I mentioned this in a thread I just started the other day about the US bonuses, but our group has the US take 1 turn after DOW until it gets it’s Bonus income when we play Alpha 2 setup. (Example: US declares war turn 3, but doesn’t get their bonus until collect income phase of turn 4)

We did this because frankly  :| we didn’t interpret the rules correctly, but this accidental interpretation thus far has lead to (at least in our group) a pretty balanced game (Probably about 50:50 win %, maybe 60:40 allies if anything.  We’ve probably played 10 games total).

Maybe there is an adaptation of this that could be used to make it less skewed to the allies?  It seems that the general feeling is the game is tilted in favor of the allies due to US being a juggernaut starting turn 4 (or earlier).

At first I try to make Japan lose as many units as possible trying to take the burma road (Yunnan) so I usually trade that for a few turns.

I like putting them up north as soon as I lose my ability to retake the burma road.  That relieves some  pressure from india, and if Japan ignores them you can threaten Manchuria or other areas.

I would say sz 39, pretty hard to get them out of there if you park a couple of subs as Japan.

Thanks a lot for the answers, really appreciate it.

Just out of curiosity, does getting that extra income US turn 3 (or earlier) affect the balance of the game in favor of the allies, or not enough to say definitively one way or the other?

The reason I ask is that our games end up about 50:50 axis vs allies winning with the US getting their extra income on turn 4 (turn after DOW).  Maybe its just our group.  Is the general consensus that the game is balanced with the rules as-is?

Hello All,

Been frequenting this site for a while as an observer in search of rules clarification.  Just registered and looking forward to learning a bit about this awesome game.

Current question ( maybe a FAQ but couldn’t find it specifically) involves the US DOW and bonus income IPC in alpha 2 setup.

This question has never been really answered in my group, so our house rule is that the US gets their 30 Ipc bonus on the collect income of the turn following a DOW by the US.  Example: no-one attacks the US or applicable allies in pacific by the beginning of US turn 3.  Us declares war after their turn 3 non combat phase, but doesn’t collect extra Ipc until turn 4 collect income phase.  We figured it would be 1 turn for the US to gear up it’s economy as our reasoning and also give the axis 1 more turn to breath a bit.  Seems fairly balanced his way.

However it seems from reading the forum the us can collect that income immediately on turn 3.  Is this correct?

Also, a series of questions to this thought:

1. G3 sealion is successful.  US immediately can declare war, move their ships out of home waters, and collect 30 more Ipc on turn 3?  If the G3 sealion fails or doesn’t occur, the US still declares war turn 3 and collects bonus income turn 3 anyway, the only difference being they cannot attack anyone or move out of their sea zones until turn 4?

2. Japan doesnt attack anyone J3.  US can’t attack anyone on US 3, but still collects extra 30 Ipc at the end of US 3 after declaring war US 3 at the end of noncombat phase?

3)G2 sealion is successful or japan attacks someone before Japan turn 3.  US gets bonus income of the turn that that axis attack took place and can attack people before US turn 3?

4. is there any economic benefit as far as the US bonus is concerned for Japan waiting until J4 to attack as opposed to J3?  Can US declare war and attack Japan on US3 if not attacked, or must it wait until US4?same thing for European side, can US attack turn 3 regardless of being attacked or not?

Thanks for any input you all can give me.