Hi guys! :-D
I’m excited about the new game. I actually think that they got the Victory City distribution right this time. The whole point of Victory Cities, is to allow the game to be won, without needing the fall of a capital.
We’re all familiar with the typical KGF/Ignore Japan/JTDTM playout from Classic and Revised. Basically, produce your units, and push them towards Berlin or Moscow (the two easiest capitals to take down) as efficiently as possible, or what I like to call, “Moving the Meat” style Axis and Allies :roll: This takes very little strategic thought and is boring as H-E-double hockey sticks to play. Those of you that are familiar with AAR: Enhanced, know how much more fun the game is when the Allies are fighting in the Pacific and you have multiple theaters to think about and spread your tight resources among. To get this “Global War playout”, victory shouldn’t depend on capital capture. If victory depends on capital capture, then the most efficient way to victory is to simply just push all your units towards the easiest enemy capital (ie. Berlin and Moscow).
Now in Revised, they did introduce Victory Cities to try and correct this. The problem is, is that their distribution (at 9VC win condition) still necessitated the fall of a capital to win, ie. Moscow. So what’s Axis going to do?… Go straight for Moscow. In turn, the Allies, with no reason for being in the Pacific, would go straight for Berlin. Well, so much for that version :roll:
In Anniversary Edition though, I think they got it right.
Axis starts with 6 VC
Japan has 5 non-capital VCs in close proximity
Ger/Ita have 2 non-capital VCs in range
With a 13 VC win condition, Axis can win the game without taking a capital. This is critical, because in previous games, they had to take a capital. Thus, the groundwork is laid to keep Japan in the Pacific and out of Moscow. What remains to be determined though, is if it’s viable for the Allies to fight Japan in the Pacific. If it is, then we will get the Global War we desire. If it is not, then we will still get KGF.
On that note, the one disappointment I have is that the Industrial Complex price remains at 15IPC (unlike 12 IPC in Enhanced). If you’re really wanting to encourage more of an Allied Pacific campaign, you have to allow the Allies to do one of 2 things, either:
1. Let the US go full tilt 1 on 1 with Japan while UK+Rus work against Ger/Ita
or
2. Get a UK IC in India or Australia with some partial US assistance (ie. US+UK split their resources in both theatres)
If the ICs are overly expensive, especially for a cash-strapped UK, you’re going to see less of situation 2 and more of a Classic KGF/Ignore Japan/JTDTM style of game :roll:
Now, the only other thing to keep in mind though is bonus income for UK. It might be enough to encourage UK to build an IC, even at the inflated price of 15 IPC. We’ll have to see when the game comes out.
Bottom Line: The Victory City distribution with a 13 VC win condition lays the groundwork for the Axis to fight a Global War (ie. will keep Japan from going to Moscow). What will ultimately determine if the Global War playout happens, is whether a UK IC in the Pacific, or a full tilt US naval campaign against Japan, are strategically viable for the Allies. Again, we’ll need to see the opening set-up to know.