Haha, thanks for the input.
The rules are very lopsided in favor of the Allies, I agree. But again, with Allies not setting up shuck-shuck, and Russia voluntarily going for Japan, I might just pull it off.
As it is, we play games in sets, with switching off between axis/allies. To win as axis is like “breaking serve” in tennis - you’re not supposed to win, but you do anyways. I’m definitely going to go for for a rule change for the next round.
After looking at the board a little more, I think Japan can make up for lost time. Even with good Russian play, Japan can take SFE on J3, and Yukut on J4, while putting adequate pressure to keep the China-Burma front against UK. BB’s swing down in J4 to take potshots, setup for an assault on J5.
With the allied fleet out of position in Africa (not the Algeria-W.Eur SZ, the one below it), it will be US4 or later to develop pressure on Germany. Hopefully by G5, Germany will have broken through the Eastern front. The real question is how much to devote to Africa, to see if I can get US/UK to commit entirely to Africa. (US bought a bomber on US2)