Global 1940 July 4th 2024 Game (start) report #3
(3rd day of play)
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 Early 1945 (round 11) through Russian turn of Late 1947 (round 16)
Longest game I’ve ever played!
General observation that over the course of these turns the game went from Allies having an advantage to Axis having the Allies on the ropes. Throughout all of these turns no side has been anywhere close to an economic victory. It was a wild day of play!
Germany
As expected, multiple tank armies and a plethora of other troops descended upon Russia’s Army Group wiping it out, but losses Germany chose to take disbanded both tank armies. Focused on reclaiming/owning all territory west of the Russian front, expanding northward, and creating a steady supply of wolf packs. When the UK and US lost (or retreated to the Pacific) what little navy they had left wolf packs rule the sea and have been sitting off of the US coast for several turns depleting US income 15-20 IPC every turn. A very effective strategy. Have now stabilized all fronts with the expectation of a new surge into Russia.
UK
Took over the Finland factory that Germany built to boost the Allied presence in Europe. Paratroopers liberated Paris causing the creation of Vichy troops that walked into nearby territories that were left open by Germany, boosting the France economy to 22 IPC. Paris was quickly retaken however putting that income into the pockets of Germany. Tanks from the middle east and Africa travelled to the Allied front lines in China to help liberate it from the Japanese. India was a focal point of Japanese aggression so many resources were put into its defense, but it finally fell (without the possibility of immediately being reclaimed) in 1947. No D Day has yet taken place, and it doesn’t look like it will be happening anytime soon. Africa has been pretty much a non-factor for most of the game. Anzac has held its own.
Russia
Spent almost every turn creating armies to send to the front lines, as well as a sprinkling of rockets and other units. After their Army Group was soundly defeated another army quickly took over Poland. Germany would soundly defeat them the following turn but leave Romania or Hungry vulnerable for Russia to walk in with another army into one or both of those territories. Several turns saw these territories changing hands back and forth between Germany and Russia. A steady stream of tanks and other troops were sent into China, finally reaching the Pacific in 1947 (more on this later). With the help of the UK and USA the Japanese invasion into the Eastern Soviet Union was squashed. A new Army Group was recently formed and is sitting on the front lines prepared to defend or attack Germany depending on what they do next.
Fun fact - Original Russian sub still alive and has been sitting off the coast of Normandy disrupting convoy operations for several turns.
United States
Since the opportunity presented itself Rome was successfully invaded with minimal troops, and all surface German ships were destroyed. They were able to maintain this foothold for a couple of turns before Germany mounted enough troops to recapture it. Most of the US attention was on the Pacific, with only minimal forces on the east coast to try and keep the wolf pack population in check.
The US built a factory in Alaska to filter troops into Russia that could push back the Japanese, including the formation of a Tank Army. A large fleet was built up waiting to see the best opportunity for attack. Although the US controlled the seas of the north Pacific, it left Japan to run wild in the south Pacific, and left India to fend for itself.
Japan
Certainly the strongest country for most of the game. Took over and held Hawaii, kept pumping tanks into China, and focused on taking India. Wasn’t able to keep up with the three pronged attack from UK, US, and Russia in China and has been pushed back to the coast. The last turn+ was incredibly exciting. In early 1947 Japan took India with the Allies having no chance of reclaiming it. This got them to 6 victory cities. The Allies had to recapture 1 victory city or the game was over. Japan sent most of their fleet south or east around Midway, “only” leaving a couple of super-heavy battleships and transports around Tokyo.
The US had a massive fleet sitting off the coast of Alaska, with a sizeable number of troops. The allies could see that India was going to fall so it was clear that the fleet and troops in Alaska would attack and reclaim Hawaii since the US troops significantly outnumbered the Japanese forces. However, once the allies saw that Tokyo had such a small navy protecting it, and had less than 10 infantry (1 elite) & an AAA gun for ground troops, that was simply too good of an opportunity to pass up. The Alaska force was sent to Japan to flip the game so that the Axis would be in a desperate situation. Japan used all their kamikaze attacks but the US soundly won the naval battle. However, the Home Defense combined with great/poor rolling gave Japan the victory with only 2 infantry and an elite remaining. The allies took the bait, but it was a seriously risky move.
Even though the US clearly had the edge in Tokyo the allies had backup plans in place. The US also invaded Hawaii with a small amount of forces in the hopes it could weaken the Japanese there so that Anzac could win the day. That didn’t work out. The only hope left was Shanghai, where Japan had a sizeable force. The US attacked and weakened it, the UK attacked and weakened it some more, leaving it up to one last shot by Russia. Russia’s 4 tanks were easily able to overcome the remaining tank and elite infantry to (at least for the moment) save the day for the Allies.
Is the end still near for the Allies? We’ll see when we enter 1948 and beyond! (sorry for being longwinded)
. To be continued in late August!
ounter-attack force was gathered there, as well as constructing mines for the attacking tanks to drive through. The plan worked well as the counter-attack force soundly defeated Japan and reclaimed India. Japan then diverted it’s attention to the money islands and the Russian advance into China.
