Best posts made by mkgionet

Hello all - Long time, first time!

Born and raised in MA - currently living in Fitchburg, MA

I started playing A & A back when Milton Bradley issued the “big box” game about the same time they put out Fortress America & Shogun. Really loved the game and played quite a bit in the early 90’s. Got busy with life and didn’t play for a very long time until last year when I started up a (near) monthly game. Really like the additional rules and versions that have come out and now we’re playing the 1940 Global game.

The player who actually owns the game has painted pieces to identify them and done a nifty job of mounting all of the planes on little stands. Works great! To make it easier he also printed cards with the bonus income each country can earn - super helpful. I printed sheets with victory city grids (to easily keep track of how close the Axis are to winning) and the statistics of each piece (Attack, Defense, Cost). I still own part of my original A & A game, and picked up a later edition. Use the money from these older versions with the newer 1940 version we currently play. No house rules yet - actually looking forward to finally trying the Optional Research & Development Rules with this version.

@barnee You asked for a Game Report Post, so here it is:

Global 1940 with Expansion Rules - sections 1-4 (no optional rules)

Germany - mkgionet
Italy - Cathy M
Japan - Pat H
UK - Mike K
Russia - Alex M
USA - Josh S

Report through Early 1942

Germany succeeded in clearing the Atlantic (except for US coast) of all Allied ships until Late 1941 when the US fleet finally entered the war taking back Gibralter. That emboldened the UK to build back its fleet in Early 1942. With Germany unsure if the USA would enter the Mediterranean a small fleet was hastily built off the coast of Southern France and so the USA turned north.

Italy succeeded (with a bit of help from the German air force) to clear the Mediterranean of Allied ships but took a major defeat in Northern Africa, practically being kicked out of the continent.

Several German armies were formed to start a relentless march towards Moscow. At one point there were two Army groups formed. One still remains intact with 10 infantry, an SS army, and a Panzer army. As soon as Late 1942 begins multiple armies will be on Moscow’s doorstep. Surprisingly Russia chose not to build any mines, and they’ve received very little help from their allies. No units have been given to them yet via Lend Lease. Yes, those are Anzac troops in Bryansk that just arrived by rail from Egypt.

Japan focused on (and succeeded) in eliminating China, winning a significant battle against a sizeable Anzac navy that’s been greatly reduced. Russia and Japan are still at peace, though troops are starting to gather on the China/Russia border.

UK rules the middle east and most of Africa, though only a fairly small amount of ground troops remain. UK is making a stand in India, time will tell if they make a move to try and resurrect China.

The USA has focused more of their attention on the Pacific, but have had a hard time organizing their units and coming up with a definitive plan of action.

See attached pictures - more to come when play resumes on 5/27/24.

@the-captain Gotcha, but in this case we’ve only instituted Sections 1 & 2 of the Expansion rules so I won’t have to worry about Soviet Partisans in this game.

Adding pictures of where our game stands at the end of Early 1942. Resuming tomorrow to decide who will rule the world!

@barnee Thank you, me too!

Over the course of the last few years we’ve been playing the Global 1940 game in-person. In the previous 3 games we’ve added one section of the expansion rules to get where we are now - playing sections with sections 1-4. Mike, Pat, Alex, Josh, and myself have played together for most of those games, with Cathy being a newer addition.

No, those are Italy’s troops in Greece.

@The-Captain Those flags were made by one of our players (Alex) quite some time ago, long before we ever knew about the “army” rules. We never had a great use for them though, except for decoration. We’ll need to make more though as I think they work well at representing army formations.

GAME REPORT #3 (and final) Global 1940 with Expansion Rules - sections 1-4 (no optional rules) that concluded on 6/29/24
(notice the improved expansion counters that Cornelis provided - thank you!)

Germany - mkgionet
Italy - Cathy M
Japan - Pat H
UK - Mike K
Russia - Alex M
USA - Josh S

Report through partial Early 1946 - game called after Germany fell.

