaving the US Navy vulnerable to attack from the German Kriegsmarine.

The German Kriegsmarine launched an attack on the US Navy - and eliminated an enormous US Invasion Fleet.
This left the US troops stranded in Gibraltar and Morocco.

German casualties were heavy - and the Kriegsmarine was facing elimination from a UK Naval Counter attack.

In Early 1943 after the catasrophic US Naval losses in the Atlantic, the US launched a massive Naval and Amphibious Assault against sz 6 and Tokyo.…

to be continued soon…

Update on G40 No. 20 Game Report; 7th December 2025:

The US Navy attacked the Imperial Japanese Navy in sz 6.
All Japanese Warships, Air units and Transports were eliminated.

US Troops supported by the US Army Airforce landed on the beaches of Homeland Japan.
Japan activated the Home Defense - and received 2 Infantry units. These were the only Infantry units in Japan, since all other land units were Artillery and Mechanized Infantry units.

Japanese AAA failed to destroy any US Air units…

The US Army swiftly eliminated 75 % of all defending Japanese units.

But the costs were extreme for the US Troops & Air units…

After 6 rounds of Combat, the last attacking US units were eliminated by a few surviving Japanese Mechanized Infantry units.

A few Japanese troops barely survived the massive US attack on the Homeland of Japan.

Since the US Navy in sz 6 was now facing a counter attack from a superior Japanese Airforce and Japanese Naval units - the US Navy would certainly be eliminated.

This scenario left the USA with no Warships anywhere on the game board - and so the initiative was lost for the US player.

The overall situation in Early 1943:

The German Army managed to halt the Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front Western Europe was heavily defended by German & Italian forces, including numerous Mines Italian troops were firmly holding on to Egypt - even though almost all of North Africa was under Allied control. The threat from any US Amphibious Assault in Western Europe was eliminated. US Troops in Soviet Far East were cut off from any reinforcements The Japanese Navy was the only Navy in the entire Pacific Ocean - with no Allied Naval units to stop the Japanese expansion Western USA was captured by Japanese Infantry units…

The Allies surrendered in Early 1943 after the failed amphibious attack on Japan.

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I use WWII Russians and control markers for Bolsheviks. These are controlled by the CPs, but cannot attack outside original Russian areas. Some sort of Siberian railway track to represent the arrival of Allied (i.e. anti-Bolshevik) forces from the east.

Something else I’ve experimented with is the release of POWs; if the war with Russia ends, G & A get a number of infantry to represent the release of prisoners held in Russia. This can be extended to any power being knocked out of the war.

My main change is that collapse is based on national morale, based on casualties suffered & bombing raids on the capitals as well as losing battles and tt. Its fairly obvious that collapse based on income levels favours the CPs too much.

Thanks for the reply, we have given 1941 a try a couple times. Both times we declared a draw after about five hours.  :-P :oops:

I’m hoping for a game variation that takes you normal people 1.5 hours, so maybe we could get through it in an evening.

I’ve been doing a little testing:

Use the Pacific side of a revised map (I have never gotten 1942, but we do use the ruleset from 1942)

Set it up like 1941.

All income is divided in half.

Russian troops only defend.

Played this a couple times against myself. I run into problems with the victory conditions tho. I played that if a power could capture and hold Hawaii, East Indies, and the territory with Shanghai for a turn they won. It has proved too hard tho, Hawaii is a beast to take even for a strong Japan if Japan is also going to hold off India. Shanghai is nearly inaccessible for the allies.

I did like the simplicity this game setup introduced. Purchase decisions can become as simple as “destroyer or sub?” On the other hand, if the games takes 25 rounds, it won’t be any shorter.

Any input/suggestions?

Amazing, thanks a lot CWO!

@SpitfirED:

I know this topic has been dormant for some time but thought it would be better to say here that I play with heavy tanks on a cost: 7/ att and def: 4 basis but with a move of just 1.

I like to keep house rules ruthlessly simple and eliminating the suggested heavy tank non combat move of 2 also helps to ensure the unit doesn’t become too overpowering. (Also helped by the fact that I also play with heavy artillery on a cost 5, att/def 3 and move 1 basis so both attacker and defender have access to a unit with +1 hit for +1IPC compared to OOB).

:-)

You could split the axis up the same way. Put Germany and Italy on one side while Japan is on the other. Both sides need 10 VC to win but can only attack each other when the allies are down to 4 VC. This would make the end gamee very tence and maybe even exciting.

They’re going to mix A&A with an RTS engine?! Hmmmm……we’ll see how it turns out.

If you’re looking forward to playing a WW2 RTS game, check out:

Blitzkrieg

I didn’t like Sudden Strike, and I thought that RTS wasn’t for the WW2 genre, but this game changed my mind. It reminds me a lot of Panzer General II, but with rad graphics.