We had five players and decided to maximise the social aspect with one game, opting to play the Anniversary map, with 1941 set up, to 1942.2 rules.
Powers were allocated randomly, resulting in wittmann (Germany & Italy) and a non-forum player (Japan) against Credulous (USA & China), Private Panic (UK) and a non-forum player (Russia).
Germany and Italy combined to take Egypt in the first turn. Italy’s uncontested control of the Med prompted it to build a factory there.
The UK then wiped out the G fleet, allowing R to grab Finland and the UK Norway. Transport builds presented a significant and growing threat to G’s Atlantic and North Sea coasts. Although this was primarily used to land troops in North Africa, this threat tied up large numbers of German troops.
The UK built a factory in India on UK1 and maximised builds there each turn.
Japan had terrible dice in its first turn and failed to take either the Philippines or Kwangtung. :-o This temporary halt on J’s ambitions didn’t seem to cause too much of a stumble and by the end of J3 China was down to one territory and the money islands had fallen. India was taken J4 and Australia J6.
G’s defence of its coasts allowed R to withstand the G onslaught. Leningrad was finally taken G6 but with minimum force and was immediately lost again, with no immediate prospect of recapture by G.
R also defended the Middle East against Italy’s Egypt builds and retook India R5. Sufficient support was provided to China to allow it to continue the struggle against Japan. A small stack in Novosbirsk threatened J’s advancing but outnumbered troops to the north.
The UK retook Egypt UK5 (thanking Italy profusely for the factory of course :lol:) and thereafter threatened Italy’s Med fleet with annihilation, albeit temporarily delayed by a cruiser blocker.
While all of the above fighting was going on, the USA twiddled its thumbs. :roll: It was able to focus virtually all of its resources on Pacific builds. J’s attempts to match these robbed its mainland Asian forces of reinforcements. The J4 attack on India reduced J’s naval power in the Pacific and only succeeded through the sacrifice of fighters, allowing the US to finally make some headway, with the seizure of a Japanese island US5, giving the UK a much needed NO. The following turn the US retook the Philippines and split the Japanese fleet, isolating the money islands, threatening a Japanese factory on Borneo and ensuring the recapture of Australia.
After 7½ hours of play and six turns, the game was declared an allied victory. Although both G and J continued to deploy significant forces, neither posed an effective threat to the allied powers. By contrast, Italy faced immediate eradication of its Med fleet and Japan the loss of its forces and territories to the south of the Philippines.
They say history is written by the victors and in this instance it certainly has been! :-)