Not surprisingly, despite Germany’s best efforts they just kept getting pushed back. Once UK, USA, & Russia finally arranged their forces to all attack Berlin on the same turn Germany was defeated. Interestingly there was never a D Day as Denmark was taken over all and attacks went straight for Berlin. Also interesting that not a single mine was bought by anyone.

Japan was a powerhouse and after capturing India had his sites set for Hawaii as the 6th Pacific Victory City. When setting up for this attack in 1945 (to execute in 1946) there was a miscalculation and 3 transports were left vulnerable off wake island and were sunk by carrier fighters. Without those 6 troops an attack on Honolulu would end in sure defeat. If that mistake wasn’t made and Germany was able to hold out just a tad longer then perhaps this game would’ve ended in a victory for the Axis with the capture of 6 victory cities in the Pacific. Yes, Japan ended the game at 91 on the IPC track!

A hard fought battle by all! Stay tuned, the next game starts on July 4th where each player gets to choose an optional rule to add. I’ll be Russia this time!

7.4.24 Game Report #1
Global 1940 with Expansion Rules & the following optional rules:
Rockets
Heavy Bombers
Seafire fighter planes
Jet Fighters
Japanese Destroyers
King Tiger & SS Heavy Tanks

Agreed a win can happen through Economic Victory or Axis capturing victory cities per the original Global 1940 rules.

Germany - Josh S
Italy - Logan S
Japan - Alex M
UK - Pat H
Russia - mkgionet
USA - Mike K

Report through the end of Early 1942 (round 5)

Germany immediately launched attacks against France and Russia in turn 1. Russia pulled back and arranged troops for a defensive stand. Germany captured Novgorod, but since Russia destroyed the factory Germany built a factory in Finland on that same turn. Germany launched a powerful attack against Ukraine which was defended by a large amount of infantry. Battle started well enough for Germany so Russia destroyed the factory, but then Germany took heavy loses and decided to retreat. Knowing that they wouldn’t be able to capture Russian factories Germany also built a factory in Romania.

Russia built up 3 army units and a tank army and invested significantly in mines near the territories where Germany had their largest amount of forces. To date Germany has crossed a mined border once, with no casualties, and the 2 rockets fired so far at German forces have also missed. A massive counter attack with 3 Russian armies was launched in Early 1942 to reclaim Archangel after Germany took it in Late 1941 eliminating 1 Russian army unit and a large amount of other troops. The 1941 attack on Archangel left Novgorod practically empty so Russia was also able to reclaim it in Early 1942 with the minimal forces you see on the board.

The UK focused on building landing crafts right away to quickly capture Norway & Denmark. Germany counter attacked destroying those forces and all landing crafts, so UK went over to building transports instead and has another foothold in Europe in Denmark & Holland. Germany has built 1 wolf pack so far and it hasn’t been used yet. The UK also focused on eliminating the Italian navy (a success), building a factory (and controlling) the middle east, and pouring a massive amount of infantry into India.

Italy has had a tough go of it launching a disastrous attack on Alexandria on turn 1 with terrible rolling where they were soundly defeated by the UK. That set the tone as Italy has not been able to keep a navy and has posed little threat to Africa. The French navy has not only survived, but has been sitting off the Italian coast for several turns sinking convoys. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that! It’s kind of silly, but with little else to do the lone French troop that started in western Africa walked across the continent to capture the only remaining Italian country south of the Sahara - Italian Somaliland.

Japan attacked the USA on turn 2 by taking control of the Philipines, bringing the USA into the war early. A decent sized USA navy was built on the East coast, with more resources committed to the Pacific, but the US hasn’t had a significant impact on the game as of yet. Japan pushed hard at taking islands and eliminating China, which they succeeded in doing in Early 1942, but China was revived almost immediately by the UK. Japan certainly is a force to be reckoned with and has a lot of options in the upcoming turns.

