Which nation requires the least skill to play as?

Actually, I will choose an Axis nation even for easiest country to play. I vote for Japan. Why? Well, it depends on how you define “easiest”, but here is my reasoning:

I define a country that is “easy” to play as a country that is presented with very few options regarding strategy. So, what decisions regarding strategy does Japan has to make during a game? IMHO, next to none! ; It is all about putting the maximum amount of Ground/Air units against Russia , in the shortest time span possible…Yes, they may choose different ways of achieving this (build IC/not IC), the Air/Ground unit mix , etc, but compared to the purchasing/strategy decisions that other nations are faced with, I find Japans decisions more “easy”…Just keep those Tank/Fighter groups rolling towards Moscow…

Voted for Japan for similar reasons.

Same as the other reasons for Japan is the country that takes the least skill to play. YA! FIRST POST! :D

I disagree. Russia is much more limited and thatfor easier to play. Although an error can cause severe damage to the allied defense you can use the same strategy again and again without doing lot’s of things wrong. Stand your ground in WRU/ARC and NOV is what Russia is doing most of the time. They don’t even have difficult purchase decissions, lot’s of Inf and a few Arm are never wrong.

edit: As I said in the other thread, in my humble opinion, Japan is the most difficult nation to play.

I voted for Russia too, same reasons as Jule.

Russia might have less peice and IPC anbd make it seem easy to play as…. but if the question is which country is the easiest to play as and be successful… then Russia might be considered one of the hardest countries to be… I would not make a new player the Russians and expect to win. I would say America is the easiest country to be… all the other countries have already taken a turn… and you have had all that time and able to see how things unfold… your job shouldnt be that hard.

What about the UK, they only have like 10 units on the board for the first few rounds. How can you make a lot of mistakes when you have nothing to use to do it ?

America is pretty straight forward too…

The U.S. seems the easiest- no pressure at all on the capital, so it becomes a game of logistics to get the maximum firepower into the war as soon as possible. Japan may be simple with regard to what to buy, but maximizing Japan’s potential is a skill. When and how to expand with Japan is vital. And I agree that Russia would not be the best nation to entrust to a newbie, so that’s a good test for ease of play.

I’m with 88mm here. The US just gets to sit back on its laurels, being both the most far-removed from the action, and making the most money to start with. As some people pointed out, strategy is ALWAYS a concern, but there’s not as much pressure on strategy with America as with other nations, like Germany. (No-one voted for Germany. Does that surprise anyone?) And also, the US gets to wait until the last turn, after everyone else has set THEIR gears in motion, to decide what they’re gonna do. Who can argue with that? :roll:

Gotta say the US myself, for them its a question of time, if not when their money will overwhelm the axis, and not a question of getting ground under.

Poll was least skill, not easiest to play.

United Kingdom requires the least skill to play because it is almost impossible for them to loose their capital. Even if the allies loose, odds are the UK capital will still be in play since the axis will most likely just have gotten M84 or the allies have conceeded defeat with the fall of Moscow.

Also, the lack of any real british involvement in the game is not going to be as detrimental as no American involvement or no Russian involvement as Britian can only add 12-18 IPCs a round in most games anyway (assuming Africa has fallen, perhaps India as well.)

This is why I like to put the rookie in the UK seat. S/he ca watch the game, participate to learn, and make all the mistakes s/he wants without overly impacting the game.

Not to say that the British power, in the game, is irrellevant or a non-power, just that given their limitations and their situation, any tactic they choose is almost as good as any other. Perhaps this is why many game masters have multiple British strategies. (IC in India, IC in S. Africa, Wait a turn build a fleet, Build an AC and a Trn immediately, build bombers only, etc.)

Good point Jennifer. I guess I’m looking at it from my point of view, and not that of a newb.

From my experience, America is pretty well a support role, as long as there’s never much Japanese pressure in the Pacific, America can support the Brits in Germany, and then press on either in Africa or then choose to take some territory in Japan. Because of their massive economy and isolation, I feel they’re removed from the war a lot more than the other four powers - which gives the player a lot more time to plan and judge where the war is going, as well as they’re the last player in a round to go… which helps in this as well.

There’s really only three options for the Americans as well (as I see it).

1. Go after Japan and have it all Pacific.
2. Support the Brits in Germany
3. Support the Brits in Africa

Wherever they’re supporting the Brits, this will inevitably mean they’ll end up helping out Russia, if Russia last that long.

America can be used by the British to hold german territory whilst the UK goes to be Russias’ saviour.

