Hardest Nation to play

[HannibalSW]

I chose Japan because to me it is the hardest.  There is so much it can do and so many directions it can go in, that itself is difficult to manage if you start going too many directions at once.  Next I would say Russia because if you don’t trade well with Germany you can be in one tough spot.

[Adamml321]

Soviet Union isn’t hard. In real life Russia is easy to defend too. Just destroy all the cities and wait 'till winter :-D

[Napoleon]

Italy is not so hard to play, i mean, you don’t have plenty of choices just bad situations.

U.k si more complicated, all around the world and so much choices about your kingdom.

Russia seems to be the easiest

[soldaatvanoranje]

I agree that the USA must be hardest to play well. So much depends on the US´ spending its dollars at the right units in the right theaters. Especially the building of steady supply lines over water is challenging.

Further UK has a though job, never being strong enough to make an actual difference on its own and getting slowly beaten…

I find Germany most demanding, because you have to stay focussed ALL the time…

[JeffM]

I would go with the UK, followed by the US as the hardest nations to play.  Both nations are challenging because each has to adopt a reactive strategy to what the Axis players do in the first few rounds.

Depending on how successful the Germans are in the first turn, the UK is forced to make some hard choices with VERY limited resources in the Atlantic… do you cripple the Italian fleet and try to slow the Axis advance in Africa, or do you pull back to the North Atlantic and challenge the German fleet in the Baltic (or prevent a Sea Lion if that is what the German player is trying)?  In the Pacific, you have to react to the Japanese strategy also… if Japan is going India crush you have to hunker down and try to buy as much time as you can.  If there is not an India crush, then your goal is to help the Chinese by keeping the Burma Road open, while trying to grab up territories in the South Pacific with a very limited surface fleet.

The US is challenging because the way that they allocate resources after turn 3 can make or break the allies war effort.  The US has an abundance of resources, but they must split them on two fronts… if the Axis are winning in one theater, then it is up to the US to tip the balance of power back to the Allies.  If you are up against a skilled Axis team that uses Japan to put pressure on the US’s interests in the Pacific, while the German/ Italy combo are putting major pressure on Russia, then you have a very tough decision indeed!

[questioneer]

Germany hand down also

2nd hardest is UK

Easiest- France :-D

[Commando Brado]

UK is definitely the hardest country to play, followed by Germany, then Japan, then Russia, then Italy. China, US and France are easy to play in my opinion, especially France!  :-D

[M K P]

@knp7765:

I actually think playing USA is actually pretty tough.  Sure they start out with the biggest income, but having to split that on two fronts is really hard.  You have to try and guess the right amount for each front or the Allies are screwed.  Going all out in one theater or the other isn’t really the answer either as the Axis can end up going hog-wild in the other theater and win with enough victory cities.

USA generally can dump 90% + of their income in Pacific. If Germany goes for Russia, UK can slow them down, if Germany goes for UK, sure, US should start spending a bit in the theater but Russia will be very strong, meaning they have plenty of time to beat Japan senseless.

[Fishmoto37]

All these comments have merit. But if Russia falls, then game over. If you are playing with several different players you will not want the new guy to play the Russians right?

[Commando Brado]

Correct. You want the new guy playing China w/supervision from someone else. Or France is a good country for a newbie to play. LOL!  :-D