The Axis clearly were trying for a quick Economic Victory as they were at 145 IPC after Japan’s Early 1942 turn. Since that time they’ve lost several money islands to Anzac & the UK, and Germany continues to be plagued by attacks from both fronts so they are no longer close to reaching that at this time . To be continued in late August!

Re: Global 1940 & 1943 Expansions Game Reports

Global 1940 July 4th 2024 Game (start) report #4
(4th day of play on 11/3)

Global 1940 with Expansion Rules & the following optional rules:
Rockets
Heavy Bombers
Seafire fighter planes
Jet Fighters
Japanese Destroyers
King Tiger & SS Heavy Tanks

Agreed a win can happen through Economic Victory or Axis capturing victory cities per the original Global 1940 rules.

Germany - Josh S
Japan - Alex M
UK - Pat H
Russia - mkgionet
USA - Mike K
Report from Japan’s turn in Late 1947 (round 16) USA turn of Late 1949 (round 20)
Longest game I’ve ever played!

First I need to admit that I’m a bonehead! We were all so excited that the game finally ended that we immediately started cleaning up and I neglected to take any pictures - Ugh!

1947
If folks remember, the Allies looked to be in a dire situation at the end of the last report with Germany having pushed most enemy troops out of its territory and poised to make a powerful advance into Russia, while Japan firmly had 5 Victory Cities in hand and was in a position to retake the 6th city. Us Allied players held our breath while Japan took their turn, hoping that the massive US fleet surrounding Japan would focus Japan’s attention more than retaking and holding the 6th Victory City (Shanghai). Tick, tick, tick, tick, pieces move, tick, tick, tick, more pieces move…

YES! Indeed, the fleet around Japan caused him to ignore thinking much about Shanghai and, as we hoped, he committed the majority of his military power to eliminating this fleet. Between games I took a long hard look at the board and realized that if Japan used his 7 strategic bombers on the mainland, with his mainland ground troops, he could not only retake Shanghai, but likely eliminate all of the Chinese infantry to retake Anhwe and place ground troops in Shantung so that USA’s tank army would be blocked from getting to/liberating Shanghai. Thus causing the Axis to hold 6 Victory Cities and win. Thankfully Japan didn’t see this. He did retake Shanghai, but left Anhwe untouched.

The Allies make preparations to retake Hawaii and the Philippines. Japans troops are now primarily concentrated in southeast Asia, India, and Japan.

The US continues to get hammered by German Wolf Packs on the east coast, losing 20+ IPC. However, the Tank Army on the Asia mainland rolls in to retake Shanghai, while China has an income around 20 and continues placing significant amounts of infantry on the board.

UK strengthens Persia & Finland & holds West India.

1948

Taking Barnee’s advice (thank you) the US finally purchases an air base and fighters for Central America. Works like a charm with the wolf packs scattering and being chased down and mostly destroyed by fighters.

Anzac momentarily captures the Philippines before Japan quickly recaptures it. Japan retakes Korea and invades nearby Russian territories. Clearly, the new Axis plan is to focus on attacking Russia on both sides.

Hawaii is easily recaptured and the USA prepares to move troops north to Alaska so they can retaliate against the Japanese invasion of Russia.

UK continues to strengthen Persia and lands paratroopers in various German territories.

Germany makes a massive attack to retake Finland and Leningrad, but then pulls back in order to attack Russia’s Army Group with 2 tank armies and a plethora of ground troops. Russia is able to retake Leningrad and continue reforming armies that are pushed along to the front lines. Russia isn’t able to recapture Finland, but is able to kill off the few remaining troops that had succeeded in taking it back for Germany.

1949 - A Pivotal year!

Germany purchases several transports and a super heavy battleship. It looks like they may be preparing to invade London. They do leave a few territories vulnerable on the front lines with Russia though, allowing a Russian Tank Army to get behind the front lines and on Berlin’s doorstep. Not a real threat to Germany, but it’s a target they’ll need to attack.