Just my .02 IPCs ;)

@Flimflamsam:

From my experience, America is pretty well a support role, as long as there’s never much Japanese pressure in the Pacific, America can support the Brits in Germany, and then press on either in Africa or then choose to take some territory in Japan. Because of their massive economy and isolation, I feel they’re removed from the war a lot more than the other four powers - which gives the player a lot more time to plan and judge where the war is going, as well as they’re the last player in a round to go… which helps in this as well.

There’s really only three options for the Americans as well (as I see it).

1. Go after Japan and have it all Pacific.
2. Support the Brits in Germany
3. Support the Brits in Africa

Wherever they’re supporting the Brits, this will inevitably mean they’ll end up helping out Russia, if Russia last that long.

America can be used by the British to hold german territory whilst the UK goes to be Russias’ saviour.

Just my .02 IPCs ;)

Exactly correct. When joining in the war in Europe, America is primarily a reinforcing country. Brition takes France, America reinforces. Brition/Russia takes Fin/Nor, America reinforces. In this case, it is rare to see America take and hold land in Europe, at least until Germany’s back has been broken.

However, should the American player NOT join the European theater and make ill decisions in the Pacific theater, the game can be lost. (UK/USSR can hold Germany by themselves, between them they should about equal the financial resources of the Germans, in this case, America needs to do a land grab as fast as possible in the Pacific. Ignore mainland Asia and Japan and get as much as it can before stacking Alaska and invading Tokyo.)

Most experienced players will tell you to dump on Germany first. It is the easier of the two targets to destroy and will allow for the Brits to recover and support the American navy in the Pacific while the Russians support the Asian war.

i would have to say that the easiest is the us.BUT the truth is that every time a rookie has played the us the allies have lost.the us value is understimated.with its choices it relieves the other two.

but then again-uk and russia can be easy.uk is imo most valunerable then any other nation.i saw some people say that its capital is impossible to get.ppl imo u r wrong!!every single time i have won as axis it is through london!!it is very easy to fall if u cut it of…and remmber thta the uk can find itself with less than19-20 ipcs each turn very easy!!!

the axis should never be plays by new players!!us is the choice but the new player will need guidance…

I’d say Russia, because you can sit the new player down, explain the defensive value of infantry, and then pretty much leave them alone for the rest of the game until they get their feet under them.

I’d say the U.S. is vastly more difficult to play, as I know experienced players who swear that the Axis will nearly always win, mostly because they have an insufficient grasp of American strategy.

U.S. is the easiest to play because there are only two options: rush masses of troops to europe or rush masses of troops to invade japan. Done , thats it.

I have to agree with Shredz how hard is it to play UK, I mean sit there look nice annoy Germany to no end and help defend Russia, easy right? I mean with the limited units they have its hard to make major mistakes that cost you major set backs or even the game, so correct me if I’m wrong, show me the light where I cannot see it for I must be lost because there are 2 votes saying UK is the easiest and 16 saying USSR and USA, i can understand USA a little bit but USSR has to fend off both Japan and Germany if not trying to take Germany, they also have to try and work with UK and rely on them and in my opinion when you have to rely on someone else to get your job done your in for a world of hurt.

*Just a notice I’m new to this Forum and I’m entering it as if I own the place…so if I’m doing something wrong and this isn’t how you guys do things around here just let me know and let me know what I can do better as not to make people angry, happy to be here :wink:

@FirstTurnRussianTakeOver:

I have to agree with Shredz how hard is it to play UK, I mean sit there look nice annoy Germany to no end and help defend Russia, easy right? I mean with the limited units they have its hard to make major mistakes that cost you major set backs or even the game, so correct me if I’m wrong, show me the light where I cannot see it for I must be lost because there are 2 votes saying UK is the easiest and 16 saying USSR and USA, i can understand USA a little bit but USSR has to fend off both Japan and Germany if not trying to take Germany, they also have to try and work with UK and rely on them and in my opinion when you have to rely on someone else to get your job done your in for a world of hurt.

*Just a notice I’m new to this Forum and I’m entering it as if I own the place…so if I’m doing something wrong and this isn’t how you guys do things around here just let me know and let me know what I can do better as not to make people angry, happy to be here :wink:

Your comments are quite welcome, and not misplaced at all.

Also welcome to the forum. If you are looking for an actual “game”, both Mr. Ghoul and I live in Winnipeg, and i’m sure that we would welcome a game with you.
Regards,
CC
(note: that’s three Winnipeggers. At some point we need a tournament. Winnipeggers vs. Americans vs. Europeans vs. other Canadians.