One thing nobody has mentioned is the classic attack on Kwangtung. I’m not a fan of that myself, but you do take out the transport en route and I’ve seen it done several times. Myself I can almost never resist the chance to take out the Japanese fighter in FIC.
I’m not sure what MikeMasino means about SZ30. Unless I’m reading the map wrong there is no place the Australian navy and the Indian navy can stage outside the range of the Japanese fleet off Indonesia.
4- lets play a forum game… ill be the allies, you do what you described as a WIN for the axis. ill even consider you telling me what to do with russia on turn 1 so your german moves are the same as described
I would be glad to play with you by forum. But I’m new here and not sure exactly how it works. I figured out how to roll dice, but is there a way to keep track of an AA42 board (matching it to the dice rolls and results) without owning the actual game?
Just to be clear, in the scenario I am talking about, Germany largely ignores the British navy (at least with planes) and uses the entire Luftwaffe against Russia for the first 3 turns. At best, Russia can take out 1 plane before Germany moves, but that means that Germany is still left with 5 fighters and a bomber to use against Russia every single turn. Russia is not just sitting idle, and is pushing back against Germany, but facing the entire Luftwaffe every turn, there is little Russia can do.
Japan also typically skips Pearl, ignores the British fleet off India, withdraws it’s entire fleet to Japan, buys an IC turn 1 and a destroyer, and uses every single fighter against mainland Asia. Regardless of what the allied player does, Japan typically takes Buryatria, China, and India on J1, but never less than 2 out of 3. The combined fleet is really hard for the US or British to take out as long as Japan keeps fighters on the 2 carriers. By the beginning of J3, Japan has transported at least 10 ground divisions to the mainland, and is churning out 3 tanks per turn on the mainland, so even if the US takes out the Japanese fleet at this point (which is the earliest it can realistically do so, even with an all-out effort), the battle for mainland Asia is already all but over. Not that any of this even matters that much, because as I said, Germany has usually already taken Moscow on G3, or is about to take Moscow.
I feel the new rules are actually the main issue because so many of them seem to favor Germany. German subs are much harder to kill with allied planes, US and British transports are much easier to kill with German subs or planes, requiring time and money to be invested in escorts, and the German tank columns now defend at 3, making them much harder to push back, while the Russian infantry stacks are the same as before.
It used to be possible, with luck, to take out the entire German navy in the first round, especially if the three allies all chipped in. But now it takes at least until round two to finish off the German navy, and even this requires luck and a significant diversion of resources and/or leaving transports unguarded.
The US cannot even a token force in Europe until the end of round 2, and the British usually lose one half of their 2-ship transport fleet before they even move, meaning no significant allied ground troops in Europe until round 3 at the earliest. Meanwhile, even if Britain spends its entire income on 3 fighters every turn and sends them to Russia, and the US sends a fighter or a bomber every turn beginning in round 2, a smart German player will keep his forces united in 2 or 3 strong columns, gladly trading a couple infantry or the occasional tank for downed enemy fighter units. Or better yet, if the allied planes do not attack and just wait in Moscow. Either way, barring abnormally bad luck, the Germans will have the Russian defenses cut to ribbons by turn 3, with Japan knocking on Moscow’s back door, and are in strong position to push back against any allied amphibious landings.
Does anyone else feel the Axis are too strong using the 1942 map and rules, or is it just me?
In the original game the Allies were clearly too strong, and in Revised seemed kind of equal, but in 1942 if the Axis go all out against Russia and ignore the US and Britain completely, it seems like they can take Moscow by the 3rd round almost every time and the 4th round at the latest.
I’ve actually repeatedly taken Moscow on G2 on gambits where I could get around 60% odds for Germany and then had the dice fall my way.
On older maps the Russians could totally block off the German advance with infantry, but on the the 1942 map there are just too many ways for German tanks to reach Moscow.