USA navy in place in Alaska, ready to come liberate Russian territories from the Japanese invasion.

Japan builds a major industrial complex in Korea and focuses on producing troops there. They pull some troops out of India in order to combat the growing number of Chinese forces, which ends up being a crucial mistake. In a very even battle the UK takes a gamble and goes all in on attacking India. With solid rolling it results in a UK victory! Even better, Anzac takes Burma and Japan has no way to retake India anytime soon. Other territories on the mainland south and west of Shanghai are also taken from the Japanese.

The USA is about to launch their Alaskan fleet over to the Soviet Far East when the Allies see a golden opportunity. Off the coast of Japan are a few transports, (3) Aircraft Carriers, and (6) Carrier Fighters. Even better, all ground troops (even the AA gun) have been moved out of Japan over to Korea and the mainland. The only thing left in Japan are (4) Strategic Bombers. The USA seizes this opportunity and attacks Japan for the 2cd time and scores a victory! At this point the Axis surrender. The Allies have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat!

A very long, but very enjoyable game with lots of twists and turns. The Victory Cities really add an interesting element to the game. I think we’ll be taking a long break before our next game!

@dead-rabbits
Yes, great game, I’d love to find a copy. I did buy the new Shogun game that came out and it seems to be pretty good but seems to take quite a long time to play so I haven’t yet been able to make it through an entire game. Maybe we’ll take a break from A&A at some point to give this “new” version of Shogun a try.

@the-captain
These House Rules look awesome and I can’t wait to start trying out Section 1 on Saturday. Question - Does artillery paired with any type of infantry (including SS Infantry) increase their attack value by 1? I know they’re still infantry, but…

@nolimit
No, this is 2006 Dirk Henn’s Shogun

@the-captain Thanks Captain! After 11 hours (4turns) of hard-fought battle neither side has a clear advantage. Germany is on the doorstep of Moscow but likely doesn’t have enough to take it next turn. The German player has not decided to take advantage of the SS infantry and instead focused on purchasing massive amounts of tanks at the reduced price of 5.
Question- Can Japan build a major industrial complex in Kiangsu? Japan starts the game in control of it, but technically it belongs to China?

@Pvt_Griff Gotcha, had to ask! We’re quite a drive from the cape, not too far from the NH border in central MA - Fitchburg.

Wow, some pretty amazing fleets have been assembled in previous posts! @The-Captain asked me to post a game report from our latest game. After 12 or so hours of play we shut things down to continue next weekend. We’re about to start Late 1942. Maybe we’re halfway through, hard to say? Full game of 6 people, and my son decided to take the minor countries (France, China, Anzac) as a 7th player.

As Japan I focused on eliminating China and going after India as my main objective. I succeeded in eliminating China, but as soon as I did the USA had started filtering troops into the Soviet Far East so Russia decided to finally break our truce and invade to the east of Mongolia taking 1 Chinese territory back. When we stopped play China now had 1 infantry on the board back in that territory. Even though my first attack against India failed I returned to bomb the industrial complex, rendering it useless. Interestingly the UK player chose not to repair it so without any reinforcements placed last turn I should finally be able to take India in my coming turn. It does come at a high price though as I’ve probably lost about half my air force and have precious few ground troops left to stop the new soviet invasion. In my rush to focus on China and India I ignored the money islands and Anzac so they’ve built up an incredibly large fleet (for them) - (3) Battleships, (4) Cruisers, Transport, (5) Destroyers. My original fleet is intact and has been sitting near India, though I’ve just sent several Cruisers and Subs back toward Japan. The Anzac fleet is currently sitting just off Australia. Since my fleet has been busy in the Indian Ocean the US has surrounded Japan with a fairly sizeable naval force, as well as several ships near Alaska. They don’t have the transports in place yet to try an invasion, but after my next turn I need to head back with my fleet and figure out how to deal with these two threats.

