ImperialDefence and I have played this once on TripleA against each other and twice at GenCon as a team against other seasoned Global players.
I personally like the new G42 setup. It’s a different game from G40. America is really forced to invest in more Pacific units, whereas it’s easier for them to ignore Japan in G40. The initial depletion of German forces is meant to replicate where Germany would be had they invaded Russia from the beginning. Germany is forced to play a defensive game for the next few rounds, however the Soviet advance is not unstoppable.
I did not find a problem with the changed turn order. I felt that it worked well with the setup.
Both games we played were very close even though the Allies received a bid as Imperial stated in the above post.
I can’t say which I prefer. I like both setup’s and would be happy to play either.
I must agree with ImperialDefence, this setup is NOT faster. Our games could easily have gone 18 hours.
The Mongolian Rule was unclear to us. In both games we played that Soviet’s could enter China and participate in defensive battles since they are at war with Japan. However, if they attacked the Japanese first or invaded a Japanese territory then the Mongolians would never mobilize.
Edit: Mongolian Rule
I hope this helps to provide some more perspective on the G42 setup.