@andrewaagamer Thanks for the insight. I should have guessed that your recommendation would be based on incremental changes. It’s all about getting the most for your money.
You made good sense in the Pacific sea war. I was a bit off based on the fact that I usually play BM4 games where you have to have extra land forces for Japan to cover all the Chinese territory.
but regardless, I never felt like the Axis were making any early progress to threaten Russia. Even when they gang’ed up on them from both sides. The only possible outlier was when my mobile force evaded death and was able to run amok for 2-3 rounds in the north. I know there are other ways to win the game, but the Crushia gambit seems the most straightforward and game balancing strategy when facing a better opponent. I just was unable to shrink Russia, and that inability started earlier than I would have expected, i.e. Turn 6-7.
Any thoughts?