The US has focused more on the Pacific than Atlantic, so there isn’t any pending European invasion from the US at the moment. Russia is the only one who has decided to purchase mines, which are dug in at territories bordering Moscow. Germany has methodically been advancing towards Moscow since the beginning of the game. He’s not on the doorstep yet, but getting close, and will have to decide to go around (or over) the mines. Italy controls Egypt, and I find it amusing that I just landed a Japanese fighter there to help protect it. Instead of moving eastwards from India the UK decided to head in the other direction to capture the middle east and build a minor factory there. The UK navy was destroyed early on so the Germans have ruled the Atlantic. Recently the UK has been sending paratroopers to liberate Normandy, but Germany should have enough troops to quickly kick them out. Italy controls upper mid & east Africa, while the allies have the rest.

Just by taking Brazil and not losing any territory the US is pulling in 93 IPC a turn with its bonuses which is pretty sick. With everything else the US gets (National Gaurd, free ships) it may be worth reconsidering how much bonus income the US should get once it enters the war.

TO BE CONTINUED…

@barnee To clarify, the mines are right around the capital of Moscow itself. JPN did take full control of China, but then on Russia’s next turn they invaded from the Far East and have regained 1 China territory. I have entered Russia through the far side of China, but my ground forces are so depleted now that it’s literally with just a couple units - not a threat, just an annoyance. Will try to remember to take pictures to post next time.

Thanks for your interest!

@the-captain That’s great! How do I get it?

@the-captain Yes, quite an interesting game indeed! In response to your questions:

• Axis IPC level only 99
• Allied IPC level 168
• Russia has had 2 turns to build Soviet Gaurd units but hasn’t. Also note that the Soviets will be getting their last fighter and tank in this turn from Lend Lease
• No SS units on the game board, not sure why
• Yes, that is a French Tank! Thank you for pointing that out, I just realized we made a mistake and awarded 12 IPC of bonus troops to France when Normandy was liberated, not France. For some reason I thought it was any of France’s territory in mainland Europe. We’ll have to figure out how we want to remedy that.

No worries, I will capture India this turn, unless there are several unbelievable rolls, though I am worried about that massive US force coming from Alaska, and that ANZAC fleet. Biggest ANZAC fleet I’ve ever seen in a game!

@the-captain Yes, that is a good strategy for Germany. My apologies for not posting pictures, everyone started breaking down the game boards shortly after we stopped playing before it hit me that I should be taking pictures.

So, we did finish our game, and here’s what happened in a nutshell:

I took on ANZAC’s fleet with most of my navy and rolled increadibly well, while he rolled rather badly. I ended up losing my destroyers and subs, but not a single capital ship. They were all damaged, but I was able to repair them on my following turn - a fantastic victory! I then went on to take on the US navy, combined with some new ANZAC ships, off the Philippine Islands. We pretty much wiped each other out. I barely won with two tactical bombers left.

I did take India on the following turn as predicted and started producing troops from the industrial complexes I had built on the mainland to stop the Soviet invasion from the north. After Russia took Korea he just parked his massive stack of infantry there instead of continuing to advance. The US started sending troops down but was able to block them in Manchuria/Jehol.

On the European front Italy was able to punch through into the Middle East and take over all of those territories, including the Industrial Complex the UK had built in Iraq. Germany fought off some pestering invasions along it’s west coast, while plowing forward into Russia, actually taking it quite easily. After laying all those mines, including even more once we restarted, Germany only travelled over 5, and none of them detonated. HA!

After Russia fell, other than the stack of infantry sitting in Korea, they had very few troops left and no way to recapture it. The US had some troops sitting in Gibraltar & Morocco, but probably not enough to take Rome. The Allies were demoralized and conceeded in 1945 - Axis wins!

@cornelis-post Thanks for the offer. We’re taking a bit of a break from A&A, but when we return to it maybe I’ll be in touch.

@The-Captain
In the House Rules Expansion it doesn’t explain how Army Group movement works. Can the Army Group move 1 or 2 spaces?