Clarification needed…. Russia/Berlin captured on same turn

@Ichabod

Load a saved game and change the settings?

I’m up for a game if we get you working. I want to keep testing and seeing variations.

@Momentum:

A neutral power cannot make a move into a neutral territory (E40 rulebook, pg 15, “Powers Not at War with One Another” side bar, under “Neutral Powers”)

The Soviet Union is still considered to be a neutral power on the Europe map even if it is at war with Japan (E40 rulebook, pg. 37, continuation of Soviet Union’s “Political Situation, National Objectives, and Bonus Income”, under Political Situation)

Taking both of these rules together, the Soviet Union must be at war with either Germany, Italy, or both to move into any neutral territory, pro-Axis, pro-Allies, or strict on the Europe Map.

So the answer to your question is a definite no.

This is an argument I’ve been having with the group I play with for months.

The major hole in my game was defending Moscow. Only held it once.

A couple of other oversights like not anticipating amphibious assaults. Particularly one where I could have sacrificed a cruiser to kill a transport and thin the assault but didn’t.

It really depends on which method you prefer.
A G1 attack can catch the Russians a little off guard and take advantage of their defenses still being relatively thin. The downfall is that Germany’s offense will also be a little thin and be more prone to Russian counter-attacks.
A G3 or G4 attack allows Germany the maximum build up time before Russia can declare war and can make for a much stronger punch into Russia’s borders all along the line. I often wait until G4 because you can hit Russia on 4 fronts (Romania > Bessarabia, Hungary > E Poland, Poland > Baltic States, Finland > Karelia) and have a very strong front line after the battles - harder for Russia to counter attack. The downfall of this is that Russia also gets 3 turns of build-up so they will have more stuff for you to fight. Generally, Germany will still have more than Russia, but if the dice don’t favor you, your front lines could get really ate up by the time you reach Moscow.
A lot depends on what USA does when they get into the war. If they go 80%-100% Europe, your Russian offensive could peter out fast because you have to fend off an American invasion or try to bail out Italy. On the other hand, Japan should be doing very well in the Pacific and you may get an overall Axis win that way.
If USA goes mostly Pacific, then you should be very successful in Russia. The UK will be busy trying to fight Italy and your U-Boats while you pour tanks into Russia and steadily grind them back. However, If Japan plays poorly, it’s possible the USA could wrap things up in the Pacific early enough to still come over and cause trouble for you in Europe before you can take Moscow. Then it’s the dreaded TWO FRONT WAR for Germany.

I did a quick skim and I don’t think anyone mentioned it so I’m gonna chime in. If you ever are in a game and want to figure out odds in a battle you don’t need a fancy odds calculating website or iphone app.

All you have to do is figure out the low luck odds in your head or with an old  fashioned pocket calculator. Just add up the total attack value on one side and divide that number by 6. That’s the number of hits you’ll have in round 1 and then just anticipate what the opponent will remove as casualties (likely lower def/atk values first) and then repeat.

For example, you attack Russia as Germany with 6 infantry, and 3 armor vs their 8 infantry. Your infantry attack at a 1, and the tanks at a 3. That means your attack value is 6 for the infantry (61) and 9 for the tanks (33) for a total of 15. You divide that number by 6 and you have the number of hits you’ll do on average in the first round. 15/6 is 2.5 hits. So you should kill 2 or maybe 3 units. To play it safe I always round down. So lets assume you kill 2.

Then you’ll figure his odds of hitting you in round 1 the same way. He has 8 inf defending at 2 each for a total of 16 defense. He will get 2.67 hits. Again, I always round in my opponents favor so we can assume he hit you 3 times.

So that’s round 1. You can then repeat that process to figure out round 2 and so on until you win or lose. So in round 2 you will have 3 inf and 3 tanks vs 6 inf. Your attack value (AV) will be 12, his will be 12. The odds are dead even in R2. If you divide both by 6 you get 2 hits each.

Round 3 will be your AV of 11 vs his AV of 8, now you’re winning! The more rounds you fight the more the odds are in  your favor since you have higher attack values on your tanks.

Hope that’s helpful, I just hate it when I’m in a game and people want to figure odds and the next thing you know 5 grown men pull out their smart phones and try to race to see who’s $6 odds calculator app will figure out the answer first when you can do it in your head faster… :roll:

@Strikers:

If you do not attempt sea-lion then Germany should not buy a carrier or pretty much any other surface warship except maybe a destroyer. An air base is the way to protect any vulnurable transports. Though I think one in Norway (if you can hold norway) is a better spot than one in Germany.

The problem is holding Norway.

@Fishmoto37:

A stalemate exists in China. The Soviets moved their 18 infantry back up to threaten the Japanese but have never attacked. Japan was forced to garrison Manchuria. They need those infantry in china as they have mostly expensive units facing the Chinese and Indians. Japan never made it to the Indies as the U.S. had major fleets moving west. The Japanese did defeat an American fleet in the Marianas but with all that income they will be coming again.

After eleven rounds the stalemate in China has been broken and the allies are pushing the Japanese back.  The Indian westward march has been checked by Italy. Japan has broken the Siberian armies and is starting to claim Soviet territory.  12/27/10

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Sorry, I’m thinking of my own historical rules in which Romania starts neutral. ~Posting on this soon.  Yugoslavia or maybe later on Ukraine?